216 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT 



other houses at the end of experiment, though their weights 

 were equal at the start. The size of egg is undoubtedly in- 

 fluenced by the physical condition or vigor of the fowl. 

 The food affects the vigor of the fowl and therefore affects 

 the size of egg. In more recent experiments at the New 

 Jersey Station, rations deficient in protein produced un- 

 dersized eggs. (New Jersey Bulletin 265.) Other recent 

 experiments at "West Virginia indicate that scanty feeding 

 produces undersized eggs (West Virginia Bulletin 145). 



Food Affects the Profits. A proper study of foods and 

 feeding must include prices as well as composition. A ration, 

 although it may give good results in egg yield, may not be 

 profitable because it is made up of too high-priced foods. 

 There is no patent on egg-producing foods. It is not neces- 

 sary to use any certain kind or brand of foods. It is not 

 necessary to pay more for the chickens 7 food than for the 

 food for the family table. There are rations that are im- 

 practicable because they are too high-priced. 



Different Elements of Food. If we look upon the hen 

 as a factory for the production of eggs and the eggs as the 

 finished product, the food will be the raw material. If we 

 had never seen a hen eating wheat we should hardly sus- 

 pect that eggs were made out of wheat. Eggs and wheat 

 do not look much alike, and yet when the chemist analyzes 

 them he finds that they are pretty much alike in composi- 

 tion. The farmer manufactures wheat from the soil, with 

 the assistance of the heat from the sun and the rain from 

 the clouds. The crop it produces he separates into straw, 

 chaff and grain. The chemist takes the grain and separates 

 that into water, protein, carbohydrates, fat and ash. The 

 poultryman feeds wheat to the hen and the hen produces 

 eggs. The chemist analyzes or separates these eggs as he 

 did the wheat and he finds that they contain the same ele- 

 ments as he found in the wheat, namely water, protein, car- 



