PROGRESSIVE POULTRY RAISING 



rather than on general farms. The Leghorn has not 

 proved popular as a general farm fowl largely for two 

 reasons. The first is that as usually bred, they furnish 

 a rather small carcass for table use and second, they are 

 so flighty as to be difficult of control. It is possible, 

 however, to breed Leghorns of good size which are fairly 

 desirable for table use. The fact that they lay a pure 

 white egg which is in demand in certain extreme Eastern 

 and Western markets makes them desirable in those 

 sections. 



A recent bulletin (No. 338) from the New Jersey 

 Agricultural Experiment Station gives some very inter- 

 esting . figures on the representatives of the various 

 breeds entered in the egg laying contest at Vineland, N. J. 

 The Plymouth Rocks included the Barred, White and 

 Columbian varieties. The Wyandottes were White and 

 Columbians. The Rhode Island Reds were all Single 

 Combs and the Leghorns were mostly Single Comb 

 Whites, with a very few Single Comb Buffs and Blacks. 

 In judging the results of this contest it should be remem- 

 bered that the figures show the returns from eggs alone 

 and not what the result would be upon marketing the 

 flock after the profitable egg producing period. The 

 numbers of representatives of each breed, the average 

 first-year production, feed consumption and financial 

 returns were as follows: 



Plymouth Rhode Island 



llocks Wyandottes Reds Leghorns 



Number of Birds 1 70 1 50 80 600 



Number of Eggs per Bird I55-0 144.3 150.6 169.7 



Per Cent Production 42.5 39.5 41.2 46.5 



Per Cent of zoo-Egg Hens 14.7 8.6 11.2 22.8 



Weight of Eggs per Bird (Ibs.) 19-73 I7-Q8 19.74 21.36 



Average Weight of Birds (Ibs.) 5.94 4.99 5.31 3.49 



Feed Consumed per Bird (Ibs.) 89.78 80.34 86.56 76.19 



Average Cost of Feed per Bird $2.52 $2.30 $2.47 $2.19 



Pounds of Feed to i pound of Eggs 4.6 4.6 4.5 3.5 



Actual Price per Dozen Eggs $0.43 $0.43 $0.43 $0.46 



Actual Value of Eggs per Bird $5.46 $5.22 $5-44 $6.49 



Actual Returns above Feed per Bird $2.91 $2.92 $2.97 $4-3 



Page Ten 



