226 



EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



2-3 EDWARD VII., A. 1903 



Pen versus Crate. 

 To ascertain the Relative Merits of Pen and Crate in Fattening Ponltry. 

 An important question in poultry fattening — especially for the farmer — is, must the 

 chickens be fed in coops or crates in order to fatten properly and give profitable returns 1 

 To obtain some information on this point, two experiments have been made, the 

 first with Silver-gray Dorking pullets, the second with Barred Plymouth Rock cockerels. 

 In each, six birds were fed in the pens with runs attached, as already described, and 

 six in ordinary fattening coops with slat bottoms. The coops were continuous, but 

 separated by board partitions, the dimensions of each compartment being 17 inches deep, 

 1 1 inches wide and 1 9 inches high. The birds were fed singly. The V-shaped feeding 

 trough was suspended outside the range or row of coops, provision being made for grit 

 in front of each coop by means of partitions. 



The ration was alike for birds in pens and coops, as follows : — 



Gi'ound oats 4 parts. \ 



Ground barley .3 " V Protein ratio 1 : 3 • 94 



Meat meal '. 1 " ) 



made into a mash with skim-milk. 



Silver-gray Dorking. — Commenced July 22, age of chickens (all pullets) between 

 10 and 11 weeks. Experiment continued for four weeks. 



The birds in the pen made larger increases on less food than those in the crates, 

 and consequently the cost of production per pound of increase with the former is less 

 than with the latter — the difterence in favour of the pen being no less than 1*2 cents 

 per pound of live weight. 



Table VII. — Pen versus Cuate. 

 No. 7. — Silver-Gray Dorking. No. 8. — Barred Plymouth Rock. 



No. 7. 



Pen. 



Cratt 



No. 8. 



Pen. 



Crate 



o 

 o 



d' 

 Si 



71 

 73 



74 

 77 

 78 

 81 

 70 

 72 

 75 

 76 

 79 

 80 



89 

 90 

 27 

 8] 

 '25 

 82 

 23 



92 

 84 

 52 



3 

 P-i 



P. 

 P. 

 P. 

 P. 

 P. 

 P. 

 P. 

 P. 

 P. 

 P. 

 P. 

 P. 



C. 



c. 

 c. 

 c. 

 c. 

 c. 

 c. 



45 C. 

 42 C. 



c. 

 a 

 c. 



Weight. 





lU 



8 



14 



12 



14l 

 6" 

 lOi 

 4i!l 

 ^1 

 2 

 2 



1st 

 week. 



i 



9 

 13 



lU 

 5i 

 2" 



12 

 3 



15 

 7 

 9i 



15S 



id 



G 



o 



3 







5i 



^ 



8 



15 



2 



lU 

 15" 



H 



12* 



H 



14 



3 

 12 



8 

 12i 



m 

 4 



8 



2nd 

 v/eek. 



2 

 2 



2 



2 



2 

 2 



2 

 2 

 1 

 2 

 2 

 2 



3rd 



week. 



7 



4 



10 



1? 



12 



4 



8 

 15 



4^2 



6 



15 



H 







8 

 3 



10 

 

 6i 

 3 



N 



O 



15i 



10 



1 



13 



n 



4 



11 



Hi 



12 

 12 



loj 

 4 

 

 9 



c% 



14 



8 

 2 



15 



6| 



14i 



3i 



4th 

 week. 



4 



14 



5h 



1| 

 6^ 



13i 

 151 

 10 

 13 

 1 

 15 



8 

 10 



15 



6 



15 



Hi 

 9 



7h 



9 



9 



5th 

 week. 



O 



6th 

 week. 



13 

 11 

 lOi 

 12" 

 15 

 13 



8 

 15i 



2" 



2 





 15 



4 



2i 

 14 



9 



8 



6 



2 

 10 



8 



4 



7h 

 



a 



a 



^3 



g 



'cS 



o 



^ o 



a.? 

 > o 



8i0 

 6lo 



540 



6 

 10 



7i 

 5 



6 

 8 

 2 



5 

 13 

 12 

 13 



5 



7 

 11 



J 



•2 



8i 



4A 



U 



lokO 



o 



C4 



5| 

 G 



oh 

 5j 



Gh 

 6 



5i 



H 



5i 

 6" 

 4i 



k 



9| 



