PRACTICAL FEEDING OF POULTRY 



chickens in addition to being well fleshed, is a thorough 

 bleaching of the skin caused by feeding milk. 



Chickens are used for commercial fattening after they 

 weigh from i to i l /2 pounds and are then fed the fatten- 

 ing rations for from 6 to 17 days. The smaller sizes are 

 fed for a longer time than the larger-sized chickens. 

 Hens are only fed under those conditions for a short 

 period, usually from 4 to 8 days while only a very small 

 proportion of the hens marketed through the fattening 

 stations are fattened at all. Chickens are usually fat- 

 tened up to about Christmas time although the number 

 fattened after November i is comparatively small. 

 Chickens available for fattening after the first of the 

 year are too large in size to make good gains while their 

 flesh has already started to become hard. Some of the 

 fattening stations have a feeding capacity of over 50,000 

 chickens at one time and will fatten 200,000 or more 

 chickens during the season. 



The average gain in weight in this feeding is directly 

 in proportion to the size of the chickens. In experiments 

 conducted at one of the large fattening stations in the 

 state of Kansas by the U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

 broilers weighing 1.60 pounds gained 34.9 per cent and 

 consumed 3.69 pounds of grain in addition to milk in pro- 

 ducing a pound of grain while larger chickens averaging 

 3.05 pounds in weight gained only 14 per cent and con- 

 sumed 5.5 pounds of grain while making a pound of gain. 

 As the broilers make the best gains they are fed longer 

 than roasters which partly accounts for this great differ- 



