214 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT 



after feeding this dye to the hen will show the outer rim or 

 layer of the yolk colored. An egg laid at the end of two 

 weeks of feeding will show each layer of yolk distinctly 

 colored. 



So far the experiments referred only to color and flavor. 

 Both color and flavor in the egg are points that have a 

 market value. Eggs either too pale or too highly colored 

 in the yolk will be objected to by consumers who pay a 

 fancy price and expect a fancy article. So, too, the flavor 

 must be unobjectionable if fancy prices are to be received. 



These experiments might indicate that it is possible, by 

 feeding certain foods, to change the chemical composition 

 of eggs or feed into them certain things that will improve 

 their nutritive value. So far, however, this is only a pos- 

 sibility. Little investigation has been done and what has 

 been done seems to show contradictory results. 



Investigations by Cross at Cornell showed that ' ' in feed- 

 ing a ration high in fat or a ration high in protein there 

 is no material change in the amount of fat and protein in 

 the egg. ' ' There is need, however, of further investigation 

 and it would seem that the matter is of practical importance 

 enough to warrant it. 



Food Affects the Yield of Eggs. Other conditions be- 

 ing right, good feeding makes the hen productive, and the 

 productive hen is the healthy hen. In a pen of four fowls 

 at the Utah Station 804 eggs were laid in' one year. 

 Another pen of four, sisters to the others, fed a different 

 ration, laid 532 eggs. The difference in the ration made 

 the difference in the egg yield. In another test one pen 

 laid 574 eggs in a year, and a similar pen on a different 

 ration laid 404. 



In a West Virginia experiment fowls fed a nitrogenous 

 ration laid 7,555 eggs, while other fowls fed a carbonaceous 

 ration laid 3,431 eggs. (West Virginia Bulletin 60.) 



