BULLETIN No. 157 



POULTRY WORK AT THE MAINE AGRICULTURAL 



EXPERIMENT STATION. 



By Chas. D. Woods, Director. 



During the past year a number of changes have occurred in 

 the poultry work of the Station. It is desirable that a clear 

 statement should be made, setting forth the facts regarding 

 these changes. It is the purpose of this bulletin to give such a 

 statement. It is proposed to consider the following topics in 

 order: The poultry work of the Station up to 1908; poultry 

 investigations now under way; general outline of plans for 

 future work with poultry. 



The Poultry Work of the Station Up To 1908. 



Poultry investigations were begun at the Station in 1897. 

 In that year a poultry breeding house was built. In the fall 

 birds were installed and experiments begun. The work was 

 in charge of Professor G. M. Gowell. An account of the plant, 

 and a brief statement of the experiments begun that year were 

 given by Professor Gowell in the Annual Report for 1897 

 (pp. 97-103). At the outstart the experiments simply dealt 

 with the practical questions of managing the birds in the new 

 house so as to maintain their health and productiveness. In 

 the second year of the work (1898) an experiment in breeding 

 fowls for increased egg production was begun, with the inven- 

 tion of a trap nest and the taking of records of the egg produc- 

 tion of individual hens. This work has continued to the present 

 time. From the beginning of the work there has been carried 

 on one other general line of poultry investigation besides breed- 

 ing for egg production ; namely, studies in poultry management, 

 including housing, feeding, rearing chickens, and other equally 

 important matters. 



