707 



An unlimited supply of poumlfd ijliisf. Ims Ix-cii attcinloil v. itli no bad rosiilt wlun 

 the food and other <j;rit available to the fowls coiitaiiu'd an almiidanec of lime, l>iit 

 when the food was dcHeicnt in lime and no other grit was attainable, hens ate an 

 injuriously large anionut of glass. 



New York State Station, Bulletin No. 39 (New Series), January, 1892 (pp. 23). 



Skim ^iilk for growing chickens (pp. 11-15). — Two Ijioods of 

 chicken.*!, one coiitaiiiiiijii- 14 and tlie other 1(5, were kei>t in scjtarate jyeibs 

 and fed on wheat, a niixtnre of eorn meal, bran, middlings, and liii.seed 

 meal, and skim milk. One pen received meat scrajts also, and all 

 received a little green clover towaids the close of the trial. The 

 chickens were from 1 to ."^ days old at the beginning of the trial. A 

 hen was kept with each pen until the chickens "were well feathered 

 (5| to 7| weeks). The skim milk was nsnally fed sweet. The chickens 

 and hens were weighed weekly. The results are tabulated, showing 

 gains, food consumed, cost, etc. In the estimates of (!ost the grain 

 mixture was valued at $20 i)er ton, the wheat at $1 per bushel, the 

 skim milk at 25 cents per hundred pounds, the clover at $2 per ton, and 

 the meat scraps at 2.5 cents per pound. 



With one jien the average cost of food for every pound increase in weight during 

 the whole time was 5.66 eents; for the other the cost of increase for all but the last 



2 weeks was 5.36 cents, and during these 2 weeks 5.63 cents. In one pen the 

 chickens averaging 2.4 ponmls weight at 101 weeks of age were grown at a cost for 

 food of 5.31 cents per pound, or an average of 12.7 cents apiece; in the other pen the 

 chickens averaging 2.4 pounds at llf weeks of age cost for food 5.36 cents per jiound 

 or 12.9 cents apiece. This cost of production of course includes the cost of feeding 

 the hen during the first few weeks. * * * 



Under ordinary conditions chickens ought to he hatched, making a fair allowance 

 for value of eggs and food for sitting hens, at a cost of less than 5 cents apiece. The 

 highest cost per iioiind gain during anj- week while growing chickens to 3.5 pounds 

 average weight, was less than 7 cents, and the cost averaged much less than 6 cents. 

 At the priced generally obtained for chickens of this and lesser weights the growth was 

 certainly a profitable one. With chickens having the liberty of the fields it seems rea- 

 sonable to expect a still cheaper production of meat, and it would ajtpear that a 

 profital)le use for some of the skim milk of the faiin would be in the growing of 

 chickens for home use or for the market. 



Feeding tallow to hens (pp. 10-21). — In order to observe the 

 effect of feeding more than an average amount of fat in a ration, two 

 pens of hens (eight in each pen at the beginning) were fed froni March 



3 to October 0, one having as much tallow as was readily eaten, with 

 a moderate grain ration, and the other having a similar grain ration 

 with old -process linseed meal substituted for the tallow. The fowls 

 were all Brown Leghorns, except two Game Wyandottes in each pen. 

 The nutritive ratio of the tallow ration was 1:6.75 and of the linseed- 

 meal ration 1:4.47. The ratio of fat to the total water-free food was 

 1 :8.1 in the tallow ration and 1:29.5 in the other. The results are fully 

 tabulated by xjeriods of from 21 to 48 days. 



