22 
ET. C. Agricultural Experiment Station 
Owing to the smallness and shortness of the large intestine and the rapidity of the 
digestive processes of the hen and the quick passing out of the fecal matter, there 
would be expected to be a relatively small amount of putrefaction and hence small 
amounts of indol, skatol, and bodies of that type. 
Cristiani detected etenol sulphuric acid in a hen’s urine after a meat diet and found 
that the injection of indol leads to the excretion in the form of indoxylsulphuric acid. 
THE ASH INTAKE AND ASH OUTGO AND ITS EFFECT UPON THE 
QUESTION OF COEFFICIENTS OF FEEDING 
STUFFS WITH POULTRY 
During the time when the first series of digestion coefficients were being summar¬ 
ized it was observed that a rather large percentage of ash was found in the excrement. 
As shown in an earlier part of this paper grit is continually being voided. 
An unsuccessful effort was made to separate the grit from the excreta, both sieve 
and forces methods being used. It was decided to then carry on a series of expel iments 
extending over a period of twelve months to determine the fate of grit in the body of 
the fowl. 
The analytical method consisted of the following proceedings: 
Six hens were brought off range from the poultry plant of the Station and placed 
in the feeding coops used for the digestion coefficient feeding experiments. The hens 
were numbered one to six, inclusive. 
The following mash and grain rations were fed: 
MASH 
Wheat middlings-60 pounds 
Ground oats_ 10 pounds 
Corn meal_ 15 pounds 
Meat scrap_ 15 pounds 
GRAIN 
Corn_50 pounds 
Oats_50 pounds 
The mash had an ash content of 4.1 percent. The grain mixture had an ash content 
of 2.1 percent. On the th rteenth day of this experiment a new batch of mash was 
secured having the same feeds, but having an ash content of 4.7 percent. 
The hens were fed mash in the morning and grain in the afternoon. The excreta 
was collected every twenty-four hours, dried at a temperature of 106 degrees C. in 
an electric oven and weighed. The excreta was then finely pulverized in an iron 
mortar. From this finely pulverized excrement 0.5 gm. sample was taken and an 
ash determination made according to the Official Method of Analysis, Bulletin No. 
107, revised, Bureau of Chemistry, U. S. Department of Agriculture. The ash deter¬ 
minations were always made in duplicate and were required to check within 0.3 of 
one percent. 
There will be given here only the final summary table showing the percent feed 
digested during the normal four day digestion period and the percent digested when 
the excess ash is taken into consideration with hens 1, 3, 5, and 6. The difference 
being the final correction factor to be applied to the digestion coefficients tables for 
poultiy. 
