The ]\r(»LTixf; of Fowls. 411 



importance, and may determine the profit or loss per hen for the year. 

 This was the case with the fed flocks. They continued to pay a fair 

 profit during the molt, while the starved flocks were being kept at a loss. 

 Though the starved flocks laid a few more eggs during early winter than 

 did the fed flocks, they did not lay enough more eggs to overcome the 

 loss during the molting season. This loss was largely due to the starva- 

 tion process. In the second year the comparative profits ruled higher 

 with the fed hens than they did with the ones which were starved the 

 previous year; both flocks being fed normally the second year. This 

 result would appear to indicate that the starved fowls might have been 

 weakened by their long fast. If so, it was shown only in their egg- 

 production. 



From the summary, Table XIII, it will be seen that (estimated on 

 a hundred hen basis) the fed hens laid, during the year, eggs which were 

 worth, at market prices, on the average for each flock, $29.97 more than 

 the eggs laid by the starved hens. They did this at an average cost of 

 $1.17 more for the fed flocks, making the total gross income (when 

 taking into consideration the gain or loss in weight, the loss of stock, 

 the sale of eggs, and the cost of feed, but not including the labor) $219.36 

 for the starved flocks and $248.88 for the fed flocks, an average gross 

 income, in favor of the fed flocks, of $29.52 per pen, which would be, 

 for the three fed pens, $88.56. The total net income was, for the starved 

 fowls, $278.01, and for the fed flocks, $350.94, leaving a net balance 

 profit, in favor of the fed flocks, of $75.93. 



III. GENERAL ADVICE AND SUMMARY. 

 Method of feeding. 



It is generally held that the method of feeding and the quality and 

 quantity of food has much influence on the time, rapidity, and uniformity 

 of molt. 



In the absence of reliable data as to the best method of feeding fowls 

 during the critical period of the molt, it would seem desirable to follow 

 the practice commonly believed to be correct: namely, to feed liberally 

 on rations which are easy of digestion and rich in protein and oil. There- 

 fore, in addition to the regular rations, such foods as meat, oil meal, 

 sunflower seed, etc., should be added, or, if already being fed, should 

 be increased in amount. This modified ration is given in order to meet 

 the increased demands of the body for feather-making material at a time 

 when the system presumably would be in need of protein to furnish 

 nitrogen for the growth of feathers and oil to supply available heat for the 

 scantily protected body 



