584 



Bulletin 318 



TABLE 6. Average Dry Matter Consumed, Average Weight of Fowls, and 

 Percentage of Egg Production, by Periods 



(December 10, 1907, to December 7, 1908) 



Period 



I 

 2 

 3 

 4 

 S 

 6 

 7 

 8 

 9 

 10 



II 



12 

 13 



Date 



Beginning . 



December lo-january 6. . . 

 January y-February 3 . . . . 



February 4- March 2 



March 3-March 30 



March 31-April 27 



April 28-May 25 



May 26-June 22 



June 23-July 20 



July 2 1 -August 17 



August 18-September 14. . 

 September 15-October 12.. 

 October 13-November 9. . . 

 November 10 -December 7 . 



Total. . . 

 Average . 



Average dry mat- 

 ter consumed 

 (pounds) 



Strong I Weak 



S-72 

 5.38 

 559 

 6.73 

 6.19 

 5.84 

 5. II 

 4-99 

 S-29 

 5-27 

 4-99 

 483 

 5. 08 



71.01 



5-46 



23 

 47 

 17 

 13 

 94 

 49 

 26 

 05 

 35 

 04 

 87 

 24 

 63 



69.87 



S-37 



Average weight 

 of fowls 

 (pounds) 



Strong Weak 



4 05 



70 

 73 

 88 



85 

 41 

 46 



24 

 30 

 34 

 48 

 36 

 56 

 86 



451 



3.51 



95 

 13 

 44 

 30 

 07 

 93 

 96 

 00 

 97 

 24 

 13 

 17 

 29 



4.07 



Percentage of 

 egg production 



Strong Weak 



12 .9 



31.5 

 28.2 

 55.1 

 66.8 

 60.2 

 55.5 

 39.6 

 37.8 

 31.3 

 20.8 

 7.0 

 7.8 



35.0 



8.5 

 22.6 

 26.0 

 49.6 

 58.6 

 49.3 

 49.3 

 36.9 

 36 -5 

 30.2 

 27.5 

 9.9 

 50 



31 9 



The variation in weight also follows that of food consumption. The 

 effect of heavy laying is to reduce the weight of the fowls. In December, 

 when the egg production is low, the fowls gain rapidly in weight. When 

 there is an increase in egg production there is a decrease in gain in weight, 

 as shown in the months of January, March, and April. An increase in 

 weight precedes an increase in production. 



During the latter part of summer, when the food consumption is low, 

 both the egg yield and the weight of the fowls are also low. This con- 

 dition is materially influenced by the production of an entire new coat of 

 feathers. 



Weight of eggs 

 In Table 7 are shown the number and average weight of all the eggs 

 produced during the last" seven days of each monthly period. The eggs 

 from both strong and weak pens weighed approximately the same. 

 Fluctuations occurred in nearly every period, certain strong pens pro- 

 ducing heavier eggs than the comparison weak pens and vice versa. In 

 the yearly average the strong pens slightly exceeded, although this 

 condition did not hold true in each of the comparison pens. 



Cost per dozen eggs produced 

 The average cost per dozen, as determined by the cost of food divided 

 by the number of eggs laid, was $0.12 for the strong pens and $0,131 



