THE COMMEKCIAL FATTENING OF POULTRY. 17 
THE EFFECT OF BUTTERMILK ON MOLTING. 
The marked growth of feathers which occurs during a few days of 
fattening indicates that buttermilk and forced feeding tend to renew 
feathers rapidly. Chickens which do well in fattening are almost 
invariably covered with pin feathers, and this is an indication of good 
results in the feeder. Apparently a large amount of buttermilk in 
the feed greatly stimulates the growth of feathers, which fact might 
be noted in connection with the feeding of laying hens during the late 
summer to promote rapid molting and the growth of new feathers 
without forcing the birds. 
THE BLEACHING EFFECT OF CONDENSED BUTTERMILK. 
The No. 1 grade of poultry ordinarily sells for 1 to 2 cents more per 
pound than the third grade, so that a feeding mixture which will pro- 
duce a greater per cent of the No. 1 grade has a commercial value. 
Buttermilk in the feed produces a bleach. An experiment was con- 
ducted at Station 4 to see whether the addition of condensed to ordi- 
nary buttermilk was profitable. One gallon of condensed buttermilk 
was added to 10 gallons of ordinary buttermilk from "August 24 to 
September 18, and this test was repeated from October 4 to the 18th. 
The birds, as shown by Table III of the appendix, did not do well 
during the hot weather, which occurred about the middle of August. 
This is also shown in the grading reports. Condensed buttermilk was 
fed at this time and resulted in an immediate marked increase in the 
fancy grades of dressed poultry. This increase was greater than the 
relative increase in per cent of gain, showing that the increased con- 
sumption of buttermilk produced a larger per cent of fancy poultry, 
but when this condensed buttermilk was dropped out of the ration on 
September 18, the proportion of fancy poultry did not decrease. 
This would appear to show that the addition of extra condensed but- 
termilk was profitable only during warm or hot weather, and in fat- 
tening small birds. Condensed buttermilk was used entirely in mix- 
ing the feed at Stations 2 and 3 , adding 1 § gallons of water to 1 gallon 
of the milk at Station 2 and equal parts of water and condensed but- 
termilk at Station 3. This large proportion of milk solids showed very 
marked results in producing a bleach in the poultry. 
MISCELLANEOUS RATIONS. 
A test in cramming chickens, conducted by the feeder at Station 1, 
on ground Georgia peanuts with buttermilk, produced unfavorable 
results. The feed was very laxative, and the chickens, though eating 
well, grew thin instead of fat. A ration containing about 6 per cent 
of peanut meal gave good results. The peanuts flavored the flesh and 
produced a peanut-fed chicken which sold at a special price, but the 
unfavorable effects of feeding a large per cent of peanut meal made 
this ration impractical. 
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