posed by broiler contractors or hatcheries with respect to brand of feed, 

 feeding program, or installation of automatic feeders. Some broiler con- 

 tractors appear opposed to the use of the latter because they want growers 

 to work closely with their birds at all times and regard hand feeding as an 

 integral part of the program. Hence, bulk feed coupled with mechanization, 

 a strong selling point, cannot be pertinently suggested to the grower. 



The type of feeding program which a producer follows on his own or 

 under direction, bears directly upon the feasibility of extending bulk feed 

 service to that farm. In general, the more complex the program — in terms 

 of kinds of separate feeds used — the larger the unit size must be before 

 bulk service can be used. For example, if it is proper to deliver about every 

 two weeks, and the company's policy permits deliveries of not less than 

 one ton of any one item at a time, then a producer feeding all-mash who has 

 about 500 laying birds might qualify. However, with a mash-and-scratch 

 program, and the same conditions of delivery, the flock would probably 

 need to be twice as large. 



Size of minimum delivery and frequency of delivery may be inter- 

 related and thus are herein discussed together. The size of minimum delivery 

 is partially a resultant of the equipment in use for loading, weighing, and 

 hauling bulk feed. In weighing, it is impossible to stop the gravity flow on 

 the exact figure every time. In the interests of efficiency the load may run 

 over or under a few pounds. Below a ton, the same margin of error in 

 pounds would become progressively greater percentagewise, and even though 

 payment is on actual quantity, probably would be more troublesome to 

 smaller than to larger producers. With most bulk trucks now in use in the 

 State, bins hold about two tons each. It seems reasonable that one-ton de- 

 liveries be set as the minimum, though two is preferable from the cost 

 standpoint. However, a few one-ton orders mixed in with larger orders 

 would help keep the equipment operating close to capacity in many areas 

 without too much additional outlay. The use of a one-ton minimum delivery 

 in selected cases would not only help enlarge the "potential market", but 

 would he within the quantitative discount breakdowns suggested earlier in 

 the bulletin. 



Frequency of delivery, as minimum delivery size, seems now to be 

 largely a matter of company policy and/or opinion. As previously pointed 

 out, controlled experimentation on the keeping characteristics of grain-feeds 

 under New Hampshire farm storage conditions is needed. This work should 

 concern itself with both bagged and bulk feed. 



With producing stock (milk cows or laying hens), size of the animal 

 and level of production introduce some variation into computations. In 

 Table 29, however, a standard rate is used for milk cows, and variation 

 for laying hens covers only a few levels of production. The latter, as well 

 as body weight, actually effects only minor variation in laying flock cal- 

 culations. 



With growing stock, minimum unit size shifts with age, i.e., as feed 

 consumption per unit increases. These shifts are obviously substantial 

 (Table 28). However, if a company can justify very infrequent delivery 

 for the first few weeks, or preferably, service with bagged feed, the mini- 

 mum number of growing chickens needed to justify bulk feed service is 

 rather low after that period. Hence, the bulk feed market could be enlarged. 

 In practice, this adjustment on growing stock might involve the following: 



53 



