CHAPTER III 



ECONOMICAL PRODUCTION OF EGGS AND OF POULTRY FLESH 



Poultry ranks high as an economical producer of food 

 for human consumption, both in the production of eggs 

 and of poultry flesh, being next to hogs, far better than 

 either sheep or beef cattle but not as good as dairy cows. 

 Poultry produce flesh and edible solids much more eco- 

 nomically than sheep or steers but not as economically as 

 the pig, partly because of the lard produced by the pig. 

 Eggs are produced as economically as cheese and consid- 

 erably more so than butter. The following table gives the 

 amount of animal food produced by farm animals and 

 poultry from loo lbs. of digestible matter consumed: 



Table II 



Relative Production of Animal Food by Animals and Fowls 



Animal 



Cow (milk) 



Pig (dressed) 



Poultry (eggs from Leghorn pullets) . . . 



Cow (cheese) 



Poultry (dressed) 



Poultry (eggs from general purpose pul- 

 lets) 



Cow (butter) 



Steer (dressed) 



Sheep (dressed) 



30 



Marketable 

 Product 



Edible 

 Solids 



1390 

 25.0 

 41.2 

 14.8 

 28.1 



29.5 

 6.4 

 8.3 

 7.0 



18.0 



IS.6 



9.6 



94 



9-3 



6.9 



5-4 

 2.8 

 2.6 



