68 Maine; agricui^turaIv i;xpe;rimSnt station. 1910. 



Pounds 



Wheat bran 200 



Corn meal 100 



Middlings 100 



Gluten meal or brewers' grains 100 



Linseed meal 100 



Beef scrap lOO 



The experience of the Station with this mash extending as it 

 has over a number of years has indicated that it was somewhat 

 too rich. The relatively large amount of such concentrated 

 feeds as linseed meal and gluten meal seemed to make too rich 

 a ration for the. well-being of the fowls. During the years 

 when this mash was fed more or less difficulty was always 

 experienced with liver troubles in the birds. Birds died with 

 all the symptoms that would be expected to come from indiges-. 

 tion arising from feeding too rich food. 



In planning the new dry mash ration consideration was given 

 to the physiological conditions under which the birds developed 

 and under which they were placed in the laying houses. It is 

 evident that the bringing of the birds in from the range upon 

 which they have grown from little chickens, into the laying 

 houses, is apt to be a very violent and abrupt transition. It has 

 seemed in studying the birds in the fall of the year that this 

 change was an important time in the life of the bird, and that 

 the results during the subsequent winter with reference to egg- 

 production depended much upon the way the transition from 

 range conditions to the laying house was made. It seemed 

 advisable both on general grounds and from observation of the 

 birds themselves to make this change as gradual as possible. 

 With this idea in mind the pullets have been brought into the 

 houses from the range much earlier during the past few years 

 than was the custom before. It is the custom at the present 

 time to bring in the pullets from the range as soon as possible 

 after the first of September. 



When the pullets are brought in as early as this it is not, of 

 course, advisable to shut them up entirely in the houses at once. 

 On the contrary, the work is planned in such a way that there 

 is always a freshly seeded yard full of green grass for the birds 

 to run in after they are brought into the house until cold 



