574 COMMERCIAL POULTRY RAISING 



trymen did not awaken to this simple truth many years ago, in- 

 stead of just recently. 



Investigations have shown that when hens are fed the last meal 

 at four o'clock in the evening, which is customary on winter days, 

 the crops of these hens are entirely empty by midnight, or sooner. 

 From then until about seven o'clock in the morning their digestive 

 tracts are idle. They have no nourishment to pass on and be 

 converted into eggs. The egg-making machinery is at a standstill. 



In addition to having a shorter day in which to consume food, 

 more of this decreased food supply is required to maintain the 

 wear and tear on the body in cold weather. Nature takes care of 

 the, body first. Any surplus of nourishment is available for eggs. 

 In other words, in the winter months, when hens should have more 

 nourishment with which to combat the cold and exposure, they 

 really have less, because of the short hours of daylight — feeding 

 and exercising hours. Small wonder, then, that the hen lays the 

 bulk of her eggs in the spring and early summer, when conditions 

 are favorable. 



This condition is easily remedied by artificially lighting the 

 poultry house about two hours in the morning and from two to 

 three hours in the evening. Within recent years, particularly on 

 the Pacific Coast, this scheme has been used successfully, and is 

 now being adopted more or less generally in all sections of the 

 country. 



Various methods of artificial lighting have been under observa- 

 tion by different Experiment Stations for a number of years. And 

 without exception, where the lighting was intelligently used, the 

 reports showed remarkable increases in egg production. Not only 

 were the egg yields increased, but the net returns from the flocks 

 were substantially increased. In other words, the additional eggs 

 more than paid for the additional cost of labor and material. 



Tests at Cornell with loo White Leghorn hens and pullets 

 showed that for a period of fortyeight weeks the net gain in pro- 

 duction was 135.37 dozen eggs, which represented a gain in value 

 of $71.88. In these tests lights were used from twilight to nine 

 o'clock in the evening. 



