252 FEEDING 



of the whole egg. The shell is almost wholly composed 

 of mineral matter, a large proportion of which is car- 

 bonate of lime. From these figures we see that if the bird 

 is to be properly maintained to yield a goodly egg pro- 

 duction, the ration fed must contain a large amount of 

 protein, water, and ash. 



EGG PRODUCTION A DRAIN ON THE VITALITY 



In order to produce an abundance of eggs, much raw 

 material must be consumed to be transformed into the egg. 

 A bird must be strong and have considerable vitality to bear 

 this strain; weak hens frequently break down and succumb. 

 In the average hen weighing from three to five pounds, 

 which produces in a year twelve dozen eggs, the egg producing 

 organs must be working all the time in order to transform 

 the large mass of feed material into eggs. 



The Record of the Belle of New Jersey. The following 

 interesting figures from the record of a wonderful little White 

 Leghorn hen would emphasize the requirements of such a 

 bird for egg production. This little White Leghorn hen was 

 bred purposely for egg production (Fig. 139). During 

 her pullet year she laid 246 eggs, the total weight of which 

 was 29J^ pounds. At maturity she weighed three and 

 eight-tenths pounds. The weight of her eggs was eight times 

 as great as that of her body. The feed she consumed during 

 this period weighed 118 pounds. Thus the weight of her 

 feed was thirty times as great as that of her body. Her feed 

 cost SI. 79. When we stop to consider the immense amount 

 of work this little hen had to do in order to transform such 

 a large volume of feed into eggs, we do not wonder that 

 strength is one of the first requisites for egg production. 

 After the cost of feed and labor and the interest were de- 

 ducted, the bird yielded a profit of $4.72. This is abnormally 

 high production. It shows, however, what can be accom- 

 plished when conditions are right. By mating the sons of this 



