April io, 1891.] 



SCIENCE. 



205 



THE FEEDING OF FOWLS.' 



On July 2, 1889, ten Plymouth Eock hens, one year old, and 

 as nearly as possible of uniform size, were selected from a flock of 

 thirty-five. At the same time ten chickens, hatched from the 

 same hens mated with a Plymouth Rook cook, were similarly 

 chosen. The chickens were about six weeks old, healthy and 

 vis;orous, and of nearly the same size. Up to the time of pur- 

 chase, both hens and chickens had full run of the farm, Tlie 

 hens foraged for themselves, and were given no fo(jd. The 

 chickens had been fed corn-meal dough, sour milk, and table- 

 scraps. 



A preliminary feeding-trial was continued for twenty-five days, 

 during which time both hens and chickens were confined all to- 

 gether in a fairly well lighted and ventilated room, and fed a 

 great variety of food, in order that all should go into the feeding- 

 trial as nearly as possible in the same condition. During this 

 preliminary feeding, both hens and chickens increased in live 

 weight, — the ten hens from a total of 44 pounds 12 ounces to 47 

 pounds 1,5 ounces, or 3.75 ounces each, laying 93 eggs; the chick- 

 ens, from a total of 9 pounds 15 ounces to 18 pounds, or 13.9 

 ounces each. 



Food, shells, and water were kept constantly before the fowls. 

 Basins which contained the food and water were kept within a 

 box constructed of lath, so arranged that I he fowls could reach 

 between the slats and procure food and drink without wasting or 

 soiling. 



July 36 the hens and chickens were each separated into two 

 lots of five each, as follows: hens, nitrogenous ration, weighed 23 

 pounds 8.5 ounces; hens, carbonaceous ration, weighed 33 pounds 

 9 ounces ; chickens, nitrogenous ration, weighed 8 pounds 15 

 ounces; chickens, carbonaceous ration, weighed 9 pounds 1 

 ounce. 



The four lots were placed in separate pens, where they re- 

 mained during the entire experiment, which lasted one hundred 

 and twenty-five days. They were fed and watered once daily, 

 and an account kept of the food eaten and water drank. At 

 each feeding the food and water remaining was weighed back, 

 and deducted from the amount charged at the previous feeding. 



The hens and chickens fed a nitrogenous ration were given 

 daily all they would eat of the following mixture, — one-third 

 part wheat-bran, one- third part wheat-shorts, one-third part cot- 

 tonseed-meal, two parts skimmed milk, — and will be designated 

 Lot I. 



Tlie hens and chickens fed a carbonaceous ration were given 

 daily all they would eat of a ration of cracked maize and maize 

 (lough, and will be designated Lot II. 



Both groups were given a small amount of green clover as long 

 as it lasted, and afterward cabbage. 



For convenience the experiment was divided into five periods 

 of twenty-Hve days. 



During the first period all the fowls seemed in good health ex- 

 cept the c:irbonaceous fed chicks. They, during this as in all 

 succeeding periods, were restless and peevish, always moping or 

 hunting for something to eat, though their trough was filled. 

 When fed, they would greedily take a few mouthfuls, and then, 

 with their hunger still unappeased, would leave the dish. They 

 always ate ravenously the green food which was given them, as 

 did the hens and chickens of Lot I. The hens of Lot II., on the 

 contrary, seemed quite willing to squat about the pen and subsist 

 on the maize diet, and, strangely enough, cared little for green 

 food. The clear maize diet was accompanied by such ill efiects, 

 that the chickens of each lot, after the first period, were given 

 daily each one-fourth ounce of wheat, and the hens each one 

 ounce. The wheat was increased during the fourth and fifth pe- 

 riods, in the case of the chickens, to one ouuce each. During the 

 second period, one of the chickens fed nitrogenous food, and 

 during the third period another of the same lot, were taken ill 

 and removed from the experiment. Both seemed to be suffering 

 from impacted crops, as the stomach and gizzard in each case 

 were found to be empty. 



* Condensed from a thesis prepared for the degree of bachelor of science in 

 a^griculture, by James Edward Rice, a graduate of the class of 1890 of the Col- 

 lege of Agriculture of Cornell University. 



The fact that the sick chickens disliked the nitrogenous ration, 

 and that since the first period the amount of food eaten by the 

 hens and chickens of Lot I. had continually decreased, led to the 

 belief that their food might be too nitrogenous; and as, during 

 the last days of the third period, one of the hens in Lot I. was 

 also ill, it was decided to discontinue the use of cottonseed-meal, 

 and to use linseed-meal instead. The hen recovered soon after 

 the change in food 



The supply of skim-milk running short in the last two periods, 

 water was used instead in mixing the ration of the lots fed nitro- 

 genous food. 



At the beginning of the fifth period one-half of the linseed- 

 meal in the ration of Lot I. was removed, and cottonseed-meal 

 substituted. This combination seemed a happy one, for on this 

 ration both hens and chickens made large gains. 



At the end of the experiment little difference could be seen in 

 the hens of the two groups; but the two lots of chickens were 

 in striking contrast. While the chickens fed on nitrogenous 

 food were large, plump, healthy, active, and well feathered, 

 the chickens fed on a carbonaceous ration were in general 

 much smaller, sickly, and in several cases almost destitute 

 of feathers Two of them had perfectly bare backs, and so 

 ravenous were they for flesh and blood that they began eating 

 one another. 



The inability of the chickens fed on a carbonaceous diet to 

 throw out new feathers, and the ability of the chickens fed on a 

 nitrogenous diet to grow an enormous coat of feathers, is a splen- 

 did illustration of the effect of the composition of the food in 

 supplying certain requirements of animal growth. It was plain 

 to see that maize, even when assisted by a small amount of wheat 

 and green clover, could not supply sufficient nitrogen for the 

 growth of feathers. 



' While both lots of hens lost weight during the experiment, the 

 loss was slightly greater with those fed nitrogenous food, but 

 these produced by far the most eggs. 



The chickens fed on nitrogenous food just about doubled in 

 weight, while those fed on carbonaceous food only added about 

 one-third to their weight. 



During the first week the carbonaceous fed hens laid three 

 eggs, while the others laid two. The two groups were therefore 

 practically evenly divided at the start as to the condition of the 

 laying stage. At the end of the first period the nitrogenous fed 

 hens had laid forty-lhree eggs, and the carbonaceous fed hens 

 had laid twenty. During the next twenty-five days the former 

 laid thirty, and the latter six. During the third period the for- 

 mer laid six, and the latter not any. From this time on, no eggs 

 were received from either group. The decline in egg-production 

 was probably due in large part to the fact that the hens began to 

 moult during the second period, and continued to do so during 

 the rest of the experiment. 



The eggs laid by the nitrogenous fed hens were of small size, 

 having a disagreeable flavor and smell, watery albumen, an espe- 

 cially small, dark-colored yolk with a tender vitelline membrane, 

 which turned black after being kept several weeks; while the 

 eggs of the carbonaceous fed hens were large, of fine flavor, of 

 natural smell, large normal albumen, an especially large rich 

 yellow yolk, with strong vitelline membrane, which was perfectly 

 preserved after being kept for weeks in the same brine %vith the 

 other eggs. 



Samples of the eggs from each lot of fowls were privately 

 marked, and sold to a boarding-house where the cook did not 

 know that the eggs were undergoing a test. On meeting the cook 

 several days later, the following words were heard: '-Do you 

 expect me to cook such eggs as these ? About every other one is 

 spoiled." 



On examination of the ovaries after slaughtering, it was found 

 that in the case of one of the carbonaceous fed hens the ovules 

 were in a more advanced stage, but, on the whole, the nitrogenous 

 fed hens were much nearer the laying period. With this single 

 exception, the cluster of ovules in the carbonaceous fed hens were 

 uniformly small. Neither group would have laid under any 

 probability for several weeks. It would seem from these facts, 

 together with the fact that during the experiment the nitroge- 



