UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
m BULLETIN No. 561 v 
^MkSi^XiJ^* Contribution from the Bureau of Animal Industry < 
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Contribution from the Bureau of Animal Industry 
A. D. MEL YIN, Chief 
Washington, D. C. 
August 18, 1917 
FEED COST OF EGG PRODUCTION. 
RESULTS OF THREE YEARS' EXPERIMENTS AT THE GOVERN 
MENT POULTRY FARM. 
By Harry M. Lamon and Alfred R. Lee, 
Of the Animal Husbandry Division. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
Objects of the work 1 
Description of stock and conditions 2 
Methods of feeding 3 
Hens balancing their own rations C 
Feeding value of poultry feeds 11 
Free range compared with large yards 16 
Consumption of grit and oyster shell 18 
Leghorns compared with general-purpose 
fowls 19 
Egg yield as affected by time of maturity and 
age of fowls 20 
Weight of eggs 21 
Distribution of egg production 24 
Feed cost of eggs 27 
Feed used in producing eggs 30 
Value of the eggs from each pen 32 
Broodiness in fowls 34 
Effect of the molt on egg yield 35 
Variation in weight of the hens 36 
Balanced rations 37 
Summary 40 
OBJECTS OF THE WORK. 
Complete data on the feed cost of egg production for fowls kept on 
free range or on conditions somewhat similar to those existing on 
general farms are very limited. The main object of the experiments 
reported in this bulletin was to compare the results obtained through 
the use of simple rations and methods and to record the feed cost of 
egg production under these conditions. Only the feed costs are con- 
sidered, because most of the pens were on free range, scattered over 
a wide area to keep the fowls from mixing, which, with the keeping 
of records, weighing the eggs and grain, etc., involved much work 
which would be unnecessary under commercial conditions. Careful 
observations were made of the conditions which affect egg production, 
such as molting and broodiness, and detailed records were kept of the 
feed used and of the weight of the eggs. These experiments were 
started in the fall of 1912 with six pens of 30 pullets each. New pens 
93905°— Bull. 561—17 1 
