12 BULLETIN 657, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



(2) The amount of wet food required to produce a gain of 1 pound 

 of llesh in 14 days was as follows: 



Ration A, 43.91 pounds (grain, 19.54 pounds). 

 1 J a (ion B, 8.88 pounds (grain, 3.55 pounds). 

 Ration C, 7.91 pounds (grain, 3.16 pounds). 



(3) The rate of gain with ration A was irregular. The rate of gain 

 with Ration B decreased slightly toward the end of the feeding 

 period. The gain with Ration C was practically uniform. 



(4) The amount of feed required to produce 1 pound of flesh during 

 4, 8, 11, and 14 days, respectively, varied widely with Ration A. 

 With Ration B there was a slight progressive increase in the amount 

 of food required per pound of gain as the feeding progressed, while 

 with Ration C the amount required for each period was practically 

 constant. 



(5) The loss of weight due to the removal of blood and feathers and 

 the evaporation of moisture from the flesh while chilling 24 hours in 

 air at 32° F. amounts to nearly 11 per cent of the live weight. The 

 birds from the farm and the birds on Ration A lost about the same 

 weight, while birds on Rations B and C lost a little more. The actual 

 result in weight to the packer as compared with the farm weight 

 was for Ration A, —5.98 per cent, for Ration B, +16.50, and for 

 Ration C, +20.27 per cent. 



(6) The highest and cheapest gains were made by birds having an 

 initial weight of 2 pounds or less. 



(7) By feeding Rations B or C the total edible portion of the birds 

 is increased from 53.7 to 55.2 per cent. Rations A and B tend to de- 

 posit more fat in the body cavity than does Ration C. 



(8) If every 20,000-pound carload of broilers slaughtered as they 

 come from the farm should be fed for 2 weeks on Ration C, the gain 

 in weight to the packer would average 6,867 pounds. The gain in 

 edible meat would amount to 4,064 pounds, of which approximately 

 608 pounds are protein and 1,561 pounds are fat. 



(9) Chicken flesh increased at the rate and under the conditions 

 indicated differs from that produced by the bird when unconfined, 

 chemically, physiologically, and in its eating quality. It is for food 

 purposes only; hence the deductions drawn on the basis of the 

 experiments reported must not be appUed to birds intended for egg 

 production or for breeding stock, or to the feeding of birds ranging 

 on the farm. 



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