378 



Bulletin 258. 



(4) A=Advanced Molt — The web of the feathers is spread out, but the plumage 

 is still immature. The sheath is often not all removed from the individual feather, 

 the web is uneven, the down is not fluffy, and a white feather is likely to look 

 yellowish. 



(5) N. N.=Nearly New — The hen is nearly new feathered, but has a few old 

 feathers or pin-feathers in some section or sections. 



(6) N.=New=Complete Molt. The molt is fully completed, and the feathers 

 matured. 



It will be seen that the total consumption of food, including grit and 

 shell for the entire experiment, did not vary greatly among the different 

 flocks (Tables I, 11; Figs. 16. 17). In every case the fed flocks con- 

 sumed more food 

 during the experi- 

 ment than the 

 starved flocks of the 

 same age. This 

 difference occurred 

 mainly during the 

 starvation period. 

 The same general 

 comparisons are true 

 when the total 

 amount of food is 

 compared, not includ- 

 ing grit and shell, or 

 when the actual food 

 nutrients is compared 

 (Tables I and II; 

 Figs. 16 and 17). 



The largest quan- 

 tity of food, includ- 

 ing shell and grit, 

 was consumed by the 



Fig. 13. — Dipping the fowls in Diamond [Dyes to 

 observe the molt. Orange, violet, carmine and green 

 were the most enduring colors. 



youngest fowls. For instance, the two flocks of three-year-old fowls 

 together consumed at the rate of 15,996 pounds, the two-year-olds 

 16,998 pounds, and the one-year-olds, 19,143 pounds per hundred fowls 

 during the experiment. 



The total quantity of food consumed during the experiment was 

 greatest with the flocks that laid the most eggs (Tables I and II; 

 Figs. 16 and 17). The amount of grit and shell eaten in proportion to 

 the other food consumed in the six pens varied considerably among the 

 different pens, the lowest amount being (Pen 8), 11.3 lbs, and the highest 

 (Pen 24), 20.8 lbs grain, to one of grit and shell, showing the large amount 

 of grit and shell material required by fowls in laying condition. 



