52 N. II. Age. Experiment Station [Bulletin :><;.■> 



GROWING PULLETS 



The twenty-three farms started a total of 93,035 chicks for replace- 

 ment of the laying flock and housed :::».7l , > pullets or 38.4% (Table 23). 



Table 23 — Summary of brooding records on 23 farms, showing 

 disposal of chicks started 



Broilers sold 



Roasters sold 



Pullets and broiler cockerels sold. 



Started chicks sold 



I'sed in home 



Inventoried as broilers, culls 



Pullets obtained 



Iirced cockerels obtained 



Dead 



Total started 



93,035 



100 



Three per cent were saved as breeding cockerels, and 35% were sold 

 as broilers. The total mortality, including all chicks unaccounted for, 

 was 13,505 birds, or 14.5%. The range in mortality for individual 

 farms was from 3.3$ to 40.9%. In addition to production of replace- 

 ment pullets, three farms produced 4997 special winter broilers. The 

 mortality on these was 589 birds, or 11.8%. 



When the farms are grouped according to number of chicks brooded 

 in Table 24. the difference in losses in mortality are not enough to be 

 significant except in the group having 3000 to 4000 chicks. This group 

 contained two farms where the losses were exceptionally heavy. In 

 general there is no evidence that those who brood large numbers of 

 chicks have higher losses than others. 



Table 24 Relation of number of chicks l>r<io<h<i to mortality 



February, March and April appear to be the favorite months for 

 hatching, and 79% of the chicks brooded came in these three months 

 (Table 25). Only 9% were brooded after April 30th. 



