3o8 Bulletin 249. 



PART II. A COMPARISON OF HAND FEEDING AND HOPPER 



FEEDING. 



Since the data of the experiment indicate that, in Part I, forcing 

 early hatched pullets gave better results than retarding them, a compari- 

 son of the methods used may be attempted. Two methods of forcing 

 (wet mash and grain vs. dry mash and grain) and two methods of re- 

 tarding (hand-fed grain and hopper-fed grain) were tried. 



1 . 

 Food. 



The dry mash hopper-fed hens and grain hopper-fed hens ate more 

 per hen than the hand-fed wet mash and hand-fed grain hens, and at a 

 slightly greater cost. (Table 13.) The hens receiving whole grain ate 

 more grit and shell than those receiving part ground grain. The dry 

 mash hens ate a less percentage of whole grain and a greater proportion 

 of mash than the wet mash hens. 



Gain in weight. 



The dry mash hens made the largest per cent, of gain on their first 

 weight, and also the largest gain in weight, though in size of fowls, they 

 were third on the list. July 28, '06, they were the smallest hens in the 

 experiment, though the difference was slight. (Table 14.) 



Egg production. 



The dry mash and grain fed hens. Pen 2, laid the most eggs per 

 hen at the greatest value per hen, but the eggs cost slightly more per 

 dozen than those of the wet mash and grain fed hens, Pen i. (Table 15.)- 

 By periods, the egg production of the dry mash and grain fed hens was 

 highest most of the time until the tenth period. Then the wet mash and 

 grain fed hens gave the highest production, which continued to the end 

 of the experiment. (Fig. 126.) 



Weight of eggs. 



Eggs from the dry mash and grain fed hens. Pen 2, reached full 

 weight, two ounces, during the fourth period (October-November) while 

 those from the other pens did not reach this weight before the sixth 

 period (December- January) (Tables 1-12). The average weight of 

 eggs for the whole year was slightly greater for the wet mash and grain 

 fed hens, though the per cent, gain in weight of eggs was larger in case 

 of the dry mash and grain fed hens. The smallest hens in the dry mash 

 and grain fed pen laid larger eggs than the smallest hens in the wet 

 mash and grain fed pen. 



