FEED COST OE EGG PRODUCTION. 17 
difference was 45 eggs per hen in favor of free range. These two pens 
of Leghorns are apparently fairly comparable, as they are of similar 
breeding, they were reared under similar conditions, were started at 
the same time, and received almost similar rations except that in Pen 7 
the mash constituents were separate while they were mixed together 
in Pen 8. This difference in the method of feeding, as previously dis- 
cussed, does not appear to be a material factor in affecting the egg 
yield. Pen 8, however, received 4 per cent more beef scrap than 
Pen 7 in 1914, and 16 per cent more in 1915, which is a very material 
factor. A comparison of Pen 4, which was on free range, with Pen 7 
(confined) appears to strengthen the conclusion that free range mate- 
rially increases egg yield, as the percentage of beef scrap consumed in 
these pens was more nearly equal. The Leghorns ranged over a 
wide area, while the general-purpose breeds neither kept as busy 
scratching nor ranged over nearly as much ground. 
The use of yards does not appear to affect the mortality among the 
fowls for a period of one or two years (see Table 2). The loss in the 
confined pens was in several instances considerably less than in the 
pens on free range, but part of the additional loss on free range was 
caused by hawks and missing fowls. The greatest mortality occurred 
in the pens giving the highest egg production, and it would appear 
that this difference in egg production, rather than free range, was the 
material factor in causing the difference in mortality in Pens 7 and 8. 
It would not appear that free range of itself, except for the loss caused 
by hawks or other marauders, increased the mortality. Free range did 
not lower the total consumption of grain nor decrease the cost of feed- 
ing, except for the green feed which was supplied to the pens confined 
to yards. On the whole the consumption of grain was greater with 
the pens on range, owing to the greater production in these pens. The 
cost of the dry oats used for green feed (sprouted oats) per hen aver- 
aged about 10 cents per year. A study of all these pens appears to 
show that free range very materially increases the egg yield in Leg- 
horns, and somewhat, but to a considerably less extent, in the general- 
purpose breeds. 
YARDS AND GREEN FEED. 
Pens 3 and 5 each had a large yard containing about 220 square feet 
of land per fowl and were kept in this yard about one year. They 
were then moved to a similar yard and the old yard was plowed and 
planted to grass, clover, and oats. The present plan is to alternate 
these yards once yearly,, plowing and seeding the ground not in use, 
and thus keep the soil sweet as well as to provide some green feed. 
The soil in these yards is a heavy clay, parts of which are poorly 
drained and not well adapted for a permanent greensward. The 
yards contained only a small amount of grass and weeds when the 
93905°— Bull. 561 3 
