50 METHODS OF POUIvTRY MANAGEMENT. 



An experiment with 68 birds showed that when the porridge 

 was wet with skim milk only 4.3 pounds of grain were required 

 to produce i pound of gain, against 5.3 pounds when the por- 

 ridge was wet with water. Eight pounds of skim milk was 

 used with each pound of grain. 



These experiments warrant the following conclusions: (i) 

 As great gains are made just as cheaply and more easily when 

 the chickens are put into small houses and yards as when they 

 are fed in small lots in lattice coops just large enough to hold 

 them. (2) Four weeks is about the limit of profitable feeding, 

 both individually and in flocks. (3) Chickens gain faster while 

 young. Birds that are from 150 to 175 days old have uniformly 

 given comparatively small gains. (4) The practice of success- 

 ful poultrymen selling chickens at the earliest marketable age 

 is well founded. The spring chicken sold at Thanksgiving time 

 is an expensive product. 



The experiments clearly indicate that it is profitable to fatten 

 chickens in cheaply constructed sheds or in large coops with 

 small runs for about four weeks and then send them to market 

 dressed. In quality the well-covered, soft-fleshed chickens are 

 so much superior to the same birds not specially prepared that 

 the former will be sought for at a higher price. The dairy 

 farmer is particularly well prepared to carry on this work, as 

 he has the skim milk which these experiments show to be of so 

 great importance in obtaining cheap rapid growth and superior 

 quality of flesh. 



FEEDING THE LAYING PUEEETS. 



The feed of all adult birds, whether pullefs or not, consists 

 of two essential parts: (a) the whole or cracked grains scat- 

 tered in the litter, and (b) the mixture of dry ground grains 

 which has come to be generally known as a dry mash. These 

 two component parts of the ration and the methods of feeding 

 them will be considered separately. In addition to the grains 

 and dry mash, oyster shell, dry cracked bone, grit, and char- 

 coal are kept in slatted troughs, and are accessible at all times. 

 Plenty of clean water is furnished. About 5 pounds of clover 



