92 METHODS OF POULTRY MANAGEMENT. * 



respects the most valuable of farm manures. At the same time 

 this quality necessitates special treatment to preserve the nitro- 

 gen and utilize it economically. 



According to experiments carried on at this Station some 

 years ago* the night droppings average 30 pounds per hen 

 per year. 



They contain .8 pound of organic nitrogen, .5 pound of 

 phosphoric acid and .25 pound of potash. At the present price 

 of fertilizers this material would be worth about 20 cents. No 

 data are available on the amount of day- voided dung. Since 

 the hens spend less than one-half their time on the roosts, and 

 since more dung is voided while the birds are exercising than 

 when at roost, the authors estimate that during a year probably 

 45 pounds of dung are voided by each bird while off the roost. 

 Allowing that more than one-half of the fertilizing elements 

 of the day dung are necessarily lost, the value of the total 

 droppings, if properly cared for, should be at least 30 cents 

 per bird per year. 



The poultryman or farmer who properly cares for the drop- 

 pings can add a neat further profit to his business. For exam- 

 ple the droppings from 1000 birds, if preserved without need- 

 less loss, will be worth at least $300. 



Poultry manure contains more nitrogen than other farm 

 manure, because in birds the excretion of the kidneys is voided 

 in solid form (uric acid), with the undigested portions of the 

 food. This form of nitrogen is easily available to plants. Un- 

 fortunately, however, it is not stable. Putrifactive processes 

 easily change it to ammonia compounds, and unless special 

 care it taken of the droppings one-third to one-half of the 

 nitrogen passes off as ammonia gas. 



The mechanical condition of poultry manure is poor. As 

 Sitorert says : "It is apt to be sticky when fresh and lumpy 

 when dry" On this account, if used untreated, it can only be 

 successfully applied to the land by hand, as it does not work 

 well in drills or spreaders. Hen manure used alone is very 



*Woods, C. D. and Bartlett, J. M. Ann. Rept. Me. Agr. Expt. Sta. 

 1903, pp. 199-204. 



tStorer, F. H. Agriculture in Some of its Relations with Chemistry. 

 Chas. Scribner's Sons, New York, 1899, Vol. i. 



