POULTRY EXPERIMENTS. 25 



to the young stock by the last of October or the first of Novem- 

 ber. This feature counts for a great deal and the two right hand 

 columns of the tables are worthy of careful study. 



RECORDS OF PULLETS, 1899-I9OO. 



On November ist, 1899, 180 pullets of the three breeds 

 previously mentioned were put into winter quarters and records 

 kept with them during the twelve months following. The pens 

 and yards in which they were confined were the same as those 

 occupied by the hens in the preceding test. The pens are 10 

 by 16 feet in size in the clear space and each one has four of the 

 Station trap nests in it as described in the Station reports of 

 1897 and 1898. Twenty pullets and two cockerels were kept 

 in each lot. 



The birds were fed throughout the year, daily as follows : — 

 Each pen of 22 received one pint of wheat, in the deep litter early 

 in the morning. At 9.30 A. M. one-half pint of oats was fed 

 to them in the same way. At 1 P. M. one-half pint of cracked 

 corn was given in the litter as before. At 3 P. M. in winter 

 and 4 P. M. in the summer they were given all the mash they 

 would eat up clean, in half an hour. 



The mash was made of the following mixture of meals : — 

 200 pounds wheat bran ; 100 pounds corn meal ; 100 pounds 

 wheat middlings ; 100 pounds linseed meal ; 100 pounds meat 

 meal or fine meat scraps. Part of the year the linseed meal 

 was omitted, and the amount of meat meal was doubled. The 

 mash contained one-fourth of its bulk of clover leaves and heads, 

 secured from the feeding floor in the cattle barn. The clover 

 was thoroughly soaked with hot water. The mash was made 

 quite dry. Cracked bone, oyster shell, clean grit and water were 

 at all times before them. Two large mangolds were fed to the 

 birds in each pen daily in winter, and green food in plenty in 

 summer. Very few soft-shelled eggs are produced and we have 

 not known of an egg being eaten by the hens during the three 

 years in which the trap nests have been used. Fifteen birds died 

 during the year and nine were stolen. 



A few eggs had been laid in the litter on the floor but no 

 birds have received credit for eggs not laid in the nest. By 

 reference to the table following it will be seen that many birds 

 did not commence laying until some two months after others 

 were at work. Thev were mainlv the later hatched ones and 



