﻿THE COMMERCIAL FATTENING OF POULTRY. 17 



THE EFFECT OF BUTTERMILK ON MOLTING. 



The marked growth of feathers which occurs during a few days of 

 fattening indicates that buttermilk and forced feeding tend to renew 

 feathers rapidly. Chickens which do well in fattening are almost 

 invariably covered with pin feathers, and this is an indication of good 

 results in the feeder. Apparently a large amount of buttermilk in 

 the feed greatly stimulates the growth of feathers, which fact might 

 be noted in connection with the feeding of laying hens during the late 

 summer to promote rapid molting and the growth of new feathers 

 without forcing the birds. 



THE BLEACHING EFFECT OF CONDENSED BUTTERMILK. •-"• 



The No. 1 grade of poultry ordinarily sells for 1 to 2 cents more per 

 pound than the third grade, so that a feeding mixture which will pro- 

 duce a greater per cent of the No. 1 grade has a commercial value. 

 Buttermilk in the feed produces a bleach. An experiment was con- 

 ducted at Station 4 to see whether the addition of condensed to ordi- 

 nary buttermilk was profitable. One gallon of condensed buttermilk 

 was added to 10 gallons of ordinary buttermilk from August 24 to 

 September 18, and this test was repeated from October 4 to the 18th. 

 The birds, as shown by Table III of the appendix, did not do well 

 during the hot weather, which occurred about the middle of August. 

 This is also shown in the grading reports. Condensed buttermilk was 

 fed at this time and resulted in an immediate marked increase in the 

 fancy grades of dressed poultry. This increase was greater than the 

 relative increase in per cent of gain, showing that the increased con- 

 sumption of buttermilk produced a larger per cent of fancy poultry, 

 but when this condensed buttermilk was dropped out'of the ration on 

 September 18, the proportion of fancy poultry did not decrease. 

 This would appear to show that the addition oi extra condensed but- 

 termilk was profitable only during warm or hot weather, and in fat- 

 tening small birds. Condensed buttermilk was used entirely in mix- 

 ing the feed at Stations 2 and 3, adding 1 J gallons of water to 1 gallon 

 of the milk at Station 2 and equal parts of water and condensed but- 

 termilk at Station 3. This large proportion of milk solids showed very 

 marked results in producing a bleach in the poultry. 



MISCELLANEOUS RATIONS. 



A test in cramming chickens, conducted by the feeder at Station 1, 

 on ground Georgia peanuts with buttermilk, produced unfavorable 

 results. The feed was very laxative, and the chickens, though eating 

 well, grew thin instead of fat. A ration containing about 6 per cent 

 of peanut meal gave good results. The peanuts flavored the flesh and 

 produced a peanut-fed chicken which sold at a special price, but the 

 unfavorable effects of feeding a large per cent of peanut meal made 

 this ration impractical. 

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