﻿THE COMMERCIAL FATTENING OF POULTRY. 27 



the size of the chickens as the feeding season advanced. But levies 

 weighed when received at the poultry house and reweighed the fol- 

 lowing morning before the birds were fed, gave an average shrink of 

 2 per cent. The shrinkage in killing and picking without drawing 

 at this station in 1912 averaged 11.3 per cent for lots 1 to 20; 12.4 

 per cent for lots 21 to 40; 13.4 per cent for lots 41 to 60; 14.1 per 

 cent for lots Gl to 80; and 14.6 per cent for lots SI to 100. The 

 shrinkage on hens was 12.9 per cent. 



INITIAL COST OF CHICKENS AS AFFECTING PROFIT IN FATTENING. 



The average cost per pound of the birds into the feeder in Experi- 

 ment B in 1911 was as follows: Lots 1 to 12, 17.6 cents; lots 13 to 19, 

 15 cents; lots 20 to 30, 13 cents; lots 31 to 49, 12 cents; lots 50 to 63, 

 11 cents; lots 64 to 80, 10 cents; lots 81 to 108, 9 cents; and lots 

 109 to 118, 9.3 cents. The cost of picking, grading, and packing 

 (including ^freezing) was about 7 cents per head. The gradual decrease 

 of the average cost into the feeder is the reason for feeding longer 

 early in the season, especially as the cheapest gains are made on these 

 first lots; while later the flesh can be bought more cheaply than pro- 

 duced in fattening. For example, an average lot early in the season 

 cost 17.6 cents per pound into the feeder, and the gain in fattening 

 cost 7 cents per pound; an average lot late in the fall costs 9 cents per 

 pound into the feeder, while the gain costs 10.5 cents per pound. 

 The total cost per pound when dressed and packed for this first lot 

 was 20.5 cents; for the other, 13.1 cents; but the first brought a 

 much higher price in the market than the second. These costs were 

 the average extremes of high and low cost, the total dressed costs 

 gradually dropping as the season advanced. The average cost per 

 pound of the birds into the feeding station in Experiment B in 1912 

 was as follows: Lots 1 to 21, 18 cents; lots 22 to 42, 16 cents; lots 

 43 to 57, 14.2 cents; lots 58 to 75, 11 cents; lots 76 to 100, 11.2 

 cents. Average cost per pound for the season 14.05 cents, as com- 

 pared with 11.5 cents in 1911. 



RELATION OF GRAIN FED TO MANURE PRODUCED. 



Table 13 shows the average grain consumed and amount of manure 

 produced daily per 100 head of chickens in fattening. This is a record 

 of 900 head of birds at Station 1, Experiment B, kept from July 18 

 to November 16, 1911. These birds were fed a ration of 1 part 

 shorts, 2 parts low-grade wheat flour, and 3 parts corn meal, by 

 weight, with 6 per cent of tallow, mixed with ordinary buttermilk. 



