204 



Experiments with Poultry Foods. 



Broadly speaking, all. the pens which received maize held 

 relatively better positions during the last nine months of the 

 experiments than in the first three. As will be seen, the pen 

 fed on wheat, which laid seventy-one eggs more than either of 

 the other pens in the first three months, fell to second position 

 with only four eggs more than the pen fed on maize in the last 

 nine months, and eighty-four less than Pen 5 fed on half 

 maize and half oats. 



The results obtained with Pens 2, 3, and 4, were not con- 

 sidered to point to the probability of either of the foods 

 tested being ranked as good. In the case of the other pens, it is 

 observed that while Pen 6, fed on maize, produced only 648 

 eggs, as against 723 laid by the hens fed on wheat, the fact that 

 wheat and maize were equal in the last nine months pointed to 

 the latter food being a strong competitor. On the other hand, 

 though wheat lost ground relatively to certain other foods 

 during the latter part of the experiment, it was considered not 

 improbable that it might generally prove, as shown in the 

 experiment, the better food during the first three months of the 

 year. This point appeared to be of such importance to the 

 Technical Instruction Committee that arrangements were made 

 to continue the experiments in the first three months of 1903, 

 with the three pens Nos. 1, 5 and 6, around which special 

 interest centred. The results of these latter experiments are 

 shown below. 



The following table shows the results for the three pens up to 

 the 31st of March last, and if the figures for the last nine months 

 of 1902 are brought into consideration, it will be seen that in 

 the twelve months ending March, 1903, the fowls fed on equal 

 weights of oats and maize laid 701 eggs, or 140 more than were 

 laid in the same period by the fowls fed on wheat alone, while 

 between wheat and maize there was a difference of fifteen eggs 

 only in favour of wheat. 



These results are held to show that in experiments with 

 poultry foods the results of the first few weeks may be mislead- 

 ing, as the mixed food, which was beaten at starting, steadily 

 improved its position after the first three months, the fowls fed 

 on this food having laid 40 per cent, more eggs in the last 

 three months than the fowls fed on wheat. 



