292 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



the year. The birds that only lay in the spring never lay eggs fre- 

 quently enough to make up for the lost time in the fall and winter. 

 The supreme test of the high producing quality of a bird is the num- 

 ber of the eggs she lays when the conditions are most unfavorable. 

 This statement I am well aware is contrary to the opinions of some 

 practical poultrymen and investigators, but I am perfectly willing to 

 assume the responsibility for its accuracy. 



Now just get this point. Never undertake to pick out high produc- 

 ing hens when the conditions are favorable for production. At this 

 time all or nearly all. the hens both good and poor are laying. When 

 climatic conditions are against them the good ones only continue to 

 lay. 



A Member: Do you advise to feed these hens all they wish to 

 eat when they are under this test? 



PROF. RICE : Yes sir, all that they wish to eat of the right kind 

 of dry mash feed, but not all the grain they want to eat. So long 

 as they have all they can eat of dry ground feed, with its meat, bran, 

 middlings, cornmeal, etc., fine ground dry feed and possibly a wet 

 mash a day; and so long as they eat it up clean, there is little or no 

 danger of overfeeding. The danger of overfeeding any flock of fowls 

 is when they can eat all the grain, whole or cracked that tliey want 

 without working for it. They are likely to fill up on it and become 

 lazy and inactive, and lacking the phj^sical activity or the keenness 

 of appetite to exercise they become less productive. 



A Member: Would it make any difference if they had a little 

 feed left in the evening? 



PROF. RICE: Not at all, so long as they cleaned it up promptly 

 the next morning. I think the idea especially in the winter of let- 

 ting them have a little grain left over at night, so long as their ap- 

 petites are kept keen, is a good one. 



We ought to study the normal curves of production at different 

 months. This slide (Fig. 11) represents the monthly percentage 

 of production for a year, of three separate "flocks of fowls in 

 different parts of New York State, several hundred fowls were in 

 each flock. The records were kept by men who knew nothing about 

 what the other co-operators were doing and yet when these records 

 were sent in every month and tabulated and plotted up at the end 

 of the year, we find with what great uniformity these three flocks of 

 fowls produced their eggs. Beginning over here in December we 

 find that in all three instances their production was less than 20%. 

 In some instances it was as low as 12% to 15% ; that in the month of 

 January it came to about 20% and 25% or in one case as 

 high as 35%. In February they all came up a little; one dropped a 

 little temporarily; then in March they all gave a big jump to 45% 

 or better. In April it was up to 50% to 65%; in May one flock 

 went as high as 75% and the others dropped a little; then came up 

 slightly; in June they began to go down; then lower in July, lower 



