Digestive Coefficients of Poultry Feeds, etc. 11 
EXPERIMENTAL FEEDING METHODS 
The following method of feeding was used throughout our work. The coop as shown 
in Fig. 5 is made of four upright 2" x 2" pieces. The coop is eighteen inches square, 
the bottom of which is made of one inch mesh chicken netting and is two inches above 
the pan in which the coop is placed. The side of the coop is constructed of one inch 
chicken netting. The top U removable and is made of four 1" x 2" wooden strips 
nailed to two pieces of 1" x 2" at right angles. The dropping pan is constructed of 
block tin twenty inches square and one inch deep. It is reinforced at the rim with 
heavy copper wire. 
The receptacle used for feeding consisted of a large, long-handled dipper m the 
bottom of which was soldered a 250 cc. tin cup. In the cup was placed the feed which 
was being used in the experiment. The hen stood in such a position when eating 
that if any of the feed was thrown outside the cup, it remained inside the large dipper 
and did not become wasted or mixed with the excreta. The correction was properly 
made in the feeding data. 
The feeding experiments were conducted in a well-ventilated and well-lighted base¬ 
ment room. The feeding coops were placed on a specially constructed white top table 
and arranged in such a manner that if by any reason either feed or excreta were thrown 
out of the proper receptacles, it could at once be seen and proper corrections made. 
In selecting our fowls we chose mature hens of lymphatic temperament. Such 
hens were brought from the Station and College poultry plant in the morning and 
placed in the feeding coops and allowed to remain till the next morning, being given 
only water. This allows the intestinal tract to become partially empty and conserves 
the appetite, thereby making the bird more fitted for the experiment. 
A definite number of grams of the test feed was given at 7:30 a. m. and 4:30 p. m. 
The feed used in the experiment was always mixed with an equal number of grams 
of water and placed before the fowl in the feeding cup. It was soon observed that the 
bird would consume all the feed she cared to in twenty minutes. 
The digestion experiment was divided into two periods, the first a four day pie- 
liminary period, the second a four day test period. Accurate records of feed consumed 
during these two periods were kept as shown by records of the appended tables. 
Excrement for analyses was saved only from the test period. 
CARE OF EXCREMENT 
Each morning preceding the feeding all excrement that remained on the wire 
bottom coop was carefully removed with a spatula and placed m the receiving pan. 
These pans were removed and replaced by clean pans. 
The excrement was removed from the pan with a spatula and placed m a oOO cc. 
procelain dish. The excrement that could not be removed with a spatula was washed 
off with alcohol and this washing was also placed in the porcelain dish. The excremen 
in the dish was then covered with 95% alcohol to prevent fermentation; to which 
5 cc. of acetic acid was then added to convert the free ammonia into ammonium 
acetate. This was then dried as thoroughly as possible on a water bath. After drying 
on the water bath it was then placed in an electric oven and held at a temperature o 
110 degrees C. for five hours. It was then removed and carefully weighed and place 
in an air-tight container and properly labeled for analysis. 
