470 I<:XPER1MENT STATION lll'.COKI). 



pared with 14-i egt;^ per bird from all the station pullets. The large number of 

 eggs laid by tbe selected early pullets, and the fact that few of them were poor 

 layers, in the author's opinion, shows the advantage of selecting early layers for 

 breeding purposes. 



As regards the feed required for i-aising l)roilers the station records show that 

 cockerels hatched in April and May, when 11 or V2 weeks old, weighed 2.25 lbs. 

 dressed, and pullets 1.75 lbs. On an average bnth pullets and cockerels had 

 eaten 9 lbs. of grain, 1 lb. of beef scrap, and 0.25 lb. of grit. The estimated cost 

 of feed re(iuired to raise a 2-lb. broiler was 2'A cts. " To make bi-oiler raising 

 most profitable, warmed houses should be used and the birds raised early 

 enough to be all marketed while high jirices are obtainable." 



The dry-feed system of feeding referred to in earlier publications (E. S. R., 

 17, p. 388) is discussed and data recorded regarding the amounts eaten per hen 

 during the past year, which were grain and meal mixture !>0 lbs., oyster shell 

 4 lbs., dry cracked bone 2.4 lbs., grit 2 ll)s., charcoal 2.4 lbs., and clover 10 lbs. 



Succulent feeds are supi>lied to the station poultry throughout the year. In 

 a test beginning .January 1 and covering 4 months mangel-wurzels and cut 

 clover were compared with 2 lots of loO hens each. The lots were fed and 

 cared for alike, except that one received 17 lbs. of mangels per day and the 

 other 5 lbs. of clover leaves and heads. On mangles the average egg yield was 

 6.3.9 eggs per hen and on clover 59.6 eggs. 



" The slight difference between the yields of the two lots can hardly be 

 regarded as indicating greater value for the mangold ration. 



" The vigor and api)arent healthfulness of tlie two lots were equally good. In 

 the general feeding both mangolds and clover are used dally. Formerly it was 

 thought necessary to steam or wet the clover with hot water, in order to get 

 good I'esults from it. It is now cut and fed dry, in the bottom of cement barrels, 

 cut off about ten inches high. About 5 pounds are eaten daily, by 100 hens, 

 with very little waste. Apparently as good results are gotten from it as when 

 it was scalded, the labor of preparation being very nuich lessened." 



Using 50 year-old Barred riymonth Rock hens, which had been kept by 

 themselves since they were 12 weeks old, the time recjuired to establish fertility 

 in eggs when hens are first mated was studied. All the eggs laid the first day 

 of mating were found to be infertile. Eggs laid the second day showed fertility 

 in different degrees. From 21 eggs laid the third day 10 chicks were hatched. 

 " The eggs laid during the days Immediately following the fourth day of mating 

 yielded rather more than 50 per cent of good chicks, which is about the per- 

 centage usual in the general incubation work here, which, however, is done 

 earlier in the season, when conditions are supposed to be not as favorable." 



It is commonly believed that eggs from hens which have been laying for a 

 long time are less likely to hatch than those produced earlier in the laying 

 period. To test this point, eggs laid the first 10 days of each month from 

 January to October by 40 hens were incubated. The percentage which hatched 

 ranged from 24 in February to 61 in April. The percentage was also notice- 

 ably high (52 to 58 per cent) in July. August, and September. "From this 

 test there appears no support of the theory that long-continued laying reduces 

 the chick-producing capacities of the eggs." 



The effects of long and short mating periods upon the proportion of eggs 

 which hatched were also studied. From pens where the males and females ran 

 together all winter 3,240 eggs were incubated and 1,529 chicks were hatched, an 

 average of about 1 chick to 2.13 eggs. From pens where the males and females 

 had not been together until the mating season liegan 2.160 eggs were incubated 

 and 1,075 chicUs batched, or about 1 chick to 2 eggs. 



