POULTRY FEEDS AND FEEDING 



of Leghorns on account of the comparative production in 

 these two types of fowls as they get older. The best pro- 

 portion of pullets to keep is also influenced by the same 

 factors which are discussed under the Leghorns. 



FEEDING AND SHIPPING LIVE POULTRY 



Poultry is shipped extensively in cars built expressly for 

 this purpose and this trade has developed into a big 

 business. These cars of live hens and chickens are col- 

 lected in the great poultry producing states of the Central 

 West and in the South and shipped to the large Eastern 

 cities. A similar trade of the same kind is conducted 

 between the Central West and the Pacific Coast. These 

 cars of live poultry are from two to seven days en route 

 and are accompanied by an attendant who travels with 

 the car to see that the birds are given the best of care. 

 The object is to get the birds to market with as little 

 shrinkage as possible and in some instances slight gains 

 are secured. Under good conditions, the shrinkage rare- 

 ly exceeds 5 per cent, but this shrinkage is greatly affected 

 by weather conditions in addition to the care given by 

 the attendant. 



These cars are usually divided into eight tiers, each 

 tier divided into sixteen coops, allowing 36 fowls to each 

 coop, a live poultry car will accommodate about forty- 

 six hundred head, or about eighteen thousand pounds of 

 poultry. With slight alterations, similar trains are used 

 for geese and turkeys, holding from two thousand to 



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