FEEDING CHICKENS FOR GROWTH. 

 G. M. Gowell. 



COOPS VS. YARDS. 



This study was undertaken to compare the rapidity of growth 

 of chickens confined in small coops vs. chickens kept in sheds and 

 small yards. 



Ten coops, each with a floor space sixteen by twenty-three 

 inches, were constructed of laths with close end partitions of 

 boards. The floors were of laths placed three- fourths of an inch 

 apart and one inch from the walls, so that they might be kept 

 clean by the moving about of the birds. The coops were made 

 two together without cutting the laths. The laths ran length- 

 wise of the coops on bottom, top and back, but on the front they 

 were placed upright, and two inches apart so that the chickens 

 could feed through between them readily. V-shaped troughs 

 with three-inch sides were placed in front of and about two 

 inches above the level of the floors of the coops. 



These coops are of about the same size and form as those used 

 by the English and French chicken fatteners who make a spec- 

 ialty of the business, fattening many thousands each year. They 

 were located in the light, airy, cemented basement of the barn 

 where they were free from disturbance, and the variations of 

 temperature were not great. 



The chickens used in the test were raised under similar con- 

 ditions and from the same hatch. They were one hundred and 

 thirty days old at the commencement of the test and all were 

 pure blooded Barred Plymouth Rocks, White Wyandottes, or 

 the Eaton strain of Light Weight Light Brahmas. 



Four chickens were placed in each coop and fed on thick raw 

 porridge, made by mixing meal with cold skimmed-milk, mak- 

 ing it thick enough so it would drop and not run from the end 

 •of a wooden spoon. 



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