12 BULLETIN 657, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
(2) The amount of wet feed required to produce a gain of 1 pound 
of flesh in 14 days was as follows: 
Ration A, 43.91 pounds (grain, 19.54 pounds). 
Ration B, 8.88 pounds (grain, 3.55 pounds). 
Ration C, 7.91 pounds (grain, 3.16 pounds). 
(3) The rate of gain with ration A was irregular. The rate of gain 
with Ration B decreased slightly toward the end of the feeding 
period. The gain with Ration C was practically uniform. 
(4) The amount of feed required to produce 1 pound of flesh during 
4, 8, 11, and 14 days, respectively, varied widely with Ration A. 
With Ration B there was a slight progressive increase in the amount 
of food required per pound of gain as the feeding progressed, while 
with Ration C the amount required for each period was practically 
constant. 
(5) The loss of weight due to the removal of blood and feathers and 
the evaporation of moisture from the flesh while chilling 24 hours in 
air at 32° F. amounts to nearly 11 per cent of the live weight. The 
birds from the farm and the birds on Ration A lost about the same 
weight, while birds on Rations B and C lost a little more. The actual 
result in weight to the packer as compared with the farm weight 
was for Ration A, —5.98 per cent, for Ration B, +16.50, and for 
Ration C, +20.27 per cent, 
(6) The highest and cheapest gains were made by birds having an 
initial weight of 2 pounds or less. 
(7) By feeding Rations B or C the total edible portion of the birds 
is increased from 53.7 to 55.2 per cent. Rations A and B tend to de- 
posit more fat in the body cavity than does Ration C. 
(8) If every 20,000-pound carload of broilers slaughtered as they 
come from the farm should be fed for 2 weeks on Ration C, the gain 
in weight to the packer would average 6,867 pounds. The gain in 
edible meat would amount to 4,064 pounds, of which approximately 
608 pounds are protein and 1,561 pounds are fat. 
(9) Chicken flesh increased at the rate and under the conditions 
indicated differs from that produced by the bird when unconfined, 
chemically, physiologically, and in its eating quality. It is for food 
purposes only; hence the deductions drawn on the basis of the 
experiments reported must not be applied to birds intended for egg 
production or for breeding stock, or to the feeding of birds ranging 
on the farm. 
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