36 BULLETIN 561, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
A feeding test covering four months made in 1913 in a mixed flock 
of 70 general-purpose pure-bred hens from 1 to 3 years of age, showed 
that no material benefit in molting was secured by the addition of 
10 per cent of linseed meal to the mash. The length of the molting 
period and the egg yield were practically the same as in the check 
pen, although the pen receiving the linseed meal produced more eggs 
during the first part of the molting period and their feathers appeared 
smoother and more glossy during the entire period. 
VARIATION IN WEIGHT OF THE HENS. 
Table 10 shows the average weight of the hens in Pens 1 to 6 for three 
years; in Pens 7 to 9 for two years; and for one year in the rest of the 
pens. The period of greatest average weight occurs in the spring, 
while the lowest average weight is during the molting period, which 
is also true of the weight of the eggs. The average weights for each 
year are given at the bottom of the table. The figures show a tend- 
ency for the hens of the general-purpose breeds, especially the Barred 
Plymouth Rocks and the White Wyandottes, to become too fat. 
The increase in the average monthly weight of hens of the general- 
purpose breeds in their second over their first year was about 0.5 
of a pound, compared with an average increase of only 0.16 of a 
pound for the Leghorns. From their second to the third year the 
average increase in the general-purpose pens was 0.22 of a pound, 
compared with 0.17 in Pen 4 (Leghorns). The tendency of the 
method of feeding in Pen 6 to keep the hens too fat is shown in the 
average monthly weights of this pen, which exceeded all the other 
general-purpose pens by 0.45 of a pound, or about 8 per cent. The 
average weights and the increase in weight from the second to third 
year are largest in this pen. 
Pen 9, which did not receive any beef scrap, had a monthly average 
weight of 0.79 of a pound less than the average of the other general- 
purpose hens during their first year. The increase in weight, however, 
from the first to the second year in this nonbeef -scrap pen was 0.55 
of a pound, or about the same as in the beef-scrap pens. Pens 10 
and 11, fed cottonseed meal, averaged 1 pound less in weight than 
Pen 12, fed beef scrap. The average weight of Pens 15 and 16, 
also cottonseed-meal pens, is much below the average of the beef- 
scrap pens. The hens in the pens fed cottonseed meal were thin 
and in poor flesh all the time. This was probably partly due to the 
fact that these hens did not like the cottonseed meal and ate a 
very small amount of the mash. Their total feed consumption was 
considerably below that of the beef-scrap pens. The results secured 
with cottonseed meal are discussed more in detail on page 13. 
