Agricultural Research in New Hampshire 63 



Poultry Improvement Under the 

 National Poultry Improvement Plan 



New Hampshire is participating under the following breeding phases 

 of the National Poultry Improvement Plan: U. S. Register of Merit; 

 U. S. Record of Performance; U. S. Certified; U. S. Approved. 



U. S. Register of Merit: This year nine of the eleven R.O.P. breed- 

 ers of chickens are taking advantage of this advanced breeding stage that 

 recognizes the families which produce progeny of outstanding perform- 

 ance. Last year only four were participating in this stage of the N.P.I.P. 



U. S. Record of Performance: During the year 1940-41 there were 

 thirteen flocks of chickens and turkeys under official R.O.P. supervision. 

 The two flocks of turkeys are not under the supervision of the N.P.I.P. 

 since there are no provisions for turkeys at present. Turkey ilocks are 

 supervised according to the rules and standards set up by the N.H.R.O.P. 

 Association. 



During 1941-42 there were eleven flocks of chickens in R.O.P. and 

 one flock of turkeys. There are approximately 6,957 chickens and 200 

 turkeys entered in R.O.P. this year. 



The summary for 1941-42 is not available at present since the records 

 are not completed until December 1942. 



U. S. Certified: This year (1941-42) there were again seven flocks 

 that met the requirements of a U. S. Certified flock. 



U. S. Approved: This stage of the National Poultry Improvement 

 Plan has shown the greatest increase. In 1941-42 there were 171 flocks 

 that were U. S. Approved as compared with 18 flocks in 1940-41 and 8 

 in 1939-40. Of these 55 flocks were actually handled by the official in- 

 spector, while the other 116 flocks were handled by flock selecting agents 

 and the work checked by the inspector. 



There were 302,613 birds represented by these 171 flocks, of which 

 84,986 were actually handled for U. S. Approval. Of the males 17.5 

 per cent were rejected by the inspector, as compared with 10.9 per cent 

 of the females; or 11.5 per cent of all birds handled were rejected. (C. 

 W. Hess, D. W. Flagg, H. E. Parker) 



Litter Moisture 



Data have been collected and observations have been made on litter 

 moisture conditions for a period of approximately three years. These 

 observations and data have included poultry pen humidity, temperature 

 and litter moisture content, similar records for litter maintained in a 

 separate "plot" house affected solely by atmospheric conditions, water 

 absorptive capacity and retention values of various litters, rate of mois- 

 ture increase in litter replacements to poultry pens, egg production, 

 mortality, water consumption and spillage by birds, effect of under floor 

 heat on litter moisture, and sources of litter moisture. 



The chief sources of litter moisture are (1) poultry droppings, (2) 

 bird respiration, (3) water spillage by birds and attendants, (4) atmos- 

 pheric moisture, and (5) snow or rain storms beating into pen. 



