﻿THE COMMERCIAL FATTENING OF POULTRY. 11 



Table 6 shows the common custom of separating roasters and 

 broilers, feeding the former for short periods and the latter for a 

 longer time. The broilers produced cheaper gains with less feed 

 than the roasters, the average total cost per pound of gain being 1 .89 

 cents less. Weather conditions were more favorable when most of 

 the broilers were fed, which gives them an advantage over the 

 roasters. Broilers fed during cool weather in summer produced the 

 cheapest gains, but the gains later in the season, though cheaper than 

 those produced by roasters, were much higher than earlier in the 

 season, because a large number of the broilers were stunted and the 

 weather conditions unfavorable. 



The very marked increase in cost of gains in this experiment 

 during November and December shows plainly the effect of weather 

 conditions on the birds and the unprofitableness of feeding when 

 this happens. It may be seen from Table III of the appendix that 

 an unusually large proportion of dead birds are recorded in this 

 experiment toward the close of the season. Comparing the results 

 at this station with those obtained in Experiment D at Station 2, 

 we find that the average gain and the amount of feed per pound of 

 gain was the same for the season, while the cost was slightly greater 

 at the latter station, due to the higher cost of the buttermilk. Con- 

 densed buttermilk diluted with 1 £ parts of water was used in Experi- 

 ment D, while the regular buttermilk, which was used in Experiment 

 C, cost only 1^ cents per gallon. The proportion of corn meal in the 

 ration was increased in cool weather without any injurious effects, 

 but a study of the results indicates that a smaller per cent of corn 

 meal in the ration produced cheaper gains. 



EXPERIMENT C, 1912. 



The ration at Station 4 in 1912 varied considerably during the 

 season but on the whole was quite similar to that used in 1911, except 

 that a smaller proportion of shorts was used throughout the season 

 while a larger proportion of low-grade wheat flour was used during 

 the latter part of the season. From 1 to 2 per cent of meat and 

 bones was fed during the last half of June, throughout August and 

 during the first half of September. The ration by months was as 

 follows: July, 1 part of shorts, 3 parts of low-grade wheat flour, 6.5 

 parts of corn meal, mixed with 65 per cent of buttermilk; August, 1 

 part of shorts, 2 parts of low-grade wheat flour, 4 parts of corn meal, 

 mixed with 67.5 per cent of buttermilk; September, 1 part of shorts, 

 4 parts of low-grade wheat flour, 7 parts of corn meal, mixed with 

 62 per cent of buttermilk; October, 1 part of shorts, 5 parts of low- 

 grade wheat flour, 6.5 parts of corn meal, mixed with 62 per cent of 

 buttermilk; November, 1 part of shorts, 6.5 parts of low-grade wheat 

 flour, 11 parts of corn meal, mixed with 62 per cent of buttermilk. 



