EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 505 



that in this period wherein the chickens approached the average weight 

 of five pounds it required C.56 pounds of grain to make a pound of gaiu 

 with Pen 1, and 5.8 pounds in Pen 2. These figures are significant and 

 go far to show that one of the most common mistakes in poultry fatten- 

 ing is holding the chickens too long in the fall. 



R EL ATI VE GAINS OF YOUNG DUCKS AND CHICKENS. 



On the sixth of June thirty-nine young ducks, two weeks old, were 

 weighed and placed in a brooder, and yard attached, to be fed against 

 the same number of chickens of the same age placed in another brooder 

 and yard. On that date the 39 ducks weighed 13.25 pounds and the 39 

 chickens, 7.5 pounds. 



The feed of the ducks consisted of middlings, corn meal and bran, 

 besides the necessary grit and green food. The green food consisted of 

 lettuce and the run at a grass patch included within the fences of the 

 small yard. The young things were very fond of this grass and ate it 

 almost continuously which will account for the small amount of grain 

 food required for their growth. 



The chickens were fed relatively more corn meal than the ducks and 

 had no middlings. They were also allowed the run of a small grass plat 

 ami were fed lettuce in addition. Both pens had abundant exercise 

 and were healthy and thrifty. The experiment was continued but five 

 weeks as by that time the ducks were nearly ready for the early market. 



In the five weeks the ducks ate 41.3 pounds of corn, 93.1 pounds of 

 middlings, 43.4 pounds of bran, and 59 pounds of lettuce, besides 88 

 pounds of skim milk. In the same time the 39 chickens, ate 52.2 pounds 

 of corn, 25.9 pounds of bran, and 46 pounds of lettuce besides 44.3 pounds 

 of skim milk. No estimate can be made of the amount of grass eaten by 

 the two pens. 



On July 11th the ducks weighed 122 pounds, having gained 108.75 

 pounds in the five weeks and this notwithstanding the fact that one of 

 the ducklings died on the 18th of June in the second week of the test. 

 The average weight of the ducks on July 11th was therefore 4.36 pounds. 



The thirty-nine chickens weighed, July 11th, 30 pounds, having gained 

 but 22.5 pounds in the five weeks and averaging when seven weeks old 

 but three-quarters of a pound. 



In estimating the cost of the gain the values of the different materials 

 was calculated as follows: The corn, at $14.00 per ton, the bran the 

 same, the middlings at $15.00, the milk at twenty cents per hundred, 

 and the lettuce at one cent per pound. At these rates the total cost of 

 the 108.75 pounds of gain of the ducks was $2.06 or 1.9 cents per pound. 

 This is of course the food cost alone. The food cost of the gain of the 

 chickens was $1.09 or 4.84 cents per pound. The ducklings gained there- 

 fore not only much more rapidly than the chickens but more economically 

 as well. 



Although not bearing directly on the experiment, it may be reported 

 that twenty-nine of these ducks were sold at eight and a half rents per 

 pound. July 21. They weighed at that time 112 pounds. 



At that date the broiler season being over, the chickens were not 

 large enough to sell at any price. The feeding of the 39 chickens was 

 kept up until August 8. At that time they weighed 65.5 pounds and had 

 (U 



