New York Agricultural Experiment Station. 569 



chick at twelve weeks of age 15.3 cents for Lot No. I and 15 cents 

 for Lot No. II. The average weight per chick at this age for 

 Lot No. I was 2,9 pounds and for Lot No. II, 2.6 pounds. In 

 the accompanying tables will be found stated the " total cost " 

 at different ages and weights. This total cost represents only the 

 cost of eggs, of hatching, of heating brooders and of food. It 

 does not account for labor or the rent of buildings or losses. 

 There was however in no lot during this experiment any loss from 

 disease. The chicks, and later the capons, remained in good 

 health throughout under either ration. 



FIRST EXPERIMENT WITH CAPONS. 



The cockerels from these two lots of chicks were caponized and 

 fed these same contrasted rations during the winter. The records 

 of feeding are given in the following tables calculated to the 

 average per fowl for periods of two weeks. 



Loss Due to the Operation. 



During the first period recorded all the birds in each lot were 

 caponized; but notwithstanding this temporary disadvantage the 

 average gain made for the period was a good one and at little cost 

 for food. The average loss in weight per fowl caused by the 

 necessary fasting and the operation was a little less than 11 per 

 cent, not quite one-half pound each. The twelve capons in each 

 lot were kept in one pen until January 1, and eight were fed in 

 each lot for the rest of the winter. 



Relative Food Consumption. 

 During the first few weeks the ground grain ration had some- 

 what the narrower nutritive ratio and for the remainder of the 

 feeding trial somewhat the wider ratio. The food eaten during 

 the six months by Lot No. I having the ground grain ration con- 

 tained 52 pounds more dry matter than that eaten by Lot No. II, 

 but almost exactly the same total gain in weight was made; the 

 gains being 81 pounds and 80.6 pounds respectively. After Janu- 

 ary 1 the gain in weight was slow and there was very little differ- 

 ence in the amount of food consumed. For the first 16 weeks 



