1104 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



In a .st'iuiul test the attempt Ava'^ made to fei'd an ordinary eommercial l)lood meal 

 of Canadian mannfacture, not e.si>ecially prepared as a feeding stuff, 2 lots of 5 pigs 

 each being selected for the purpose. From the first the pigs showed aversion to tliia 

 food and after 3 Aveeks it was dropped. When the ])igH had recovere<l their normal 

 condition 9 of them were fed a ration of grain and skim milk 3 times a day to learn 

 something of the comparative merits of fretjuent feeding. 



In 101 days the total gain was 1,224 lbs., the cost of a pound of gain 5.21 cts., and 

 the feed eaten per pound of gain 4.31 lbs. meal and 9.06 lbs. skim milk. These pigs 

 made somewhat greater gains than the lots in the above-mentioned test with which 

 the author considers they are directly comparable, yet, in his opinion, "the extra 

 gain Avas not sufficient to pay for the extra labor of feeding." . . . From this experi- 

 ment it is evident that where gains alone, irrespective of cost, are aimed at, as in the 

 case of some "show stock," feeding 3 times a day or possibly more is good practice. 



Poultry management, F. B. Linfield {Montana Sta. Bui. 50, pp. lSO-190, fgx. ,?). — 

 Poultry houses, pouhry feeding, and other general topics are discussed with special 

 reference to local <-onditions. 



Killing- and plucking poultry {Mark Lane Express, 90 {1904) , ^^o. 3788, pp. 521, 

 522). — A summary of data with special reference to the requirements of the English 

 market. 



Poultry management at tlie Maine Agricultural Experiment Station, 

 G. M. GowELL {Maine Sla. Bui. 100, pp. 20, ph. 6). — Data regarding methods of 

 incubation, treatment, and housing of young chicks, and of feeding laying hens are 

 summarized, the discussion being based on the station's experiments with poultry 

 feeding which have extended over a number of years. Descriptions are also included 

 of warmed and curtained-front poultry houses, and the trap nests devised by the 

 station. Although natural incubation is not the preferable method at the station, it 

 is stated that it has been satisfactorily practiced. Nesting boxes, closed with a door 

 of slats and containing a nest with sufficient space in front so that the hen may stand 

 without breaking the eggs, were found satisfactory. 



"For the accommodation of the hen with her brood of young chicks, the best 

 arrangement consists of a close coop about 30 in. square, with a hinged roof, and a 

 movable floor in two parts, whicli can be lifted out each day for cleaning. This 

 little coop has a wire-covered yard attached to it on the south side. The yard is 4 by 

 5 ft. in size and a foot and a half high." 



After a few weeks the chicks need a larger run and the netting can be raised so 

 that they can pass in and out at will. 



The use of incubators and 1 )rooders has proved very satisfactory. In the case of 

 brooders the greatest difficulty experienced was due to the lamps used as "the ten- 

 dency is for the oil to become warm and form gases, which causes the flame to 

 stream up." It is suggested that this difficulty may be avoided by using an 

 improved lamp. 



When about 100 days old the chickens are moved from the brooders to the fields 

 and the cockrels and pullets are separated and the latter confined in yards in lots of 

 about 100. They are fed twice daily a porridge made of corn meal, middlings, or 

 flour, and fine beef scrap 4:2:1 wet with skim milk or w^ater until the mixture will 

 run but not drop from the end of a wooden spoon. They are fed this mixture in the 

 morning and again toward evening and are given plenty of shade and kept as quiet 

 as possible. Four weeks has been found to be the limit of profitable feeding. Such 

 special feeding is considered profitable as is also the practice of marketing chickens 

 dressed. 



"The quality of the well-covered, soft-fleshed chickens, if not too fat, is so much 

 superior to the same birds not specially prepared, that they will be sought for at the 

 higher price. The dairy farmer is imrticularly well prepared to carry on this work, 

 as he has the skirh milk which is of great importance in obtaining yield and quality 

 of flesh." 



