How much feed to give
Of far greater importance than what you feed is how much you feed. As one old master said, "The feed cup is the key to the keep." Cocks must be kept hungry, active, alert, and scratching throughout the keep.
At every feed they should be "hitting the bottom of the cup" and making it rattle on their cock stalls. If they don't clean up every grain in five minutes and start looking for more, your feeding too much. If any individual cock leaves anything in his cup by the end of this time, take away his cup and feed less the next meal.
To feed accurately you need a feed cup which has a flat top so that you know exactly how much you are feeding. A whiskey higger is okay or one those little plastic measures which come in coffee cans.
The important thing is for you to know exactly how much you are feeding. Every one-fourth ounce makes a difference. Measuring by a spoon or a handful is no good. Not accurate enough. Find out exactly how much your measure holds by weighing its contents of your dry grain mix on the scales and then feed a little or a little less than a cupful. Usually about 1 1/8th or 1 1/4th ounces is a normal feed twice a day. But the important thing is for you to know how much you are feeding and not be guessing at it.
After that, note how each individual cock reponds to his feed, as indicated by his appetite and his weight, and measure his feed accordingly. But ever and always have him "hitting the bottom of the cup" and looking for more. It is far better to feed too little than too much. You wont increase his strength by feeding more than he can digest quickly. You'll only make him sluggish and upset.
