2 BULLETIN 561, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



have been added each year subsequently, and the original pens are 

 still being kept to study the effect of the feed and of the age of the 

 fowls on egg production. The results secured in 16 pens, containing 

 366 fowls, are given in this bulletin, including three complete years' 

 work of the first six pens. The work was conducted on the experi- 

 mental farm of the Bureau of Animal Industry, near Beltsville, Md. 

 Prices of individual grains in 1917 are from 20 to 100 per cent 

 higher than the prices used in this bulletin, which should be care- 

 fully considered in estimating the present cost of egg production. 



DESCRIPTION OF STOCK AND CONDITIONS. 



Most of the feeding tests were started with 30 standard-bred 

 pullets, bred and reared on the farm under the same conditions, and 

 selected for vigor, standard shape, and color. Some of the flocks 

 consisted of fowls of one breed, while others contained more than one 

 kind of pure-bred fowls of the general-purpose type in the same flock, 

 including Barred Plymouth Rocks, White Wyandottes, Rhode 

 Island Reds, and Buff Orpingtons (see Plates I to IV). Pens 10 to 

 14, inclusive, also contained some cross-bred pullets. These flocks 

 were housed in colony houses similar to those shown in Plates III and 

 V. The house shown in Plate III is 10 feet long by 7 feet wide, and 

 that in Plate V is 6 feet long by 5 feet wide; both houses are described 

 in detail in Farmers' Bulletin 574 of this department. A better 

 average result is secured by using 30 fowls in each pen than is ob- 

 tained from smaller flocks, as the effect of any variation due to 

 individuals is reduced greatly. Except three pens which were con- 

 fined to good-sized yards, all the fowls were allowed free range over 

 several acres of rough land, part of which is in woods and the rest is 

 covered with grass and weeds. The soil is a heavy clay, which does 

 not drain freely. 



Table 1. — Pens, rations, and conditions. 













Feed. 



Pen 



Date experi- 

 ment began. 



Number 

 of pullets. 



Breed. 



How kept. 





No. 

















Scratch mixture. 



Mash. 



1 



Nov. 1,1912 



30 



Rhode Island Reds.. 



Free range . . 



J cracked corn, J 

 wheat, i oats. 



J bran, -J middlings, 

 i corn meal, J 

 beef scrap. 















2 



do 



30 



21 White Wyan- 

 dottes, 6 Buff Or- 

 pingtons, 3 Barred 

 Plymouth Rocks. 



do 



i cracked corn, 

 £ wheat. 



Same as for Pen 1. 



3 



do 



30 



14 Buff Orpingtons. 

 16 Rhode Island 



Yarded 



Same as for Pen 



Bran, middlings, 











1. 



corn meal, and 









Reds. 







beef scrap, each 

 in separate hop- 

 pers. 



4 



Jan. 18-. 1913 



30 



White Leghorns 



19 Barred Plymouth 

 Rocks, 2" White 





do 



^ 



do 



30 





do 



9 per cent bran, 9 

 per cent mid- 















Plymouth Rocks, 







dlings, 63 per 









6 Rhode Island 







cent corn meal, 









Reds, 3 Buff Or- 







19 per cent beef 









pingtons. 







scrap. 



