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Poultry production,

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http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924001685431

OU, SOD WC EON

WILLIAM ADAMS LIPPINCOTT

PROFESSOR OF POULTRY HUSBANDRY, KANSAS STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE
THIRD EDITION, THOROUGHLY REVISED

ILLUSTRATED WITH 243 ENGRAVINGS

LEA & FEBIGER
PHILADELPHIA AND NEW YORK

PRINTED IN U.5. A.

TO
MY FATHER
JULIAN POST LIPPINCOTT
WITHOUT WHOSE ENCOURAGEMENT THIS WORK WOULD

NOT HAVE BEEN UNDERTAKEN IT IS

AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED

PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION

Tus book has been written to furnish agricultural students
with a comprehensive and convenient statement of the facts
and principles of Poultry Production. It is hoped that it
will render a service in teaching its subject in the great
producing areas where farm poultry is abundant and poultry
farms rare. It is of necessity very largely a compilation,
and as far as possible consists of a systematic report of facts
fully or partly established by careful experiment.

The material is largely that used by the author in courses
taught at Iowa State College and Kansas State Agricultural
College during the last eleven years. This has been supple-
mented by knowledge gleaned from the literature of the
subject. Credit is given for material wherever used, when
the person with whom it originated is known.

It is a pleasure to acknowledge the assistance of the follow-
ing gentlemen in the preparation of this book:

Mr. J. G. Halpin, Professor of Poultry Husbandry, Uni-
versity of Wisconsin, made several helpful suggestions,
particularly in reference to the chapters on The Poultry
Industry, Housing and Hygiene, and Preparing for Con-
sumption.

Mr. A. G. Philips, Professor of Poultry Husbandry,
Purdue University, made several pertinent suggestions
concerning the chapter on Breeding.

Messrs. George C. Bowman and Harry Perry, of the
Give)

vi PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION

Seymour Packing Company, Topeka, Iansas, and = \Ir.
John Perry, of Perry Brothers, packers of poultry and eggs,
Manhattan, Kansas, have made numerous helpful sugges-
tions concerning the chapters on The Poultry Industry, and
Preparing for Consumption.

Mr. F. E. Mnussehl, Professor of Poultry Husbandry,
University of Nebraska, made several suggestions concerning
the chapter on Feeding, and Diseases and Parasites. Te
also compiled the tables of feeds in the appendix.

Dr. J. S. Hughes, Associate Professor of Chemistry,
Kansas State Agricultural College, aided materially in the
revision of the chapters on Feeds and Feeding.

Mr. TH. A. MeAleer, Chief, Foods Research Laboratory,
Bureau of Chemistry, US. Department of Agriculture, made
pertinent suggestions concerning the revision of the chapters
on the Poultry Industry and the Preparation of Poultry
Produets.

Professor TP. E. Fox, of Oregon State Agricultural College,
and Professor L. H. Schwartz, of Purdue University, called
the author’s attention to several omissions and inaccuracies.

Messrs. W. A. Henry and F. B. Morrison, of the University
of Wiseonsin, very kindly gave permission for the use of the
analyses found in Table LEV in the Appendix, which were
taken from their volume, Feeds and Feeding.

IY also desire to acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr.
James KB. Rice, Professor of Poultry Husbandry, Cornell
University. Tt was my good fortune to secure my first c lege
training in this subject under his direction. The principles
Which T learned from him are to be found throughout this
book.

Wiel

KANSAS Srarn AarieuururaL CoLiecer, 1921.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

Pouttry PrRopucTION AND THE PouLrrRy INDUSTRY

CHAPTER II.
BREEDS OF CHICKENS

CHAPTER III.

Tue BREEDING OF CHICKENS

CHAPTER IV.

Tus IncupatTion oF Hen’s Eaas

CHAPTER V.

Tue Broopine or CHicKs

CHAPTER VI.
Housina anD HyGIENE

CHAPTER VII.

Tur NUTRIENTS AND NUTRITION

CHAPTER VIII.
Tue FEEDS .

CHAPTER IX.

THE CoMPouUNDING OF RATIONS

(vil )

175

249

360

viii CONTENTS
CHAPTER X.
Frepinc Practices aNnp APPLIANCES

CHAPTER XI.

TURKEYS

CHAPTER XII.

Ducks AND GEESE

CHAPTER XIII.

PIGEONS AND GUINEA-FOWL

CHAPTER XIV.

PREPARING PouLTRY PRopucTS

CHAPTER XV.

Pouurry Diskases AND PARASITES
APPENDIX

INDEX

429

POULTRY PRODUCTION.

CHAPTER: T.

POULTRY PRODUCTION AND THE POULTRY
INDUSTRY.

Definition of Poultry.'—Poultry is a term designating
collectively those species of birds which render man an
economic service and reproduce regularly and freely under
his care. It includes chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, swans,
guineas, pigeons, pheasants, peafowl and ostriches, and refers
to them whether alive or dressed.

Relative Importance of the Different Species of Poultry.—
Chickens are of preéminent es among the various
species of poultry. As shown in Table I, the total number
of poultry found on the farms of the United States’ January
1, 1920, was 372,825,264 birds. Of these, 96.4 per cent
(359,537,127) were chickens;a little over 1 percent (3,627,028)
were turkeys; less than .75 per cent (2,817,624) were ducks;
a trifle over .7S8 per cent (2,959,2( 03) were geese; while the
total for guineas (2,410,421), pigeons (1,493,630), and

ostriches (231) was slightly over 1 per cent (3,904,282).

1 Adapted from Pusch, Allgemeine Tierzucht.

2 The names of the various species of poultry also designate them respect-
ively when dressed, there being no separate terms, as in the case of ‘'‘beef,”’
“mutton,” and “pork.”

3 Unfortunately these figures fail to take into account the numbers ol
poultry which are kept in the towns and villages, and which would appre-
ciably increase both the total numbers and the relative proportion of chicken
to other species.

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POULTRY PRODUCTION

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POULTRY PRODUCTION AND POULTRY INDUSTRY 19

While 90.5 per cent of all the farms of the United States
reported chickens, there was but 0.3 per cent that reported
any species of poultry that did not report chickens. From
1910 to 1920 the number of chickens in the United States
increased 28.2. per cent, while during the same period the
number of turkeys, ducks, and geese decreased 1.7, 3.1, and
33.7 per cent respectively.

It should be noted in this connection that the figures of
1910 and 1920 are not strictly comparable. This is owing
to the fact that the 1910 enumeration was made April 15
and took into account no chickens under three months of
age, While the enumeration of 1920 was as of January 1.
The absolute gain in the number of chickens and guinea fowl
was undoubtedly less than the foregoing would indicate
while the decreases of the other species were probably
greater.

The popularity of the chicken is due to the fact that it
furnishes a convenient source of fresh meat on the farm,
and is, almost universally, a greater egg producer than are
other sorts of poultry.

Magnitude of the Poultry Industry—The 1911 report of
the Secretary of Agriculture placed the national annual
income from poultry products at $750,000,000, or approxi-
mately the combined value of the gold, silver, iron, and coal
mined the same year. The report of the 1920 census, places
the national annual income from eggs produced and poultry
raised at a little over $1,047,000,000, leaving the production
of the villages, towns and cities unaccounted for.

“Tlistory has shown that as the population of a country
increases, the hen population outruns the population of other
domestic animals. In the United States, we had two hens
per person in 1880 and a little over three hens per person in
1900 and 1910. In the meantime the number of other (food)
animal units . . . has decreased 30 per cent.” !

The census figures for the different states, while incom-
plete, are fairly comparable, because of the fact that the
same method was used in securing them in each state.

‘Benjamin: Jour. Am, Assn. Inst. Invest. in Poul. Husb., vol. iv, No. 3.

20 POULTRY PRODUCTION

The first ten states in point of eggs and chickens produced are
shown in Table IT.

Taste [].—Tuae RANK or THE First TEN STATES, WITH REFERENCE TO
THE VALUE OF THE ToraL PRopucrion oF Eaas AND CHICKENS

IN 1919.1
Total value
Rank. State. chicken products
1 Towa $70,212,544
2; Illinois 67,690,085
3 Missouri 66,271,029
4. E Ohio 64,109,133
5 Pennsylvania 53,709,243
6 Indiana 52,765,970
i Kansas 44,199,84
te) Texas 3,303 ,62
9 New York 42,841,499
10 California 40,541,744

Farm Incomes from Poultry.—The importance of a state
to an industry and the importance of an industry to a state
may be, and in the case of poultry production are two very
different matters. While California, for instance, ranks tenth
in the total state income from poultry products (see Table IT),
she ranks first in the average farm income derived from poul-
try (see Table HT).

Taste Ill.—Tue Revative Rank or THE First Ten States with
REFERENCE TO THE AVERAGE Farm INCOME FROM POULTRY.?

Average farm income
from poultry

Rank State. products sold.
1 . California S636 .86
2 New Jersey 39902
3 Rhode Island 374.67
4 Massachusetts 374.29
5: Utah 329.82
6 Connecticut O07
7 Washington 59
8 New Hampshire 71
9 Nevada 92

10 Delaware 83

+ Compiled from the United States Census Report for 1920.
* Tor the average farm incomes for all the states, see Table L (Appendix)

POULTRY PRODUCTION AND POULTRY INDUSTRY 21

According to the 1920 census report the average farm
income from poultry products sold in the United States
Wats $145.33 on the basis of the total number of farms. (See
Table L, Appendix.) Figures are not available which show
what proportion of the average total farm income the average
poultry income is, but it is reasonable to suppose it will
generally be greatest in those states whose average farm
income from poultry is largest. The ten states showing the
largest average farm incomes from poultry products sold are
listed according to their incomes in Table III.

Farm Consumption of Poultry Products.—The average
quantities of home produced meats (including eggs) consumed
per family by 955 farm families (average size 4.8 adults or
equivalent), in fourteen states was reported by Funk? in 1920
to be as shown in Table IV. Poultry and eggs furnish
39 per cent of the home produced meat food.

Tasue [V.—Home-propucep Meat Foops ConsumMEp ANNUALLY BY
Farm Famiuies (Data or I’unk).

Pounds.
Pork and lard 499
Beef 97
Poultry 226
Eggs 156
Total A 978

The Primary Poultry Product.— ges are the leading poultry
product. As shown in Table LI (Appendix), the average
state income from poultry products sold was in 1919 $10,699,-
704, of which $2,443,318 was credited to poultry sold, and
$8,256,386 was credited to eggs, or considerably over three-
fourths of the total income.

At the same time the average annual farm income from
eggs for all the farms in the United States was $95.95, as
shown in Table L (Appendix), while the income from poultry
sold was $44.37, or less than half as much.

1 U.S. Farmers’ Bulletin, No. 1082.

Tas_p V.—Unitep States AVERAGE Farm PRICE PER Dozen Eccs on THE First or Eacu Monts Since 1910!

| 1919. | 1920. Average.

1915

POULTRY PRODUCTION

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POULTRY PRODUCTION AND POULTRY INDUSTRY 23

The reason for this difference probably lies in the unique-

hess of eggs among human foods, their high digestibility,!
healthfulness owing to their vitamin content, and general
attractiveness. It is likely to continue until some economic
condition arises whereby the poultry carcass becomes more
highly valued by the general public, in comparison with the
egg, than at present. In the light of recent discoveries con-
cerning their content of food accessories or vitamins, eggs are
likely to increase in esteem, rather than decrease.
Although the eggs of ducks and guineas find their way
into the regular channels of trade, their number is so small
when compared with the number of hens’ eggs as to make
them practically a negligible quantity. Turkey and goose
eges are used for hatching purposes only.

“The output of eggs is steadily growing, but the demand
is growing even faster than the supply, due to the increased
price of meat, as well as a preference for eggs as food; hence
the price of eggs has risen. In 1899 the farm price was
11.15 cents per dozen, as an average for the United States;
in 1909 the average was 19.7 cents, weighted according to
monthly production.’

The average farm price per dozen eggs on the first Jay of
each month from January, 1910 to August, 1920 is shown
in Table V.

As indicative of the advance in prices of poultry as well
as eggs during the last twenty-four years, the weighted
average New York prices (estimated), furnished by the
“Urner-Barry Company,’ New York City, are given in
Table VI. These prices represent those paid wholesale
receivers by jobbers for western products, all grades con-
sidered except extras in the case of eggs.

1 Several investigations reported by Langworthy show that 95 per cent
of the dry matter of the edible portion of the egg is digested by man. In
detail the digestibility of the various constituents of the edible portion was:
protein, 90 to 98 per cent; lecithin, 91 per cent; neutral fat, 95 to 98 per
cent; ash, 70 per cent—Farmers’ Bulletin, 128.

2 Pennington and Pierce, Year-book of United States Department of
Agriculture, 1910.

24 POULTRY PRODUCTION

TasLue VI.—Weicutep New York AVERAGE Prices (ESTIMATED)
on Ecos, Live anp Dressep PouLtrry FOR THE YEARS
1896 ro 1919 INcLUSIVE.

Live Dressed

Year. Eggs. poultry. poultry.
1896. +5 ; 14.00 9.00 10.00
1897 . 14.50 8.50 9.00
1898 15.50 8.80 9.10
1899 17.00 9.80 11.00
1900 16.00 9.30 10.00
1901 18.00 9.50 11.00
1902 20.00 11.50 14.50
1903 18.50 12.50 15.50
1904 20.00 12.50 15.00
1905 20.00 13.00 16.00
1906 19.00 12.80 15.00
1907 18.50 13.80 15.50
1908 19.00 13.50 15.80
1909 23.50 16.00 18.3
1910» 23.00 17.00 19.80
1911 19.30 15.00 17.80
1912 . 22.80 15.50 18.3
1913 . 21.60 16.00 18.50
1914 23.10 16.20 17.50
1915 22.40 15.70 16.20
1916: .. 26.00 18.75 20.25
1917 ; : 37.00 24.00 23.00
1918 42.00 33.00 30.00
1919 ; 48.00 32.00! 37.00

During these same years the Chicago prices of eggs into
and out of storage are shown in Table VII?

Home Demand Supplied.—For the five years ending June
30, 1920, the average annual imports of eggs were only
1,181,602 dozens (see Table LVI, Appendix). During the
same period the average annual exports of eggs were
27,400,313 dozens (See Table LV, Appendix). These figures
refer to eggs in the shell. A rather recent development
is the importation of considerable quantities of dried and
frozen eggs, chiefly from China. During the five years
ending June 30, 1920, the average annual imports of this
class of goods were 12,822,693 pounds valued at $3,727,661.
During the same period the average value of the exports was
only $286,425. (See Tables LVIT and LVIII in Appendix.)

1 This slight decline in the price of live poultry was due to a very heavy
increase (about 41 per cent) in the supply.

2 Courtesy of Paul Mandeville, Merrill and Eldredge, and 8S. 8S. Borden
Co., Chicago.

POULTRY PRODUCTION AND POULTRY INDUSTRY 25

Tasuie VII.—Cosr or Srorace Packep Eaas into Srorp,
F. O. B. CHICAGO.

Year. April. May June
1896 93 to 113 83 to 11 10} to 11}
1897 8} to 9} # to 11 i to 103
1898 : 9 to 10} 9 to1ljZ 93 to 12
1899 11{ to 13} 12 to 15 13 to 144
1900 102 to.114 10} to 13 11} to 14
1901 12 to 133 11 to 11¢ 10} to 12
1902 143 to 17 153 to 163 153 to 17
1903 143 to 15} 15 to 16 143 to 16
1904 163 to 18 17} to 18 163 to 18
1905 163 to 173 16 to 17 144 to 15}
1906 153 to 18 16 to 162 15} to 16}
1907 16} to 173 16. to 174 15 to 15}
1908 15 to 16} 16 to 163 16 to17
1909 183 to 223 21 to 223 194 to 21
1910 21 to 22% 193 to 21 19 to 20
1911 153 to 174 16 to 17} 15 to 16
1912 193 to 213 19 to 20} 18} to 194
1913 184 to 19 184 to 193 18 to 19
1914 19 to 19} 18} to 193 19 to 195
1915 194 to 203 18} to 194 18 tol19
1916 203 to 224 212 to 225 214 to 223
1917 203 to 36% 34 to 36} 30} to 355
1918 33% to 36 33 to 354 32 to 36
1919 41} to 44 423 to 46 38) to 43
1920 43 to 453 42 to 45 403 to 42}

SELLING Price oF APRILS AND NortTHERN Mays, INCLUDING
CARRYING CHARGES r. O. B. CHICAGO.

Year. October. November. December.
1896 14 told 15 to 17 13 to 17
1897 13. to 139 113 to 133 12 to 15
1898 134 to 144 14 to 163 16 to 19
1899 16 to 163 15 to 16 13 to 16
1900 15} to 16} 15} to 19 19 to 21
1901 16} to 17 16} to 18 18 to 20
1902 19 to 20 19 to 20 20 to 203
1903 19} to 203 203 to 25 24 to 29
1904 18 to 18} 18 to 21 19 to 21}
1905 19 to 20} 20 to 203 19 to 20}
1906 20 to 20} 203 to 223 20 to 24
1907 16} to 194 154 to 17 153 to 17
1908 20} to 223 223 to 25 23. to 27
1909 22% to 23% 22 to 23} 21 to 24}
1910 22} to 23 22} to 233 21 to 223
1911 183 to 193 193 to 22 21 to 23
1912 22% to 233 21 to 22} 173 to 21
1913 23 to 26} 25 to 28 25 to 303
1914 . 20 to 22} 203 to 24 20 to 25}
1915 222 to 234 203 to 23} 204 to 22
1916 263 to 304 30 to 37 28 to 34}
1917 . 823 to 37 30 to 334 31 to 41
1918 . . 394 to 4443 43 to 443 423 to 45
1919 44 to 47 46 to 48 47% to 50

1920 . 46 to 50 48 to 563 56 to 59

26 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Geographical Distribution of Poultry—‘‘The great egg and
poultry producing territories of the United States can be
divided according to their geographical location and the
character of the industry, into three quite distinct sections.
The first of these comprises the northeastern states, including
New England, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and
Maryland. This is a section in which the poultry industry
is one of importance and where many large and specialized
poultry farms are located. Inasmuch as it also happens to be
one of the greatest consuming sections of poultry products,
the local supply does not supply the demand, and large
quantities are brought in from other parts of the country.”

“The second producing section comprises the states
bordering the Pacific. Here the conditions are in many
respects identical with those of the first section. The eggs
produced all find a market in the cities of those states, and
the quantity is not sufficient to supply the demand.’”

“The third section comprises principally states lying in
the Mississippi Valley. They are Minnesota, Wisconsin,
Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas,
Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and
Texas. In this great section the vast majority of the eggs
(and poultry) are produced; yet the character of the poultry
keeping is quite different from that in the other two sections
discussed. There are in this whole stretch of country few
farms which can properly be termed poultry farms, or where
poultry raising can properly be considered one of the main
branches of the farm work.’

Over 90 per cent of all the farms in the United States
reported chickens in the census of 1920. The total number
of chickens on the farms at that time was 359,537,127, with
an average of 7,337,490 birds for each state and 62 birds
to each farm, with value per bird of $0.97.4. Over 52 per cent
of the total number is found in ten states, which are listed
according to their rank in Table VIII.

1 Lamon, Year-book, United States Department of Agriculture, 1911.
? Loc. cit.
5 Loe. cit.
4 According to the census of 1900 it was 34 cents and in 1910, 52 cents.

POULTRY PRODUCTION AND POULTRY INDUSTRY 27

“a

Tasie VIII.—Suowine tue Comparative RANK or THE First Tren
Srares with Recarp to raz Numper or Pouitrry Kept,
AND THEIR ToraL Vauue.!

Rank. Numbers kept. Rank. Total value.
1. Iowa $28,352,515 1. Iowa $27,779,663
2. Illinois 25,864,558 2. Missouri 25,470,023
3. Missouri 25,610,515 3. Illinois 25,234,061
4, Ohio 20,604,103 4. Ohio 20,693,940
5. Texas 19,024,124 5. Pennsylvania 18,639,535
6. Kansas 17,298,041 6. Indiana 16,757,365
7. Indiana 17,147,576 7. Texas : 16,674.947
8. Pennsylvania 15,226,961 8. Kansas 15,453,540
9. Minnesota 13,663,443 9. New York 15,348,600
10. Nebraska 11,932,243 10. California 15,293,570

The rank of these states with reference to numbers and
value differs somewhat. The causes for this difference usually
lie in the quality of the poultry, the distance from market,
or both. The first ten states with reference to the value of
their poultry at the time of the census are also listed accord-
ing to their rank in Table VIII. Nearly 55 per cent of the
total valuation of poultry in the United States is found in
these ten states. It will be noted that the same states are
found in each list, except that Minnesota, which stands
ninth in the number of poultry kept, is replaced by New York
in the list of states whose poultry shows the greatest value,
and Nebraska is similarly replaced by California.

POULTRY PRODUCTION.

Poultry production includes those operations incident
to breeding and rearing domestic birds for food purposes
and for pleasure and in preparing their products? for market.
These are the activities of the breeder, the producer, and
the packer.

Early History of Poultry Production—Poultry raising is
essentially a home industry. It appeared in this country
at least as soon as the first homes were made in Jamestown
in 1607. The entire product of the flock, including the
feathers, was used at home. It has, however, never been a
frontier occupation in the sense that beef production and,

1 For complete statistics of all the states, see Table LII, Appendix.

2 The by-products of poultry production are feathers, fertilizer, gizzard
linings as a source of commercial pepsin, and egg-shells as a source of pow-

dered calcium carbonate for infant feeding. Of these, feathers are by far
the most important being in the case of the ostrich the primary product.

28 POULTRY PRODUCTION

to a less degree, wheat production, which tend to be replaced
by crops yielding more food units per acre, have been.
Poultry and eggs have been from the first, for the most part
by-products of general agriculture. It was not until long
after most of the present-day industries which emanated
from the farm had become fairly well established that
poultry raising with its associated industries began to be
accounted an industry and recognized as of any commercial
importance. :

This was largely due to two associated causes. The first
was the high perishability of both poultry and eggs and the
second the poor means of transportation in early days.

Commercially the poultry industry as a whole is dependent
upon present-day improved transportation facilities, and
the history of its development has very largely paralleled
the history of the development of the modern common car-
riers and advanced with the improvement of refrigerator
ears. It was not until about 1869 when the refrigerator
was first brought into use for long distance hauling, that
means were afforded for transporting poultry products from
the farm to distant cities and production, beyond that
demanded by home needs, became an object and poultry a
source of any considerable money income.

Present Organization of the Poultry Industry.—The
poultry industry is at present made up of several more or
less clearly defined coérdinate industries which have to do
with growing and marketing poultry and poultry products.
Taking their names from the respective industries in which
they are employed, the persons engaged in the poultry
industry as a whole may be designated as (1) production-
breeders; (2) fanciers and fancier-breeders; (3) producers;
(4) customs hatchers and baby chick dealers; (5) buyers,
(6) packers and (7) distributers.

While this classification holds true, it should be clearly
recognized that there is no hard-and-fast line between the
classes, and that the same person often engages in two or
more lines of work. Thus the producer of the best type
varries on breeding operations within certain limits. The
breeder should be somewhat of a fancier, and the packer
is usually a buyer and distributer as well.

Fig. 1

POULTRY PRODUCTION AND POULTRY INDUSTRY

State poultry show, St. Louis, Mo., 1914

30 POULTRY PRODUCTION

The Production-breeder.—A breeder is one who seeks to
improve stock through proper selection and mating. From
the standpoint of poultry production, with the exception of
ostriches, improvement refers to an increased efficiency in
the production of human food. A breeder whose primary
aim is to raise the food manufacturing efficiency of any
species of poultry may for convenience be called a ‘‘produc-
tion breeder’. A comparatively small, but constantly grow-
ing number of breeders are turning their attention toward
production. Their principal function with regard to pro-
duction is to furnish the producer with breeding males of
standard varieties with which to improve his flocks whether
the flocks are mongrel or pure-bred. Pedigree breeding,
the only method by which prepotent males able to sire
efficient producers can be produced, with any regularity is
out of reach of the producer, who must make his profit by
securing a narrow margin on many birds, rather than a wide
one on a few. The true breeder is a producer in the very
best and highest sense. The producer can follow only as far
as the breeder leads the way.

Fanciers and Fancier-breeders.—The term “fancier” refers
to one who keeps poultry for pleasure rather than for the
production of food, while a “fancier-breeder’’ is one who
breeds poultry for fanciers. At the present time the fancier-
breeders as far outnumber the production-breeders as the
fanciers are outnumbered by producers.

The preponderance of fancier-breeders over production-
breeders is largely due to three causes. The first is the
elaborate poultry show system in vogue in this country, the
second is the lack of anything like the general adoption of a
merit system in the purchase of farm poultry products, and
the third is a profound ignorance of the laws of productive
breeding.

The poultry show system of America is more complete
than for any other line of live stock. Nearly every city
(and very many of the towns and villages), throughout the
United States and Canada has its annual poultry show, at
which the fanciers from a greater or less range of surrounding
territory exhibit their birds in competition for premiums.

POULTRY PRODUCTION AND POULTRY INDUSTRY 31

Back of these shows, which are comparatively seldom held
for profit, are usually to be found an enthusiastic group of
fanciers organized into a more or less local association.

The characteristics or points by which competing birds
are compared, are those beauties which, taken collectively,
make up the bird representing the prevailing fashion. The
useful type has not been made the basis of the show type
with poultry to nearly so great a degree as with other food-
producing animals or with draft horses. Improvement in
this line during the last few years, however, has been very
marked, and there is a noticeable tendency for those fanciers
who carry on breeding operations to become breeders from
the stand-point of production.

It is to the credit of the fancier, however, that there are
distinct types and breeds of poultry. Both breeders and
producers are under lasting obligations to them for the
possibility of that uniformity which is so essential as a basis
of successful feeding in flocks, and in marketing modern
high-class products.

A second reason why the fanciers outnumber the breeders
is that there has been no merit system in general use for
purchasing poultry products, and hence there has been little
incentive toward improved products. When market poultry
and eggs are universally purchased from the farmer on the
basis of their quality, as cream is bought on the basis of
butter-fat content in many sections, and a better price is
paid for good goods than for poor goods, poultry breeding
in the best sense will become a practice and the number of
production-breeders will more nearly approach that of the
fancier-breeders.

A third cause has been the lack of anything like definite
rules of selection in production-breeding practice. There are
now happily being worked out certain correlations between
form and function which are giving some characteristics at
least, of a producing type. With the increase in knowledge
concerning the inheritance of egg production, the growth of
the practice of pedigree breeding and of the dependence
upon the progeny test in estimating the breeding value of a
given bird this cause bids fair to disappear.

32 POULTRY PRODUCTION

The Producer.—By a “producer,” reference is made to a
person who raises poultry primarily for human consumption.

During the last twenty-five years a great many attempts
have been made to operate farms which had as their principal
market crops, poultry and eggs. In fact, numerous attempts
have been made to go beyond this and specialize on a certain
sort of product, and through the nineties, broiler, egg, and
roaster farms were frequently heard of and much exploited
by the press.

Today farms of any considerable size that have devoted
their entire attention to poultry production (aside from duck
raising) and have been a business success for a period of ten
years are exceptions and generally due to especially advan-
tageous conditions of production or market, not generally
available. While there are no reliable statistics covering
the point, the vast majority of producers are gcneral farmers
whose poultry raising is carried on as a subordinate line in a
system of diversified farming.

Hastings,| who has had every opportunity to observe,
thinks that “more than 9S per cent of the poultry and eggs
are produced on the general farm,” while Robinson® hazards
the opinion that ‘the greater part, probably over 90 per
cent, of all the poultry sold in the United States is produced
by poultry keepers who do not make a business of poultry
culture, but keep poultry on a small scale while giving their
attention chiefly to some other occupation, usually general
farming.”

In the extreme eastern and western states and in the
vicinity of certain of the large cities in the central states,
there are sections containing numerous small tracts given
over to the production of eggs and poultry for special trades.
Possibly the best known of these is the Petaluma district
of California, which specializes in white eges and broilers
for the winter tourist trade. The Vineland district in New
Jersey, as described by Lewis,* furnishes new-laid white

' Formerly with the Bureau of Animal Industry, United States Depart-
ment of Agriculture.

* Principles and Practice of Poultry Culture.

‘ Productive Poultry Husbandry.

POULTRY PRODUCTION AND POULTRY INDUSTRY 33

“sss lor the fancy New York market. The Little Compton
district of Rhode Island produces brown eggs for the New

Iie, 2

Live poultry going to the market. These birds would bring more money
if they were all alike. An opportunity for community breeding. (Courtesy
of United States Department of Agriculture.)

England markets. In the well-known South Shore district
of Massachusetts a specialty is made of the so-called “soft
roaster” for the city markets of the East, though the

Fre, 3

Refrizerator ear. (Courtesy of United States Department of Agriculture.)

majority of these birds are grown on farms where poultry
raising is not the principal occupation.
3

34 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Specialized, intensive, small poultry farms bear a similar
relation to general poultry production that the greenhouse
culture of vegetables does to general market gardening.
They are useful for the production of out-of-season luxuries
for the wealthy, but have little to do with feeding the nation.
And in common with the production of luxuries generally,
though large and tempting profits are sometimes made,
as an exclusive occupation they are hazardous.

The “ chicken-house”’ of a Western poultry-packing establishment, given
over entirely to milk-feeding and dressing chickens. (Courtesy of Seymour
Packing Company.)

The general farm producer usually disposes of his products
as staples and his problem, since he sells at the current
quotation, is to reduce the cost of production. Where the
poultry or eggs are handled as specialities, the great problem
is marketing, of getting a special or fancy price for each
individual unit of the product.

The Customs Hatcher and Baby Chick Dealer.—A present
tendency in poultry production is for the producer to depend
upon a skilled hatcher to furnish him with living chicks.
This practice though ages old in Egypt and China, is a
comparatively recent development in America. Though

POULTRY PRODUCTION AND POULTRY INDUSTRY 35

assuming large proportions, the baby chick industry is yet
in its infancy in this country, and an expansion hardly yet
dreamed of is the prospect of the next few years. It is not
improbable that the hatching of chicks for the surrounding
territory may ultimately become one of the functions of the
poultry packer just as the fattening and finishing already
have.

The term customs hatcher refers to a person who incubates,
for a consideration, eggs which he does not own, usually for
nearby producers Good sized centralized hatching plants
are appearing in most communities where poultry forms an
important item among the agricultural products. This
takes the bother of hatching and the necessity of purchasing
an incubator away from the farm, yet allows the producer to
develop his own line of stock.

The baby chick dealer is one who owns the eggs he incu-
bates and sells the chicks. The latter are frequently hatched
by the thousand and may be shipped hundreds of miles to
customers. At the present time over two-thirds of the baby
chicks sold go to city or town customers.

The Buyer.—In nearly every trading point in the United
States there is someone who is willing to buy eggs and poultry
from the producer at any season of the year. At the smaller
points this is usually the merchant of whom the farmer
buys his supplies, and who pays for the poultry and eggs
in trade. At larger points there is likely to be besides the
merchant one or more persons who give their whole attention
to buying farm produce, and in many cases to buying poultry
produce alone. Such a buyer usually pays a little less than
the merchant gives in trade, but is able to handle a consid-
erable volume of business because he makes immediate
payment in cash.

To be a really efficient member of the poultry industry
a buyer should give his quotations only on a quality basis
and provide himself with refrigerator facilities.

Whether the buyer is a merchant, an independent produce
man, or an agent of the packer or distributer, his is the first
step in the gathering and concentrating of a gigantic crop of
highly perishable products, aggregating hundreds of millions

36 POULTRY PRODUCTION

in value, from very many farms whose average yearly sales
probably amount to a few hundred dollars at most. As
indicated in Figure 6, the original buyer may be any one
of several classes of dealers, or the goods may pass through
the hands of three classes of buyers before the work of
distribution is begun.

The Packer.—Vhe function of a packer is to prepare food
products for preservation and consumption, and to preserve
them. The home-killing of poultry for general consumption
is passing just as the home slaughtering of beef and pork has
largely given way to the slaughter houses of the large packing
centers.

Poultry receiving-room of a Western poultry packing-house. (Courtesy of
Seymour Packing Company.)

The preparing and preserving of both eggs and poultry
for general consumption have been carried on for some time
by firms doing a general packing business. More recently,
establishments specializing on poultry products alone have
been able to enter into successful competition with the
organizations doing a general packing business.

The states of Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Minne-
sota, Indiana and Tennessee are those in which the poultry-
packing business has shown the greatest development. While
it is carried on to a greater or less extent in all the states, most
of the establishments dressing poultry or shipping eggs are

POULTRY PRODUCTION AND POULTRY INDUSTRY 37

small, without adequate equipment and employing only the
crudest methods.

The present tendency is toward centralized plants having
all the facilities of a first-class packing establishment, of
which mechanical refrigeration is the most fundamental
item.

Fic. 6

FPRRODUCE FR

| aan
[| |eCconERa tive
MARAE TING
LOCAL
SSOC NS
BUYER A VATS O
eo
it
WHOLE SALE
BUSER |
| | LACHER
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MERCHANT
VOBBEPR
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BAHERS CLUBS
PETAILEL? CONFECTIONERS PRES TAURANTS
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COIYSUME/?

Showing routes by which poultry products reach the consumer from the
producer

Aside from dressing and preserving poultry, eliminating
the bad eggs (which, under the present general system of
buying eggs from producers without regard to quality, are
bound to find their way into the channels of trade), and
preserving the good ones, the packer has been forced by the

38 POULTRY PRODUCTION

exigencies of the business to take up the work of fattening
and finishing the poultry before killing it.

Fia. 8

Egg-breaking room at a Western packing-house. Eggs are broken out
for freezing. See egg churns at the right. The drying of eggs in this
country has largely been discontinued, owing to the fact that American
capital has found it more profitable to dry the cheaper Chinese eggs in
that country and ship them to America. (Courtesy of Seymour Packing
Company.)

The Distributer.—As indicated in Figure 6, poultry pro-
ducts may reach the consumer by various routes. In a very
small proportion of cases the producer deals with the con-
sumer direct, and is also a distributer. In an increasing,
though still small, number of cases, the local buyer is a
merchant who retails the products at the place of produc-
tion. In the great majority of cases, however, both eggs
and poultry reach the consumer by a more circuitous route.
After the products have been concentrated in the hands of
the wholesale buyers, including the packers, they may
be turned over to a commission merchant or broker, who
disposes of them to the jobber in quite large quantities.
The jobber in turn distributes them among the various retail-
ing agencies, which include the retail markets, bakeries, con-

POULTRY PRODUCTION AND POULTRY INDUSTRY 39

fectioneries, hotels, clubs, restaurants, dining cars, the steam-
ship dining service, and the like, which deal directly with the
consumer.

There are numerous modifications of this route. One or
more of these steps in distribution may be eliminated, as
would be the case if a codperative marketing association
dealt directly with a jobber or a retailer, or the packer sold
to a hotel; but the great bulk of the goods at present passes
through the several steps indicated at the left of Figure 6.

Reasons for Widespread Production.—The reasons for
the widespread production of poultry are mainly as
follows:

1. The first consideration in keeping poultry is often not
the securing of products for sale, but for home consumption.
Chickens on the general farm or the city lot furnish eggs
at less cost, and because of their high perishability, of better
quality, than may usually be secured from the stores. The
cheapness of production lies, as Robinson! points out, in
the fact that chickens as well as most other poultry “may
be fed largely on food wasted by man (in manufacture as
well as in consumption) and on foods wasted by or not
available for the larger domestic animals.” At the same time,
all kinds of poultry furnish a constant and convenient form
of highly palatable fresh meat and they thrive nearly every-
where that man can live.

2. “Very little poultry is kept profitably in this country
except on farms where it is in the strictest sense a non-
competing crop. Where it is kept in small quantities, it
forages for itself, consuming mainly waste products besides
destroying insects, and does not exhaust the soil at all,
but tends rather to enrich it. Again it does not compete
for the farmers’ time, being cared for mainly by the
labor of women and children. This may help to explain
how difficult it is for anyone to make a living raising
poultry alone in competition with farm poultry, unless one
is prepared to go into business on a large scale and is equipped
with thorough scientific knowledge. Where diversified farm-

' Principles and Practice of Poultry Culture.

40 POULTRY PRODUCTION

ing means the growing of non-competing crops specialization
is a long way off.””!

3. Poultry is receiving increasing recognition as an excel-
lent means of converting the farm and table waste into
cash, particularly when this waste is supplemented by feeds
furnishing certain essent al ingredients that are otherwise
lacking. Poultry products are crops for which a constant
demand furnishes an outlet, usually at good prices, in either
cash or trade. With the growth of closer relations between
producers and consumers and the development of codperative
agencies for buying and distributing general farm produce,
poultry products are destined to assume a position of greater
though always subordinate importance among other farm
products.

4. The general farm furnishes such favorable conditions
for poultry that little experience or skill is necessary to
succeed in handling it ina small way. Because of the large
fields and pastures which are covered with greenness and
are available for ranges, the variety of grains and insects
to be picked up and which demand exercise in the getting,
the numerous buildings and trees for protection from the
sun and wind, and the fact that the flocks are usually small
and the farms so large that there are few birds to the acre,
poultry thrive in spite of any lack of skill used in their care.

The late Prof. G. M. Gowell? saw clearly when he said:
“Poultry husbandry is a legitimate agricultural indus-
try. . . . It occupies a special place in agriculture and
will never displace other work except on limited areas. It
requires large quantities of grains and concentrated feeding
material and but small quantities of bulky foods. Larger
animals will always occupy the farms and prepare the
coarser crops of the land for market.”” Robinson® acutely
observes that ‘the stable factor in production is the farm
flock, . . . The natural tendency of the poultry industry
is not to develop production on a large seale, but to extend
and improve ordinary small operations as far as possible

' Carver, Principles of Rural Economics.
? Maine Bulletin No. 144.
* Principles and Practice of Poultry Culture

POULTRY PRODUCTION AND POULTRY INDUSTRY 41

without changing the position they occupy as subordinate
to other interests of the poultry keeper and other uses of
his land.”

While there will always be a place for the growing of
agricultural specialities, by far the greater part of the
agricultural industry must always be concerned with the
production of staple crops.

General Farm Versus Intensive Conditions.—As the result
of keeping complete records of eighteen farm flocks of
chickens and thirteen town flocks, in Ohio, for a period of
one year beginning August, 1909, Lloyd and Elser! report
some illuminating facts regarding the keeping of poultry
under intensive and extensive conditions. This may be
taken as representing the results to be attained under similar
conditions throughout the heavy producing states.

The town flocks, excluding one owned by a commercial
poultryman, varied in size from 18 to 97 birds, averaging
46 birds. These flocks gave results varying from an average
loss per bird of $0.93 to an average profit of $1.64 per bird,
under pre-war prices. The average profit per bird for all
the town flocks was $0.36 per bird for the year.

It is highly interesting to note, however, that the average
profit per bird in flocks above the average size was $0.26,
while the average profit per bird in flocks below the average
in size was $0.44.

Eight of the flocks were in close confinement and had no
range. The feed cost per bird was in this case $0.99, while
the feed cost for those having a limited range was $0.87
for the year. No statement is made of the feeding of these
flocks, and it is impossible to draw conclusions as to how
much of this saving is due to the green feed furnished in the
form of pasture to the ranging birds.

The eighteen farm flocks varied in size from 38 to 370
fowls and averaged 121. The average profit per bird in
different flocks varied from $2.47 to $0.62, with an average
profit per bird for eighteen farm flocks of $0.87. These

t Ohio Circular No. 118

42 POULTRY PRODUCTION

differences were probably due to the skill of the respective
farmers and the comparative vigor of the flocks.

The average profit per fowl in flocks of less than average
size was $0.98, while the average profit per fowl in flocks
above average size was $0.63. This average result was in
spite of the fact that because of intelligent care and rational
feeding three of these flocks which exceeded 300 birds gave
an average profit of $0.86 per bird.

The marked differences between the town flocks and the
farm flocks were not accounted for by greatly increased
production. The average egg production per hen was 71
for the farm flocks and 70 for the town flocks. It arose
rather from the fact that the farm fowls secured gleanings
from grain scattered at harvest and wasted or undigested
by live stock, waste from the orchard and garden, offal at
butchering time, abundant pasture, weed seeds and insects,
as well as sour or unused sweet milk.

During the same period the flock of a commercial poultry-
man residing in town, numbering 333, was kept at an
average feed cost of $0.81 per bird, and returned a profit
of $1.46 per bird. The average egg production was 141
eggs per bird. This egg production which is double that
secured in the flocks mentioned above is the result of greater
skill, better stock and equipment.

In all cases, labor and purchased, or marketable, feed
were charged against the flocks, but no overhead charges
were included. The records in detail are shown in Tables
IX and X. It should be understood that the preceding
costs and profits were made on the basis of pre-war prices.
Their comparative value, however, 1s probably not affected.

Limiting Factors of the Future.—There are three main
considerations which will define the general limits of poultry
production on the farm beyond that necessary to market
the waste. These are (1) the efficiency of poultry as producers
of human food; (2) the relation of poultry to the conservation
of soil fertility; and (3) the extent to which general methods
of disease prevention may be developed that can success-
fully cope with the intensive conditions that progressively
prevail as the number of birds on a given acreage is increased.

POULTRY PRODUCTION AND POULTRY INDUSTRY

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For specific farms, transportation facilities and nearness
to markets determine the commercial advisability of empha-
sizing poultry production, and unfavorable soil or climatic
conditions are, of course, local limiting factors.

Food Manufacturing Efficiency of the Hen.—As the question
of the food-supply becomes more and more acute and the
cost of living higher, the efficiency of the various domestic
animals as human food factories will be taken more and more
into consideration. In the last analysis, other things being
equal, the animal that manufactures the least human food
from a given amount of digestible feed will be the one whose
product will be the most expensive. As food becomes in-
creasingly expensive there will be a cessation in the con-
sumption of the more expensive kinds as articles of common
diet, and they will be placed among the luxuries.

As the size of farm or even town flocks grows beyond that
necessary for waste consumption, the efficiency of poultry
with reference to food production is going to play a larger
and larger part.

Unfortunately, data are not available which show the com-
parative efficiency of poultry with other animals except for
the chicken. A comparison between the hen and her com-
petitors among the larger animals, with regard to the amount
of marketable product and the actual edible solids produced
from one hundred pounds of digestible organic material in
the ration, is shown in Table NI.

Taste XI.—Tue Amount or Human Foop PropucepD FROM ONE
Hunprep Pounps or DiGesTIBLE OrGaANIC MATTER
IN THE RatTion.!

Animal. Product. Marketable product. Edible solid
Pounds. Pounds.

Dairy cow Milk . 139.00 18.00
Swine Dressed carcass 25.00 16.10
Calves Dressed carcass 36.50 8.10
Fowls, large Live weight 19.60
Fowls, small Live weight 19.60

Dressed carcass 15.60 4.20

Eggs Meare 19.60 5.10
Broilers Live weight 28.70

Dressed carcass 23.89 3.50
Steers . Dressed carcass 8.3 2.75
Sheep and lambs Dressed carcass 7.00 2.60

1 Adapted from figures given in Jordon’s Feeding of Farm Animals.

46 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Conservation of Soil Fertility —It is becoming increasingly
necessary to market crops in those forms which carry the
least amount of the valuable fertilizing constituents away
from the farm. It is a matter of common knowledge that
live stock and their products offer the best opportunity for
accomplishing this. This is owing to the fact that very
much of the fertility found in the feed and totally lost if sold
in the form in which it is grown, may be returned to the
soil in the manure, if fed to stock.

The per cent of the fertility value of the feed required
in the production of several common food products of
animals origin respectively, including eggs and broilers,
which is left on the farm in the form of manure is shown
in Table XII. The products are arranged in order according
to the per cent of the value of the fertilizing constituents
left on the farm.

TaBLe XII.—Tue Per Cent or Fertiviry Lerr on Farm
BY PrRopucts orf ANIMAL ORIGIN.!
Per cent of fer-

tility value left
on the farm.

Butter 99.83
Bacon 92.24
Beef 91.94
Eggs 89.56
Broilers 87.20
Milk 86.24
Cheese 58.03

Disease and Intensive Conditions.—That the problems of
growing poultry are difficult under certain conditions and
fairly simple under others is shown by the fact that while
poultry-farming enterprises of any considerable proportions
which have confined their efforts to production and have been
profitable through a series of years are rather exceptional,
the volume of poultry on farms in the United States increased
over 18 per cent from 1900 to 1910. (See Table I.)

This means that for some reason poultrymen, who are
presumably skilled in the various operations that make up

1 Compiled from various sources, chiefly Sherman, Chemistry of Food
and Nutrition; and Henry and Morrison, Feeds and Feeding,

POULTRY PRODUCTION AND POULTRY INDUSTRY 47

poultry husbandry, have failed to do on a large scale what
many farm folks who make no pretensions at skill are doing
with at least some degree of success on a small scale.

The majority of the very many market poultry farms that
have been undertaken and have failed, have failed because
they have been unable to maintain the health and productive
vigor of their flocks. Where poultry is the main source of
income, the conditions are likely to be those of congestion,
and the methods of management intensive. If the land is
good for general farming, it is so valuable that large numbers
of birds must be kept on a limited area, and the labor min-
imized, in order that a profit may be realized above the
interest on the investment in the land.

Poultry (with the exception of waterfowl), and particularly
chickens and turkeys, are highly susceptible to disease.
While chickens are gregarious, the natural covey is small,
and the practice of congregating large numbers on a limited
area permanently, renders each individual a menace to every
other individual, makes sweeping epidemics possible, and
renders it difficult, if not impossible, to keep the ranges and
runs green. Ground so heavily stocked as to make it bare
is a constant source of danger from disease infection.

In how far general hygienic measures and highly vigorous
stock may be developed that will offset these dangers is yet
to be seen. These are problems of management and breeding
worthy of investigators’ best efforts.

From the broad standpoint it is interesting to compare
the fact that in 1910 there were in this country slightly over
394 fowls per square mile of improved farm land, or at the
rate of one fowl for each 1.6 acres. According to King,!
Japan supports 825 fowls per square mile of improved farm
land which allows less than .8 of an acre per fowl. It would
appear, therefore, that the poultry population of the United
States may be at least doubled without serious danger of
widely sweeping epidemics.

As already noted, the one exception to the foregoing is
duck farming. While the total production of ducks declined

1 Farmers of Forty Centuries.

48 POULTRY PRODUCTION
3.1 per cent (see Table I) between 1910 and 1920, the farms
devoting their entire space to duck culture increased in
number and size. This was particularly true of certain of
the New England states. “There are many plants in the
eastern states growing from 5000 to 10,000 or 12,000 ducks a
year, a number growing up to 20,000 ,and some with an
annual production of over 50,000."! This has been carried
on arelatively large seale on Long Island since prior to 1S60.

That this is possible is largely due to the comparatively
phlegmatic temperament of ducks, so that they are not so
quarrelsome as other sorts of poultry, coupled with their
lack of susceptibility to disease arising from filth in their
food or quarters.

* Robinson, Principles and Practice of Poultry Culture.

CHAPTER II.
BREEDS OF CHICKENS.

Origin of the Domestic Fowl.—When man lived in a primi-
tive state and wasa savage, all animals and birds were also wild.
The first step in advance came when he began to realize
the value of wealth, to bring animals under control and
develop flocks and herds. He was still a wanderer and a
nomad. It was probably not until the necessity of co-
operative effort in protecting his wealth against enemies,
coupled with the increasing population, forced him to take
up settled life in villages, that birds were domesticated.
Poultry production was from the first, as it is now, essentially
a home industry.

While it appears likely that fowls were first captured for
fighting purposes, and later domesticated for flesh and eggs,
the earliest actual reference to poultry states that the
Chinese Emperor Fu-Hsi, who lived from 3341 to 3227 B.c.,
taught his people to breed fowls.t. Cock-fighting is still a
favorite pastime among the native princes of India, from
whence our domestic fowls originally came.

So far as records show, fowls were taken eastward nearly a
thousand years before they appeared in Europe. A Chinese
encyclopedia, said to have been compiled 1400 years before
Christ, makes mention of fowls as ‘creatures from the West.”
“The first actual reference in Western literature to the fowl
occurs in the writings of Theognis and Aristophanes between
400 and 500 B.c.’”?

Progenitors of the Breeds. — Darwin thought that all modern
breeds of fowls were the offspring of a common ancestor.
The differences noted between the phlegmatic Cochin and
the sprightly Leghorn, he considered to have been brought

ly. Fries, Abriss der Geschichte Chinas.

’ Brown, Races of Domestic Poultry.

4 (49 )

50 POULTRY PRODUCTION

about by the conditions of domestication, particularly selec-
tion and breeding.

The bird which he selected as the probable ancestor of the
hen was the species of jungle fowl known as Gallus bankiva
which is still to be found in the jungles of Burmah, Northern
India, the Philippine Islands, and several other countries.

The bankiva male very closely resembles the black-
breasted red game in color of plumage. The female has
a salmon-colored breast, striped neck feathers, and stippled

Fia, 8

Jungle fowl (Gallus bankiva). (Courtesy of New York Zodlogical
Gardens.)

body feathers almost identical with those of the modern brown
Leghorn female. In voice both male and female resemble
the common barnyard fowl. The crow of the wild male,
however, is not so prolonged as in the case of his domesti-
eated brother. In action they are quite similar to the
modern Leghorn.

These birds cross readily with domestic breeds, producing
fertile offspring and are themselves easily domesticated.

While these considerations seem to point toward the

BREEDS OF CHICKENS 51

bankiva as one ancestor of the hen as we know her, thev
do not necessarily prove that it was the only ancestor of the
modern fowl nor that it was necessarily a progenitor of all
breeds of chickens.

Fia. 9

The Aseel or Malay fowl. (Courtesy of C. B. Davenport.)

52 POULTRY PRODUCTION

As Brown! (whom I have largely followed) points out,
there are excellent reasons for believing that such heavy,
loose-feathered breeds as the Cochins and Brahmas came
from an entirely different ancestry with which the Aseel
or Malay fowl, domesticated over three thousand years ago,
is the connecting link. In these breeds the long axis of the
opening of the skull through which the spinal cord passes
(occipital foramen) is perpendicular, while in both the
Leghorn and bankiva it is horizontal. This is mentioned
as representative of several structural differences which
could not have been selected for. It can be noted only
by removing the head from the neck.

Besides structural differences, there are also differences
in habit which seem to indicate an ancestor far removed
from the close-feathered, early-maturing, high-flying jungle
fowl.

The question of just what was the forerunner of our heavy
breeds is an open one. While various suggestions have been
made, none have gained general acceptance, and it seems
probable that it is now extinct.

Early American Poultry.—There is little information to be
found concerning the status of poultry previous to the rise
of the breeds in the middle of the last century. ‘‘With the
exception of the turkey,? all our farm animals and poultry
were imported from the Old World. The first to reach the
New World were brought by Columbus on his second
voyage in 1495.* * * Chickens, ducks, and geese are known
to have been brought at that time.’’* According to Robinson,‘
the ordinary native stocks of fowls, ducks, geese, and turkeys
in America at the time of the general awakening of interest
in improved poultry and for some years after, were, even
when compared with the average mongrel stocks of today,
small birds of distinctly inferior table qualities, and usually
inferior also in egg production. This degeneracy of stock
was due to the common practice of selecting for the table first.

' Races of Domestic Poultry.

2 One breed of ducks, the Muscovy, probably originated in South America.
3 Carver, Principles of Rural Economies.

4 Principles and Practice of Poultry Culture.

BREEDS OF CHICKENS 50

That such practice, persistently followed, did not quickly run
the stock out was due to these saving circumstances: (1) the
natural tendency of the stock to improve under the very
favorable conditions which small flocks at liberty on farms
enjoyed, and (2) the occasional introduction of blood of
improved native stock.

Now and then a person particularly interested in poultry
would breed his flock to one type or color, but the prevailing
belief was that the best breedi ling was that which combined
the greatest variety.

Results of Domestication.—The general effects of domes-
tication upon poultry have been four in number, ape
(1) increased size of body, (2) increased fecundity, (3) a
tendency toward the suspension of the maternal instinct,
and (4) a lowering of the vitality of the race.

According to Brown,! “the jungle fowl of India is a small
bird weighing about 3} pounds, but becomes heavier when
brought under domestication, even though not selected for
enhanced size. It does not develop much beyond six pounds,
unless breeding with that object in view is adopted.”

The jungle fowl usually lays two clutches of eggs a season,
totalling from twenty-two to twenty-six eggs. In all the
modern breeds there is a marked increase in production,
most breeds probably averaging close to a hundred eggs a
year. The conditions which have been responsible for this
have been (1) selection, (2) supplying stimulating feeds, (3)
comfortable housing, and (4) the comparatively frequent
gathering of eggs. Of these, the latter has had by far the
greatest influence. Pearl? says in this connection:

“Ege-laying in wild birds is simply one phase of a cyclical
process. If the cycle is not disturbed in any way the egg
production is simply the minimum required for the perpetua-
tion of the race. If, however, the cycle is disturbed, as, for
example, by the eggs being remov ed from the nest as fast
as they are laid, a very considerable increase in the total
number of eggs produced will result. This is, of course,
what happens under domestication. . . . Austen shows

' Races of Domestic Poultry.
2 Maine Bulletin No. 205.

54 POULTRY PRODUCTION

that whereas the wild Mallard duck in a state of nature
lays only twelve to eighteen eggs in the year, it will lay from
eighty to one hundred if they are removed as fast as laid
and the bird kept confined in a pen at night. Hauke,
by regularly removing the eggs, got forty-eight in succession
from a common wryneck. Wenzel in the same way brought
a house sparrow’s productivity up to fifty-one eggs.”

It is probable, however, that the practice of frequent
gathering has long since reached its limit of effectiveness and
that further improvement will be reached through breeding,
supplemented by proper housing and feeding.

Increased fecundity seems to have caused longer periods of
time to elapse between seasons of broodiness. In general,
it may be said that the broodiness of a breed is in inverse
proportion to its fecundity. With the Mediterranean breeds
this is true to such an extent that the Leghorns are frequently
termed a non-setting breed.

The increasingly general use of the incubator is having
the result of further discouraging the exercise of the maternal
instinct. Where incubators are employed, the effort is likely
to be to “break up” the broody hen with the hope that less
time will be lost from laying.

The vitality of the race has been lowered largely through
combined poor selection and inbreeding. With the breeds,
the practice has been to choose as breeders those birds which
show the breed type or color characteristics to the greatest
degree even though they are not physically fit. Combined
with this has been the effect of inbreeding these individuals
to fix their characteristics and the promiscuous inbreeding
that often accompanies the mongrel flock.

Classes, Breeds, and Varieties —The breed is the basis of
the classification of poultry. It may be defined as a group of
domestic birds closely approaching a certain specifie shape.
The breed name is the one identifying any well defined and
recognized type, such as Plymouth Rock, Wyandotte,
Leghorn, Brahma, or Runner, and the birds conforming
closely to those types are said to be members of those respec-
tive breeds.

The breeds are for convenience both subdivided and

BREEDS OF CHICKENS 55

grouped. The subdivisions are called varieties, while the
groups are referred to as classes. ‘There are two varietal
distinctions, namely, comb shape and plumage color. Either
one or both may be present. Thus, the Rose Comb Rhode
Island Red differs from the Single Comb Rhode Island Red
only in comb shape. The White Wyandotte differs from the
Buff Wyandotte only in color, while the Single Comb White
Leghorn differs from the Rose Comb Dark Brown Leghorn in
both comb and color. They are members of the same breed,
however, because they approach very closely the same type
or shape. The common saying among poultrymen that
“shape makes the breed, and color and comb the variety”
is an accurate statement of the case.

For the more common breeds of chickens the class grouping
is based on similar general characteristics and place of origin.
e : :
The Brahma, Cochin, and Langshan together comprise
the Asiatic class. They have all come to us from or through
Asia and are birds of large size, having feathered shanks and
red earlobes, frequently becoming broody, and laying a dark
brown egg. The Leghorns, Minorcas, Anconas, Andalusians,
Spanish and Buttercups which comprise the Mediterranean
class, all seem to have originated around the Mediterranean
Sea. They are all nervous, active birds, stylish and sprightly
in appearance, and somewhat lacking in the brooding instinct.
They are layers of white eggs, comparatively small in size
and carry white earlobes.

The breeds which comprise the American class are the
familiar Plymouth Rock, Wyandotte, and Rhode Island
Red, and the less familiar Java, Buckeye, Dominique and
Fluff. These breeds were developed in America through a
judicious blending of Asiatic and Mediterranean blood lines
followed by rigid selection. In most characteristics they fall
about half way between the two general types from which
they arose.

The grouping of breeds of chickens into classes may have
no other basis than that of convenience or, as in the case
of the “Miscellaneous” class, which is composed of three
rather curious breeds, namely, Silkies, Sultans, and Frizzles,
because they do not seem to fit anywhere else.

56 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Turkeys, ducks, geese, and guinea fowl each comprise a
class, the species being the basis of division.

Purpose of Breeds.—The purpose of forming a new breed
of poultry should be to secure a bird that will yield a product
of maximum value at minimum cost. It should be a means
to an end.

Most of the breeds now popular for production purposes
were originally brought forward to meet a real need. Many
of the very numerous varieties that have appeared, often
bearing no relation to the original members of the breed,
have been brought forward for the purpose of “booming,”
to the financial advantage of their promoters. It has been
too much a case of attractive color and markings rather than
that of a more efficient food factory.

The breeds thus tend to become an end, rather than
a means, and the revision of a breed standard is too often
based on the effort to secure a more attractive type than a
more efficient one.

Standard Breeds and Varieties. —Standard breeds and varie-
ties are those which have been officially recognized by the
American Poultry Association. Quoting from the Consti-
tution of the American Poultry Association, “The proced-
ure for the recognition of new breeds and varieties shall be
as follows:

“A petition for recognition must be presented to the
American Poultry Association at an annual meeting at least
one year before the annual meeting at which action upon the
application of the breed or variety is taken.

“The petition shall give:

“(a) The name of the breed or variety.

“(b) A description of the breed or variety and all ascertain-
able facts regarding its origin and breeding; name and
address of the originator and facts of an educational or
historical nature, all of which must be preserved among the
records of this Association.

“(e) Certificates of not less than five members of the
Association who are breeders of the breed or variety and who
have bred it for two years or more, certifying that it produces
not less than 50 per cent of specimens reasonably true to
type or variety.

BREEDS OF CHICKENS 57

“(d) Certificates showing that two or more specimens of the
breed or variety have been exhibited in each of the classes for
single birds—cock, hen, cockerel and pullet—at a show held
under American Poultry Association rules in the two annual
show seasons next preceding the annual meeting at which
the petition for recognition is presented; such affidavits to
be signed by the Secretary of each such show and by a licensed
judge who officiated at it.

““(e) A standard for a breed or variety must be in the form
used in The American Standard of Perfection; in case of a
new variety of a Standard breed, conforming to the Standard
for that breed; in case of a new breed, conforming to the gen-
eral requirements of its class; and in case of a kind, not
heretofore included in the Standard of Perfection, conforming
to the general plan of description in the Standard, which
standard is to be a provisional standard, subject to amend-
ment by the petitioner or by the Association before the
recognition of the breed or variety.”

Membership in a standard breed does not necessarily
imply a common or even a similar ancestry with other
members, though such is usually the case. It means only
that the individual considered approaches the ideal type
of the breed to a considerable degree. Tor instance, as
Brown! states, the Buff Orpington is the result of the
systematic crossing of the Golden Spangled Hamburg, Buff
Cochin, and Dark Dorking, while another variety of the
same breed, the Black Orpington, traces its decent from the
Black Minorca, the Black Plymouth Rock (a non-standard
variety), and clean-legged Langshans (which are disqualified
by the Standard).

Varieties may and often do have a common ancestry, as,
for instance, the several Wyandottes. The Whites are muta-
tions from the Silvers, and the Goldens count American
Seabrights, the forerunners of the modern Silver Wyan-
dottes, among their ancestors.

“Standard Bred” or ‘‘Pure Bred.”’—In poultry terminology,
“pure bred,” as used in reference to farm animals, is, techni-
cally at least, replaced by “standard bred.”

1 Races of Domestic Poultry.

58 POULTRY PRODUCTION

The term “pure bred” imphes that a complete official
record of the ancestry of the individual considered may he
traced back to the individuals that are looked upon as the
foundation animals of the breed, without admixture of alien

Fria. 10

Comb defects and disqualfications 1, Thumb mark, a defect. 2, Blade

follows neck too closely; point lops; defects. 3, Rose eomb showing hollow

center, a defect. 4, Side sprig, a disqualification. 5,

Uneven serrations,
a defect. 6, Twisted comb, a defect. (After Slocum.)

blood, beyond a certain clearly defined and very small
maxnnum, usually only in distant progenitors. ;

The term “standard bred” implies that in breeding prac-
tice only those individuals have been mated which conform
closely to the “standard” description of the breed which

BREEDS OF CHICKENS 59

they represent, or which, as in double mating, will produce
individuals which conform closely to that description.

While technically there is no “pure-bred’’ poultry, in that
the standard breeds cannot be demonstrated by official
record and pedigree to have been bred pure for many succeed-
ing generations, practically all the old-established breeds are
as much “pure bred” as any breed of farm animal that is as
many generations removed from its beginnings.!

American Standard of Perfection —In poultry-breeding,
the American Standard of Perfection takes the place which
the herd book holds in the breeding of other farm animals.
It safeguards the qualities of the breed, not by the exclusion

1, Squirrel tail. 2, Wry tail. Both are disqualifications. (After Slocum.)
of individuals known to carry “impure” blood, but by the
disqualification? of such birds as have defects so serious as
to seem to indicate the influence of impure breeding, or to
be greatly to the detriment of the breed.

This book, ordinarily spoken of as The Standard, is pub-
lished by the American Poultry Association, and is revised
and brought down to date once in eight years. It lists all

1The term “thoroughbred” is frequently used in describing standard-
bred poultry. ‘ Thoroughbred” is a proper name and refers to a breed of
horses. It is technically as inaccurate to speak of Thoroughbred chickens
as it would be to refer to Plymouth Rock horses.

2 Declaring them unworthy to be considered members of the breed. In
the show room a disqualified bird is not allowed to compete for a premium.

60 POULTRY PRODUCTION

the recognized breeds and varieties, grouped in their proper
classes, with their descriptions and disqualifications, and is
the official guide by which all standard breeds are judged.
Most of the well-known breeds and varieties are standard,
Pit Games and Rhode Island Whites probably being the
most brilliant exceptions among chickens.

A complete list of chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese and
guinea fowl as recognized by the American Poultry Associa-
tion includes sixteen classes, sixty-five breeds and one hundred
and fifty-seven varieties. Of these, twelve classes, forty-five
breeds and one hundred and twenty-seven varieties are of
chickens. There are eleven breeds of ducks, grouped in one
class, and subdivided into fifteen varieties. The six breeds
of geese are grouped as one class, and only one of the breeds
has two varieties. Turkeys are all of the same shape and
so all belong to the same breed, as well as to the same class.
The breed is divided into six varieties on the basis of color.
The guinea fowl has but a single breed and variety. Pigeons,
pheasants, peafowl, swans, and ostriches are not dealt with
by The Standard.

Breed Standards.—Each description of a breed with its
several varieties is termed a “breed standard.” The Ameri-
can Standard of Perfection is in reality a collection of breed
standards. Each represents the composite ideal for the
breed as formed from breeders’ conceptions of usefulness
and beauty. The use or harm of these standards depends
upon the balance preserved between those characteristics
that are of economic importance and those that are merely
attractive. The standard of any breed that does not find
beauty mainly in utility is a false standard and if persisted
in will surely bring about the economic downfall of the breed.
Strong breed characteristics, even though they add only
to the attractiveness of the breed, and of themselves have
no economic value, are assets to any individual and are of
value to the producer. Utility points being equal, that
individual which most strongly exhibits breed and variety
characteristics is likely to be the individual whose pedigree,
could it be examined, would show the most intelligent and
careful breeding.

BREEDS OF CHICKENS 61

Separate breed standards have been published for the
Plymouth Rocks and Wyandottes.

Economic Value of Fancy Points.—Because there is little
apparent value in some of the so-called “fancy points” is
not just cause for condemning them wholesale. As a whole,
producers have been benefited by the work of the fancier-
breeder. Without it there would be no breeds, and
uniformity which is so vastly important with animals that
are fed, or products that are sold, in numbers.

Other things being equal, the bird that shows most plainly
breed and varietal characteristics, provided these do not
conflict with indications of constitutional vigor, should be
the breeder selected. Strong breed characteristics may be
considered as indicating close and careful breeding and to be
a mark of prepotency. The great difficulty is the tendency
to overwork them and make them a fad. Their purpose is
to furnish uniformity to the carcass for market purposes
and to indicate internal and functional uniformity for
feeding. Such a purpose does not carry the necessity for
the extremes of color now somewhat in fashion. If we may
learn from other live stock, we find absolute color require-
ments almost totally lacking. The lonely example of the
Dutch-belted cattle among the dairy breeds is one where a
color pattern requirement is associated with mediocrity of
production.

Classification of the Breeds.—There are several ways of
classifying the breeds. For our immediate purpose, they
should first of all be divided into (1) the productive and (2)
the ornamental breeds.

The productive breeds are those which are proving them-
selves such efficient manufacturers of human food that it is
profitable to breed them for that purpose.

The ornamental or non-productive breeds are those which
are inefficient as food producers but are bred more or less
because of their general attractiveness or because of some
peculiarity.

It is also customary to classify the breeds according to
the purpose for which their type appears most efficient
and for which they are supposedly bred. Thus we have the

62 POULTRY PRODUCTION

so-called (1) meat breeds, (2) the general purpose or dual
purpose breeds, and (3) the egg breeds. These breed groups
conform very closely to the Asiatic, American and English,
and Mediterranean classes repectively. Broadly speaking the
latter classification is incorrect. Aside from the more or less
isolated sections where special market conditions prevail, as
in the South Shore soft roaster district of the extreme East,
there are no chickens that are bred primarily for meat pro-

Bie. 12

Silver Spangled Hamburg, an ornamental breed.

duction. The trend of production following the economic
demand is toward eggs. The so-called meat breeds that lay
comparatively few eggs, are surely and rather rapidly passing
off the platform of economic importance. Good egg produc-
tion (or its absence) has in the last analysis been the control-
ling factor in the permanence or dwindling of the popularity
in which the various breeds have been held. Meat is becom-
ing more and more a by-product of egg-production. It is

BREEDS OF CHICKENS 63

an important by-product of the American breeds. and a
relatively unimportant one of the Mediterranean varieties.

The Asiatic Class.—The classes of fowls that have played
the most important part in building up the present valued
breeds commercially are the Asiatics and Mediterraneans.

Of the Asiatics, the three recognized breeds are the Brahma,
Cochin, and Langshan. All three were brought to this
country by direct importation from China, coming from
near the Brahmapootra River, from the city of Shanghai
and from the district of Langshan respectively.

The forerunners of the present Brahmas were first imported
in 1846. They were nearly if not fully as large as the modern
Brahmas, were less heavily feathered and very much better
layers. What was until recently the highest authentic ege
record was made by a Light Brahma pullet in 1872, when :
bird owned by I. kx. Felch, of Natick, Mass., laid 813 eggs in
330 days

Tue STanparpD CLASSES, DREEDS, AND VARIPTIES.
, '

Class. Breed Variety.
f { Barred
| | White
| ' Butt
| + Silver Pencilled
| Partridge
| Columbian
| Blue

Plymouth Rock

{Silver

| Golden

| White

) Buff

: | Black

1. American } | Partridge

Wyandotte

| Silver Pencilled
| Columbian

Sine { Black

ae | Mottled
Dominique tose Comb
{ Single Comb
\ Rose Comb
Buckeye Pea Comb

Flu . White

Rhode Island Red

64 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Tue STANDARD Cuasses, Breeps, AND VARIBTIES (Continued).
Class. Breed. Variety.
f Light
| Dark

Buff

. Partridge
Cochin i White
Black
Black
White
Light)
Dark f
Light\
Darks
Single Comb White
Leghorn Rose Comb White
Single Comb Buff
Rose Comb Buff
Single Comb Black
Silver
Red Pyle

Single Comb Black
Rose Comb Black
Minorca Single Comb White
Rose Comb White
Single Comb Buff

Brahma

Il. Asiatic

Langshan
Single Comb Brown

Rose Comb Brown

III. Mediterranean a4

Spanish White-faced Black
Andalusian Blue
Single Comb
Zucome { Rose Comb
Buttercup Sicilian
White
Dorking Silver Gray
Colored
Red Cap Rose Comb

Single Comb Buff

ated : Single Comb Black
| Orpington

IV. English Single Comb White
Single Comb Blue
Dark
Cornish White
White Laced Red
Sussex . { Red

\ Speckled

BREEDS OF CHICKENS

Tae STANDARD Crasses, Breeps, AND VArtetres (Continued).

Class.

V. Polish

VI. Hamburg

VII. French *

VIII. Continental

IX. Game and Game
Bantam

X. Oriental

Breed

Polish

Hamburg

Creveeceur
La Fleche
EF

averolles

| Houdan
)
|

(

/Campine
\ Rhinelander

Game .

Game Bantam

Sumatra

Malay .
Malay Bantam

Variety.

White-crested Black

Bearded Golden
Bearded Silver
Bearded White
Buff Laced
Non-bearded Golden
Non-bearded Silver
| Non-bearded White
{ Golden Spangled
| Silver Spangled

Golden Pencilled
Silver Pencilled

White
| Black
{ Mottled
| White

Black

Salmon

(Silver
{Golden
| Black

({ Black-breasted Red
Brown Red
Golden Duckwing
Silver Duckwing
Birchen
Red Pyle
White
Black

( Black-breasted Red
| Brown Red
| Golden Duckwing
} Silver Duckwing
) Birchen

Red Pyle

White
| Black

Black

Black-breasted Red
Black-breasted Red

66 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Tue Stanparp CuLasses, Breeps, AND Varieties (Continued)

Class. Breed. Variety.
Aine { Golden
Sebright \ Silver
{ White
Rose Comb | Black
s00ted White
{ Light
Brahma Dark
Bult
XT. Ornamental Cochin Partridge
Bantam : \ White
{| Black
ae Tailed
Japanese ee
rape ) Black
| Gray
( 3earded White
Polish . 3uff Laced
| Non-bearded
| Mille Fleur 3ooted
Silkie White
XIT. Miscellaneous 4 Sultan White
| Frizzle Any Color
f Pekin White
| Aylesbury White
| Rouen Colored
| Cayuga. Black
. { Gray
al \ White
XIII. Duek . East India. Black
Crested. White
PERSE] Colored
Muscovy me ae eae
eee and White
Runner White
| Pencilled
Swedish . . Blue

th He 6 sult
Crested . . White

BREEDS OF CHICKENS 67

Tue Stanparp Crasses, Breeps, AND Varterigs (Continued).

Class. Breed. Variety.
Toulouse , Gray
Embden White
African Gray

XIV. Goose

Chinese { Brown
; pes | White
Wild or Canadian Gray
( Egyptian Colored
| Bronze
Narragansett
XV. Turkey Turkey : ver Holland
slack
| Slate
| Bourbon Red
XVI. Guinea Guinea Pearl
Fie. 13

Light Brahmas (Asiatic).

The Cochins, then called Shanghais, were first imported
in 1845 and, like the Brahmas, were less heavily feathered
and much more feeund than now. Both of these breeds
have been freely used in the formation of the American
breeds now enjoying popular favor, and in spite of the
general belief to the contrary, their blood in every case
predominates over the Mediterranean.

The Brahmas and Cochins, as described in the present
Standard, are the result of selection. That the characters
selected for have not been good economic qualities would
seem to be indicated by their waning popularity on the farm.
The points most valued have been color, and length and
heaviness of feather. The selection for color has resulted
in the development of varieties when none were needed.

68 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Length and heaviness of feather unfortunately appear to
be correlated with late maturity, general sluggishness of
temperament, and low egg production. Selection for these
points has had the only result possible, the production of
races that are fast being relegated to the position of orna-
mental breeds.

Fie. 14

White Cochins (Asiatic).

In deploring the craze for heavy feathering, Brown!
remarks that “Feather is the most expensive material to
produce, and hence the birds are slower in growth, great
eaters, and distinctly inferior in egg production to the
original type.”

The Langshan was a later importation (1872). Like the
Brahma and Cochin, its economic qualities have been injured

1 Races of Domestic Poultry.

BREEDS OF CHICKENS 69

by adhering to a false standard. Though the craze for heavy
feathering has not laid its hand heavily upon it, the eager-
ness to make their type entirely distinct from that of the
Orpington has led to the development of what Brown! has
depicted as “a legey monstrosity, stilty, often weak legged,
but naturally heavier in bone and smaller in body than of
yore.” In America the type has not been developed to such
an extreme as in England, from which view-point Brown

Partridge Cochin, female (Asiatic).

writes, but the development has assuredly not been toward
the most desirable economic qualities.

The characteristics which these breeds have in common are:
relatively large size, phlegmatic disposition, late maturity,
and feathered shanks. All three of them lay an egg that is
tinted a rich deep brown, and are persistent setters.

Mairs,? in tests embracing members of the Asiatic, Ameri-

"Races of Domestic Poultry.
2 Pennsylvania Bulletin No. 87.

70 POULTRY PRODUCTION

can, and Mediterranean classes, found that the chicks of the
large breeds consume more feed during the growing period
than do the smaller ones.

MepIrerRANEAN Criass.—There are six breeds classified
as Mediterranean because they originated near the shores of
the Mediterranean Sea. These are: Leghorns, Minorcas,

Fia. 16

Dark Brahma, female (Asiatic).

Spanish, Andalusians, Anconas and Buttercups. These
breeds are at the opposite extreme from the Asiatic breeds in
size, disposition, color of earlobe, carliness of maturity,
setting tendency, and the mumber and color of eggs laid.
The most familiar Mediterranean breeds are the Leghorn
and Minorea. Of these the Leghorn is by far the most

BREEDS OF CHICKENS vl

popular, because of its superior reputation with regard to
egg-producing qualities.

The Leghorns, named for the town of Leghorn, Italy,
were first introduced into America in 1835 and have under-
gone a most gratifying improvement at the hands of American
breeders. Whether through chance or design, they appear

Fig. 17

Dark Brahma, male (Asiatic).

to have been exceedingly fortunate in escaping the burden
of harmful fancy fads. They are today enjoying an un-
excelled popularity as egg producers. Of the several
varieties, the Whites and Browns are most bred.

Their sister breed, the Minorca, is named for one of the
Balearic Islands, off the east coast of Spain. ‘This breed

2 POULTRY PRODUCTION

was formerly credited with outlaying the Leghorns, where the
actual pounds of eggs produced were considered, and is pos-
sibly the immediate progenitor of our modern Plymouth Rock
which is responsible for its present-day tendency toward high
production. It is now dropping out of favor, largely because
of the diminution of that same high-producing quality.

Fie. 18

Brak

Black Langshans (Asiatic).

The reason usually ascribed for this retrogression is the
fad for extreme size in comb. How or why extreme size in
comb should militate against egg production is impossible
to state. It may well be that the two characters are not
necessarily opposed, but that in their enthusiasm for one
character, breeders entirely lost sight of the other. Of the
two varieties, White and Black, the Blacks predominate.

Both the Leghorn and Minorca are sprightly and stylish
in type, very nervous and active in disposition, early in
maturity, non-setters and layers of large white eggs. In all

BREEDS OF CHICKENS 73

Fig. 19

Single Comb White Leghorn, male (Mediterranean). (Courtesy of Owen
Farms and Reliable Poultry Journal.)

Fie. 20

Rose Comb White Minorca, male (Mediterranean).

74 POULTRY PRODUCTION

these characteristics, as in fecundity, the Leghorn is more
extreme save in the largeness of the egg, for which the
Minorca enjoys an excellent and well-deserved reputation.
The Blue Andalusian is remarkable in that it never breeds
true for color. The offspring of blue parents are, on the
average, in the proportion of one black to two blue to one
white, splashed with blue. The black offspring when mated
together give only blacks. The white-splashed — mated

Fie. 21

Single Comb White Leghorn, female (Mediterranean). (Courtesy of Owen
Farms and Keliable Poultry Journal.)

together give all white-splashed. The blue offspring give
blacks, blues and blue-splashed just as did their parents.
Neither the blacks or white-splashed are recognized as
standard varieties, though they breed true.

It is probable that the Blue Orpingtons and Blue Plymouth
Rocks trace their ancestry to the Blue Andalusian among
others and their breeding behavior corresponds to that of the
Andalusian.

BREEDS OF CHICKENS 79

The Buttercup, only recently admitted to The Standard
is as yet comparatively little known.

THe American Criass.—The American class as given in
The Standard consists of seven breeds. These are Plymouth
Rocks, Wyandottes, Javas, Dominiques, Rhode Island Reds,
Buckeyes and Fluffs. Of these the Plymouth Rocks, Wyan-
dottes, and Rhode Island Reds have found by far the most
favor as farm fowls.

Tra. 2%

Barred Plymouth Rock, male (American).

As has been suggested, these American breeds were formed
by a judicious blending of Asiatic and Mediterranean blood,
in which the former predominates. The characteristics
sought were hardiness of constitution, a larger frame than
the Mediterranean commonly carried, a yellow skin and
shank, a featherless shank, a greater activity and fecundity,
and an earlier maturity than the Asiatics possessed.

According to Brown,! “A fowl to which the name of

1 Races of Domestic Poultry.

Fic.

76 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Plymouth Rock was given was introduced about 1849 by
Dr. J. C. Bennett . . . but soon passed into oblivion.
The present stock has no relationship or connection with it.

al
font
==)

(Courtesy of Mr. U.

White Plymouth Rocks (American).

BREEDS OF CHICKENS 77

Fia@. 24

Silver Wyandottes, females (American).

Fie. 25

Farm flock of White Plymouth Rocks. (Courtesy F. E. Colburn )

78 POULTRY PRODUCTION

The first specimens leading to our present stock . . .
were exhibited by Mr. D. A. Upham, of Wilsonville,
Conn., at Worcester, Mass., in 1869. They were origi-
nated by Mr. Joseph Spaulding, of Putnam, Conn. Much
interest was manifested in them, and led to the steps
which ultimated in the Essex strain nine years later. From

Fia. 26

White Wyandotte, male (American).

the first they ‘caught on,’ both with exhibitors and prac-
tical poultry keepers. Something must be allowed for the
fact that the breed was an undoubted American production.
It is not too much to say that the great development of the
poultry industry in America owed much to the breed.”
The foregoing applies to the Barred Plymouth Rocks,
at first simply called “Plymouth Rocks.”” The jWhites were

BREEDS OF CHICKENS 79

not introduced until 1880 and the Buffs were recognized
in 1893. The Partridge, Columbian, Silver Pencilled and
Blue varieties were later additions.

“Barred Rocks were introduced into Great Britain in
1879 and speedily won a widespread popularity. For some
years at exhibitions, classes of (Barred) Rocks were by far
the largest. . . . But it was not only among exhibitors
that the breed secured favor. Its undoubted economic
qualities caused it to be spread very widely throughout
the kingdom, and until the advent of the Buff Orpington its
influence was more in evidence as a farmer’s fowl than any

other.’”!
Fic. 27

Single Comb Rhode Island Reds (American). (Courtesy of Kansas
Experiment Station.)

In America the Barred Plymouth Rock and its grades are
in evidence on more farms than any other breed. This is
particularly true in the central states.

The original Wyandotte, the Silver, was the result of an
attempt to secure an improved Cochin Bantam by crossing
a Sebright Bantam with a Cochin hen. After further
crossing, in which the Asiatic and Hamburg classes were
used, the Silver Wyandottes were introduced in the Jate
seventies. “The Goldens followed in the early eighties.

1 Brown, Races of Domestic Poultry.

80 POULTRY PRODUCTION

The Whites were admitted to he Standard in 1888 and the
Buffs and Partridge varieties in 1894.” The Silver Pencilled,
Blaek, and Columbian varieties were later additions.

The Rhode Island Reds came nearer to being originated
as a farmer’s breed than perhaps any other. According to
3rown,? “This breed was the result of crossing by farmers
living on the shores of Narragansett Bay in New England,
who had no idea of producing a new breed, but of securing
strong, vigorous, and profitable fowls.”” The foundation of
this breed was laid sixty years ago, when some Red Cochins
and Malays were brought to Westport, Mass., and Little
Compton, R. I., by sailors. These were crossed with the
native stock, and the resulting offspring seemed particularly
suited to the prevailing conditions.

Later other crosses were made, which probably included the
Rose Comb Brown Leghorn and the Wyandotte.

While fowls were exhibited under the name of Rhode
Island Reds as early as 1879 or 1880, a standard was not
adopted for them until 1901. There are but two varieties,
the Single Comb and the Rose Comb.

All American breeds lay a brown egg that is neither so
dark nor so uniform in color as the egg of the Asiatics.

These breeds have for the most part been singularly free
from injurious fads, though the present breed standards
are laying too much stress on non-economic points. The
Plymouth Rock and Rhode Island Red bid fair to be victims
of too much emphasis on absolute color requirements; while
the Wyandottes, as a breed, have probably already suffered
from the extreme short body and that roundness that calls
rather loose and heavy feathering to its aid.

Mairs? found, in slaughter tests, that birds of the American
class gave a better dressing percentage than either the Asiatic
or Mediterranean.

Tue Enauisn Ciass.—The English class consists of five
breeds, Dorking, Red Cap, Orpington, Cornish, and Sussex.
Of these, the Orpingtons alone have obtained a position of

1 Brown, Races of Domestic Poultry.

2 Loe. cit.
3 Pennsylvania Bulletin No. 87.

BREEDS OF CHICKENS 81

productive importance in America. Four varieties are
recognized in this country: Buff, Black, White, and Blue.
All have single combs.

The Blacks were the original Orpingtons, being intro-
duced by Mr. William Cook, of Orpington, Kent, in 1886.
He also introduced the Buffs in 1894. According to Mr.
Cook, the Blacks were secured by judicious crossing of Black

Fra. 28

Black Orpington, female (English).

Minorea, Black Plymouth Rock, and clean-legged Black
Langshan blood, followed by careful and rigorous selection.
The Buffs were the result of the crossing of Golden Spangled
Hamburgs, Buff Cochins, and Dark Dorkings. As will be
easily seen, there is no common or even similar ancestry
with these two varieties of the Orpington breed.

The Whites appeared later and were probably a “sport”
from the Blacks. The Blues have only recently been recog-

82 POULTRY PRODUCTION

nized in this country. The Buffs and Whites are by far the
most popular in America.

Aside from their averaging a pound heavier in weight,
and carrying the white skin and shanks so characteristic
of English breeds, they are quite similar in economic quali-
ties to our American breeds. In fact, they have been termed
“the English edition of the Plymouth Rock.”

Choosing a Breed.—So far as the production of meat and
eggs is concerned, it makes very little difference what shaped
comb birds carry, or even what the variety color or breed
type is. The real choice is not between breeds but between
classes. If eggs are the product of prime interest a Medi-
terranean breed will naturally be chosen. They are great
rustlers, capable of keeping out of the way of chicken-eating
hogs. They are somewhat difficult of control under general
farm conditions, however, and do not furnish as attractive
and sizable a carcass as some of the other classes.

If in addition to securing a good number of eggs a con-
venient and attractive source of fresh meat for home use is
sought, one of the American or English breeds should prob-
ably be chosen. The particular breed and variety chosen
should depend upon the producer’s preference. He will do
best with the fowls he likes best.

TasLe XIII.—SHowinG THE CompanisQn OF PRODUCTION OF THE PULLETS

AND YBARLING FEMALES OF THE AMERICAN BREEDS AND WHITE LEGHORNS

AT THE VINELAND (NEw JerRsEY) Layina Contest ExprESSED IN PER
Crnt oF PERFECT PRODUCTION.

1916-1917. 1917-1918.
Pullet Production Yearling Production
American American
breeds Leghorns, breeds Leghorns
Month, per cent per cent per cent per cent
November 20.6 34.0 19.6 6.4
December 26.7 33.8 14.0 4.3
January 2 Vooyd 32.2 16.9 14.4
February 43.5 43.2 30.0 36.5
March 62.4 64.5 55.9 59.7
April 63.7 69.6 55.7 69.7
May 56.2 67.4 42.0 60.7
June 48.9 66.3 39.4 54.1
July x 40.8 60.0 34.8 47.6
August . 33.8 48.0 27.2 35.8
September 26.9 22.3 26.8 24.3
October . 28.5 14.4 13.6 8.2
Av. for the year 40.5 46.3 31.3 35.1
Av.eggsper bird . 150eggs 169 eggs ll7 eggs 137 eggs

BREEDS OF CHICKENS 83

An indication of the average differences in egg production
between the American breeds on the one hand and the White
Leghorn on the other is given by Lewis, Hannas and Wene’s !
report on the Vineland laying contest as shown in Table
NII.

The popularity of the Asiatic breeds for farm production
seems to be waning. This appears to be largely due to their
low laying, late maturity and persistent broodiness.

1 New Jersey Bulletin, No. 339.

GA ACPO Ti
THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS.

Definition of Breeding. Poultry breeding is comprised of
those operations which deal directly with reproducing and
improving domestic poultry. Tt includes selection, mating,
and incubation. For convenience and because artificial
incubation has been so highly developed as to need treatment
in a separate chapter, only those phases which have to do
with selection and mating are discussed here.

Physical Basis of Reproduction in the Female.—The organs
of reproduction in the female fowl are the left ovary and the
left oviduct. The right ovary and oviduct are formed
at the same time as the organs on the left side, but
degenerate during embryonic life, and persist, if at all,
only as functionless rudiments. Lillie! suggests that this
fact would appear to be correlated with the large size of the
egg and the delicate nature of the shell, as there is not room
for two eggs side by side in the lower part of the body cavity.

The functioning ovary appears as a cluster of many
spheres which vary in size from that of the normal egg-yolk
down to the point where they are barely visible to the unaided
eye. Each sphere is a more or less developed ovum or yolk
and is joined to the main stalk of the ovary by a stalk of its
own ealled a follicle.

A continuation of this follicle completely surrounds the
ovum as long as it remains connected with the ovary. It is
the rupture of the follicle along a preformed line or band,
ealled the stigma, and which marks the extremities of its
vascular system, that allows the ripe ovum or fully grown
yolk to escape into the oviduct. In counts of the total num-
ber of ova and ruptured follicles visible to the unaided eve

1 Development of the Chick.
(S14)

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 85

in the ovaries of thirteen hens made by Curtis,! it was found
that they varied in number from 914 to 3605. here did
not appear to be any correlation between this total number
of ova and ruptured follicles and the fowl's previous trap
nest record. The ovary is situated to the left of the median
line of the body just back of the lungs and below the anterior
extremity of the left kidney.

Fig. 29

The ovary of a hen in full laying. (Courtesy of Raymond Pearl.)

Curtis? has described the oviduct of the laying hen as
being ‘‘a large, much coiled tube filling a large part of the
left half of the abdominal cavity. It is suspended from the
dorsal body wall and hes dorsal to the abdominal air sac.
Its anterior end is expanded into a large funnel which is
spread out beneath the ovary in such a way that the mouth
of the tube faces the ovary. The mutual relations of the
abdominal viscera are such as to virtually form a pocket in
which the ovary lies. This walling off of the ovary is of
such a character as to tend mechanically to direct detached
ova to the mouth of the oviduct.” There is no organic

1 Maine Bulletin No. 205. Ibid., No. 176.

86 POULTRY PRODUCTION

connection between the oviduct and the ovary, and Lillie
adds that “The existence of double-yolked eggs renders
it probable that the oviduct can pick up eggs that have
escaped into the body cavity.”

Fia. 30

The oviduct of a hen in full laying, showing the funnel at the upper part
of the photograph. (Courtesy of Raymond Pearl.)

According to Surface? the oviduct is divided into five
more or less clearly defined regions. Beginning at the end
nearest the ovary, these are: (1) the funnel; (2) the albumen
secreting portion; (3) the isthmus, which secretes the shell
membrane; (4) the uterus or shell gland; (5) the vagina,
which leads into the cloacal opening.

Formation and Fertilization of the Egg.*—In the formation of
an egg, the yolk comes to its full size in the ovary. (See
Figure 82, page 177.) It starts as a tiny sphere not visible
to the unaided eye. Its nucleus, which marks the point of
the development of the embryo chick after fertilization, is in

' Development of the Chick. ° Maine Bulletin No. 206.
3 Lillie’s description in “‘The Development of the Chick’’ is followed.

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 87

approximately a central position. While the nucleus is still
at the center a deposit of extremely fine granules of yolk is
formed around it and gradually extends toward the cell wall.
This deposit is what is later recognized as the latebra of the
flask-shaped mass of white yolk.

When the ovum has reached a size approximating 0.66
mm., the nucleus migrates toa position at the end of the flask-
shaped formation and just under the vitelline membrane.

Successive layers of yellow yolk are deposited around the
central mass of white yolk by the activity of the peripheral
layer of protoplasm. These layers are somewhat correlated
with the periodic daily physiologic rhythm of the vitality
of the hen.

When the yolk comes to full size, it escapes from the ovary
by the rupture of the follicle along the stigma, into the funnel
of the oviduct, which, as Lillie! states, “swallows it, so to
speak, and it passes on by peristaltic contraction of the ovi-
duct. The escape of the ovum from the follicle is known as
the process of ovulation.”

“The stimuli which mitiate the peristaltic action of the
oviduct and attract the funnel to the mature follicle are
among the unsolved problems of physiology. The yolk is
already oriented in the follicle before the funnel encloses it.’”?
“Internal pressure due to continued yolk formation is prob-
ably the most important factor m the normal rupture of the
follicle, since closing the funnel or removing the duct appar-
ently does not greatly delay ovulation.’

Fertilization takes place almost immediately after ovula-
tion, the spermatozoa having made their way through the
entire length of the oviduct. Lillie! states that “The ovum
is surrounded immediately after ovulation . . . by a
fluid containing spermatozoa in suspension. The entrance
of several spermatozoa (into the ovum) seems to be char-
acteristic of vertebrates with large ova.”

Only one of these (spermatozoa) serves as a functional
sperm nucleus: the remainder or supernumerary sperm

1 Oppos. cit. 2 Curtis, Maine Bulletin No. 228.
3 Pearl and Curtis, Journal Experimental Zodlogy, vol. vii, No. 3.
4 Oppos. cit.

88 POULTRY PRODUCTION

nuclei migrate as though repelled from the center toward
the margin.

“ After entering the infundibulum (funnel) the yolk remains
in the so-called albumen portion of the oviduct about three
hours and in this time acquires only about 40 to 50 per cent
by weight of its total albumen. During its sojourn in the
albumen portion of the duct the egg acquires the chalazie
and chalaziferous layer, the dense albumen layer, and (if
such a layer exists as a distinct entity, about which there is
some doubt) the inner fluid layer of albumen.’

This albumen has a decided bactericidal property which is
highly important. “Without this defensive agency the
oviduct and therefore the eggs would be very liable to infec-
tion from microérganisms by way of the cloaca. Such an
infection would be very likely to greatly decrease the hatching
power of the eges.’”

“The contents of normal fresh eggs are as a rule sterile.
It is quite probable that an egg yolk may become invaded
before it leaves the ovary; but this is apparently an uncom-
mon occurrence, except when the ovary is infected with the
organism of bacillary white diarrhea. Little if any infection
takes place in the oviduct while the white and shell are being
deposited.”

By the peristaltic contractions of the oviduct just back
of it, the egg is forced through the remaining sections of the
oviduct. “Upon entering the isthmus, in passing through
which portion of the duct something under an hour’s time
is occupied instead of three hours, as has been previously
maintained, the egg receives its shell membranes by a pro-
cess of discrete deposition. At the same time, and during
the sojourn of the egg in the uterus, it receives its outer layer
of fluid or thin albumen, which is by weight 50 to 60 per cent
of the total albumen. ‘This thin albumen is taken by osmosis
through the shell membranes already formed. When it
enters the egg in this way it is much more fluid than the thin
albumen of the laid egg. The fluid albumen added in this

' Pearl and Curtis, Journal Experimental Zodlogy, vol. xii, No. 1.
* Lillie, The Development of the Chick.
‘Rettger, Storrs Bulletin No. 75.

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS S9

way dissolves some of the denser albumen already present,
and so brings about the dilution of the latter in some degree.
At the same time by this process of diffusion, the fluid layer
is rendered more dense, coming finally to the consistency of
the thin layer of the laid egg. The thin albumen layer, how-
ever, does not owe its existence in any sense to this dilution
factor, but to a definite secretion of a thin albumen by the
glands of the isthmus and uterus. he addition of albumen
to the egg is completed only after it has been in the uterus
from five to seven hours.

“ Before the acquisition of albumen by the egg is completed
a fairly considerable amount of shell substance has been
deposited on the shell membranes. For the completion of the
shell and the laying of the egg from twelve to sixteen, or
exceptionally even more, hours are required.”!

It is while the egg is in the uterus that it is possible to
locate it by touch. At the Utah Station? this fact has been
made use of in keeping egg records except during the breeding
season when pedigreeing is being done. It was found that
the whole flock could be handled early each morning and the
individual hens which would lay that day, determined with
accuracy.

Curtis? has shown that the larger an egg, the greater is
the mechanical stimulation upon the uterus and the heavier is
the shell.

Infertile Eggs.—The discharging of the yolk or ovum from
the ovary of the hen is analogous to ovulation in other farm
animals.

With the larger animals, if ovulation is not followed by
mating, there is no further development. With birds,
however, whether the ovum is fertilized in the funnel of the
oviduct by union with the male element or not, its further
history within the hen’s body is the same and an apparently
normal egg is laid. If the hen has not been previously mated
and there are no spermatozoa in the oviduct to unite with
the ovum, the egg is called infertile and will not start to

1 Pearl and Curtis, Journal Experimental Zodlogy, vol. xii, No. 1
2 Jour. Am. Assn. Inst. and Invest. in Poul. Husb., vol. ii, No. 9.
3 Maine Bulletin No. 228.

90 POULTRY PRODUCTION

develop when placed in an incubating temperature. Such an
ege is the equal of a fertile egg for food purposes, and very
much superior for preserving, shipping, or storage purposes.

Freak Eggs.—There are various kinds of abnormal eggs
which appear in flocks of any size with more or less frequency.
The most common is the double-yolked egg, which is caused
in two ways: two yolks may develop in one follicle, and
escape, and be taken up by the oviduct at the same time and
wrapped in the same albumen, shell membranes, and shell.
A second way is by the premature rupture of a follicle,
which allows the yolk to escape into the body cavity. This
yolk is sought out and taken up by the oviduct, often just
before or after another yolk is received from the ovary.
These two yolks then travel down the oviduct together, as
in the first case. In either case one or both of the yolks may
be fertile and develop chicks, though these rarely hatch.

The so-called soft-shelled egg is usually one that has no
shell. This may be caused by the shell gland failing to func-
tion or by the peristaltic constrictions becoming so violent
as to hurry the egg to exclusion, without allowing time for
the secretion and deposition of the shell.

When the shell material is first applied to the egg it is
plastic and the oviduct on the outside and the egg on the
inside together constitute a mould which determines the
shape of the egg. For some reason that part of the oviduct
which immediately surrounds the egg sometimes becomes
constricted, taking on what is termed an hour-glass form.
The result is that as the shell material hardens it takes the
same form, becoming what is called, for want of a better
name, a “dumb-bell” egg.

Of quite common occurrence are the very tiny eggs which
have no yolk. These are caused by some foreign substance,
as a clot of blood or a piece of detached membrane, finding
its way into the oviduct and travelling down in the same way
that an egg does. As it comes to the albumen secreting
portion, the gland is stimulated and secretion occurs, much
as though a yolk were present. After being surrounded by
albumen the substance has the same history asa normal egg.

It sometimes occurs that what appears to be a double-

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 91

yolked egg is found upon being opened to contain another
egg In every way normal, instead of the expected two yolks.
For some reason, after the egg is completed and is ready for
laying, the constrictions that usually take place behind
it, forcing it toward exclusion, become reversed and take
place in front of the egg, forcing it back into the albumin
secreting portion again. This causes a new secretion of
albumin which surrounds the shell, and, normal action
restored, the egg again travels down the oviduct, is sur-
rounded by a second pair of membranes and another
shell.

The so-called “liver spots” or “blood spots” in eggs are
due to the rupture of bloodvessels in the follicle or walls
of the oviduct or by the sloughing off of tiny pieces of mem-
brane. The clot simply becomes surrounded along with the
yolk. The membrane is usually suspended in the albumen.

Further Functions of the Sex Glands.—The primary function
of the sex glands (ovary and testis) is the production of ova
and spermatozoa. They have however, certain very import-
ant secondary functions. The removal of the testes from the
male known as caponizing, which has been practiced commer-
cially for centuries, increases the size of the bird by growth
and the laying on of fat, and causes the flesh to remain tender
as in a young bird, largely through the failure to develop as
much connective tissue as is normal in a mature male. The
neck, saddle, and tail feathers usually grow noticeably
longer than in the normal male. The comb and wattles fail
to develop, remaining in an infantile condition.

By way of summary, it may be said that the presence of the
testes limits body size, the laying on of fat and feather
length, while stimulating the development of the comb.
While the body size and the feather development in some
sections of the male are greater than in the female, they are
not so great as in the castrated male.

Goodale! has shown in a careful series of investigations
that the difference in the length and shape of plumage
between the male and female is largely due to the influence

1 Carnegie Institute of Washington, Pub. 243.

92 POULTRY PRODUCTION

of the ovary. When the ovary is entirely removed the pullet
grows the plumage of a cockerel (or more accurately, of a
capon) with a typical hackle and saddle, and a long tail with
sickle feathers. He has also shown that after successful
ovarectomy the demurely colored Rouen duck takes on the
brilliant colors of the male following the next molt.

Cole and Lippincott! have shown that a hen whose ovary
is destroyed by a tumor grows plumage which in shape is

Fic. 31

A Barred Plymouth Rock hen which developed saddle, sickle and hackle
feathers typical of a male or capon, as the result of the ovary being destroyed
by u tumor. (After Cole and Lippincott.)

quite typical of a male or capon (see Figures 31 and 32).
They showed further that by introducing into the body
cavity pieces of ovary from another female, feathers typical
of a normal female could later be grown on the same bird,
Goodale? went even further and quite completely feminized

cockerels so far as appearance is concerned, by castrating
them and engrafting ovaries. The ovary also seems to inhibit

1 Biological Bulletin, vol. xxxvi, No. 3.

2 Genetics, vol. ili, No. 3.

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS Sy

growth somewhat and to stimulate comb development,
though to a less extent than the testis.

It appears from the evidence of Boring and Pearl! coupled
with that of Morgan,? and Boring and Morgan,* that the
presence of the groups of yellow cells found in the ovaries
of domestic birds (each known as a corpus luteum), may be

ig 32)

The saddle section of the female shown in Figure 31 after oieces of ovary
from another individual had been engrafted. The old ‘male-shaped’’
feathers are shown at the left. On the right are seen the ‘‘hen-shaped”’
feathers which grew after the ovary was introduced, the old feathers having
been pulled out. (After Cole and Lippincott.)

responsible for the suppression of male plumage in the
female.

It is a matter of common knowledge among poultrymen
that Sebright Bantam males do not have ordinary hackle or

1 American Journal of Anatomy, vol. xxiii, No. 1, and Journal of Experi-
mental Zodlogy, vol. xxv, No. 1.

2 Proceedings of the Society of Experimental Biology and Medicine
vol. xv, pp. 3-4.

% Journal of General Physiology, vol. i, No. 1.

94 POULTRY PRODUCTION

saddle feathers or long tails with sickle feathers. Their
plumage is so closely similar to that of the female that they
are referred to as hen feathered males. Morgan has shown
that if Sebright males are castrated, they grow the long
hackle, saddle and tail feathers which are typical of capons
ot breeds in which the male is not hen feathered. Boring
and Morgan! have shown that the testes of Sebright males
carry lutear cells which are identical with those found in the
corpus luteum of the ovary of the hen by Boring and Pearl.
It appears probable that the agent of suppression is a secre-
tion from these lutear cells.

Showing how bacillary white diarrhea perpetuates itself in the breeding stock

Inheritance of Disease.—While the statement that infectious
poultry diseases are heritable is technically incorrect, practi-
cally it has a substantial basis in fact. The most conspicuous
example is found in the life history of the organism causing
contagious white diarrhea. When a female chick is infected
with the disease and makes a recovery it becomes a bacillus
carrier. According to Rettger, Kirkpatrick, and Jones.

! Journal of General Physiology, vol. i, No. 1.
* Storr’s Bulletin No. 77.

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 95

the organisms may never be entirely eliminated from the
pullet’s body, and as she develops, some of them migrate to
her ovary. They may also reach the ovary from the ali-
mentary tract when they are taken in with food through
the mouth. They there enter the developing yolks and
remain until the yolks are discharged from the ovary, fer-
tilized, and laid. If such eggs are incubated and hatched
the organisms are very likely to find their way into the
alimentary tract of the chick during embryonic life and
multiply to such an extent that the chick will have contracted
the disease before exclusion from the shell. Such a condition
corresponds somewhat to intra-uterine infection in mammals.
It might perhaps be properly termed intra-ovarian infection.
The point is, however, that while technically the young
creature contracts the disease by infection from the mother,
practically the disease is transmitted from mother to the
food-supply of the potential offspring before laying or even

ovulation occurs. These same investigators found that

“more than 25 per cent of the pullets that were artificially
infected as chicks became permanent bacillus carriers.”

The same condition might be found in the case of any
infectious disease that involves the ovary or oviduct. Thus
if a hen with a tubercular oviduct should lay, the likelihood
is that chicks hatched from her eggs would be tubercular.
This does not often occur, because a bird with a diseased
oviduct seldom lays.

The Male Generative Organs and Caponizing.—The essential
generative organs of the male bird are the testicle, the tube
leading from it to the cloaca, and the small papilla placed
near the margin of the cloacal opening and serv ing as an
organ of copulation. Each of the three organs is paired.
The exact location of the testicles is of interest ‘n connection
with the reproductive apparatus of the male, because of
their importance with reference to castrating or caponizing.
They are placed on either side of the median line of the body
just back of the lungs and below the anterior extremity of
the kidneys. They are oval in shape, and at the time most
favorable for caponizing are the size of a small pea. Ulti-
mately they become so large as to inhibit their removal

96 POULTRY PRODUCTION

between the ribs. They are reached in caponizing by an
incision between the last two ribs.

The object of castration in chickens is much the same as
in other animals. Besides the effects already noted it
renders them more tractable in disposition, they are easier
keepers and make more economical gains. Where it is not
desirable to market the surplus cockerels as broilers, caponiz-
ing admits of rearing the males with the pullets without
danger of injury to the latter, and the constant annoyance
which greatly retards their development.

Fig. 34

The right size for caponizing. (Courtesy of Mr. George Beuoy.)

Making Capons.'—‘ Caponizing is a simple operation. Any
careful person can soon learn to do it successfully. The
fact that a bird’s testicles are hidden away inside the body
has caused most people to suppose that the operation of
removing them is at once difficult and dangerous While
the percentage of loss is somewhat larger than results from
the castration of the larger animals, it need not run much,
if any, above 5 per cent for the beginner. One of the reasons
why the number is as large as it is, may be that the bird

! Lippincott, Kansas Circular No. 27.

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 97

must be older, comparatively, than other farm animals
before the operation can be undertaken. he birds that are
killed die a quick and painless death by bleeding. They
are not a total loss, as they are perfectly wholesome for food.

“Tt is difficult to state the exact size or age at which a
cockerel may be most successfully operated upon, as different
birds develop differently. As a starting-point, however,

Via. 35

A home-made caponizing table. (Courtesy of Mr. George Beuoy.)

the beginner will be safe in using birds weighing between
one and a half and two pounds if they are of the Plymouth
Rock, Rhode Island Red, Wyandotte, or Orpington breeds.
Leghorns weighing a pound may be used also. Later, as
one becomes more familiar with the matter, the birds will
be selected by their ‘look’ rather than by weight or age.
The cockerel shown in Figure 34 is just ready. The proper
time is just before he begins to make comb, when the organs
are about the size of a small navy bean.
7

So
@)

POULTRY PRODUCTION

“The tools needed are four in number, and may be pur-
chased from any poultry supply house or veterinary instru-
ment company at from $3 to $6 per set. A sharp knife is
necessary for making the incision. A pocket-knife will do
if itis sharp. A spreader is needed to keep the incision open

Cockerel in place on caponizing table. (Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural
Experiment Station.)

while working. A probe that is blunt at one end and has
a sharp bent point at the other is used in pushing the intes-
tines aside to expose the organs and in tearing the thin
membranes that surround the body cavity. And finally,
there must be an instrument for removing the testicles.
There are several different instruments made for this purpose,

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 99

and it is largely a matter of preference which is used. The
ones used in these illustrations are called the spoon forceps.

Locating the last two ribs and making the incision. (Courtesy of Kansas
Agricultural Experiment Station.)

“Where one is making a business of operating it is a good
thing to have a special table that can be tipped toward the
light, as in Figures 36 and 37. For home use a barrel will do
nearly as well, as shown in Figure 35. In either case, what is

100 POULTRY PRODUCTION

wanted is something that will hold the bird firmly and well
stretched out, at a convenient height. The bird is usually

Tic. 38

Inserting the spreaders. (Courtesy of Wansas Agricultural Experiment
Station.)

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 101

pinioned by looping weighted cords over the legs and wings,
as shown in the illustrations. Previous to the operation the
only preparation necessary is to keep the bird from food and
water for thirty-six hours. This will allow the intestines
to empty and subside, making the operation much easier
and less dangerous. There will be less bleeding if water is
also withheld. This must not be overlooked.

Fia. 39

Tearing away the membranes. (Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural
Experiment Station.)

“The operation may be performed from either side. A
few feathers should be plucked just in front of the thigh,
thus laying bare a small space just over the last rib. The
surrounding feathers should be moistened to make them lie
down and not interfere during the operation. The last
two ribs should now be located by the forefinger of the left
hand, as shown in Figure 37. Having located the ribs, pull
the skin as far toward the thigh or hip as possible. (This is
done so that when the operation is over the incision in the
skin will not be over the incision in the flesh, as shown in

102 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Figure 42.) Then pinch the skin with the thumb and fore-
finger to drive out as much blood as possible. Now make the
incision, being careful to follow the space between the ribs.
If the bird has been properly starved, there will be no danger
of cutting the intestines. The first incision need not be over
a half-inch long. Then take the spreaders and insert as is
being done in Figure 38. Be sure to see that each hook of the
spreader is against arib. Spread the incision as far as possible

Fic. 40

Testicle shown in place between jaws of the spreader. (Courtesy of Kansas
Agricultural Experiment Station.)

without tearing the flesh. Then follow up between the ribs
with the knife, lengthening the incision until the spreaders
may be opened to their limit, as shown in Figure 39. Then
with the hooked end of the probe tear away the thin, papery
membranes that cover the intestines, as shown in Figure 39.

“When this has been done and the intestines pushed aside,
the testicle will be in plain sight. In a bird of the proper age
it will be a rich creamy yellow and about the size and shape
of a small bean. In very young chicks whose sex can just

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 103

Removing the testicle. (Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural Experiment
Station.)

Fig. 42

After the operation. (Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural /xperiment Station.)

104 POULTRY PRODUCTION

be told it is scarcely larger than a grain of wheat. The testicle
may be seen in position in Figure 40. It is almost between
the jaws of the spreader and is glistening in the sunlight.
“Just above it the kidneys are located, but cannot be
seen in the picture. Passing over the kidneys is a large
bloodvessel, which constitutes practically the only source
of danger during the operation. If this vessel is ruptured
the bird will bleed to death almost before it can be taken

from the table.
Fic 43

A flock of young capons. (Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural Experiment
Station.)

“In Figure 41 the spoon forceps are grasping the testicle,
which is still in place. The care with which the operator
grasps the organ without also grasping the bloodvessel, or
the tissues surrounding it, constitutes the whole trick of the
operation. Having grasped the testicle, twist the forceps
around a couple of times and pull them out quickly. Remove
the spreaders and allow the skin to cover the opening between

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 105

the ribs, as in Figure 42. In ten days there will be nothing
left but a shiny sear.

“Tt is customary to remove both testicles from one side.
In that case it is better to remove the lower one first. Some-
times there is a little bleeding which would hide the lower
one if the upper one was removed first. Beginners, however,
will do well to make two incisions, one on each side, operat-
ing at first on a dead bird. After doing this successfully
several times, one may tear away the membranes enough
to see the second testicle and remove both testicles through
the same incision. In fact, one may become so proficient
that he can grasp both organs at once and remove them
together.

Tic. 44

White Plymouth Rock capons. (Courtesy of Purdue Agricultural
Experiment Station.)

“After the operation, the birds should be placed in a yard
by themselves and fed on soft food for three or four days.
After that time give them their regular rations. At the end
of a week they may be turned in with the other chickens.
A few of them will bloat during the first week. This is not
serious, and is remedied by pricking the skin with a coarse
needle or with the little blade of a pocket-knife.”

Spaying of Pullets——The spaying of pullets is not practised
for two reasons: they are more profitable as egg producers
than as meat producers, and there would be no economic
gain in performing the operation. A further and more

106 POULTRY PRODUCTION

decisive reason is that because of surgical difficulties it is
practically impossible to perform the operation successfully.
It has been successfully accomplished a comparatively few
times by trained investigators. Removing the ovary in its
entirety usually results in the rupture of a large bloodvessel
lying at the base of the main stock, which allows sufficient
hemorrhage to cause death. H the organ is not removed
perfectly clean, it has the power to regenerate from the
remaining tissue and so defeat the purpose of the operation.

Time Elapsing Between Mating and Fertility —Pearl and
Surface! make note of the fact that in “Some experiments
carried out by H. J. Odam of the period elapsing between
mating and fertility in one case a chick was produced from
an egg laid seventy-two hours after mating.”

Waite? found that where twenty Single Comb White
Leghorn pullets were mated, 50 per cent of the eggs laid
on the third day (less than fifty-four hours after mating)
were fertile and 70 per cent were fertile on the fourth day.

In mating eighteen Rhode Island Red pullets and one
White Plymouth Rock cockerel, he found that the four
eggs laid on the seventh day were all fertile. In still another
test with these same breeds, eight eggs laid on the eighth
day were all fertile.

In a test with Single Comb White Leghorn hens mated to
cockerels, carried out by Townsley and reported by Philips,’
the first fertile egg was gathered twenty-three hours after a
single mating. The detailed data are shown in Table XIV.
It will be noted that the eggs were not 100 per cent infertile
until the sixteenth day after the mating occurred.

Judging from common experience in addition to the fore-
going, it seems safe to state that in practice it will be found
that eggs laid by vigorous hens will usually be fairly fertile
in six days in the case of Mediterranean breeds, and eight
to ten days in the case of the American breeds, while two
weeks is necessary in the case of pullets, assuming in each
case that the male is vigorous and active.

* Maine Bulletin No. 168.

2 Maryland Bulletin No. 157.
3 Jour. Am. Assn. Inst. and Invest. in Poul. Husb., vol. iv, No. 5.

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 107

Cessation of Fertility—In experiments with twenty Single
Comb White Leghorn hens, Waite! found that fertility
held up well for eleven days, and one egg was found to be
fertile after the male bird had been removed for twenty
days. Bittenbender? reports a Barred Plymouth Rock hen
that produced a fertile egg seventeen days after the removal
of the male. Townsley and Philips results are shown in
Table XIV.

Sherwood? reports one Barred Plymouth Rock hen that
produced one fertile egg on the twentieth day after the mating
was broken up; four White Leghorn pullets that produced
fertile eggs on the nineteenth day; two Leghorn hens that
laid fertile eggs on the eighteenth day after the male bird
was removed. He found that the fertility held up well with
the Plymouth Rock hens for twelve days, while the Leghorn
pullets’ eggs decreased markedly in fertility on the tenth
day, as did also those of the Leghorn hens.

After the end of the third week, according to Lillie,‘ the
vitality of the spermatozoa is reduced. Eggs laid during
the fourth and fifth week after the removal of the male
may exhibit an abnormal cell division, which soon ceases.

In practice a period of at least three weeks is necessary
to rid the oviduct of active spermatozoa and insure a cessa-
tion of the influence of a previous mating.

Influence of Previous Impregnation—The fact that eggs
remain fertile for days and even weeks after the removal
of the male, combined with other circumstances, has led
to a somewhat common belief that the influence of an impreg-
nation is often permanent. A common illustration is found
in the idea that if a pure white hen is once mated with a pure
black male the offspring of a subsequent mating with a pure
white male, which may occur the following season or even
two or three years later, are likely to show black feathers,
as the result of the previous mating with the black male.

As a matter of fact, black feathers are a frequent occur-
rence in the offspring of pure white birds that have never

' Maryland Bulletin No. 157

2 Unpublished data, Iowa State Colleye.
3 Tbid., Ohio Experiment Station.

4 Development of the Chick.

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POULTRY PRODUCTION

108

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THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 109

been mated with anything but pure white birds. With
other animals all efforts to secure a permanent influence
of any sort from a previous impregnation have uniformly
failed. There is no reason to believe the results would be
different with fowls.

Maternal Impressions.—In chickens the claims of prenatal
influence or the registering of maternal impressions are
largely confined to color. One not infrequently hears the
claim that yellow-painted buildings about the premises
where the fowls spend much of their time tends to induce
creaminess or brassiness in the feathers.

Experimentally, it has been impossible to produce such
effects. Brassiness seems to appear only when fowls are
allowed to be in the sun. It is possibly a sort of sunburn.
Creaminess is usually the result of oil in the feathers and may
be increased by feeding yellow corn or green feed freely.

In this connection it should be clearly understood that
while maternal impressions do not appear in the offspring
in kind, both the maternal and paternal vigor and physical
thrift have very much to do with thrifty offspring.

BREEDING METHODS.

In general, breeding is carried on in the hope of securing
improvement in one of three ways: (1) by transferring the
valuable characteristics of an improved breed to common
stock; (2) by impressing the excellencies of superior indi-
viduals on other families within the breed, so as to produce
a higher average excellence in them than on the average is
possessed by the breed itself; (3) by securing a new associa-
tion of characteristics, that is, producing a new breed. The
first is the way of the producer and the method is grading.
The second is that of the breeder and the method is “line
breeding.” With the third, the method is cross-breeding.

Grading.—By grading is meant the practice of mating
standard-bred males with mongrel or relatively unimproved
females. ‘Technically speaking, the reciprocal cross is also
grading, but, practically, it need not be considered.

Grading is the method of the producer because it lends
itself most readily to his purpose of securing “as many off-

110 POULTRY PRODUCTION

spring as possible, as good as possible, and at the least cost.”
It is not only the easiest and cheapest form of breeding, but
also produces the most rapid improvement. For market
purposes, grades are often the equal of standard-breds.
For breeding purposes, grade males are usually worthless.
The theoretical rapidity with which the characteristics
of an improved breed are transmitted to progeny out of
the mongrels is illustrated in igure 45. The percentages
given in each generation represent the hereditary constitu-

Fie. 45

-l Cc >
PURE BRED GRADING CHART B

SNe CENALES <-

GENERATIONS
OF
OFF-SPRING

A) 50(( ------------------------- —1sT

tion of that generation with reference to the “blood” of
both the standard-bred bird and the mongrel. Of course,
the word “blood” does not imply the real blood of the animal,
but is a term used by the breeder to designate the sum total
of the hereditary characteristics. The actual results are
shown in Iigures 46 to 49, and in Table XV.

It should be clearly understood that only when the male
is of a breed distinctly different from any represented in the
females and only in the first generation of the cross, does

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 111

the percentage given in the table directly represent anything
of the hereditary constitution of the individual. After that
there will be great variability in the characteristics trans-
mitted by the females and only in the terms of averages of
numerous progeny will the percentages hold true.

In Figure 45, “Standard blood” is represented by black and
“mongrel blood” by a mixture of lacing, white, stippling, and
barring in the various circles. Thus the circle “A” repre-
sents a bird that carries 100 per cent “pure blood” and the
circle “B” 100 per cent “mongrel blood,” or a mixture of
laced, white, stippled, and barred varieties. From the nature
of the case, “A” represents a male and “B” a group of
females. When mated together the offspring shown at “C”
will carry 50 per cent each of standard and of mongrel
blood. If females from group “C”’ are now mated with
another “standard” bred male, “D,” the offspring, “E,”
will on the average carry 75 per cent “standard blood” and
25 per cent “mongrel blood.”

By using standard-bred males as indicated in the chart,
the chances of the appearance of the mongrel character-
istics in the fifth generation, as shown at ‘‘IX,” would be 34 out
of 100, and the chances in the following generation not indi-
cated in the chart would be 1,°; out of 100. In the early
history of many of the pure breeds of live stock the sixth and
seventh cross, as here shown, were admitted for registry.

LEGENDS FOR FIGURES 46, 47, 48 AND 49.

Fie. 46—Mongrel hens, mothers of pullets shown in Figure 47, by a
8. C. W. Leghorn sire. Egg records and lines of descent are shown in
Table XV. (Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station.)

Fia. 47 —TVirst generation of 8. C. W. Leghorn grades. Daughters of
mongrels shown in Figure 46 by a S. C W. Leghorn sire. Mothers of
pullets shown in Figure 48 by a S C. W. Leghorn sire. Lines of descent
and egg records are shownin Table XV. (Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural
Experiment Station.)

Fia. 48.—Second generation of 8. C. W. Leghorn grades. Daughters
of females shown in Figure 47 by a 8S. C. W. Leghorn sire. Mothers of
pullets shown in Figure 49 by a S. C. W. Leghorn sire. Lines of descent
and egg records shown in Table XV. (Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural
Experiment Station.)

Fic. 49.—Third generation of 8. C. W. Leghorn grades. Daughters
of females shown in Figure 48 by a 8. C. W. Leghorn sire. Lines of descent
and egg records are shown in Table XV. (Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural
Experiment Station.)

Fia. 46

POULTRY PRODUCTION

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THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS itakes

The actual improvement with regard to uniformity runs
rather in advance of the percentages shown in the chart
after the first cross, as shown by Lippincott! and illustrated
in Figures 46 to 49. Furthermore, standard-bred males
are prepotent over mongrel females in most characteristics.
Prepotency is the breeders term for the superior power
which one parent has over the other in determining the char-
acter of the offspring. It increases with (1) standard breed-
ing, (2) line breeding, and (3) long-continued breeding,
because each of these tend automatically to produce purity
in a given character.

Fia. 50

A hen carrying seven-eighths Single Comb White Leghorn blood whose
egg record is 303 in twelve months and 505 for twenty-four months.
(Courtesy of Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station.)

If only individuals of the highest constitutional vigor are
used, improvement will be found still more satisfactory if
the pure-bred males used from year to year are members
of the same family as well as members of the same breed.
The reasons for this are discussed under “line breeding.”

1 Kansas Bulletin No. 223.

118 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Danger of Grading. —The weakness of grading as a practice
lies In its suecess as a method. Because in the second or
third generation males are produced that very closely
approach standard, line-bred birds in appearance, the temp-
tation is to use them for breeding purposes rather than to
purchase, first cost considered, a relatively expensive stand-
ard-bred bird. When this is done improvement usually
stops and the ground gained will be at least partially lost.

Thus, if in Figure 45 the offspring of C and 2) appear to be
fairly uniform, the breeder may yield to the temptation to
use a fine-looking cockerel from group /. The offspring
on the average carry 25 per cent mongrel blood instead of
12.5 per cent, as indicated at G and is therefore no improve-
ment over LE. In fact, in appearance many of them will not
be as good, because the offspring 7 has the benefit of the
characteristics transmitted by a standard-bred sire. A
grade sire is no more prepotent than the grade females he
ismated with. The result is that stead of tending to become
more uniform the offspring will be less so.

Inbreeding and Line Breeding.—Authorities differ on the
distinction between these terms. In a recent exhaustive
study of inbreeding Pearl! suggests that most definitions
of inbreeding have been based on practical expediency rather
than on careful analysis of the problem. He defines inbreed-
ing as the reduction of the number of possible different ances-
tors in any generation or generations. This is, of course
accomplished through the mating of individuals more or
less closely related.

Line breeding is a special form of inbreeding in which the
number of possible different ancestors of a given bird is
reduced in such a way as to increase the number of appear-
ances of a certain ancestor in its pedigree.

The difference between line breeding and inbreeding is
shown in Figures 51 and 52.

In the third ancestral generation, as shown in Figure 51,
birds 4A, B, C, D, each appear twice and the number of
ancestors of Av is thereby reduced one-half. That is to say,
KX has only four different individuals as grandparents

1 American Naturalist, vol. xlvii, No. 562.

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 119

instead of the supposedly normal number, eight. Chis is
the mating of relatives and is, therefore, inbreeding. Because
no one of these birds appears in the pedigree of AU oftener
than any other of the same generation, no line breeding has
been done.

Fig. 51
A
Ce
I
Boe
KI
(e;
ee
&
ies

Illustrating inbreeding that is not line breeding.

In Figure 52 the number of ancestors is also reduced by half
and the intensity of the inbreeding of L is exactly the same as
that of Win Figure 51. A notable difference, however, arises
in the fact that each blood line of L runs back to .f as a sire in
Figure 52. Lis therefore said to be line bred with reference
to A.

esl
=
a
on
bw

ay
—_“
a =|

ian)
ete a
ea

=
ry
Ss
i

Illustrating inbreeding that is line breeding.

Line breeding is as near as the poultry breeder can come to
securing the benefits of asexual reproduction, which the
horticulturist secures through cuttings. If an unusually
fine tree makes its appearance among seedlings it is preserved
and multiplied by asexual means, and thus “the blood” is
transmitted to the next generation in perfect purity. This

120 POULTRY PRODUCTION

cannot be done in the case of a correspondingly unusual
bird. The nearest that the poultry breeder can approach
this is by mating such a bird to its own progeny and founding
a family whose blood lines carry a preponderance of its influ-
ence.

The purpose of line breeding is to purify and render per-
manent in the breed some highly desirable quality or quali-
ties of an individual or family.

In somewhat the same way that the continued use of
standard-bred males raises the average quality of a flock
of mixed breeding by fixing standard-bred qualities, the
continued mating of an unusually excellent breeder with
offspring of his or her own get, or even a more indirect
introduction of that individual’s blood, tends to raise the
quality of further offspring to as high grade of excellence
as either of the original parents, by fixing the characters
of the parent whose blood is most desired.

Felch’s Breeding System.—A well-known practice in poul-
try breeding is that represented in the very excellent chart
adapted by Pierce from one worked out by Felch, a veteran
Light Brahma breeder, and shown in Figure 53.

In this chart the breeding operations are represented as
beginning with a pair of unrelated birds which are indicated
by the circles “A” and “B.”’ Throughout the diagram,
solid black indicates the average proportion of blood of the
original male A. In thesame manner, white always indicates
the average proportion of blood from the original female 3.

Thus the members of group C, which are offspring of the
original pair, will on the average receive half of their inheri-
tance from each parent. If a pullet from group C is now
mated with her sire A, the resultant offspring represented
at D will, on the average, carry 75 per cent of the character-
istics of the original male. If now a pullet from group D is
mated with the original sire 4, the progeny represented at
F will, on the average, carry 87.5 per cent of the character-
istics of the original male and but 12.5 per cent of those of
the original female.

In exactly the same way males from groups C and E may
be mated back to the original female B with correspond-
ing results.

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 121

While Felch’s system is commonly spoken of as line breed-
ing, it is only with reference to the individuals shown in the
outside lines of Figure 53 that true line breeding takes place.

Fia. 53

GENERATIONS
1ST

MALE LINE FEMALE LINE

2NO

=
o

Breeding chart, after Felch and Pierce. (Courtesy of Breeders’
Gazette, Chicago.)

The mating of the two extreme lines to produce the groups
at IT and M averaging half the blood of the sire 4 and half
the blood of the dam B simply represents other methods of
getting the results of the first cross, or of a brother and sister

122 POULTRY PRODUCTION

mating from group C shown at without, however, having
them directly connected genetically.

Danger of Line Breeding.—As in grading, danger lies in
the temptation to use as a breeder a grade male that “looks
good”, so in line breeding the danger lies in trusting in the
efficacy of line breeding, in and of itself, and in continuing
to mate relatives after they have ceased to “look good.”
Inbreeding in any form offers opportunity for the segre-
gation of characters, thereby not infrequently disclosing
recessive poor qualities as well as tending to render pure,
dominant desirable qualities. This increases directly with
the closeness of inbreeding, the closest possible being that
of a brother and sister mating as shown at C and K in
Migure 53,

Tew fowls are fully fertile and fewer still are both fertile
and vigorous. Selecting relatives both of which approach
perfection in physique is difficult. Many weaknesses are hid-
den, only to be discovered by disappointing experience. It is
easy to mate individuals of a greater or less relationship
where an unsuspected mutual tendency toward infertility
will be disclosed. It is all too common to mate fowls with a
more or less common ancestry, which already show the warn-
ing earmarks of a weakened constitution. The result can
hardly be other than a progeny that is weaker than either
parent.

Cole and Halpin! began inbreeding Rhode Island Reds
in 1913 making some matings as close as brother and sister.
The selection practiced was for color and birds of wonderful
color were produced. The per cent of fertile eggs hatched,
however, decreased rapidly as shown by the following figures.
In 1915, 67 per cent of the fertile eggs hatched. In 1914 the
per cent was 49. In 1915 it was 41 per cent and in 1916
IS per cent. In 1917 not a chick could be hatched.

Tn 1918 anew phase of the experiment was initiated. Close
inbreeding was maintained as before, but the selection was for
vigor. This phase has been in progress but two years.
There is so far no indication of a rapid decrease in fertility

1 Poultry Culture, March, 1920,

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 123

but the color is already going to pieces. Presumably if there
were large enough numbers and selection were made for both
color and vigor, both might be maintained.

It appears that the difficulty in such cases is not in line
breeding as a practice, but in the skill and judgment in
selection. As Marshall! puts it, “ We may say of the cases (of
line breeding) that have resulted unfavorably, that we should
look not to the kinship of blood but the kinship of defect”’
for the difficulty. Thus we may also say of the successes of
line breeding that they are attributable “ not to the kinship of

Tia 54

Trap-nests. Modeled on the plan of the Purdue nest. Door in top
opens into wire receptacle for keeping eggs until collected for the day.
(Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station.)

blood but the kinship of superiority. . . . Suecess or
failure with inbreeding is clearly dependent upon selection.”
When vigor and hatching power are the first basis of selection,
less will be heard of the evils of line breeding.
Pedigreeing.—LBy pedigreeing is meant keeping a complete
breeding record. It involves the recording by leg-band
number (or other accurate means of identification) of the
male and female mated together, the recording on each egg

1 Breeding Farm Animals.

124 POULTRY PRODUCTION

with the aid of the trap nest, of the number of the hen laying
it, of so arranging the eggs in the incubator by means of
pedigree trays, small covered wire baskets, or sacks of inos-

Fia, 55

sehen ceEARAT ES |

Incubator tray of pedigree sacks full of chicks. (Courtesy of Kansas
Agricultural Experiment Station.)

quito-barring or curtain netting, that each chick as it hatches
will be enclosed with a label identifying it with its dam,

a t 50) MV KARS AS AGRICULTURAL

Wingband and leghand used as markers for identifying individual birds
The legbands placed on males always have the letter M following the
numeral,

numbering each chick by means of a wingband and rec ording
itina chiek index. Later an adult band i is placed on the leg,
the latter also being recorded in the chick index. Gesides

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 125

this, there must be a flock breeding record, corresponding
to the herd book of the larger farm animals, by means of which
pedigrees may be traced. Such a program is within the reach

Tre, 57

Making the incision for the wing band in the web of the wing of a newly
hatched chick. (Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station.)

Fic. 58

The wing band in place on a newly hatched chick. (Courtesy of Kansas
Agricultural Experiment Station.)

of the breeder who, compared with the producer, deals with

fewer numbers and makes a relatively larger profit on each
bird.

126 POULTRY PRODUCTION

The breeder’s goal is not so much “how many” as “how
good.” Pedigree breeding is a necessity in selecting for
fecundity or hatching power. There cannot be the best
progress along production lines without it.

Wingband as it appears in the wing of the adult fowl. It bears the year
date of hatching as well as the chick’s number. As it remains in place
throughout life, the} age of the bird can always he told. (Courtesy of
KKansas Agncultural Eexperment Station.)

The general producer, however, desires numbers and sells
on a comparatively narrow margin, hence the time element
involved is too great to make pedigreeing practical. He
must look te the production breeder to do this for him.

Breeding Record Blanks.— An individual's breeding record
is started when it is hatehed. As soon as it is well dried off
it is wingbanded or legbanded. The number on this band

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS

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128 POULTRY PRODUCTION

and the numbers of the chick’s sire and dam must be recorded.
For this purpose a printed form as illustrated in Figure 60
is most useful.

At the upper right hand corner of each sheet of this “ Chick
and Mating Index” is entered the legband number of the sire
of all the chicks recorded on that sheet. The legband number
of the dam of each chick is recorded on the same line with
the chicks wingband number. These sheets therefore serve
not only as a record of the parentage of the chick, but of the
females mated with any given sire, which produced offspring.
They also give the exact date of hatching.

When the chicks are mature enough to go into the laying
house or breeding pen, they are legbanded. While the wing-
band remains in place throughout life, it is covered by the
Jong feathers of a mature bird. The legband is resorted to
and should be put on upside down so that it may be easily
read in handling the bird without having to turn the latter
upside down. The legband number should be recorded on
the same line as the wingband number. The numbers on the
wing and legbands are not necessarily the same.

While the Chick and Mating Index gives all the facts
necessary for tracing a given bird’s ancestry, it does not give
them in easily accessible form. For this purpose it is
desirable to have a second blank called the Ilock Breeding
Record, as shown in Figures 61 and 62. In the columns
headed “Legband Number” are entered in serial order the
legband numbers of all birds reaching maturity whether
the individuals are retained as layers or breeders, or sold for
breeding purposes. ‘These numbers may run from 1 to 3000,
or 10,000 and even higher, depending upon the extent of the
breeding operations carried on. On the line with each leg-
band number and in the column headed “ Mating Number”
is given the mating number of the individual represented.

This mating number is made by combining the legband
numbers of the sire and dam as given in the Chick and Mating
Index. For example, if it is found that the sire of 716
(wingband 20, Figure 60) is 26M (upper righthand corner)
while her dam is 114, the mating number of 716 is 26M114.
In the same way the mating nuinber of 506 (Figure 61) is

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THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 129

given as 17M207 because the sire is 17M and the dam is 207,
this information having been transferred to the Flock Breed-
ing Record from a sheet of the Chick and Mating Index not
shown in the accompanying figures. If the numbers ran
higher and it was found that the mating number of 10,012
was 115M2006 (Figure 61 lower left hand corner) the fact
would be clear that the sire of 10,012 was 115M and the dam
was 2006.

The Flock Breeding Record bears the same relation to the
flock of the individual breeder that the herdbook does to an
entire breed of cattle. It enables the breeder to readily trace
the ancestry of any individual in his flock back to the parents
of the individuals with which the record was first started.

Thus, when it has been found that the sire of 10,012 is 115M
and that the dam is 2006, it may be easily determined by
looking up 115M in the Flock Breeding Record (Figure 62)
that its sire and dam are 85M and 519 respectively. In
the same way it may be discovered that the parents of 2006
are 85M and 505. She is therefore a half sister of her mate.
The further ancestry may be traced back to the first birds
recorded as shown in Figure 63.

When individual egg records (see Figure 64) are kept for
all females used as breeders the mating members of the
females may be written on the egg record sheets. When
this is done it will be nesessary to keep a flock breeding
record for the males only.

A pedigree blank as shown in Figure 63 is highly desirable
for assembling the information gained from the Flock Breed-
ing Record. Below the spaces intended for the female ances-
tors are spaces for the yearly egg records completed by each
one.

Official Records.—As previously indicated (see page 57)
there are no official breeding records for poultry, though the
question of the registration of poultry is being agitated. The
production records made at the laying contests conducted by
several states are recognized as authentic and those records
of two hundred eggs or higher made at contests are recorded
as official by the American Record of Performance Council.
This Council is authorized and organized by the American

POULTRY PRODUCTION

130

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THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS

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132 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Association of Instructors and Investigators in Poultry
Husbandry with offices at the New Jersey Agricultural
Experiment Station, New Brunswick, New Jersey.

In New York state a system of certifying flocks which
come up to a recognized standard regarding production 1s
administered by the New York State College of Agriculture
at Cornell University.

Fia. 65

A cross-bred hen carrying three-eighths Barred Plymouth Rock blood
and five-eighths Single Comb White Leghorn. gg record, 291 in twelve
months. (Courtesy of Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station.)

Cross-breeding.—'T'wo kinds of cross-breeding are practised.
With the first, which is used in endeavoring to find a new
combination of characters or qualities and thus form a new
breed, individuals of different breeds whose blended characters
it is hoped will approach the combination sought, are mated
and selected progeny of the cross are used as breeders for
further operations. An illustration of this is found in the
formation of the American breeds.

With the second the two breeds are kept in their purity,

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 133

and the progeny, which always represent a first cross, are
never used for breeding purposes. Thus it is said that for
producing Philadelphia capons a cross much employed is
that of the Light Brahma and White Plymouth Rock.
The offspring always carry half their blood from each breed.
For producing market ducks a cross much used is that of the
Pekin and Aylesbury. In such breeding it should always
be considered which is the better of the two reciprocal
crosses.

Such a practice as this is sometimes erroneously referred
to as line breeding, because both lines of stock are bred pure
and only the first cross used.

PURPOSE OF SELECTION.

The purpose of selection is to prevent the birth of indi-
viduals not suited for production. In pursuance of this
purpose the points to be selected for in the order of their
importance are (1) constitutional vigor and capacity, (2)
hatching power, (3) egg production, (4) longevity, (5) early
maturity, and (6) breed and varietal characteristics.

With the producer, from the nature of the case, selection
is confined to the first and the last three points. In most
cases it will be confined to the first and the last. For the
second and third he must depend upon the breeder. If
grading is carried on, selection so far as the producer’s own
flock is concerned is further limited to females.

Constitutional Vigor and Capacity.—The appearance and
manifestation of maximum vigor and vitality can only be
present when all organs of the body that have to do with
digestion, circulation, respiration, and the nervous system
which controls all, continuously perform their full work.
This maximum efficiency of all organs makes up constitution.

That constitutional vigor is the foundation of good pro-
duction cannot be overemphasized. The best inheritance
conceivable, with regard to all other points of selection, 1s
useless unless there is physical stamina as a foundation.
Without it, inheritance is as helpless as a dynamo that has
no conducting cable to connect it with its motors. It is the

134 POULTRY PRODUCTION

conductor that makes possible in production the possibilities
generated in breeding.

There must be physical thrift to withstand the exhaustion
of an inherited heavy production. Reproduction in the hen
is normal only when there is an excess of vitality, as well as
of feed, bevond that needed for the hen herself. In the case
of persistent and continuous reproduction there must be a
very large excess.

In order to realize on an inherited tendency to quick
growth and early maturity, there must be good digestive
power to prepare for assimilation large amounts of materials,

Fic. 66

Showing the difference in the offspring of strong and weak hens. These
chicks had the same sire. (Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural Experiment
Station.)

out of which growth is manufactured. This ean only be had
when every organ of digestion and assimilation and of repro-
duction is large and active. Such organs can exist only in
a capacious body and capacity is a first requisite of vig« ir,
Beyond this it is a law of universal application that low
vitality means weak defensive agencies throughout the body
and a greater susceptibility to disease. This extends not
only to the individual, but to the offspring by way of inherit-
ance and by lessening the bactericidal properties of the
secretions of the oviduct during the manufacture of the egg.
A good constitution is as much a heritable character as are

THB BREEDING OF CHICKENS 135

color and comb. Proper housing, feeding, incubating, and
general care help to conserve the health of the flock, but the
very best management cannot obviate the necessity of a
vigorous fowl to begin with. It is “bred in the bone,” and
handed down to offspring from both parents.

Influence of Vigor of Dam upon Offspring.—Aside from
the question of the inheritance of vigor lies the fact that
only the complete health and nourishment of the body is
likely to insure the highest vitality and, in the case of the
males, activity in the reproductive cells. Furthermore,
the vigor of the dam has an effect upon the food supply of
the embryo chick, comprising the yolk and albumen of the

Cge.
Fia. 67

Cockerels showing strong and weak constitutions. (Courtesy of Cornell
Agricultural Experiment Station.)

While technically this has no more to do with the inherit-
ance of the chick than the amount and quality of milk
drank has to do with the inheritance of the calf, practically
it is of great importance in bringing out strong chicks. As
a result of observations, incidental to his studies of the
inheritance of egg production, Pearl' makes the following
statement: “It is certain, from observations of both egg and
chick, that the same kind and quality of food is not furnished
to the embryo by the egg manufactured in the body of a

1 Maine Bulletin No. 192.

136 POULTRY PRODUCTION

strong fowl as is furnished in the egg manufactured in the
body of a weak fowl.

“Furnished with a qualitatively inadequate food-supply,
the embryo either dies before hatching or hatches into a weak,
debilitated chick. This badly nourished, weak chick grows
into an adult fowl which is weak in constitution and usually
weaker and to a greater degree lacking in vitality than the

Fia. 68

Single Comb White Leghorn laying 295 eggs in first laying year. Note
body capacity. (Courtesy of D. Tancred, Kent, Wash.)

parent. This offspring may thus be expected to produce
a still less normal supply of nutriment in its eggs than did
its mother, since it is less vigorous and normal than she
was. ‘Thus the weakness is passed on from generation to
generation, tending all the time to become greater.”
q $a s le ml . . oe
The Vigorous Type.—There are certain characteristics
which are correlated with that maximum efficiency of al]
Sra ae : ee
organs termed constitution. These characteristics are rela-

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 137

tive rather than absolute. While a long, straight, narrow
beak is undesirable on any breed, the beak of a Leghorn
cannot be expected to be as short, stout and of the same
curvature as that of a Brahma or even a Plymouth Rock.
Breed characteristics must be given due consideration and the
comparison of these characteristics should be between mem-
bers of the same breed.

The head should be of fair size because of its breadth and
depth rather than its length; show a pair of keen, alert, and
rather prominent eyes, which are directed nearly at right
angles to the long axis of the head and are free from puffy
or overhanging eyebrows; carry a comb that is well developed
and fiery red, and a beak that is comparatively short, stout,
and well curved. The so-called ‘cross-eyed” hen is to be
avoided.

A head that carries a chronically congested comb, a long,
straight beak, or is itself long and narrow, or sunken, will
usually be associated with functional weakness throughout
the body.

The body trunk must furnish ample room for the vital
organs and particularly those organs which are associated
directly with the digestion and assimilation of feed and the
manufacture of eggs. There seems to be a decided correla-
tion between a capacious body and digestive and reproduc-
tive organs of good size and vigor. For a time it was held
that the rear half of the fowl’s body should be deep in pro-
portion to the front half. This was largely based on the fact
that the ovary and oviduct and the gizzard and intestines
extend from about the middle of the body (from front to
back) to its posterior extremity. From continued observa-
tion, however, it appears that while the great asset is capacity
and all great producers have it, the form of body with regard
to its relative fore- and after-depth varies greatly.

The heavy producers that are able to persist in their high
production for a number of years without becoming ruptured
or, as poultrymen term it, “breaking down behind,” usually
have the abdomen supported by a long keel (breast bone).

The individual that possesses a robust constitution will
have the capacious body supported by strong, parallel, or

138 POULTRY PRODUCTION

in males slightly base-wide, legs on which the nails of the
scratching toes are well worn, denoting activity. It is the
highly active hen that is the last to roost at night and the first
about in the morning, that the trap nest usually points to as
the high producer.

Aside from the characteristics that go to make up the
general conformation of a vigorous bird, there must be a good
general appearance that is made up of the style and carriage
that is closely associated with disposition, on the one hand,

Fig. 69

Barred Plymouth Rock, female. Record 62 eggs. Notice lack of femininity
and trimness. (Courtesy of J. W. Parks.)

and that balanced development of all parts called symmetry
on the other. The physically strong and, in the case of males
particularly, the sexually strong bird has a well-developed
oil sac, and spends considerable time oiling and preening
its feathers. The well-kept glossy coat and general neatness
and trimness of appearance that indicate pride in plumage
are assets not to be ignored. Allowance must be made on
this point for frayed and faded females at the end of a season
of heavy laying.

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 139

To these characteristics of vigor must be added the high
development of those appearances associated with sex.
Poultrymen often speak of the “sweet”’ appearance of a pullet
or the “matronliness’’ of a hen as being desirable character-
istics. This is simply one way of expressing the desirability
of a decidedly feminine appearance which is likely to be
most heavily marked in those hens which lay most heavily.

Evidences of strong masculinity on the part of the males is
equally desirable. Great gallantry, fearlessness in fighting,
a persistence in the crowing challenge, and the sidling strut
before the hens, taken together, denote sexual strength.
The cock-crowing contests in Belgium are not so far wrong
as a basis for the selection of breeding males. As already
shown, the secondary sexual characters by which we dis-
tinguish the sexes, are directly dependent upon the sex glands.
Any lack of development in these characters very probably
points to more or less undeveloped ovaries or testes as the
case may be.

The Meat Type—It would seem, perhaps, that with
meat an important by-product some attention should be
given the deepness of muscling over the breast or the thick-
ness of flesh over the thighs. As a matter of fact, the bird
that enjoys the robustness of perfect health, or that is a good
performer at the nest, will nearly always be found to be well
meated.

With meat practically a by-product, and the whole carcass
the retail market unit, the question of a meat type is not so
important as in the case of beef cattle. There, meat is the
principal product, and there is a great range of value between
the various cuts. These cuts are sold separately, and are,
in point of fact, the retail market units. The proportion
between the more and the less expensive ones in the carcass
makes considerable difference in its value. Different por-
tions of the poultry carcass are not given different market
values. It is the general condition of the whole carcass that
governs its desirability.

Hatching Power.—If constitutional vigor is the conductor
which connects the generator with its motors, hatching power
is the switch that closes the circuit. Without it production

140 POULTRY PRODUCTION

ceases. With the average period of profitable production
but two years, the necessity for the ability to renew
the flock each year with a fair degree of certainty is
obvious.

Assuming good vigor, actual infertility, by which is meant
the lack of a vital union between the sperm and the ovum,
is usually caused by sterility, or aversion on the part of the
sire, barrenness on the part of the dam, or by physiologic
selection. It is not to be assumed that because a particular
hen gives few or no fertile eggs she is worthless as a
breeder. It often appears that males have favorites in a
flock with which they mate frequently while there are others
that are never served. It happens less often that two indi-
viduals, which produce healthy chicks when mated with
other individuals, produce no fertility when mated together.
Such a condition is referred to as one of physiologic selection.
The remedy in each case is the making of a new mating or,
where feasible, alternating males in the pen from day to day.
If upon mating with another male a female still returns
no fertility she may be assumed to be barren and useless.

In the case of partial or total sterility on the part of a male
the low fertility of the eggs from all the hens mated with
him will necessitate his being discarded in self-defense.

It would seem from the evidence at hand that infertility
in females of itself is not to be feared from the stand-point of
inheritance. It is rather an individual idiosyncrasy, highly
disappointing in present, but not serious in regard to future
effects upon offspring. In records furnished by Pearl and
Surface! it is shown that “There is no evidence that the
character ‘fertility’ of eggs (measured by per cent of eggs
infertile) is in any degree or manner inherited.”’ Very much
more serious from the standpoint of progeny is the frequent
occurrence of “dead in the shell,” by which is meant that
while the egg is fertile it fails to hatch. Pearl and Surface?
found that “The character hatching quality of eggs (measured
by the per cent of fertile eggs hatched) is definitely inherited
in the female line and probably also in the male line.”

' Maine Bulletin No. 168. ’ Ibid

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 141

Selection for this point depends upon trap-nesting. The
time involved in visiting the nests several times a day and
recording the number of the hen laying each individual egg
is out of proportion to the price received for the products
and would fail to find a place in most schemes of manage-
ment of the general farm. For improvement in this quality,
great as is its importance, the ordinary producer must depend
upon the breeder, seeking it through the medium of improved
breeding males.

Constitutional Vigor and Hatching Power.— Williams!
found that in choosing four Black Langshan hens for their
strong vitality, and comparing them with four others of
the same breed that were lacking in vitality, 62.95 per
cent of all eggs laid by the vigorous birds that were
incubated hatched. On the other hand, only 29.27 per
cent of the eggs incubated from those laid by the hens that
were noticeably weak hatched.

In tests involving over three thousand eggs from White
Leghorns and over one thousand from Barred Plymouth
Rocks, Rice and Rogers? found that the average fertility
of the eggs from flocks selected for their good vitality was
7.5 per cent greater and the actual hatching power was 7.6
per cent greater than in the case of eggs from flocks of birds
that at some time had exhibited signs of weakness.

Heavy Production and Hatching Power.—The question of
whether high fecundity tends to lessen hatching power,
is one upon which opinion varies and upon which there
is comparatively little evidence. ogers* reports on work
with eighty-two hens in which all the eggs incubated during
the second season were used. He found that taking the
two years’ production as a basis of comparison the hatching
power was higher with average producers than with those
individuals whose production was exceptionally high or
exceptionally low.

The hen that lays large numbers of eggs appears to slight
them somewhat from the physiologic stand-point. Beyond

1 Bachelor’s Thesis, Oklahoma Agricultural College, 1913.
2 Cornell Bulletin No. 318.
3 Cornell Countryman, vol. ix, No. 3.

142 POULTRY PRODUCTION

a certain limit, increased egg production is obtained only at
the expense of hatching power.

On the other hand, with the hen that produces an unusually
small number of eggs, lack of vitality is likely to be the limit-
ing factor which affects the hatching power as well as the
production.

Bearing on this same point, Pearl and Surface! reached
the conclusion that “there is a distinct correlation between
winter (November to March) egg production and the per-
centage of fertile eggs hatched during the subsequent breed-
ing season. This correlation is of such sort as to indicate
that in general the higher the winter egg production of a
particular bird the lower will the percentage of that bird’s
fertile eggs hatched probably be, and vice versa.”

Rate of Production and Hatching Power.—There seems
also to be a relation between the rate of egg production
during the incubating season and hatching power. As
shown by Table XVI, hens laying 11 eggs or less during the
same period that other hens were laying 19 or more, were
credited with a 17.3 per cent greater hatch, considering
all eggs that were set.

TaBLe XVI.?

Eggs laid during period Per cent
of accumulating Number Eggs Per cent chicks to
for incubation. of hens. incubated. fertile. eggs set.

11 or less 14 117 99.2 73.5
12 or 15 22 313 95.4 61.7
16 or 18 25 421 94.8 60.3
19 or more 21 424 90.1 55.8

Summary . 82 1,275 93.8 61.2

High Egg Production.— High egg production, the supreme
object of productive breeding for which vigor and hatching
power are the foundation, is the point of selection which is
the least understood. Egg production is an exceedingly
complex character, easily affected by such environmental
conditions as the date of hatching, feeding, housing, hygiene,

' Maine Bulletin No. 168.
2 Rogers, Cornell Countryman, vol. ix, No. 3.

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 143

the weather, fright and many others. The complexity of the
character itself has been clearly set forth by Goodale! who has
shown that egg production depends upon several more or less
independent internal factors. In order to arrive at definite
conclusions concerning the inheritance of egg production,
each of these factors must be investigated separately. The
factors pointed out are, date of laying of first egg, age at lay-
ing of first egg, earliness of maturity, rythm and rate of
production, broodiness, molt and the persistance of produc-
tion in the fall.

Goodale? shows that for Rhode Island Reds the date of the
laying of the first egg, aside from the date of hatching, depends
upon the rate of growth and the earliness of sexual maturity.
On the average, pullets that lay at six or seven months of age,
lay more eggs than those which begin laying at eight or nine
months or older.

Bearing on this same point, Rice? offers the records of 169
Single Comb White Leghorn hens, as shown in Table XXVI
which indicate very marked correlation between early laying
and high production. The four hens which began to lay at an
age between one hundred and fifty-one and one hundred and
eighty days gave the largest average first year production
of any of the other groups and also gave the highest average
total production for a period of three years. The groups that
began to lay at ages between one hundred and eighty-one and
two hundred and and ten days and between two hundred and
eleven and two hundred and forty days gave the second and
third largest average production respectively, for the first
year and for the three year period.

Goodale4 and others have shown that some pullets lay
nearly continuousy for long periods of time while others
which lay relatively rapidly lay in cycles with periods of
rest in between. He has also shown that broodiness tends
to reduce production very materially. The appearance of
a molt usually accompanies a break in production, while

1 American Naturalist, vol. lii, Nos. 614-618. 2 Loe. cit.
3 Cornell Countryman, vol. xii, No. 7. 4 Op. cit.

144 POULTRY PRODUCTION

those individuals which molt late in the fall also lay late and
usually lay more eggs during the year than the early molters.
It is of course the female which combines the most of the
favorable factors mentioned above which makes the greatest
layer, other things being equal.

In spite of the great complexity of the problem, as the result
of studies involving thirteen generations and several thousand
individuals of the Barred Plymouth Rock breed, Pearl! was
able to reach rather definite conclusions concerning the
result of selecting for egg production.

Fia. 70

madliye

Showing the difference in barring of Plymouth Rocks that are full brother
and sister. (Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station.)

He proved first of all that high egg production is just as
much a heritable character as the type of the comb or the
color of the feathers. His results were of such a nature
however, that he was forced to conclude that in the Barred
Plymouth Rock breed a pullet can inherit the powers of high
production from her sire only, a type of inheritance referred
to as sex-linked.

The most familiar example of this type of inheritance in
poultry and one which may aid in understanding the way in

1 Maine Bulletin, No. 205.

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 145

which the inheritance of fecundity is limited, is found in the
color of the Barred Plymouth Rock. It is a matter of com-
mon observation that the Plymouth Rock males are always of
a lighter shade than the females. This comes about through
the fact that the females inherit the light bars from their
sires only and never from their dams, whereas the males
always inherit light barring from both sire and dam, thereby
receiving a double dose of the light barring.

The reason for this appears to lie in the fact that hens
produce two kinds of eggs, one of which when fertilized,
always produces males, while the other produces females.
The male produces only one kind of sperm so far as sex is
concerned, and these all carry the factor for barring. The
female-producing eggs never carry the barring factor, while
the male-producing eggs always do. The only result possible
is that the male inherits light barring from both his sire
and dam, while the female inherits it only from her sire.

A suminary of Pearl’s conclusions! are as follows:

1. “The record of fecundity of a hen taken by and of
itself alone gives no definite reliable indication from which
the probable egg production of her daughters may be pre-
dicted. Furthermore, mass selection on the basis of fecundity
records of females alone, even though long continued and
stringent in character, failed completely to produce any
steady change in type in the direction of selection.

2. “High fecundity may be inherited by daughters from
their sire independent of the dam. This is proved by the
numerous cases . . . Where the same proportion of
daughters of high fecundity are produced by the same sire,
whether he is mated with dams of low? or high fecundity.

3. “High fecundity is not inherited by daughters from their
dam. This is proved by a number of distinct and independent
lines of evidence, of which the most important are (a) con-

! Maine Bulletin No. 205.

2“‘Low fecundity’’ as used by Dr. Pearl refers to a winter production of
below 30 eggs. This term has been widely misunderstood by practical
poultrymen. It represents the result of the presenve of the Zi factor and
might possibly have been better described as ‘‘ mediocre fecundity,” allowing
“low fecundity"’ to describe, as it seems to have done in the popular mind,
the really poor layer that gives no winter production at all.

146 POULTRY PRODUCTION

tinued selection of highly fecund dams does not alter in any
way the mean egg production of the daughters; (b) the pro-
portion of highly feeund daughters is ‘the same whether
the dam is of ce or low fecundity, provided both are mated
to the same male; (c) the daughters of a highly fecund dam
may show either high fecundity or low fecundity, depending
upon their sire; (d) the proportion of daughters of low fecun-
dity is the same whether the dam is of low or high fecundity,
provided both are mated to the same male.”’

Goodale,! who worked with Rhode Island Reds, secured
results which do not appear to agree with Pearl's, in that
he found quite a marked correlation between the production
of pullets and the production of their dams. The daughters
of high producing hens were, on the average, better producers
than the daughters of low producing hens mated to the
same male. It may be that egg production, or certain factors
which affect egg production markedly, are inherited dif-
ferently in the Rhode Island Red breed than in the Barred
Plymouth Rock.

From the standpoint of the practical producer, it might
prove fortunate if the transmission of high productive
powers were confined to the male. Selection for high produc-
tion, further than is made possible through culling, is out of
the reach of the mass of producers because it involves pedigree
breeding, which, as pointed out elsewhere, is not practicable
on the general farm. ‘The purchase of cockerels from high
producing families, however, is practicable. Whatever the
exact mode of transmission of high production may finally
prove to be, it may be introduced into a flock of poor layers
through the use of males from high laying families of the
Barred Plymouth Rock and Single ( ‘omb White Leghorn
breeds, as shown by L ippincott.’ :

As shown by Goodale? it is not possible on the basis of
present pce to devise a set of detailed instructions
that could be followed by a poultryman of ordinary intelli-
gence which would enable him to proceed step by step in the

1 Jour. Am. Assn. Inst. and Invest. in Poul. Husb., vol. v, No. 10.
2 Kansas Bulletin No, 228. 3Loc. cit.

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 147

development of a race of high producers with the same cer-
tainty that a set of instructions could be devised for com-
paratively simple characters as comb type, feather color,
silky plumage, ete. It is possible, however, through the
culling out of the poorer producers in the flock so that
only the thrifty, better laying hens are saved, and the mating
with them of pedigreed cockerels with at least four generations
of high producing female ancestors on both the sires and dams
sides back of them, to improve a flock of poor producers or
to maintain a flock of good producers. Sight should never
be lost of the fact that the male is at least half of any breeding
flock so far as the offspring is concerned, and there is evidence
that he is more than half with regard to high egg production
in at least some of the breeds.

Average Production. — Taking their data from 150 commercial
flocks which included about 120,000 head, mostly Leghorns,
about a third of which were hens and two thirds pullets,
App, Waller and Lewis! found that the average annual
production per bird was 110 eggs. This represents approxi-
mately a 30 per cent production for the year distributed by
months as shown in Table XVII. This in all probability
exceeds the average production of general farm flocks by at
least three dozen eggs.

TaBLe XVII THE AverRaAGE Per CENT OF PERFECT PRODUCTION SHOWN

Durine THE DirrerENT Montus or THE YeAR BY ONE HUNDRED AND

Firty CommerciaL Frocks In New Jersey. (Data or App, WALLER

AND Lewis.)
Average number of eggs per

Production, bird calculated from App,

Month per cent Waller and Lewis’ data.
November . 11.8 3.54
December. 15.4 4.77
January ; 230 Y Gre ar
February , 34.0 9.52
March 45.0 13.95
April 52.0 15. 60
May 50.0 15.50
June 1.8 12.54
July . 34.7 10.75
August 24.1 Chee A
September 19.1 573
October 11.1 3.44

1 New Jersey Bulletin, No. 329.

148 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Lewis' has also calculated the average per cent egg produc-
tion for each month from the records of all the laying contests
in American during the years 1912 to 1919, inclusive. The
result of his calculation is shown in Table XVIII.

Tanpe XVIU.—Tnue Averace Per Centor Perrect Propuction Durina

THE DirrerENT MontTHs OF THE YEARS 1912 To 1918 INCLUSIVE FOR
ALLOF THE LayInG Contests IN AMERICA. (Iirst LAyING YEAR ONLY.)

Production Production

of American Calculated of the Leg- Calculated

Breeds, number of horns, number of

Month per cent eggs, per bird. per cent eggs, per bird
November 19.1 Oma 24.8 7.44
December 27 8.58 24.2 7 50
January 10.69 Bed 7.78
Pebruary 13.44 41.0 11.48
March 1:9..15 61 7 19.12
April 18.93 68.7 20 61
May 59.3 18 38 69.3 21.48
June 55.0 15.90 67.4 20.22
July 46.9 14.55 60.6 18.78
August 44.1 13:67 54.2 16.80
September 38.9 11.67 35 1 9.93
October 28n7 8.89 12.8 3.96

Indications of Laying.2—In order to lay well a hen must first

of all be sound and vigorous. The characteristics of a
‘ : : An

vigorous fowl have already been described. There are,

however, further indications of laying not necessarily associ-

ated with vigor. These are pigmentation, body changes,

molting and temperament.

Pigmentation.—In those varieties showing yellow pigment
in the subcutaneous fat, shanks, and earlobes (in. those
varieties having the so-called white earlobe), the pigment
tends to disappear as laying progresses. Palmer? has shown
that the presence or absence of this pigment in the fow] or its
eges is directly correlated with the presence or absence in the
feed of a carotinoid pigment called xanthophyll. For this
reason a hen fed on a ration devoid of feeds which earry it in

1 Jour. Am. Assn. Inst. and Invest. in Poul. Husb., vol. v, No. 5.

2 This account 1s adapted and slightly amplifed from the one adopted
at the judging school held at Cornell University July, 1918, and approved
by the American Association of Instructors and Investigators in Poultry

Husbandry and published in its journal, vol. v, No. 1.
%’ Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. xxiii, No. 1.

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 149

considerable amounts, such as yellow corn and ereen feed,
might have the appearance of laying so far as pigment is
concerned though she had never produced an egg. The
character of the feed the hen has been receiving should
therefore always be considered in relation to her condition
with reference to pigment.

When hens have feeds carrying an abundance of pigment,
and the skin, shanks and beak are not normally pale as in the
English breeds, Palmer and Kempster! have shown that the
beginning of laying diverts all the pigment received im the
feed from other parts of the body to the ovary where it finds
its way into the developing yolks. The pigment of the
external parts gradually disappears as a result of the natural
physiological change in the structure of the skin. It is not
replaced according to these investigators, as long as the
individual continues to lay.

The vent loses its pigment very quickly so that a white or
pink vent in a yellow skinned variety usually indicates that
the bird is laying, while a yellow vent indicates that she is
not laying.

The eye-ring formed by the inner edges of the eye-lids
loses its pigment a trifle slower than the vent. The earlobes
of the Mediterranean breeds bleach out somewhat more
slowly than the eye-ring so that in these breeds a white ear-
lobe on a vigorous bird usually means that laying has been in
progress longer than does a bleached vent or eyelid.

The color disappears from the beak beginning at the base
and remaining longest at the tip. The lower beak bleaches
more rapidly than the upper one. With the average yellow
skinned bird a bleached beak means that laying has been
in progress for from four to six weeks.

The shanks are the last to lose their color. Bleached
shanks therefore indicate a much longer period of production
than does the bleaching of the other parts. The pigment
disappears from the front of the shank first and finally from
the back. A bleached shank usually indicates a continued
egg production for at least fifteen to twenty weeks.

1 Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. xxxix, No. 2

150 POULTRY PRODUCTION

When laying stops, the pigment reappears in the several
regions in the same order in which it disappeared. The
relative rapidity of loss and regain in the various parts 1s
probably correlated with the thickness of the skin, the pig-
ment change being slowest where the epidermal covering
is thickest. The fact that a given hen stopped laying two to
three weeks back may sometimes be determined by the fact
that the tip of the beak is colorless while the base is yellow.
Taste XIX.—Suowine tue Mean ANNUAL PRropuctTion OF GROUPS OF

Waite Lecuorn Hens Sevectep oN THE Basis OF VENT, BEAK AND
SHANK CobLor. (Data orf Carp.)

| Number of Birds and Mean Annual Production.

Color

Entire flock 375 154.5 O75 154.5 | 375 154.5

Body Changes.—When laying, a hen has a large, moist vent,
showing a dilated pliable condition as compared to the
puckered hardness of the vent of the non-laying hen. The
abdominal region is enlarged in the layer, as compared with
the non-layer. The pelvic hones move apart and become
comparatively elastic and pliable. In an individual that is
not laying, these bones almost come together just below the
vent. The same individual when in full laying may show a
distance of three or even four finger widths between them.
The distance from the pelvic bones to the point of the keel
(breast bone) is increased at the same time. These changes
provide room for the passage of the egg, the enormous increase
in the size of the ovary with its several rapidly growing ova
and for the distention of the alimentary tract to accommodate
large amounts of feed.

The heaviness of production is indicated in a measure by
the relative softness and pliability of the skin and the thinness

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 151

and elasticity of the pelvic bones. The subcutaneous fat of
the abdomen is used up by laying, so that the abdominal skin
of the heavy producer becomes velvety and the whole abdo-
men soft and flexible. The pelvic bones are also thin, tapering
and elastic. In the non-layer they are likely to be thick,
blunt and stiff, while the whole abdomen is surrounded under
the skin with a layer of hard fat if the bird is on full feed.
The great*layer is slab-sided and deep, rather than round.

Fie. 71

Proper way to hold a hen for finding the distance between the pelvic bones.
(Courtesy of T. 8. Townsley, University of Missouri.)

Among the most valuable indications of the heavy layer are
the refinement of the head and the closeness and dryness of
feathering. The wattles and earlobes fit close to the beak
and are not loose and flabby. The face is clean cut and rather
thin Puffiness in the face indicates meat rather than eggs.
The eye is full, round and prominent as viewed across the
tip of the beak. The high layer is trimmer in feathering than
the poor layer, but after prolonged heavy production the oil

152 POULTRY PRODUCTION

does not keep the plumage so sleek and glossy. It becomes
worn and frayed.

There is a close correlation between the relative size of the
comb and wattles and ovarian activity. If they are com-
paratively large, full, smooth, hard and waxy, the hen is
probably laying heavily; if the comb is limp but warm, the
birds may be laying slowly; but if it is dried, shrunken and
cold, she is not laying at all. When the comb warms up it
is an indication that the bird is coming back into production.

ia. 72

Showing the way to find the distance from the pelvic bones to the keel
Courtesy of T. 8. Townsley, University of Missoun.)

Molting.—When a hen molts in the summer she almost
always stops laying. The great producer is usually a late
molter. The length of time a hen has been molting and
hence not laying is indicated by the progress of the molt.
It takes about six weeks to completely renew the primaries
next to the axial feathers and an additional two weeks to
renew each of the remaining primaries.

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154 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Temperament—A good layer is more active, nervous and
alert, yet at the same time more easily handled than the poor
laver. She is among the first off the perch in the morning
and among the last on it at night. When not on the nest she
is busy and business-like, scratching or ranging in an eager
search for feed. The great layer is a bird of a never satisfied
appetite.

Change in Weight of Eggs.—Hadley' has found that the
innate producing ability of a hen is also shown by the degree
of increase or decrease in the mean weight of her eggs, when
this increase or decrease, calculated as per cent mcrease or
decrease in those periods of laying characterized by the
markedly increased production of the flock (particularly the
spring). On this basis, groups of hens characterized by higher
production may be differentiated as accurately as by any
other means. The impulse to lay is manifested not only by
numbers of eggs but by an increase in their weight.

Culling.—There is but one accurate means of determining
the egg production of an individual hen or pullet, the trap-
nest. As has been pointed out in other connections, the
practice of trap-nesting is not practicable on most general
farms. Fortunately, however, through the observation of the
presence or absence of the indications of egg producing ability
in individual hens, the better and poorer layers in a given
flock may be separated with a fair degree of accuracy. The
practice of making this separation and discarding the poor
producers is referred to as culling.

In practising culling it is much easier to judge a hen’s
past performance than to predict her future production.
Because it has proved most satisfactory, the usual season for
culling is the late summer and early fall. During the summer
the hens that go into a molt and display pigmented shanks may
be sent to market without reducing the flock production.
Such a practice does reduce the feed bill. During the fall
the culling should be more cautious but should be continued
until the flock of hens is reduced to the size desired tor carry-
ing over winter for laying in addition to the pullets, and for

1 American Naturalist, vol. lili, No. 628.

Portable wing and coop for catching chickens. A great convenicnce at
culling time. (Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station.)

Fic. 74
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POULTRY PRODUCTION

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THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS T57,

breeding the followingspring. The late molting, pale shanked
slab-sided hens of capacity and refinement are those which
should be the mothers of the next year’s pullets.

Pia. 76

A common dip net is very convenient for catching single birds. (Courtesy
of Kansas Agricultural !xperiment Station.)

Comfort and Egg Production.—There is a very direct
connection between the functioning of the reproductive
apparatus and the comfort of the hen. This is to be expected,
for it is the law of the field and of the breeding pen that
organisms reproduce themselves most often when the con-
ditions are most favorable for the race. Egg production is
reproduction. The happy hen is the laying hen. Fright;
unproper food; damp, cold, or excessively hot weather;
the irritation of vermin; too close confinement; or any other

158 POULTRY PRODUCTION

discomfort will radically affect the reproductive organs,
with the very practical result of quickly cutting down egg
production. These conditions also tend to lower vitality
in both parent and offspring.

Productive Type.—It is impossible, in our present state
of knowledge concerning the correlation between form and
function, to formulate a definite and detailed description of
the productive type, at all comparable with that of the dairy
type in cattle, beyond that suggested by the indications of
vigor and egg production, in connection with the breed
types as given in The Standard. The present search for a
fowl that will produce white eggs of good size in large num-
bers, carry a light pin-feather, and be as easily restrained and
controlled as the present American breeds, gives a concrete
example of what some of the very practical, though perhaps
fundamentally superficial, items that make up the productive
type will be. The dark pin-feather is coming into disfavor
from a market stand-point because of its unattractive appear-
ance upon the dressed carcass. Some packers make a differ-
ence of two cents a pound in the price paid for poultry of
the same quality with the exception of the color of the pin-
feathers. This puts a handicap upon the dark-feathered
breeds, which will be much more apparent in the next few
years than it is now. The demand for a white egg for table
purposes is somewhat less insistent, and is slowly gaining
in some sections while losing in others.

Longevity.—The desirability of longevity as a point of
selection has not received the emphasis it should. Its lack
is one of the fundamental weaknesses of the business of
poultry breeding. It is one of the causes at the bottom of
the generally recognized instability of poultry production as
a separate and specialized industry.

In common with other live stock, there are three tests by
which a breeding bird may be judged. These are, in the
order of their efficiency, (1) the character of its progeny,
(2) its own individuality, and (3) its ancestry.

The actual breeding test as shown by the character of
the progeny is worth far more than both the other tests
combined. ‘This is increasingly true in the light of the recent

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 159

revelations concerning the inheritance of fecundity. As
a stallion bred in a speed-producing line, but not himself a
great performer, can only be discovered to be a sire of great
speed by the performance of his get, so the actual breed-
ing ability of a male bird, with reference to fecundity, can
be discovered only through the performance of his daughters
at the nest. Under present practice, it is probably safe to
assert that in nine cases out of ten, by the time the records

Fia. 77

S. C. W. Leghorn, Oregona, with a five-year record of 987 eggs. She
rounded out her 1000 eggs early in her sixth year. (Courtesy of Oregon
Agricultural Experiment Station.)

of the daughters of an unusual breeder are available and it
is discovered that he has a whole bevy of high-producing
daughters, he is discarded and lost track of, if not actually
destroyed. As long as the sire of prepotent sons and high-
producing daughters can beget a few dozen chicks a year,
he is a profitable investment to any breeder and of great
value to his breed. To hope for stability in breeding for
production there must be time to judge a male’s breeding
powers by the performance of his offspring, so that he may

160 POULTRY PRODUCTION

be used to his limit after his real value is discovered. The
practice should be to use both males and females for breeding
purposes so long as they will produce a reasonable number
of vigorous chicks. There appears to be no good reason
why the average breeding life of both males and females
should not be at least five years.

Longevity is of as great importance to the producer as
to the breeder. The profitable productive life of a hen is
generally considered to be limited to two years. This neces-

Fia. 78

S.C. W. Leghorn, Kansas AS, with a fourth-year laying record of 226 eggs
Note button leg band whose number can he seen for some distance
(Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station.)

sitates the renewal of at least one-half the producing flock
each year, an item of uncertainty with present methods and
one of great expense.

As one step in developing a long-lived race of persistent
producers, no breeding females should be used which have
not lived at least two years and maintained the best of health.
This engages the aid of the great law of “the survival of
the fittest’? in the selection of the breeders. The producer
is then sure that his breeders at least have vitality enough

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 161

to live and lay through the second summer. And those that
stand this test and give strong indications of good production
should be kept in service so long as they enjoy good health
and remain active.

Pullets and Cockerels as Breeders.—The foregoing raises
the question of the desirability of pullets and cockerels as
breeders. Regarding the pullets the evidence is somewhat
contradictory. In making a study of the comparative
efficiency of pullets and hens as breeders, Stewart and Atwood!
made eight separate tests of Single Comb White Leghorn
hens and pullets which are summarized in Table XXI. The
hens were two and three years old.

Fia. 79
RIGHT LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT LEFT

FATT E

2a aps rps aps : ci aps
vale ap ops aps nap Ags
we defo ana

sp as 10 ap ap 15 aps Ap
re

16 fas as ele

Showing sixteen ways of toe-marking chicks.

From Table XXI it will be readily seen that “the eggs
from the pullets were smaller than the eggs from hens, and

’ West Virginia Bulletin No. 124.
11

162 POULTRY PRODUCTION

the chicks were smaller when they were hatched, grew more
slowly, and more of them died from chick diseases than was
the case with chicks hatched from eggs laid by the mature
fowls.”

TaBLe XXI.!

Hens. Pullets.

Total number of eggs incubated

less those cracked in turning 1094.00 871.00
Average weight of eggs perhundred 12.96 pounds 11.19 pounds
Total number of chicks 840.00 591.00
Per cent hatched of eggsincubated 76.7 67.8
Average weight of chicks per

hnudred when removed from

incubator cag es 8.28 pounds 7.12 pounds
Average weight of chicks at second

weighing, per hundred 29.56 pounds 23.07 pounds
Total number of recorded deaths 42.00 85.00
Per cent. of chicks which died 5.00 14.5

Fra. 80

1
|_|:
|

zZ
ie)
FF
Oo
=)
a
oO 40}—— | u|
cc
ao | |
kK 50;-— | b -
Zz | Ts
Ww A \
) | | | “N

10\=— =< t— laws semi ara —al| =|

MONTH

Comparison of pullet and yearling production of American breeds at the
Vineland International Egglaying and Breeding Contest during the years
1616-1918.

Pearl? on the other hand, working with Barred Plymouth
Rocks, found that the first breeding year was the best for
both males and females. In his very careful study he made

1 West Virginia Bulletin, No. 124,

2 Geneties, vol. ii, No. 5.

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 163

use of what he termed the Reproductive Index, which he
proposed as a measure of the net reproductive ability of

Iie. 81

an
J

to
=

PER CENT PRODUCTION

~y A - PULLET PRODUCTION
B- YEARLING PRODUCTION

10 Foes, tan ar [lem | eee meee ave a

|
NOV. DEC. JAN. FEB. MAR, APR. MAY JUNE JULY AUG. SEPT. OCT.
MONTH

Comparison of pullet and yearling production of Leghorns at the Vine-
land International Egglaying and Breeding Contest during the years 1916-
1918.

various matings. This Reproductive Index (RI) is as
follows:

Number of chicks alive at end of the third week after hatching < 100

RI =
Total number of days from the day when this mating began to the
day when the last egg from this mating began its incubation.

It is not altogether clear just what is meant by “the day
when this mating began.” Obviously the mating must have
been made some days before the first eggs were saved in order
that fertility might be established. “The day the first egg
saved was laid” would possibly be a clearer statement.

The results of his studies based on the records of 1114
matings, shown in Tables XXII and XNIII, clearly indicate
that for the stock he was breeding, the first was the best
breeding year for both cockerels and pullets. It indicates
further that the decline in reproductive ability with advanc-
ing age was more rapid for males than for females.

Pearl specifically states that only well-matured young

164 POULTRY PRODUCTION

birds were used, never less than ten months of age and from
that up to fourteen months. Stewart and Atwood, on the
other hand, refer to their pullets as early hatched. The
three-year-old hens, they state, were selected on the basis of
vigor. It is quite evident that there is need for more exten-
sive records from all the breeds than is now available.

Taste XXIT.—Wercutrep Mean Repropuctive INpices ror MALES OF
Sreciriep Acrs Maren with Femaies or ALL Aces. (Pparn’s Dara.)

Ages. Weighted mean RI.
Male = 1 mated with * ® of all ages 12.868
Male = 2 mated with ?¥ of all ages 10. 214
Male = 3 mated with ¥ °@ of all ages : 9.625

TasLe XXIII.—Wercutep Mran Repropuctive INDICES FOR FEMALES OF
Specirigp Acres Marep wirH Matrs or aLL AGms. (PrARL’s Dara.)

Ages. Weighted mean RI.
Female = 1 mated with 7% of all ages 12.765
Female = 2 mared with 7° of all ages 11.660
Female = 3 mated with 7¢ of all ages 11.455

Tarte XXIV.—Weicureo Mean Repropuctive INpices ror MaAtINGs oF
INDIVIDUALS OF THE SPECIFIED COMBINED AGEs. (PEARL'S Data.)

Combined ages of mated Number Weighted mean
individuals when mated. of cases. tT.
Two years 796 13.083
Three years 190 1A 20
Four years 1138 LL: 9)
Five years ; 131 7.458
Six years 3 15.667

A record of the age of a fowl may easily be indicated by
toe-marking each generation as it comes along in cases where
pedigree records are not kept. By punching a different
combination of holes in the webs of the feet each year a
convenient and permanent means of establishing the age of
any individual in the flock is furnished.

Individual Variation in Annual Production. Opperman
reports the individual yearly records of production given in

1 The cases are too few to give reliable results after a combined age of four

years.

2 Maryland Bulletin No, 157.

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 165

Table XXV. The birds were March and April hatched

Single Comb White Leghorns.

TABLE XXV.
Hen |

Hen First Second Third Hen | First Second Third
No. year. year. year. No. year. year. year.
51 «169 162 | 144 | 78 186 126 115
54 168 | 192 146 | 86 | 207 172 174
60 | 164 178 | 158 || 172 166 157 86
62 162 120 102 178 156 144 | 122
73 190 142 | 81 189 196 112 97
76 152 119 136 190 185 186 171
78 158 93 92 191 | 188 146 100
82 | 165 140 ~—-:108 195 | 217 161 | 132
83 149 «-124—s«d102 | 199 161 59 | = 25
84 | 146 ~—«:104 107 208 156 140 | 102
95 180 126 102 211 239 183 148
97 | 173 151 156 215 144 110 111
98 189 187 10 217 158 163 154
110 | 191 142 111 218 | 169 210 159
118 is1| 135 | 80 | 22:1 | 205 170 | 171
121 164 | 96 102) 223 | 158 113 82
124 187 147 83 | 224 165 133 108
125 | 164 212 163 23 182 107 82
126 176 135 131 238 142 178 | 101
127 216 199 167 | 239 143 221 111
131 155 165 123 | 253 169 = 202 101
132 166 ~—s-:147 180 =. 256 178 152 91
139 175 165 128 257 179 159 113
147 179 142 111 260 | 147 114 90
149 187 161 121 264 188 115 113
156 179 175 134 | 265 162 153 131
159 ~=—s«:166 145 99 270 a 122
165 157 | 152 25 272 11] 155 101
166 169 177 148 | = 276 145 140 117
170 153 112 97 290 | 147 140 | 13
=s at

Total 5,130 4,445 3,447 Total 5,150 4,498 3,460
5,130 4,445 3,447

Grand total 10,280 8,943 6,907
Average production per hen LZLe3 149.05 115.1

It will be noticed that while the first year’s production
is usually the best, there are numerous cases in which the

166 POULTRY PRODUCTION

second year gives the greater production, as with hens Nos.
54, 125, 239, and 253. ‘

In the grand totals, however, the second year’s production
shows a decrease as compared with that of the first year
of 13 per cent. And the third year shows a shrinkage of
32.2 per cent. as compared with the production of the first
year, or a decrease of 56.2 eggs per hen.

Card! found in a study of 106 White Leghorns at the Storrs
Station that the correlation between the first and second year
production was quite marked (.688+ .035). This probably
represents the average condition more nearly than the
results of Ball, Alder and Egbert? at the Utah Station which
lead them to make the statement that for the family of
birds with which they were working “individuals making
an exceedingly high record one year very rarely hold their
place the second or third year.”

Early Maturity —Quick growth means a less cost of pro-
duction of both meat and eggs. The cost per pound of the
slow-growing sorts is very much greater than with those
that mature early. Quickly made gains are usually eco-
nomical gains. With the rapid maturing bird, egg produc-
tion comes earlier and is likely to be more persistent. As
already stated in another connection, Rice’ found from a study
of the trap-nest egg records, covering several years’ work
at Cornell University, that it was the general rule that the
early layers were the heavy layers in point of annual pro-
duction. Evidence obtained at the Maine Station indicates
that in all probability a close correlation exists between the
rate of growth of a pullet during the first six weeks after
hatching and her subsequent performance as a layer.

At the same time the point may well be raised, whether
early maturity and longevity are not characters that are in
more or less mutual opposition. The completion of records
at the various experiment stations throwing light upon the
question whether the precocious bird, so far as maturity is
concerned, does not tend to be a short-lived bird will be

1 Jour. Am. Assn. Inst. and Invest. in Poul. Husb., No. 5, vol. iii,
2 Utah Bulletin, No. 148.
5 Cornell Countryman, March, 1913

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 167

awaited with interest. Pearl! remarks in discussing the
inheritance of fecundity in domestic fowl that “after two
years the fecundity of Plymouth Rocks, in all cases which
have been observed at the Maine Experiment Station,
becomes greatly reduced.”

TaBLp XXVI.—Rewation or Earnty Layine to Hian Propuction.
(Data or Rice.)

181- 210 71 42.01 199.77 157.01 133.63 116.41 407.05
211- 240 52 30.77 | 222.46 140.10 121.37 106.19 367.66

151- 240 127) 75.15 | 208.32 150.60 128.67 112.54 391.81

241- 270 22 13.02 255.50 108.10 121.05 108.50 337.65
271- 300 | 11 6.51 | 285 09 93.91) 93.56 84.27 271.74
301- 330 6 3.55 | 315.50 = 88.33 | 129.00 107.67 | 325.00
331- 360 1 -59 | 359.00 45.00) 75.00 69.00 |
476 1 .59 | 476.00 27.00 155.00 | 126.00 308.00
1110 1 -59 1110 00 0.00 0.00 | ‘

241-1110 | 42 24.85 299.88 | 95.55 111.81 99.00 306 36

Total 169 100.00 231.08 136.92 124.48 109.18 370.57

Breed and Varietal Characteristics—Breed and varietal
characteristics do a very real service in aiding in the selection
of breeders. As pointed out in another connection, strong
breed characteristics are generally considered to indicate
close and careful breeding and to be a mark of prepotency.
Other things being equal, the bird that shows most strongly
the breed type and color markings is the bird to choose.
Without them there could be no uniformity, which is so
vastly important from the standpoints of both feeding and
marketing.

Official Breeding Tests.——There is an urgent need of per-
manent breeding records of high-producing lines of stock

! Maine Bulletin No. 205.

168 POULTRY PRODUCTION

somewhat comparable to the records of the advanced registry
for dairy cattle. The enormous numbers involved, the com-
paratively small economic value of the individual fowl,
combined with the difficulty of accurately checking a system
of reports, seem to inhibit any comprehensive plan for secur-
ing official production records. It is not unreasonable to
hope, however, that a scheme for testing breeding males
by making an actual trial of their breeding powers under
certain specified conditions and later furnishing an official
record of the winter production of their daughters may be
worked out. Thus a March hatched male could be tested
the following March and the winter production of his
daughters known early in the following breeding season.

It would seem that at present the experiment stations of
the several states furnish the logical place for such tests
to be made.

MANAGEMENT OF BREEDERS.

The aim in the management of breeding stock is to secure
a maximum of thrifty chicks. It involves the feeding, housing,
incubating, and rearing of the stock intended for breeding
purposes as well as the questions of exercise, the number of
hens to be mated with one male, care of the breeding male,
and the forcing of breeding hens for egg production. The
more general questions of feeding, housing, incubating, and
brooding are applicable to laying stock as well, and are treated
in chapters bearing these headings respectively. These further
questions concerning breeders specifically are important and
should be given due consideration.

Exercise.—The relation between the activity of a bird and
his or her breeding power is very marked. This is witnessed
by the fact that in the breeds that are naturally very active,
more females may be mated with a single male with good
results than in the less active breeds. Those breeds that
are not naturally rustlers must be encouraged to exercise
freely. The free range offers the ideal opportunity, of which
vigorous birds of any but the heaviest and most phlegmatic
breeds will not be slow to take advantage. If free range
isnot available, the birds must be compelled to exercise

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 169

freely the year round by scratching for grain in a deep straw
litter. In extremely hot weather judgment must, of course,
be used, and the enforced activity confined to early morning
and the cool of the evening.

Number of Hens to be Mated with One Male.—Just what the
maximum number of hens is that is proper to mate with
any particular male is a matter of judgment which must be
left to the individual breeder. It depends upon the present
condition and previous treatment of the male himself and
of the hens to be mated with him, and upon the conditions
under which they are mated as well as upon breed and family
characteristics.

In a general way it may be said that in confinement the
number will run from 8 to 12 for the heavy breeds, from 10
to 15 for the breeds of medium weight, and 15 to 25 for the
light, nervous, active breeds, supposing all have good vitality.
Where the stock is ranging freely the numbers may be very
much larger. The author once had occasion to hatch several
hundred eges from a flock of 250 Single Comb White Leghorn
hens and four cockerels which were running on range, and
secured above 90 per cent fertility.

In practice it is always better to err on the side of having
too few hens than too many. The results will be very much
more satisfactory from every standpoint. App, Waller and
Lewis! found that on 150 commercial poultry farms in New
Jersey the proportion of males to females varied from one to
fifteen up to as high as one to twenty-five with one to eighteen
or twenty as the usual number. The stock on these farms
was 94.3 per cent Leghorns.

Care of the Breeding Male.——The male bird during the
breeding season should receive careful attention, as at this
time he is truly “half the flock.’’ Care should be taken that
he receives sufficient food, as many males are so attentive in
looking to the welfare of the hens that they will not eat
enough food to maintain themselves in a vigorous and pre-
potent condition. It is well to feed the male apart from the
hens. By a little care the male may be taught to jump up

1 New Jersey Bulletin, No. 329.

170 POULTRY PRODUCTION

on the dropping board, where he may be fed, or come and
eat from a dish held in the hand.

Attention should be paid to the claws and spurs, to see that
they are blunt on sides and points in order to avoid torn
backs in the hens. This is specially important in males of
the heavy breeds. The feet should be examined to see that
he is not suffering from bumble foot or any other trouble
that would prevent satisfactory service. Not infrequently
in loose feathered breeds it will be found necessary to clip the
feathers about the vent before satisfactory service can be
secured. This may apply to the females as well. The male
should be kept free from lice by frequent applications of a
good louse powder, as lice may be rapidly spread throughout
an entire flock by an infested male.

He should be watched to see that he renders service
completely and satisfactorily. He should be attentive but
not clumsy and rough. At the end of ten days after a male
has been placed with a flock which has not been running
with a male previously, and at the end of two weeks when
changing males, eggs should be incubated and tested for
fertility at the end of five days, in order to be sure that the
male is fertile.

Alternating Males.—T'wo practices resorted to for the pur-
pose of securing good fertility with as few males as possible
are the alternating of males and stud-breeding. With the
former, twice the number of hens that would ordinarily be
mated with one bird are confined in a single pen. With these
two males are used, but on alternate days. One is allowed
to run with the hens for twenty-four hours while the other
is confined to a coop. The following day an exchange is
made and the second male is given the freedom of the flock,
while the first one is confined.

The theory of this practice is based on the supposition of
favoritism on the part of males. It is generally believed
that there are certain hens in most breeding flocks that are
slighted by the male. By alternating males it is hoped that
if favoritism is shown it will not be to the same hens.

This question of favoritism on the part of males is one upon
which there is little definite information and upon which

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 171

further investigation is needed. Philips' has made a limited
number of observations upon the mating habits of Leghorns,
Plymouth Rocks, Rhode Island Reds and Langshans and
and finds that mating or failure to mate is a matter largely
controlled by the individual hen. The sex reaction appears
to be much more marked in some than in others. The
former respond to the advances of the male and the mating
act is accomplished. The latter fail to respond and no
mating takes place. Should these observations be further
substantiated it would appear that the alternating of males
is unnecessary. It is impracticable where pedigreeing is
practised because the paternal ancestry of the offspring Is
always in doubt.

Stud-breeding.—With the larger animals it is considered
necessary to limit the number of services of a sire very
strictly, for the purposeof conserving hisstrengthand potency.

Assuming that the same principle holds with fowls and
that the mating of a male with a female more than once
within a given period of time is a waste of his powers, certain
breeders have adopted the plan of controlling the number of
times a male and a given female mate. Such a practice has
been termed “stud-breeding.”’ It is accomplished by keep-
ing the males and hens in separate pens. The hens are one
by one dropped in with the male. As soon as mating occurs,
they are removed to their own pen.

Just what practical advantage there is in such a practice
has not been determined. It would seem to be worth while
only in case of extremely valuable birds.

Artificial Insemination. —It has been demonstrated at the
Oklahoma Station, by Payne? that hens may be successfully
inseminated by artificial means, and eggs fertilized and
hatched. It is possible that in the future such a practice
may be resorted to in an effort to conserve the power of an
exceptional male but at present no practical use is made of it.

Double Mating.—Double mating refers to the practice of
using separate groups of breeders to produce exhibition birds

1 Jour. Am. Assn. Inst. and Invest. in Poul. Husb., vol. v, No. 4.
2 Oklahoma Circular, No. 30.

172 POULTRY PRODUCTION

of the two sexes. It is resorted to by breeders for the purpose
of overcoming sex limitations in color.

The most familiar example of this practice is found among
the breeders of Barred Plymouth Rocks. As previously
explained, the males of this variety are always lighter in
shade than their sisters (see Figure 70, page 144). According
to the Barred Plymouth Rock “Standard,” both males and
females should be nearly the same shade for exhibition
purposes. In order to secure them so, it is necessary to mate
different groups of birds. A group dark enough to produce
cockerels of the proper shade is referred to as a cockerel
mating. The pullets from such a mating will generally
of necessity be discarded for show purposes because they are
too dark.

In the same way, a mating light enough in color to produce
pullets of the proper shade j is spoken of as a pullet mating.
The cockerels from such a mating will usually be unfit for
showing. A standard which requires double mating is an
artificial one, and, from the standpoint of production, a
ridiculous one. It results practically in breeding two sub-
varieties, from one of which exhibition males are selected,
while exhibition females are selected from the other.

Surplus Cockerels.—All the cockerels on the producer’s
farm are surplus cockerels. They are a necessary by-product
of pullet production, useless as breeders, unless the entire
flock is pure bred, and to be disposed of in the easiest and
most profitable way possible.

There are two alternatives open. One is to market them
as broilers or fryers before they develop sexually and begin
to tread the hens and worry the pullets. The price paid
for early broilers usually is high enough so that at the age
of a few weeks they bring in as much ‘as per bird as later
when they weigh several pounds, but are staggy.

The second alternative is to caponize them and feed them
out. In the sections where there is a ready market for
capons, this may be done more profitably and the birds
grown with the laying flock without inconvenience.

The Farm Breeding Flock.—The circumstances surrounding
the producer are usually such that his laying flock and his

THE BREEDING OF CHICKENS 173

breeding flock are the same. This necessitates the produc-
tion of fertile eggs by all the layers, using eggs for hatching
purposes from pullets as well as hens, and furnishing males
enough to mate with the entire flock. Altogether this is an
expensive proposition entailing loss in the market quality
of the eggs, lower hatching power and weaker chicks from
the eggs laid by pullets, and more males to feed.

Under general farm conditions, there is no reason why
any distinction between breeders and layers should be made
nine months in the year. All should have the free run of the
farm. During the breeding season, however, a group of
selected hens, should be confined in a chicken-tight, roomy
pasture, with the males selected for the season’s breeding.
Only males out of standard-bred high-laying dams should be
used as breeders. It must be clearly understood, however,
that only a portion of such males will transmit high produc-
tion to any large proportion of their daughters. This will
remain true until line breeding with reference to high pro-
duction has been carried on for a very much longer time than
it has at present.

If one is so located that there is no danger of males from
neighboring farms mixing with the breeding flock, a better
practice would be to confine the laying flock and let the
breeders range. At the end of the breeding season the males
should be confined or sold. They should not be allowed
to mingle further with the hens and pullets.

Community Breeding.— What is likely to be an increasingly
important phase of poultry improvement work is community
breeding. This refers to the uniting upon a single breed and

rariety of the majority of farmers in a given community, to

the exclusion of other breeds. The advantages of this from
the standpoints of feeding, marketing and general manage-
ment are numerous as will appear in later sections of this
book.

The Petaluma district of of California, the Little Compton
section of Rhode Island and the Vineland district of New
Jersey are famous the country over for particular breeds.

Effort directed toward bringing about similar conditions
in other parts of the country is rather recent. Ientucky

174 POULTRY PRODUCTION

is taking a leading place in work of this kind. In that state
twenty-four counties are endeavoring to breed Single Comb
Rhode Island Reds, eight counties have chosen the White
Wyandottes, twenty-seven counties are working toward
making the White Plymouth Rock the predominating breed,
and ten counties have chosen the Barred Plymouth Rock.

In Canada the province of Ontario is fast getting rid of
everything but Barred Plymouth Rocks, which are being bred
in a high state of excellence and breeding stock distributed
by the Ontario Agricultural College.

CHAPTER IV.
THE INCUBATION OF HENS’ EGGS.

The Egg and its Structure—The analogy between the egg
and the grains is in many ways closer than between the
egg and any animal product commonly found on farms.
Each represents an analogous stage in the reproductive
cycle. Each contains, besides the living part, which develops
into a new organism, enough food material to nourish that
organism until it can seek nourishment for itself. With such
grains as corn and wheat, where the food material is stored
in an endosperm which is merely connected with the embryo,
rather than in cotyledons which are a part of it, the analogy
may be pressed still closer, because the food material in the
egg is merely connected with the living part.

There are, however, certain interesting differences. The
food material stored in the grain consists of starch, oil, and
protein, while that of the eggs is fat and protein. The
grain does not contain enough moisture for development,
and must increase its moisture content about 200 per cent
before it can germinate. The egg contains sufficient moisture
for its own development, and though it is sometimes necessary
to retard the evaporation of egg moisture, the egg does not,
so far as is known, ever increase its moisture from outside
sources. Grains germinate over a range of temperature
running from nearly freezing, in the case of wheat, to about
103° F. While eggs will start to develop at a much lower
temperature than is popularly supposed (68° F.), the range
for eggs is not nearly so great as it is for seeds. The optimum
germinating temperature for most seeds is around 86° F.,
while the optimum incubating temperature is close to 103°
F., with an upward limit which Kellicott! states is 41° C.
(105.8° F.).

1 Chordate Development.

(175)

176 POULTRY PRODUCTION

The principal divisions of the egg, ae their weights in
per cent of the total weight of the eg mie . the yolk, 32.75
per cent; (2) the white, 57.01 per cent; the shell mem-
branes, 0.25 per cent, and (4) the shell, ee per cent.

The yolk and its “germ spot,” known as the blastoderm,
are inclosed in a delicate transparent membrane called the
vitelline membrane. This membrane is responsible for the
yolk maintaining a spherical shape. The material making
up the body of the yolk is a highly nutritious food which is
gradually digested and absorbed by the growing embryo.
It has a rather definite structure, being divided into yellow
and white yolk. As shown in Figure 82, the yellow yolk
makes up the bulk of yolk material. The most of the white
yolk is found in the flask-shaped mass situated at the center
of the yolk sphere, with the neck extending toward and flaring
out just beneath the blastoderm and entirely surrounding the
yolk just inside the vitelline membrane. There are said to be
several thin concentric layers of white yolk throughout the
yolk mass (Figure 82), but these are sometimes difficult of
demonstration.

In an egg that has not been moved for some time the yolk
will be found to be floating on the white near that portion
of the shell which is then uppermost and with the blastoderm
uppermost. If the egg is turned the yolk will gradually
return to the same relative position. This is caused by
the lower specific gravity of the yolk as compared with the
albumen, and of the hemisphere of the yolk supporting the
blastoderm as compared with the opposite one.

It has been suggested that nature’s purpose in this arrange-
ment is to bring the blastoderm as close to the source of heat
during natural “incubation as possible.

According to Lillie, “Both kinds of yolk are made up of
innumerable spheres, which are, however, quite different in

each. Those of the yellow yolk are on the whole larger
than those of the white yolk, with extremely fine granular
contents.”

Immediately surrounding the yolk and adhering closely

1 Development of the Chick.

THE INCUBATION OF HENS’ EGGS 177

to the vitelline membrane is a layer of very dense white
which is prolonged toward the large and the small ends of
the egg, respectively, in two whitish, convoluted strands
called chalazze (Figure 82). The two chalazze are twisted in
opposite directions. The line describing the long axis of
the egg will pass through the bases of the two chalazze and
be at right angles to the axis of the yolk passing through
the center of the blastoderm.

Surrounding and continuing this dense white is a spiral
layer of somewhat less dense white which is in turn

Tia. 82

EW SEN PEG A ate
blastoderm

oe LICE

; _ shelf

\__ outer shell membrane

alr cell

chalaza

inner shell membrane
Uf dense white

“ Niquid white

Z — ~ dark yolk
hight yolk
vitelline membrane

Parts of an egg.

surrounded by a thin, watery white. The difference between
the dense and thin white is easily noted when a new-laid
egg is broken into a saucer.'| The spiral formation of the
white may be noted by carefully dissecting a hard-boiled egg.
One of the functions of the white is to prevent micro-
organisms from reaching the germ spot. To this end it has
marked bactericidal properties. Once in the yolk, bacteria
are safe, for the yolk has no defensive properties. The shell
membrane consists of two layers, a thick outer layer next to
1 See Figure 236, page 499,
12

178 POULTRY PRODUCTION

the shell and a thinner one next the white. Both are com-
posed of matted organic fibers (more delicate in the inner than

Outer shell membrane (magnified). (Courtesy of Bureau of Chemistry.)

Inner shell membrane (magnified). (Courtesy of Bureau of Chemistry.)

in the outer layer), crossing one another in all directions. At
the blunt end of the egg the two layers are separated and
form an air chamber after the egg ts laid.

THE INCUBATION OF HENS’ EGGS 179

“The shell is composed of three layers: (1) the inner or
mamumillary layer, (2) the intermediate spongy layer, and
(3) the surface cuticle.

“The mammillary layer consists of minute calcareous
particles welded together, with conical faces impinging
on the shell membrane; the minute air spaces between the
conical inner ends of the mammille communicate with the
meshes of the spongy layer, which is several times as thick,
and which is bounded externally by the extremely delicate
shell cuticle, spoken of on commercial eggs as the “bloom.”
The spongy layer consists of matted calcareous strands.
The shell cuticle is porous, but apparently quite structureless
otherwise. The cuticular pores communicate with the
meshwork of the spongy layer; thus the entire shell is per-
meable to gases and permits embryonic respiration and
evaporation of water.””!

“Under normal conditions the shell is bacterium proof.
Moisture lessens its impervious character, however, and, when
combined with dirt or filth, makes it possible for micro-
organisms to enter and bring about decay.’

Size of Eggs.—The eggs of the different breeds of chickens
vary somewhat in size. The average hen’s egg is 2.27 inches
long and 1.72 inches in diameter, where the circumference
is greatest, and weighs about two ounces. This brings
the weight of eight eggs of good size to a pound and the
weight of a dozen eggs to a pound and a half. In some
of the eastern states, where egg production has become
a specialty, the average weight of hens’ eggs is somewhat
above two ounces. In most of the heavy-producing western
states the average is somewhat below two ounces. The
state of Iowa has a legal weight of one and a half pounds to
the dozen, but the law is not enforced as the law concerning
the moisture content of butter is enforced in many states.

Eggs laid by pullets are nearly always smaller than the
eggs laid by the same individuals a year later. It was found
by Atwood,’ at the West Virginia Experiment Station, that

1 Lillie’s ‘‘Development of the Chick.”
2 Rettger, Storrs’ Bulletin No. 75.
® West Virginia Bulletin No. 124.

180 POULTRY PRODUCTION

this difference for hens and pullets of the same strain and
under identical conditions was 1.77 pounds per hundred
eges.

Curtis! found that eggs increase in weight continuously
up to the end of the second laying season, but at a slower
and steadily decreasing rate.

Development of the Chick.—The growth of the chick in
the egg occupies the incubation period, which is analogous
to the gestation period in mammals. It begins with the
fertilization of the ovum and continues until hatching or
birth, unless checked by some unfavorable condition.

Fie. 85

Appearance of a chick embryo after twelve hours in an incubator.
(Courtesy of Iwansas Agricultural Experiment Station.)

Development begins by simple cell division in the living
portion of the egg, which is called the blastoderm, or, more
commonly, the germ spot. The first development is a clear
area called the area pellucida, and surrounded by a denser
ring of cells called the area opaca. The growth of the embryo
takes place in the area pellucida. In this area the so-called
primitive streak develops, which is the first sign of the chick’s
body. ‘This point in development is reached at about

1 Maine Bulletin No. 228.

THE INCUBATION OF HENS’ EGGS 181

sixteen hours after fertilization, which usually finds the egg
still within the body of the hen (Figure S86)

“The position of the main embryonic axis is fairly uniform,
though not completely fixed. It les approximately at right
angles to the long axis of the whole egg, the anterior end of
the embryo directed to the left when the sharp end of the egg
is held pointing away from the observer.”!

Fie. 86

Embryo chick, sixteen hours old. Magnified. (Courtesy of Iowa
Agricultural ixperiment Station.)

If, after laying, the temperature of a fertile egg is allowed
to fall below a temperature of 68° F., all growth ceases, and
the egg remains in a dormant condition until its temperature
is again raised to incubating temperatures. While develop-
ment takes place at all degrees of temperature between
68° F, and that which is sufficiently high to destroy the life

1 Kellicott, Chordate Development.

182 POULTRY PRODUCTION

of the egg, normal development only takes place at normal
temperatures. Pennington and Pierce! note that at 86° I’.
to 91° F. seven or eight days are required to equal three
days at the normal heat of incubation. The reverse, however,
is true also. If the temperature is somewhat above 103° F-.,
germination proceeds more rapidly For instance, twenty-
four hours at 104° F to 106° F. gives a chick which is equal
in development to one incubated for three days at 105° F.
In this connection the observations of Alsop on seventy-two-
hour embryos developed at high and low temperatures are
of great interest. (See page 208.)

Fic. 87

Appearance of a chick embryo after twenty-four hours in an incubator.
(Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural lWexperiment Station.)

As soon after laying as the egg is placed at a normal incu-
bating temperature, cell division proceeds rapidly, and the
cells form themselves into three layers which, from without
to within, are referred to as the ectoderm, mesoderm, and
endoderm. ‘These three layers are the beginnings of three
distinct divisions of the body.

Irom the ectoderm, the skin, feathers, beak, claws, ner-
vous system, lens, and retina of the eve and linings of the

1Year-book, United States Department of Agriculture, 1910.

THE INCUBATION OF IIENS’ EGGS 183

mouth and vent are formed. The bones, muscles, blood,
reproductive and excretory organs develop from the
mesoderm, while the endoderm produces the linings of
the digestive tract and the respiratory and_ secretory
organs.

Fria. 88

Two embryos (twins) developing on one yolk, thirty-two hours old.
Magnified. (Courtesy of Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station.)

At about the twenty-fourth hour of incubation a membrane
called the amnion develops and gradually surrounds the
growing embryo. ‘This amnion is filled with a colorless
fluid called the amniotic fluid, which serves as a protection
from shock and allows the embryo to move about freely.
The growth of the amnion constricts the connection of the
yolk with the embryo to a narrow stem called the yolk
stalk. This stalk corresponds to the umbilical cord in
mammals. At about the thirtieth hour the heart of the chick
has developed far enough to be observed to beat.

184 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Near the middle of the second day a blind sac begins to
push out from the posterior end of the alimentary tract,
which grows rapidly until it completely covers the embryo
at about the ninth day and has come in close contact with
the shell membrane. It is abundantly supplied with blood-
vessels and, although it is outside the body of the embryo,
serves as the organ of both respiration and excretion until
the chick commences to pip the shell and the lungs and
kidneys of the chick commence to function.

It is the veins of this allantois which are seen radiating
from the embryo at the first testing, about the seventh day

Fie. $9

Appearance of a chick embryo after thirty-six hours in an incubator.
(Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station.)

of incubation, and which may be noted plainly at the second
testing, about the fourteenth day. As soon as the chick
pips the shell, pulmonary circulation starts and the allantois
ceases to function, begins to degenerate, and is left behind
in the shell at hatching.

Up to the sixth or seventh day there is nothing about the
chick embryo that would help one to distinguish it from the
embryo of any other animal. At this time the legs and wings
begin to take a recognizable form. he body, which has
been very small in proportion to the head, begins to develop

THE INCUBATION OF HENS’ EGGS 185

more rapidly and to assume a more proportionate size. About
the tenth day the little sacs containing the feathers begin to
protrude, particularly along the back of the embryo. At
this time there is a chalky deposit about the mouth opening,
which is the beginning of the horny beak. Upon breaking an
egg, what appears to be voluntary movement may be noticed
as early as the sixth day.

Embryo chick, forty-eight hours old, with the heart located outside the
body. Magnified. (Courtesy of Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station.)

By the thirteenth day the feathers are distributed over the
body. Their color may be seen through the thin walls of the
sacs, Which inclose them until the nineteenth day. On the
thirteenth day the scales and nails appear, and by the
sixteenth day are found to be quite firm and horny, as is
also the beak. By the sixteenth day the white of the egg
has disappeared, and the embryo subsists thereafter wholly

186 POULTRY PRODUCTION

upon the yolk. On the nineteenth day what remains of
the yolk is drawn into the body cavity. ‘This appears to be
the most critical day of the incubation period, for as Payne?
has shown, 20 per cent of the mortality occurring during
the twenty-one days of the incubation period occur on the
nineteenth day, and 48 per cent of the total prehatching
mortality occur on the eighteenth, nineteenth, twentieth
and twenty-first days. The respiratory system changes
completely on the twentieth day. Until that time the allan-
tois functions as the chief respiratory organ, and, in fact,
as the excretory organ as well. With the pipping of the shell
pulmonary breathing begins.

Fie. 91

Appearance of a chick embryo after forty-eight hours in an incubator
(Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural Ioxperiment Station.)

When formed the chick is placed in the egg with its head
bent forward beneath the right wing and the legs brought up
toward the head. The end of the upper mandible of the beak
is equipped with a horny cap which bears a sharp point, and
by means of this, while slowly revolving in the shell, the chick
is able to press against the shell, chipping it in a cireular
path around the large end of the egg, at the same time

1 Jour. Am. Assn. Inst. and Invest. in Poul. Husb., vol. vi, No. 2

THE INCUBATION OF HENS’ EGGS 187

cutting the membranes within. According to Pohlman!
(za 7 . . ;
the active muscular agent in breaking the shell comes about

Fie. 92

Appearance of a chick embryo after sixty hours in an incubator,
(Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural Ixperiment Station.)

Fig. 93

Appearance of a chick embryo after seventy-two hours in an incubator.
(Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station.)

1 Anatomical Record, vol. xvii, No. 2.

188 POULTRY PRODUCTION

through a change in posture of the head and upper cervical
vertebree, chiefly dependent on the musculus biventer and
musculus spinalis. The reflex mechanism which touches
off this muscle system is probably a respiratory reflex, not
dependent on demand for oxygen, but dependent on disten-
tion of the abdomen .. brought about through
injection of the yolk sac (into the body cavity).” When the
shell is nearly cut around a final convulsion by the chick
finishes the break, and the chick can emerge.

Fia. 94

Embryo chick, ninety-six hours old, the wing and leg buds and the tail
fold showing plainly. The heart is still located outside the body. (Courtesy
of Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station.) ‘

Selecting Eggs for Hatching.—In selecting eges for hatching
purposes, by far the most important consideration is the
health and vigor of the parent stock. The reason why this
is so vastly important is fully discussed elsewhere. Suffice

189

THE INCUBATION OF HENS’ EGGS

‘

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[eanqpNIUsSy sesuvyy Jo ASoPANO) —"]JOYS oy} UT Yoryo oy} fo Torjtsod ay} moys 07 sv os AvAG poddryo [Joys oy} YLM ‘pasiaro0s
st wotjIsod asoya ‘pary} & pUv ‘][EYS ey} UL peuiN} Yoyo oy} sv punowe ABM Udyog ouo

peddid ysnf s50 ue Sutmoyg

190 POULTRY PRODUCTION

it to say that the fundamental selection is that of the parents.
It far outweighs every other consideration.

Beyond this it is well that the eggs from desirable breeders
should be normal in every observable characteristic, and of
the size and color most demanded by the market catered to.
It should be noted in this connection that Philips! and
Atwood? have independently come to the conclusion that
brown eggs are more difficult to hatch than white ones.
No eggs should be incubated which weigh less than two
ounces. The twenty-four-ounce dozen and the case of
thirty dozen weighing forty-five pounds net are the gener-
ally accepted standards, below which eggs are not considered
first class.

They should be uniform in size, shape, and color; free from
ridges, excrescences, or weak shells. The practice of hatching
abnormal eggs tends to increase the lack of that uniformity
which is so desirable from every stand-point, because pullets
hatched from small or odd-shaped eggs are likely to produce
abnormal eggs in turn.

Philips’ found as a result of four seasons work during
which several thousand chicks were hatched, that on the aver-
age it took 1.83 eggs to hatch one Leghorn chick, and 4.57
eggs to produce a twenty-four weeks old Leghorn pullet.
With the heavier breeds under average management condi-
tions it will be safe to allow at least seven or eight eggs for
each mature pullet desired. :

Predetermining Fertility and Sex.—The manifest advantage
of being able to ascertain whether an egg is fertile and if
hatched what the sex of the chick will be, by an external
examination, is so great that it has led to much speculation.
Out of this speculation have grown “sure methods”’ of accom-
plishing it. Needless to say these “methods” are unsup-
ported by experimental evidence, and are practically worth-
less. The one which is given widest credence is that the shape
of the shell is an indication of the sex of chick that will
result if the egg is hatched. It has long since been found that
the long, narrow eggs popularly credited with hatching only

' Jour. Am. Assn. Inst. and Invest. in Poul. Husb., vol. ili, No. 9.
’ West Virginia Circular, No. 25, 3 Purdue Bulletin, No. 196.

THE INCUBATION OF HENS’ EGGS 191

males in the long run give about 50 per cent females, and
that the short, round eggs supposed to produce a preponder-
ance of females, when hatched in large numbers produce a
little above or below 50 per cent of males.

The position of the air cell during incubation, though not so
widely preached, is equally unreliable as a means of pre-
judging sex. It has been maintained that when the air cell
develops so that the long axis of the egg passes through the
approximate center of the air space the sex of the developing
embryo is male. When the long axis is very much eccentric
and the cell extends down the side of the egg the sex of the
embryo is said to be female. The author had occasion to
examine several hundred eggs for the purpose of observing
the relative numbers of each sex hatched from eggs containing
each type of air cell. Unfortunately the detailed data have
not been preserved, but the sex of the resulting chicks in
each case was represented in nearly equal numbers.

The only means of predetermining the fertility of an
egg that has had any very general acceptance has been by
determining the relative specific gravity of eggs.

The claim is made that the eggs showing a great specific
gravity are fertile, while those whose specific gravity is
much less are infertile. As a matter of fact, these differences
between the eggs of certain hens may be observed whether
the hens have been mated with males and are laying eggs
that are presumably fertile, or whether they have been
separated from male birds for several weeks. While there
does appear to be a correlation between the specific gravity
of an egg and the vigor of the hen laying it on the one hand,
and the chick hatching from it on the other, there is no notice-
able correlation between the fact of a great specific gravity
and the fact of fertilization.

Care of Hatching Eggs.—At the time the fertile egg is laid
it is usually in a fairly advanced stage of development from
an embryological stand-point, having been incubated within
the body of the hen for approximately twenty-four hours.
It would seem that the ideal method of caring for hatching
eggs would be to allow development to proceed without
checking, by incubating the eggs at once without ever

192 POULTRY PRODUCTION

allowing them to become completely cool. Poultry keepers,
however, are under the necessity of holding hatching eggs
for a longer or shorter time, and are confronted with the
very practical question of how to handle them during the
period of suspended development with the least possible
damage to their vitality and hatching power. They should
be collected several times a day during February and March
to prevent chilling.

Taste XXVII.—Revavion or Time or Honpina Harcninc Eacs To
Tuetr Hatcutnc Powrer. SumMaAry oF 189 INcuBATOR RECORDS—
1914 ro 1919. (Data or WalITes.)

Number Total eggs Fertile eggs
Age of eggs—days Number Number eggs hatched hatched
eggs set eggs fertile hatched (per cent) — (per cent)
0 1200 774 61.38 64.50
1 1591 1068 64.68 67a 12
2 2182 1475 64.69 67.59
3 2274 1535 64.74 67.50
4 2373 1565 65.29 65.95
5 1942 1321 64.3 68.02
6 2215 1394 59,99 62.93
7h 1898S 1217 60.72 64.12
8 1439 S57 55.36 59.55
9 1144 675 54.12 59.00
10 1046 586 51.99 56.02
11 980 554 51 OL 56.53
12 748 $35 Sou LT 58.15
3 638 336 49.55 52.66
14 OO, 272 42.97
15 451 207 41.48
16 450 198 42.85
17 299 132 37.18
18 296 137 40.53
19 306 122 34.85
20 166 67 32.68
21 112 37 24.66
22 80 23 19.16
23 91 27 20.45
2 | 59 10 13.89
2 56 12 17.14
26 61 18 23.08
27 i$ 52 | 12 17.39
28 56 38 3 5.36

Total 26,415 24,762 15,069 57.04 60 85

THE INCUBATION OF HENS’ EGGS 193

Time of Holding Hatching Eggs.—Holding eggs for incuba-
ting purposes is a necessary evil to be practised as little as
possible. Two weeks is generally considered as the outside
limit of holding eggs under the very best conditions that will
give satisfactory hatching results. Waite! found, as shown
in Table XXVII, that the percentage of eggs not hatching
showed a fairly consistent increase for all periods longer than
one week.

Tia 96
Per 7 -
cent a a iL a i
AS) cy ean i uy — Les aI
ohh | Chicks hatched from fertile eggs —*—e#
65 I ad ae at — aie ‘Chicks hatched trom total eggs set —o~ —o-|-
- g se eae se eer Fs (ed Sea ened =
60 —— i ie iT ea ———}-—
7% ]
.
95 |} i= = = 7
Fy ease ees Med ie ee lesites |
45 | | |}
40
FS
36 =
SJ
\ IN
30 a — aa as —
25|—;-| Total eggs incubated 26,415 y
Percentage of eggs fertile 93.7 \ x VN \
20|--] Percentage of eges hatched 57.04 74
Percentage fertile eggs hatched 60.85 Ie Any 4
18-—-4 }-| Ln a
ee ss i ae IE =| ey
see as Pei ais | Las
OF 2S AS Gl Boe 10 Bie: 13 14 15 16.17 16 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 26
Age of eggs - days. Wate 19469

A graphic presentation of Table XXVII. (After Waite )

Temperature for Holding Hatching Eggs.—The belief that
the earlier the development that is under way at the time of
laying is checked, the better are the chances of holding eggs
successfully for hatching, has led to the general practice
among poultrymen of gathering the eggs often during the
incubating season and putting them in a cool place.

Edwards,? as the result of a series of comprehensive experi-
ments, has fixed the physiologic zero of the hen’s egg at a
temperature lying between 20° and 21° C. This is the practi-
eal equivalent of saying that an egg will start to incubate
at a temperature lying between 68° and 70° F., and that to

’ Maryland Bulletin, No. 233,

2 American Journal of Physiology, vol. vi, No. 35.
13

194 POULTRY PRODUCTION

insure the complete checking of development, eggs must
be kept in a temperature below 68° F-. Practical experience
seems to indicate that eggs held in a temperature that is
even as possible, lying between the limits of 55° and 65° F.,
give best results. Just what the temperature is at which
eggs begin to show the effects of chilling has not been deter-
mined so far as the author is aware. The place most likely
to furnish the best holding condition is a cool, well-ventilated
cellar.

Turning Hatching Eggs.—As already pointed out, the yolk,
with the germ spot uppermost, tends to float on the albumen.
It is prevented from coming in actual contact with the shell
membrane by the dense layer of albumen which surrounds
it. When left in the same position for a considerable time
a constant though gentle tendency upward parts the coat of
dense albumen and allows the germinal disc to come in
contact with the shell membrane. With evaporation
constantly taking place the tiny embryo becomes adhered
to the membrane and is destroyed. When the eggs are not
allowed to remain in the same position, but are turned
fairly frequently, a new point of contact is given, and more
albumen brought between the germ and the shell membrane.

Jackson! reports, as the result of experiment, that after
the first two weeks there was a distinct advantage in keeping
eggs on their side and turning daily over, keeping them in
any other position or without turning. It is considered good
practice to turn all eggs daily during the whole time they are
held.

Washing Hatching Eggs.—Kggs that are stained or dirty
are frequently washed with the hope of increasing their
hatching power. As a protection against disease, hatching
eggs are often washed in alcohol or other disinfectant.

Washing eggs destroys their protective coating, called the
cuticle or bloom, and allows more rapid evaporation. As
shown elsewhere, when artificial incubation is practised,
evaporation is likely to be abnormally rapid, and any practice
which increases evaporation should be looked upon with

* Pennsylvania Bulletin No. 120,

THE INCUBATION OF HENS’ EGGS 195

suspicion. Jackson! found in a test where 440 eggs were
incubated in several groups, and half of each group were
washed and half unwashed, that the unwashed eggs hatched
12.5 per cent more vigorous chicks, than the washed eggs.

Where eggs are broken in a nest and their contents smeared
over other eggs in the nest, it is very likely to prevent the
latter from hatching. In this case, washing appears to be
the lesser of two evils.

In cases where it seems advisable to disinfect hatching
eggs, they should be dipped, instead of sponged or washed,
and allowed to dry without being rubbed.

Resting Shipped Eggs.—Persons shipping eggs any distance
for hatching, frequently furnish instructions to the effect
that the eggs are to be unpacked, placed in a normal position
on their sides, and rested twenty-four hours before setting,
for the purpose of allowing the germ to resume its normal
position at the uppermost point of the yolk. Such resting
does no harm beyond increasing the holding period by so
long, but it remains to be proved that the eggs cannot rest
just as successfully in an incubator or under a hen as in
any other place.

Apparently the only data on this point are those given by
Gowell? who shipped two similar lots of eggs a distance of
514 miles. From the lot of 65 eggs which were rested twenty-
four hours, 15 chicks were secured, while from the other lot
put immediately into the incubator 22 chicks were obtained.
The numbers are too small to be conclusive but there ap-
peared to be no marked advantage at least, in resting the
eggs.

Warming Hatching Eggs.—Under natural conditions all
eggs but the one laid last are of necessity held for hatching
for a longer or shorter time. Jackson® observed that very
often the oldest egg in a clutch was frequently the first to
hatch. He further noted the fact that in laying, the average
time spent on the nest was approximately sixty minutes.
As a result of two years’ work, he found that by placing
eggs, being held for hatching for a considerable time, under

1 Pennsylvania Bulletin No. 120.
2 Maine Station Report, 1902. 3 Ibid.

196 POULTRY PRODUCTION

hens for sixty minutes daily during the holding period, he
increased the number of vigorous chicks by 10 per cent.

He states that he “noticed further in handling eggs in
incubators both years, that the embryos of the warmed
eggs, after being placed in the incubator, presented a dis-
tinctly different appearance from those eggs not warmed,
being more clear cut, larger in size at the same period of
incubation, more active, and giving every appearance of being
stronger and more vigorous.

“Considering both tests, it seems apparent that there is no
particular gain to be secured from warming eggs that are
to be held for a period of not more than ten or twelve days,
although this requires further investigation. Apparently
the vitality of the embryo suffers when held for a longer
period.”’

Jackson suggests no practical method of warming eggs held
for hatching purposes, and no good method has been devised.

A possible partial explanation of the above may be had
in the findings of Bushnell and Maurer,! who report that
bacteria found in normal eggs do not develop readily at
blood (or incubating) temperatures, but do develop at ordi-
nary room temperatures. As they suggest, when eggs are
kept for hatching at ordinary temperatures, enough develop-
ment of the organisms may take place during the time
intervening between the laying of the eggs and their incuba-
tion, to bring about decomposition enough to injure the
delicate embryo chick by vitiating its food-supply. Infertile
eggs presumably frequently infected do not decompose when
kept at incubator temperatures for three weeks.

Disinfecting Purchased Eggs.—Decause of the prevalence of
certain chick diseases, and the fact that their germs are found
adhering to the shells, some poultrymen are disinfecting
their eggs by dipping them in 92 per cent alcohol or in a
2 to 3 per cent solution of a standard stock dip. This is a
safe precaution in all cases where eggs are secured from
flocks with whose history one is not perfectly familiar. It is
unnecessary in cases where the eggs come from stock that

1 Unpublished data of Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station.

THE INCUBATION OF HENS’ EGGS 197

has been strong and vigorous for years and without serious
outbreak of disease of any kind. It should be recognized as
simply a precautionary measure to eliminate any disease
germs that may be on the outside of the egg, and not in any
measure a sure preventive of chick diseases.

Incubation Periods—The number of days necessary for
the incubation of the eggs of the various species of poultry
are as follows: chickens, varying from 19 for light breeds to
21 for heavy breeds; turkey 28, varying from 26 to 30; all
ducks except the Muscovy 28, varying from 26 to 32; Mus-
covy ducks 33 to 35; goose 30, varying from 27 to 33; guinea,
varying from 26 to 30, and pigeon 17 from the day the second
egg is laid, but varying at times from 16 to 20 days.

Relative Hatching Efficiency of Hens and Incubators.—The
time has passed when the question of the desirability of
having an incubator on a farm where upward of one hundred
and fifty chickens are raised annually is any more debatable
than the desirability of having a cream separator, seed
tester, or any similar piece of modern farm equipment.
Hens are uncertain hatchers. Broodiness depends very much
upon the season and the condition of the hens. A late spring
means late laying, late setting,' and hatching. The time of
hatching determines quite largely whether pullets are in
laying condition by the following winter. And further, it
is usually difficult to secure enough broody hens at one time
to handle a very large number of eggs.

Concerning the efficiency of incubators as_ hatchers,
Pearl? makes the following statement, which would be
concurred in spirit by the majority of practical poultrymen
and investigators.

“Tn the experience of this station, with proper manage-
ment during and subsequent to incubation, the chicks so
produced are fully the equal in constitutional vigor, average
duration of life, and productivity, of hen-hatched chicks.

1 The author takes the position with reference to the use of the terms
“sit” and ‘‘set,’’ or their derivatives, as describing the act of a broody hen
in incubating eggs, that good use, rather than any rule of technical gram-
marians, should be the test applied. The terms ‘‘set,’’ ‘‘setters,’’ and
‘“‘setting’’ are used throughout this work.

2? Poultry Management at Maine Station, 1913.

198 POULTRY PRODUCTION

“Vor more than ten years past all chicks in the Maine
Experiment Station’s poultry plant have been hatched in
incubators. There has yet to appear any reason for going
back to the old system of hatching with hens.”

Payne,! on the other hand, found in contrasting natural
and artificial incubation that several interesting differences
occur. The incubator according to his data appears to be
more efficient than the hen during the first week of incubation,
judged by the number of embryos dying, but is conspicuously
inferior during the last week.

Natural Incubation.—The principles involved in natural and
artificial hatching are the same. While the effort in artificial
hatching is to furnish the conditions found in nature, it should
be recognized that nature rarely furnishes optimum degrees
of all conditions at the same time. Recognizing the proper
conditions of successful hatching, one may assist nature in
combining all conditions at their best.

Kind of Hen to Set.—The best hens for setting are those of
medium weight, such as are found among the American and
English breeds. They are fairly persistent setters, but are
not so heavy as to be clumsy, nor so heavily feathered as to
make the eradication of vermin difficult. The Asiatic breeds
are very persistent setters, but are so heavy and clumsy that
the loss of eggs from breakage is considerable. Their long,
heavy feathers furnish a safe harbor for lice.

The Mediterranean breeds seldom become broody. Such
individuals as do take to the nest are unreliable and likely
to leave it permanently with little or no provocation.

The Hatching Nest.—The nest for hatching should be
roomy and secluded, and placed where it is cool and the
ventilation good. It should be at least sixteen inches square
by six inches deep, and placed where the hen will not need to
fly or jump into it. If placed on the floor there is little danger
of broken eggs if the nest is made right.

The nesting material should be of such consistency that it
will neither pack, as does dirt, sawdust, or planer shavings,
nor become tangled with the hen’s feet so that she is likely to

1 Jour, Am. Inst. Assn. and Invest. in Poul. Husb., vol. vi, No. 2

THE INCUBATION OF HENS EGGS 199

wreck the nest upon leaving it to eat, as in the case of
excelsior, rags, or long shavings. At the same time it should
not be given to knotting or balling up, but soft and pliable
enough to conform more or less closely to the body of the
hen. Oat straw is probably the most satisfactory nesting
material, with wheat straw or hay as second choice.

In placing the straw in the nest, care should be taken to
round the nest out so that the eggs will roll apart readily
when the hen steps among them, but not to leave it so flat
that the eggs will not roll together of their own accord.

The nesting material should be renewed for every hatch
or when eggs are broken, and the nest carefully disinfected.
A vigilant lookout must be kept for mites about the nest
box during the setting period, and prompt and thorough
measures for eradication taken upon their appearance.
During the warm weather, these pests multiply so rapidly as
to greatly deplete a setting hen’s vitality, even causing them
to die on the nest.

It is good practice to place a teaspoonful of a good coal tar
dip in the bottom of the nest before putting in the straw.
Many successful poultrymen follow the practice of putting a
damp sod beneath the straw for the purpose of furnishing
moisture where it is not possible to make the nest on the
ground.

Management of Setting Hens.—When more than one hen
is setting at the same time and place, it is a safe plan to confine
them to the nest and allow them to come off once daily at a
regular time to feed and dust. If all are set at the same time
it makes little difference whether they return to the same
nests or not. The material used for confining them should
allow a free circulation of air, such as poultry netting.

Clean, cool water and plenty of whole grain, grit, and
charcoal should be available for the hen when she leaves the
nest. Nothing in the nature of sloppy food, which tends
toward bowel looseness, should be fed.

If possible a setting hen should be rendered absolutely
louse-free before being placed on the hatching nest, as lice
form one of the commonest and greatest sources of danger
to hen-hatched chicks. She should be thoroughly dusted

200 POULTRY PRODUCTION

with good insect or louse powder before being placed on the
eggs, and the process repeated at the end of the first and
second weeks of the incubating period. It is unsafe to dust
the hens just before hatching because some of the commercial
powders are of such strength that they will kill chicks under
a week old.

Care should be taken to be particularly thorough in working
the powder well into the feathers, under the wings, and the
fluff around the vent. These are the regions which usually
show the heaviest infestation.

It is always a safe precaution to grease the heads of hen-
hatched chicks with lard, in order to preclude the possibility
of head lice.

Number of Eggs per Hen.—The number of eges that should
be given to one hen is determined by the size of the hen and
the season of the year. The usual number constituting a
setting is fifteen. In cold weather, however, eleven to
thirteen is all that one hen of medium size can cover success-
fully. When the weather is warm, fifteen, or if it is very
warm, seventeen eggs may be placed under a hen with
safety.

Breaking up Broody Hens.—When hens that are not desired
for setting become broody, and it is desired to keep them
from the nests of the layers and to induce them to lay again
as soon as possible, they should be confined in a coop that
offers no opportunity for nesting. The broody coop shown in
Vigure 155, having a slatted bottom, is useful for this purpose.

During the time that the birds are confined they should be
well fed and cared for, so that they will soon be in laying
trim. Tor all but the heaviest breeds a few days of confine-
ment on a bare floor with no nesting material will be sufficient
to overcome the desire for setting. The starvation and other
mistreatments sometimes recommended are not only in-
human, but are also bad practice from the standpoint of
production.

History of Artificial Incubation —The hatching of chicks
by artificial means has been practised by the Chinese and
Egyptians since centuries before Christ. In Egypt, tradition
credits the invention to the ancient priests of the Temple of

THE INCUBATION OF HENS’ EGGS 201

Isis. The methods used from the earliest times are still in
use.

The first account of these methods is given in The Voiage
and Travaile of Sir John Maundeville, Kt., written before
1356 a.p. A Frenchman, Reaumur, in a treatise on The
Art of Hatching and Bringing up Domestic Fowls, published
in 1750, gives a detailed description of the Egyptian incuba-
tory, which tallies quite closely with that of the United
States Consul-General Cardwell, of Cairo, made in 1890.

Fia. 97

Ancient Egyptian hatchery.

The general plan of the Egyptian hatcheries is shown by
Figures 97 and 98, taken from Reaumur. The one described
by Cardwell was “constructed of sun-dried brick, mortar, and
earth.” It “was a structure seventy feet long, sixty feet
wide, and sixteen feet high. It was provided with twelve
compartments, or incubators, each capable of holding 7500
eggs, making a total capacity of 90,000 eggs undergoing
incubation at one time.” Heat is furnished by fires in grates
built in the rooms where the eggs are hatched. The proper
temperature is judged by the attendant by his sense of heat
and cold, and regulated by means of ventilators in the walis.
The eggs are tested for fertility on the tenth day with the
palm of the hand, or by placing against the face. Those
noticeably cold are regarded as infertile, and discarded.
The Egyptian ovens are public institutions and run on a toll

Fia.

202 POULTRY PRODUCTION

basis. From the fact that two chicks are usually expected
from three eggs, this method is evidently fairly satisfactory.

IMynde /

ting cham-

C, outside entrance; 7, for light ‘and ventilation;

to heating chambers; R, openings from th

Evgyptia

umbers; S, gutter where fire is

views of ar
to egg chambe

bers to ege ch

—

The theory has been advanced that because of continued
artificial incubation the fowls of Egypt have developed

THE INCUBATION OF HENS’ EGGS 203

the non-setting traits found in the Mediterranean breeds
today.

The Chinese method, still in vogue, is equally primitive.
The ovens are much smaller, and made of wickerwork
plastered with mud. They are heated by fires in the same
compartment with the eggs.

Various attempts have been made to perfect artificial
means of incubation during the last three or four centuries.
In 1750, Reaumur hatched chicks successfully by surrounding
a cask containing eggs with heating horse manure.

In 1770 John Champion, of Berwick-upon-T weed, England,
hatched eggs by passing flues carrying hot air through the
room in which the eggs were. In 1777 Bonneman, a French
physician, established hatching ovens in Nauterre, whereby
the heat was conducted from a fire to the eggs by the
circulation of hot water.

The first American incubator was invented in 1844 and
patented in England under the title of Cantelo’s Patent
Incubator. This was also a hot-water-heated machine, the
water being heated by a charcoal fire. The following year
a regulating device, whereby the temperature of the egg
chamber could be controlled, was invented by M. Vallee,
a poultryman, near Paris. It was not until about 1870,
however, that incubators began to engage serious attention
in this country, when a patent was awarded to one Jacob
Graves for an incubator and artificial mother, which was
followed by James Rankin, of southeastern Massachusetts,
with a machine that was guaranteed to hatch as many chicks
as could be done with hens. From that time the increase in
patents, ideas, and improvements have been enormous, but
it is only within the last twenty years that incubators have
been perfected in this country to such an extent as to be
practical successes.

Value of the Incubator.—Generally speaking the most prof-
itable branch of poultry is the production of winter eggs,
which is very largely dependent upon maturing the pullets
so that they will come into full laying before cold weather
sets in. To do this the time of hatching must not be
dependent upon seasonal conditions but under perfect con-
trol. The incubator is always in working order.

204 POULTRY PRODUCTION

The labor of caring for one hundred eggs in an incubator
is considerably less than caring for the same number under
hens. By the use of a properly disinfeeted incubator it 1s
possible to start chicks out absolutely free from vermin, and,
if brooders are used, to keep them so until nearly grown.

Types of Incubators.—Incubators are usually classified
according to the medium used in transmitting the heat from
the heater to the egg chamber into “hot-air” and ‘“hot-
water” machines.

In actual efficiency there appeares to be no difference
between the two types. Hot-air machines are more quickly
but not more accurately regulated. While the hot-water
type is less sensitive to outside changes of temperature,
once affected it is much slower in regaining the proper
temperature.

Fie. 99

Mammoth incubator. (Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural Experiment
Station.)

Incubator Sizes.—Most farm incubators range in capacity
from fifty eggs to four hundred and fifty. The sizes ranging
between one hundred and fifty and two hundred egg capacity
have trays that may be conveniently handled and are not
so large as to have great differences in temperature between
opposite sides or corners of the egy chamber.

Where the capacity runs much above three hundred there

THE INCUBATION OF HENS’ EGGS 205

is likely to be a difference in temperature of several degrees
between opposite corners, and the trays are heavy and
awkward for the ordinary person to handle, when they
are full of eggs.

The so-called mammoth incubators, with egg capacities
running into the thousands, are made up of a larger or smaller
number of ordinary sized incubator units built together.
Aside from the fact that there is a central heating system,
each unit is independent of every other unit, having its own
regulator, nursery, and trays. It is entirely possible to be
bringing off a hatch in one compartment and just starting
another one in the next one.

Principles of Operation—So far as present knowledge
indicates, successful incubation depends primarily upon four
conditions. These are (1) temperature, (2) moisture, (3)
ventilation, and (4) position. The principles involved in
the operation of incubators have to do with making these
conditions favorable.

Place of Operation.—The place of operation has much to
do with furnishing proper incubating conditions. It is
highly desirable (1) that it shall not be subject to frequent
or sudden changes in temperature; (2) that an abundance
of fresh air may be admitted, while the heavy gases near
the floor and the light gases near the ceiling have means of
escape; (3) that the relative humidity be rather high; (4)
that it be impossible for the sunlight to strike the incubator
at any time of day.

A cellar, and particularly a cave cellar, having a grade
entrance and a top ventilator, will come about as near meeting
these conditions as any room found on the farm. Outside
changes do not quickly affect it, it is likely to be reasonably
damp, does not admit the sunlight, allows the light gases
to escape above and the heavy ones that have settled to the
floor to flush out every time the door is opened.

Temperature.—The temperature at which eggs are incu-
bated naturally depends primarily upon the temperature
of the setting hen. As will be seen in Table XXVIII, this
temperature is quite variable between different hens on the
same day and for the same hen on different days. This

206 POULTRY PRODUCTION

table was made by Eycleshymer! from observations made
by placing thermometers in nests, so that they would come
in contact with the body of the setting hens. The Roman
numerals designate the hens, while the arabic numerals
indicate the days of incubation.

TaBLeE XXVIII.

1 2 | 3 4 5 6 7
I 102.1 103.0 103.0 103.8 105.0 104.5 105.0
II 103.0 104.0 103.5 104.5 104.5 104.0 105.0
III 102.0 102.0 103.0 103.0 105.0 105.0 104.5
IV 101.5 102.5 | 102.5 103.0 103.5 104.0 104.5
| 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
I 105.0 106.2 106.0 105.0 104.5 105.0 105.5
II 105.5 | 104.5 | 104.6 | 104.6 | 104.5 | 104.6 | 104.2
Ill 104.0 104.5 104.0 104.0 105.0 104.0 103.6
IV | 104.5 | 105.0 105.0 | 104.8 | 105.0 | 104.5 | 105.0
| 15 16 17 18 19 20
IT r 104.5 | 105.5 104.8 105.0 104.5 105.5
II 105.0 | 104.8 105.0 | 105.0 | 105.0 | 104.0
III 104.0 | 105.2 104.2 103.5 103.0 104.0
8 | 105.0 105.0 104.5 104.5 105.0

IV | 104.

Eycleshymer? also made observations of eggs in relation
to the temperature of the setting hen. The temperature
of the hen was secured as before, and that of the eggs by
breaking the shell immediately over the embryo and inserting
the bulb of the thermometer. The results are tabulated in
Table XXIX. It will be noted that the temperature of the
egg is influenced throughout by the temperature of the fowl,
and that while there is an average difference of over 3° the
first four days of the incubation period, there is an average
difference of 17° the last four days of the period. This

1 Biological Bulletin, May, 1907. ° Tbhid.

THE INCUBATION OF HENS’ EGGS 207

difference is doubtless due to the increasing animal heat
generated by the growing embryo.

It should be recognized that this is but a single test,
which should be supplemented by many further tests before
drawing too definite a conclusion. It leads the way, however,
to an understanding of the principle of governing the tem-
perature of the incubator. That principle is to carry such
a temperature in the egg chamber that the egg will be as
nearly as possible the same temperature as when under a hen.

TaBLE XXIX.

nee) ee 3 4 5 6 v4 iS} 9 5
|
Hen 102.2 103.0 103.5 104.0 103.8 105.0 104.6 104.5 105.0 105.0
Egg 98.0 100.2 100.5 100.5 100.4 101.0 101.8 102.5 101.6 102.0

Hen 104.8

.0 104.6 104.8 104.5 104.5
Egg 101.8 0

05.01
03.0 102.4 103.0 103.0 103.0

In carrying the egg chamber temperature at 102° to 103°
the first half and 103° to 104.5° the remainder of the period,
Eycleshymer! observed the temperatures shown in Table
XXX.

TaBLE XXX.

1 2) AS) AD ll) Br NG he 1) 8

9 ty)
ee Cerne
Inc’b 102.0/102.0 103.0 102.0'102.5 103.0 102.5 102.0 103.0 103.5
Egg 99.5 100.0 101.0 100.5 100.5 101.0 100.0 100.0 101.0 101.5
|

11 | 12 13 | 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Inc’b 103.0 103.5 104.0 103.5 104.0 104.5 104.6 103.5 104.0 104 5
Keg 101.5. 101.8 102.0 102.5 103.0 193.0 105.0 102.48 102.5 103.5

' Biological Bulletin, May, 1907.

208 POULTRY PRODUCTION

In this trial, 85 per cent of the fertile eggs set hatched.
Eggs destroyed for the purpose of taking temperatures were
not counted.

As the result of careful and rather extended experiment
Philips! recommends temperatures of 101° to 102° and 103°
I’. for the first, second and third weeks of incubation respec-
tively, using a standing thermometer with the bulb on a Jevel
with the top of the eggs but not touching them. It is quite
possible that the temperature requirement varies with the
vigor of the breeding stock and one must not necessarily be
guided by rule. The chicks should be brought out promptly.
As Lamson and Kirkpatrick? remark “one chick hatched on
the twentieth day is worth two hatched on the twenty-
second.”

Regarding the precise effects of high and low temperatures
upon the developing embryo there is little information.
Alsop? found that temperatures between 103° F. and 108° F.
produced 90 per cent of the embryos with abnormal nervous
systems by the seventy-second hour of incubation or earlier.
Of these abnormalities 46 per cent were in the head region
and 54 per cent were in the neural tube. In those eggs
incubated at 94° F. to 101° F. 67 per cent of the embryos
had abnormal nervous systems by the seventy-second hour.
Seventeen per cent of these were in the head region and 83
per cent were in the neural tube. Eggs from the same hens
incubated at usual temperatures produced 64 per cent
abnormalities by the seventy-second hour or earlier. These
abnormalities apparently differed from those noted above.

It would be interesting to carry eggs incubated at abnormal
temperatures for the first seventy-two hours, through the
rest of the incubation period at normal temperatures to
determine what proportion, if any, of these abnormalities
were subsequently overcome.

Cooling Eggs.—The custom of cooling eggs during the
period of incubation has arisen from a desire to imitate

1 Jour. Am. Assn. Inst. and Invest. in Fowl Husb., vol. iv, No. 9.
2 Storr’s (Conn.) Bulletin, No. 95.
3 The Anatomical Record, vol. xv, No. 5.

THE INCUBATION OF HENS’ EGGS 209

Nature. During the time that a setting hen is away from her
nest for the purpose of feeding the eggs become more or
less cool. Because this happens in Nature it is assumed that
better hatches will result if the eggs are cooled when arti-
ficially incubated.

There are two reasons given why cooling strengthens the
hatching power of eggs. It is argued that just as persons,
even in cold weather, seek relief from the constant heat of
internal combustion by drinking cold water, so the embryo
needs relief from the continued high temperature of incuba-
tion.

What would seem to be more reasonable is the suggestion
that by cooling, the contents of the egg contracts somewhat,
thus drawing fresh air through the pores of the shell for the
ever-increasing demands of the embryo.

Atwood! suggests that “as chick embryos behave like cold-
blooded animals, reducing the temperature of the egy de-
creases the vital activity and it is difficult to conceive any
valid reason for slowing down this activity.”

Lamson? compared cooling and not cooling, keeping
keeping records on between six and seven thousand eggs.
“The cooling method was to begin cooling on the third day
and cool each night and morning for five minutes, then the
following day the time was increased one minute and so on
until the eighteenth day.”

Sixty-seven per cent of the fertile eggs hatched in the
incubators which were cooled and 70 per cent of the fertile
eggs hatched where they were not cooled.

Five hundred chicks, half of which had been cooled
during incubation, and half not cooled, were watched for the
first four weeks during which 34 chicks died. Twenty
were from the cooled eggs and 14 from the uncooled.

Ile further found that eggs from strong stock would stand
from four to five hours at 50° F. after the first twenty-four
hours of incubation. From this point on the time could
be increased up to fifteen hours on the tenth to twelfth days.

1 West Virginia Circular, No. 25.
> Jour. Am. Assn. Inst. and Invest. Poul. Husb., vol. iv, No. 5,
14

210 POULTRY PRODUCTION

After the seventeenth day continued exposure at 50° F.
caused the death of the embryos before hatching.

Moisture——As the temperature maintained in the
incubator is determined by the temperature of the eggs
when incubated naturally, so the proper relative humidity
of the egg chamber would appear to be that which limits
the evaporation of the eggs to a normal rate. It should
be recognized, however, that even with natural incubation
the rate of evaporation will be different under different
conditions. Just what the optimum rate of evaporation or
the normal relative humidity is has not been definitely
determined.

Normal Moisture Loss.—Atwood! computed, from obser-
vations made upon eggs incubated under hens, that the
normal loss of each of the first nineteen days for 100 eggs
that hatched was as follows:

TaBLeE XXXI.

Days. Ounces, Days. Ounces. Days. Ounces.
te ‘ 1.65 7 ala ear 13 22.10
3.31 8 13.44 14 23.88

3 4.96 9 15.16 15 25.66
4, 6.62 10 16.88 16 27.44
5. 8.28 11 18.60 17 29.21
6 10.00 12 20.33 18 30.99
19 r 32.77

The difference in moisture loss between fertile and infertile
eggs is shown graphically in Figure 100.

Assuming that these eggs averaged two ounces each, the
loss for the nineteen days is 16.3 per cent. This work was
done in West Virginia.

Dryden’ found that in Utah, where the atmosphere is very
much less humid, the loss of weight in eggs under hens
was 14.87 per cent.

Eycleshymer* found that the normal loss of an egg during
natural incubation was 13 per cent, but that healthy chicks
could be hatched when the evaporation was reduced to
9 per cent by the introduction of moisture or increased 20

1 West Virginia Bulletin Nos. 73 and 98

2 Oregon Bulletin No. 100. * Biological Bulletin, May, 1907.

THE INCUBATION OF HENS’ EGGS 211

per cent by reducing the relative humidity of the egg
chamber.

Such evidence seems to indicate that there are certain
fairly narrow limits between which the rate or amount of
evaporation may be considered normal. Before these limits
are definitely determined it will be necessary to have many
more observations. At present it appears that the limit lies
between 13 and 16.3 per cent for the incubation period.

Fra. 100
‘e | a a |
Ma | |
: :
rs |
fe aa | hetgal
14 | +} | |
Aral isla)
12 jj} — :
1 pee |
wn |
OO zie eae |
6 § ST ERERa'2 SORE Be OS EERE
rt me ‘al |
(SUE aR eee SaaS Ome See ema
| ERGs | | = EGGS THAT Hatcn |_| |
4 eal leer tee in| sel Behe |
5 in a a
GRE seals ima oS i a ee
a el a LTT | ee a
[=e] ea [psa ea fez) SS a

(| = (S) |
0 2: 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20°22 24: 26
OUNCES

Showing relative evaporation in fertile and infertile eggs

Artificial Supply of Moisture —The desirability of intro-
ducing moisture into the egg chamber during incubation
is a question upon which incubator manufacturers, successful
operators, and experimental data are in mutual disagreement.
It appears from all evidence at hand that the question is
one of local management, with due regard to climatic con-
dition.

In West Virginia Atwood! obtained the results as shown
in Table XXXII.

It will be noted that more chicks were hatched when no
moisture was used, that the percentage mortality was the

’ West Virginia Bulletin No. 124.

212 POULTRY PRODUCTION

same in both cases, while the advantage in weight of the
moisture chicks was so slight as to be practically negligible.
It should also be noted that in the case of the moisture
chicks, evaporation was much restricted as compared with the
calculated normal loss. (Calculations from Table XX XI.)

Tasue XXXI[.—Resutt or [NcuBATING WITH AND wirHouT MorsTUR®

No moisture Moisture
used. used.

Number of eggs incubated 2860 2860
Number of chicks hatched 2012 1943
Total loss of weight in eggs 44.49 pounds 29.41 pounds
Normal loss as calculated te 46.77 sh 46.77 iy
Departure from normal loss of weight 2.28 4 17.36 By
Average weight of chicks per 100

when removed from incubator S 44 “ 8.79
Average weight of chicks per 100

at second weighing . 35.70 a 36.20
Total deaths from all causes . 415.00 402.00
Per cent. died of all hatched . 20.60 20.60

Lewis' found that under Massachusetts conditions in
a cellar showing an average relative humidity of 60 per cent,
increasing the moisture content of the air in the incubator
by means of sand trays increased the percentage hatch,
produced chicks which weighed more at hatching and were
more vigorous, and brought about a greater uniformity in
hatching. Unfortunately neither the evaporation nor the
relative humidity were recorded.

Graham? reports that under Ontario conditions, of all eggs
set, 11.2 per cent more were hatched when moisture was
supplied than when it was not, and further that on an
average, for every one hundred eggs set there were 16.6 per
cent more chicks living at the age of four weeks that were
hatched in moisture machines than in the case of those
hatched in non-moisture machines. Here again there is
no indication of the per cent. of relative humidity.

In Oregon’ Dryden secured the results shown in Table
XXXII.

1 New Jersey Experiment Station Report, 1911.
2 Ontario Bulletin No. 163. 3 Oregon Bulletin No. 100.

THE INCUBATION OF HENS’ EGGS 213

TaBLeE XXXIII.—Errect or no Morsturr, Mepium Moisrure, AND
Maximum Morsture.

Medium Maximum
No moisture. moisture. moisture.
Number of eggs set. . 700.0 701.0 712.0
Number of eggs hatched - 330.0 424.0 420.0
Percentage of eggs set hatched . 47.1 60.5 59.0
Percentage of fertile eggs hatched 69.1 82.1 YEE:

In this case the relative humidity averaged 48.7 per cent
in the non-moisture machines, 55.3 per cent in the medium
moisture, and 64.7 per cent in the machines having the
maximum supply of moisture. The corresponding wet-bulb
temperatures were 84.5°, 87.6°, and 91°. At the same time
the relative humidity of the room where the incubators
were operated ranged from 66 per cent to 83.1 per cent,
with an average of 73.4 per cent.

In other observations made in Utah, where it was
much drier and the relative humidity of the room where
the incubators were operated was only 45.5 per cent on
the average, Dryden! found that the maximum moisture
machines had a relative humidity of but 55.5 per cent and
gave the best results.

Referring to the Oregon results, Dryden says: “In com-
paring the weighings of incubator and hen eggs, the eggs
in the non-moisture incubators lost 12 per cent more weight
than the eggs under hens, but the moisture machine showed
less loss. The results show that the dry machines “dry
down” the eggs too much, while the maximum moisture
machines show too little evaporation. Between the medium
moisture machines and the hens there is considerable differ-
ence. It is a question, however, if less evaporation of the
eggs under the hens would not be desirable. It has never
been demonstrated, to the writer’s knowledge, whether it
is better to set the hens on the ground than on dry uests.
On the whole the result of the weighings agrees with the
results of the hatching in showing the necessity of supplying
a certain amount of moisture to the incubator.”

Hannas? found from a large number of measurements that

1 Oregon Bulletin No. 100.
2 Jour. Am. Assn. Inst. and Invest. in Poul. Husb. vol. v, No. 10.

214 POULTRY PRODUCTION

on a normal egg, the proper depth of the air cell on the eight
day of incubation was 23 of an inch. On the fourteenth day
it was about 2 of an inch, and on the nineteenth day it was
31 of an inch. This means approximately a little less than
a third of the contents of the egg is taken up by the air cell
on the eighth day, a little over one-third on the fourteenth
and about two-fifths on the nineteenth day.

Best Means of Supplying Moisture—Dryden' found that
a tray of moist sand placed in the bottom of the nursery
was more efficient in limiting the evaporation of eggs during
incubation than was a tray of the same size and location
filled with water.

The average loss of weight by evaporation was 16.15 per
cent when no sand was used and but 12.28 per cent when
it was used. This seems to indicate that the sand furnishes
a more efficient evaporating surface for moisture than does
the unbroken surface of the water.

Pearl? reports that “The most satisfactory way to supply
this extra moisture where sand trays are not an integral part
of the incubator, has been found to be by sprinkling the
eggs with warm water twice a day. The water is warmed
to a temperature of from 104° to 108° Fk... . The
application of moisture is begun as soon as the eggs go into
the machine, and is continued until the eighteenth day.
Since adopting this procedure a very considerable reduction
in the mortality of chicks in the shell has been effected.”

Dryden? has shown that when water is present it dissolves
carbon dioxide which is normally present in an incubator.
This tends to weaken the shells of the eggs making the
exclusion of the chick easier, the calcium of the shell being
soluble in water containing carbon dioxide. This may be a
factor in Pearl’s results.

Ventilation—The question of what constitutes proper
ventilation for an incubator is one upon which there is little
satisfactory experimental evidence. Yet restricting or aug-

' Utah Bulletin No. 102.
? Poultry Management at the Main Station, 1913.
3 Utah Bulletin, No. 92.

THE INCUBATION OF HENS’ EGGS 215

menting ventilation has a profound effect upon the develop-
ing embryos. Dareste (as quoted by Eycleshymer)! found
that when “all apertures of the incubator were closed during
incubation . . . nearly all the embryos died. It was
further found that there had developed in the albumen a
microscopic organism resembling the ordinary yeast plant.”

Gerloch (as quoted by Eycleshymer)? found that by
diminishing the quantity of air during incubation he could
cause dwarfing of the embryo. On the other hand, when
shells were scraped very thin so that the supply of oxygen
to the egg was increased the embryos ‘‘developed at a
remarkably rapid rate, nearly twice as fast as in normal
growth.”

Kycleshymer*® took two incubators having similar venti-
lating systems, which were believed to be inadequate. One
was left asit was. The other was provided with two one-inch
intake pipes which extended outside the building, and were
so arranged that there was a continuous current of fresh
air passing into the egg chamber. Eggs from the same hens
were placed in each machine. ‘The former hatched 44.8
per cent of fertile eggs while the latter hatched 85.7 per cent.

While the foregoing shows unmistakably that there is a
ventilation problem it does not solve it. Common expe-
rience rather than experimental evidence must be depended
on in formulating our practice in ventilation. This is done
in the suggested routine of management (see page 225).

Position of the Egg.—It is generally understood among
poultrymen that the position of the egg during the period
of incubation has a profound influence upon the development
of the chick. It is a matter of common knowledge that the
head of the chick normally develops at the large end of the
egg. Asa usual thing, both in the nest and in the incubator,
the large end of the egg is uppermost. This is due to the
shape of the egg itself and possibly by the lessening of the
specific gravity of the large end as incubation proceeds, due
to the increasing size of the air cell.

1 Biological Bulletin, May, 1907. 2Tbid. 3 Tbid.

216 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Occasionally, however, chicks develop with the head
directed toward the small end. The cause of this, it 1s
asserted, is allowing the egg to rest in the nest or incubator

with the small end uppermost. Definite information on this
point is scarce. Eycleshymer,' after conducting experiments
which did not involve as large numbers as we could wish,
came to the conclusion that the “position of the egg is a
factor of little or no importance in natural incubation.”
Heefurther concluded “that when the supply of good fresh
air is inadequate the oblique position of the egg, thereby
bringing the embryo in closer contact with the air chamber,
is decidedly advantageous. Where there is an abundant
supply of fresh air, there is but little to be gained through
placing eggs obliquely.”’ Where plenty of tray room is
allowed, most of the eggs will be found to assume a position
that is slightly oblique.

In making a study of the effect of crowding eggs into the
trays for the purpose of increasing the capacity of the
incubator, Jackson? reached the conclusion that in the case
of white eggs, which could be tested for fertility after three
days of incubation, crowding so that the eggs stand on end
until the first test results in no serious disadvantage.

Turning Eggs.—The hen turns the eggs she is incubating
in two ways. The first is by peculiar lateral movements of
the body with which she settles on the nest after feeding,
and which she continues from time to time throughout the
day and probably throughout the night. The purpose of
these lateral movements is presumably to seek a more
comfortable position. The practical results are to bring
the body in closer contact with the egg and so closer to the
developing germ, and also to turn the egg. The second way
is by what is incorrectly called “billing,” in which the hen
reaches under her body and rearranges the eggs with her
heak. Payne's’ recent observations of setting hens in glass
nests have shown that the eggs were turned at least every

t Biological Bulletin, May, 1907.

2 Pennsylvania Bulletin No. 120.

’ Paper read before Thirteenth Annual Convention of American Associa-
lion of Instructors and Investigators on Poultry Husbandry, 1920.

THE INCUBATION OF HENS’ EGGS 217

hour both day and night, and that they were completely
rotated as any as ten times in two hours.

Such observations as have been reported show that in
artificial incubation fairly frequent turnings increase the
hatching power of eggs. Eycleshymer! found that where
eggs were unmoved during the incubation period but 15 per
cent of fertile eggs hatched. A very large proportion of the
fertile eggs that failed to hatch did so because in the early
stages the embryo, or in the later stages the allantois, had
adhered to the shell. It is assumed that this could have been
largely overcome by turning.

Eggs from the same hens that were turned at 6 a.m. and
6 P.M. gave a hatch of 58 per cent of fertile eggs. In this
same connection, Jackson? kept a record of 1350 eggs, half
of which were turned twice daily during the incubation
period, while the remainder were unturned. These eggs
were distributed in equal lots through several different
incubators. Although the group of eggs that were turned
twice daily contained six more infertile eggs than the other
group, 66 per cent of all eggs set that were turned twice
hatched, while but 59.8 per cent of the unturned eggs gave
living chicks.

Payne? found that eggs turned four to six times daily
during incubation in March and April hatched from 4 to 22
per cent better than eggs turned twice daily, with an average
of about 10 per cent. Eggs handled in the same manner in
May and June showed no advantage in the extra turnings.
Tle also found that the per cent of deformed chicks was
reduced during March and April by the extra turning, but
not in May and June.

In practice the eggs should be turned as frequently as
possible. In most cases this will be three times daily—
morning, noon, and night.

Date of Hatching.—The proper date for hatching chicks
depends upon local climatic conditions and the breed being
hatched. The Mediterranean breeds may be hatched

1 Biological Bulletin, May, 1907. 2? Pennsylvania Bulletin No. 120.
3 Paper read before Thirteen Annual Convention of American Associa-
tion of Instructors and Investigators in Poultry Husbandry, 1920.

218 POULTRY PRODUCTION

thirty to forty-five days later than the American and English
breeds, and still mature early enough to begin laying by fall.

For the north central states, American pullets that are
expected to lay the following winter should be out between
the first of March and the middle of April. Goodale! found
that in Massachusetts, March hatched Rhode Island Red
pullets gave a mean winter egg production of 42.65 eggs.
April hatched pullets gave a mean winter production of 35.40,
while May pullets gave an average winter production of
22.50 eggs.

The Mediterraneans should be hatched late in April or
early in May. Schwartz? came to the conclusion as the
result of a set of observations on White Leghorn pullets,
that the month of hatch had comparatively little influence
on the molt. The Asiatics should be hatched as early as
possible. Judging from the results in production at the
laying competition conducted by the Connecticut Agri-
cultural College, Card? concluded that for that state late
April or early May was the proper hatching time for Leg-
horns. Pullets hatched during this period usually showed
an advantage over both March and June hatched pullets.
Lewis! has since reported that in New Jersey, February
hatched Leghorn pullets could be carried through the
following fall without mo]ting by means of the feeding methods
made possible by illuminated houses.

Lewis, in comparing the rate of growth of Leghorn chicks
hatched April 1 and June 1, found, as shown in Table
AXAXIV, that the April-hatched chicks averaged 1.70 pounds
heavier in November than the June-hatched chicks, although
there was an average difference in weight at July 1 of but
1.17 pounds. The younger chicks were not able to make
proper gains until the cool weather of the fall came. At
three and a half months the late-hatched chicks did not
weigh as much as the early-hatched ones did at three months.

' American Naturalist, vol. lii, No. 614.

? Jour. Am. Assn. Inst. and Invest. in Poul. Husb., vol. v, No. 10.
2 Storrs (Conn.) Bulletin, No. 91.

4 New Jersey Experiment Station Annual Report.

THE INCUBATION OF HENS’ EGGS 219

Taste XXXLV.—Comparative Gains or Barty ano Late
Harcenep Cutcxs. (Dara or Lewts.)

Lot (A). Lot (B).
April hatched. June hatched.
‘ <a a z “Ep a
4 | 3 ees 4 | ® a
Date 4 | 3 a 2 =] ; B gj 2
a | 8 &3 3 ¢ | s| &8 a
eva Sa ieasioew toe eal ieaaibe ess 5
Soi se) eee a Spall self ene! 3
<q a <q 1o) a a a oO
July 3.0 | BOE ||| GIA TN oo occas 1,0, | 50 | 0,300 | 2...
July 15 3.5 5O0r) 1.8L. | O84.) 156) 45.) 05402-) 0.1102
Aug. 15 4.5 | 48 | 2.50 | 0.69 , 2.6 | 44 | 0.870 | 0.468
Sept. 15 5.5 | 48 | 3.30 | 0.80 3.5 | 44 > 1.210 0.340
Cots 1s 6.5 | 48 | 4.05 | 0.75 4.5 | 42 2.100 | 0 890
Nov. 15 7.5 47 | 4.70 | 0.65 6.6) 42 , 3.000 0 900

Mairs! also found that early-hatched chicks grew faster
than late-hatched ones, and suggested April 1 as a suitable
hatching date for Pennsylvania without making any differ-
ence for different classes of chickens.

Where the falls are quite late, judgment must be used in
selecting the date of hatching. It is entirely possible to hatch
out pullets so early that they will go through a general molt
in the fall, precisely as do the hens, and quit laying until
along toward spring.

Distribution of Incubator Mortality.—In a very careful
and interesting study of the time distribution of the mortality
of embryos, Payne? found that 69.4 per cent of all the
mortality occurred during seven days, namely; the fourth
fifth and sixth and the eighteenth to twenty-first inclusive.
The mortality was 16.2 per cent during the third to fifth
and 48.7 per cent during the eighteenth to twenty-first.
Many of the embryos dying during the latter period were
deformed. A graphic presentation of the distribution of
embryo mortality is shown in Figure 101.

1 Pennsylvania Bulletin No. 87.
2 Jour. Am. Assn. Inst. and Invest. in Poul. Husb., vol. vi, No. 2.

220 POULTRY PRODUCTION

In hatches averaging about 50 per cent of total eges set,
approximately 40 per cent of the deaths occur during the
first thirteen days of incubation and about (0 per cent die
between the fourteenth and twenty-first days inclusive.

Tria, 101
] ] ] | | |
20|/- |_| | Le a |
i aa ; i
ab | ~f—tioit ——
| |
16 ae
|
r
| \|
14 tf toi 4
o | |
2 x eae —+—
Ki |
Bie —|—
Ww — HES H
fo) | |
Ze Soules leah
wW
F mh
& af} }———— \
c H IU
Fa a Ra | 1 +h
|
|

JCECHEN co
WOPRALEL |

Craphie presentation of the distribution of incubator mortality. (Prom
data of Payne.)

This gives an approximate basis for calculating on the
fourteenth day the probable number of chicks which will
hatch in the event of a normal run by the incubator

Routine of Management.—he practical application of the
principles of incubation will vary under different conditions

THE INCUBATION OF HENS’ EGGS 221

and in different locations. The routine of management
suggested hereafter has been found satisfactory in three
west-central states lying in the heart of the heavy poultry
producing section.

Levelling the Machine.—The incubator should be made
level so that there will be no high, hot corners. This may
be accomplished by the use of a carpenter’s level, taking
care to see that it is level from front to back as well as from
side to side.

Disinfection.—If the incubator has been used before, during
the same or previous season, the egg chamber and nursery
should be very thoroughly disinfected, including the trays,
thermometer, and mo’sture pans. Disease that has done no
special harm among chicks of a previous hatch may assume
the proportions of an epidemic in a subsequent one. A 3 per
cent solution of any of the standard coal-tar stock dips will
be found satisfactory for this purpose. It is not necessary
for the machine to be dried out before putting in the eggs,
provided the proper temperature has been reached.

Preparing the Lamp.—The lamp should not be filled above
a point a half-inch from the top. In a lamp that is too full
the oil is likely to work out on the outside of the bowl and
up on the burner, causing fumes, and possibly a deposit of
soot, and smoking.

It is an excellent practice to pin two wicks together in
starting the hatch as a precaution against the oil being
low and the wick getting short and putting out the lamp
toward the end of the hatch.

Care should be taken in the beginning as throughout the
run to see that the flame is round, as in Figure 102, and has no
points or corners, as in Figure 103. This may be accom-
plished in the beginning by cutting off the corners of the wick,
as shown in Figure 102, and by wiping or scraping off the
charring thereafter rather than cutting it off with the scissors.
Corners or points on the side of a flame tend to deposit soot on
the side of the heater flue. If this continues unnoticed the
accumulations soon become sufficient to choke the draft
and cause a bad “smoke up” and even a fire.

The burner and lamp must be kept absolutely free of oil

222 POULTRY PRODUCTION

and clean of accumulations of any kind. The best lamps will
smoke and be dangerous if choked with charrings.

Fre. 102

Showing how to trim a wick to produce a round flame.

Fie. 103

Showing a wick trimmed so as to produce a flame with corners which
will cause the deposit of soot on the side of the direct heat flue, ultimately
causing a smoking heater.

THE INCUBATION OF HENS’ EGGS 223
Because of the tendency for a flame to “run up,” as the
lamp and heater become warm, it is best to make a practice
of filling and cleaning the lamp in the morning so that if the
flame needs further attention it will be noticed during the
day and be in good working order by night. It is also a good
plan to do all handling of the eggs before caring for the lamp,
so that there will be no kerosene on the hands to be brought
in contact with the eggs.

Starting the Incubator.—In starting a new incubator, or
one with which the operator is unfamiliar, a medium to low
flame should be maintained and a half-inch play given on the
connecting rod by loosening the thumb-nut. This will
allow considerable expansion at the thermostat without
raising the damper disk. A high flame or too much play on
the connecting rod is likely to allow the temperature to run
high enough to ruin the thermometer. It is a safe precaution
to use an ordinary high registering thermometer until the
proper temperature has been reached, and so avoid this
difficulty. Care should also be taken at the beginning of each
season to see that the thermometer is registering accurately.
It should be carefully compared with a physicians clinical
thermometer by moving the bulbs of both back and forth in
water that is 103° to 105° F in temperature. Because a
thermometer works perfectly one season is no criterion that
it will do so the next.

When the play has been taken up and the damper raised,
the thumb-nut should be cautiously loosened, the amount
being governed by the rise in temperature necessary to bring
it to 101° F. on a level with the top of the eggs. When this
temperature is reached the flame should be so adjusted that
the temperature will be maintained with the damper disk
hanging an eighth of an inch above the heater. This allows
a reserve of heat for the regulator to make use of in case of
a drop in the incubator-room temperature. This condition
should be maintained for at least twenty-four hours before
putting in the eggs, in order to make sure that everything is in
good running order. The eggs should then be put in and the
incubator left closed for two days.

224 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Temperature.—The temperature should be held at 101°
to 102° F. during the first week, 102° the second week, 103°
the third week until the eggs began to pip, when it may be
allowed to go to 104° Under no circumstances should it be
allowed to run above 105° and 104° is a safer upward limit.

Moisture.—At the same time that the eggs are put in,
moisture should be supplied. The amount depends upon
local climatic conditions. In dry sections or during a drouth,
a shallow pan, the size of the floor of the nursery, filled with
sand and puddled with water, should be used. Such an
arrangement is usually referred to as a sand tray.

Where there is a fair amount of moisture in the air a sand
tray half as large may be used, and in damp sections, or
during a wet season, the sand may be left out and only
water put in. In any case the water should never be warmed
more than is barely necessary to take off the chill.

The common means of gauging the amount of moisture to
be supplied as the period advances is the size of the air cell.
A more reliable means is weighing the eggs, as suggested
by Atwood,! and comparing the evaporation loss with the
calculated normal loss for the same number of fertile eggs.
The ordinary person usually does not judge the relative
size of the air cell very accurately. It is an excellent plan to
use a hygrometer or wet-bulb thermometer in connection
with the weighing. Where their relationship in a given
locality is once established the weighing may be dispensed
with and the wet-bulb temperature used as a guide.

Turning.— After the second day the eggs should be turned
three to five times daily. Turning may easily be accom-
plished by shuffling the eggs gently with the hands. It is a
good practice to remove about two rows of eggs from the
front of the egg tray, roll all the eggs forward, and place those
removed in the back. This, in combination with turning
the tray a quarter of the way around each time it is removed,
tends to equalize any differences in temperature there may be
between different sides or corners of the egg chamber. In

‘ West Virginia Bulletin No. 98.

THE INCUBATION OF HENS’ EGGS 225

the case of a two-tray incubator the trays may be turned end
for end one time and shifted from side to side the next.

While turning the eggs the incubator door should be closed
to conserve both the temperature and moisture. All drafts
or any means of sudden chilling must be avoided. Turning
should be discontinued after the eighteenth day.

Ventilating.—Different styles of incubators vary so in
their styles of ventilation that it is difficult to make any
general suggestions that will apply in all cases. It is usually
well to follow the manufacturer’s instructions. If, however,
poor results that cannot be ascribed to any other cause
are had, means for admitting more air should be devised.
Few if any incubators are overventilated.

While the hatch is coming off, ventilation should be
restricted for the purpose of conserving the moisture left
in the machine after the removal of the sand trays. As
soon as the hatch is over the ventilators should be opened
fully.

Testing.—It is customary to test the eggs at the end of the
first week in order that all eggs that are not developing may
be removed. This is desirable in order to avoid breaking
eggs having dead germs in turning,.and that the developing
eggs may have the added room. In the case of poor fertility
the eggs from two or more machines may be combined.
White-shelled eggs may be tested as early as the third day,
with very dark-shelled ones the germ often cannot be seen
until the eighth or ninth day.

The two classes of eggs tested out are “infertiles’” and
“dead germs.” Technically the term “infertile” refers to
the fact that an egg has never been fertilized, while practically
it includes those which have started to develop but have died
before progressing far enough to be distinguished before the
tester. The dead germ refers to one that is fertile in which
the germ has died after developing far enough to be seen
before the tester.

The so-called infertile egg appears to be clear save for a
floating shadow, which is easily distinguished as the yolk.

The live germ is spider-like in appearance, the body of the
embryo representing the body of the spider and the radiating

226 POULTRY PRODUCTION

bloodvessels its legs. The live germ floats about freely in the
contents of the egg when the egg is rotated before the tester.
The dead germ may be recognized by the absence of the
bloodvessels, its adhering to the shell, or by the quite typical
pink ring surrounding it which is called the blood ring.
The second test is commonly made at the end of the second
week. If the first has been accurately done there will be

A lamp tester. There are many styles of testers but all work on the
principle of shutting off all light from the eye except that which passes
through the egg, thereby showing whether there is a live embryo or not.

only dead germs to test out. The live embryo at this time
appears to nearly fill the egg. In the one or two light spaces
which are usually present, bloodvessels will be noticed and the
embryo chick will frequently be seen to move when the egg
is rotated.

The dead germs may vary in appearance from typical
blood rings to embryo chicks of nearly normal size. The

THE INCUBATION OF HENS’ EGGS 227

latter will usually be readily recognized by the absence of
bloodvessels and a general indefiniteness of outline.

Fig. 105

A convenient arrangement for sunlight testing. 1, tray for untested
eges; 2, tray for fertile eggs; 3 and 4, trays for unfertiles and dead germs;
5, prepared roofing with egg opening placed over window. (Courtesy of
Cornell Reading Courses.)

Fia. 106

Testing eggs in the sunlight.

228 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Taking off the Hatch—As soon as the chicks begin to pip
the moisture pans should be removed (unless they are so pro-
tected by a wire screen that the chicks cannot get into them),
and the aperture through which the chicks drop down into
the nursery, opened. The incubator should then be closed
and left closed until the hatch is well over. The temperature
should be carefully watched at this time, because the heat
generated by the struggling chicks is often sufficient to
raise the temperature beyond the limit of the regulator’s
ability to act. It should not be allowed to run above 105° F.

Fie. 107

A handy arrangement for hardening the chickens. (Courtesy of
Prairie State Incubator.)

After a normal run the hatch will be well over by the end of
the twentieth day in the case of eggs from Mediterranean
breeds, and the twenty-first day in the case of the American
breeds. With the Asiatics it frequently takes eight to
twelve hours longer. If the temperature runs low the hatch
will be delayed, and if it runs high it will be hastened. When
the hatch is well over, the egg trays should be removed and
the shells and unhatched eggs burned.

THE INCUBATION OF HENS’ EGGS 229

The chicks should be left in the incubator without feeding
for at least thirty-six hours after hatching, and as much
longer as is necessary to compel a lusty demonstration of the
fact that they are hungry. As soon as they are dried off and
fluffed out, the temperature on a level with the chicks should
be reduced to 93° or 95° F. by opening the door enough to
admit a little fresh air without cooling the machine down
suddenly. Reducing the temperature and admitting fresh
air is referred to as “hardening the chicks.” During this
time darken the egg chamber by hanging a dark cloth in front
of the door. This prevents the chicks from picking at the
droppings or developing the vice of toe-picking. The reason
for delaying the removal of the chicks is to secure as complete
yolk absorption as possible. The yolk that remains unused
just prior to hatching is taken into the chick’s body through
the navel, and acts as a food supply for a number of hours.
This fact is at the bottom of the successful shipping of newly
hatched chicks. Giving a new supply of food before the old
supply is exhausted seems to lead to digestive complications.

As soon after the thirty-six-hour period as the chicks give
evidence of real hunger they may be removed to the brooder.
For this purpose a flannel-lined, hooded basket should be
used, which will fully protect them from the cold. A cold
wind striking them at this time is likely to prove disastrous.
If possible the transfer should be made at dusk so that the
chicks will have no tendency to wander from the warm com-
partment of the brooder until they have it permanently
located.

Insurance Restrictions—A matter of practical importance
that should not be overlooked is that of fire-insurance re-
strictions relative to the operating of incubators in dwell-
ings. One’s policy should be carefully scrutinized in this
regard. Some policies have no restrictions. Others have
specifications to which the incubator must conform, while
still others become void if an incubator of any type is oper-
ated without special permission.

CHAPTER V.
THE BROODING OF CHICKS.

Natural Brooding.—The essentials of natural brooding are
comparatively few. They consist of a quiet, motherly, broody

Fic. 108

Hen and chicks. (Courtesy of Vilmer, Crown Point, Indiana.)

hen or capon, some sort of coop that will protect the mother
apd chicks from the weather and from cnemics, and a fair-
sized, grassy, shady range.

(230 )

Cuoipeyg JUST lod. ) 7 suvy t "suo ) M §U: i U =)
S XG [VaANATNL DY 3 9
} IDY SUsuCyy Jo Agoyd )) yoy 18 |
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2 yUsTUIATOL)

60T “S14

232 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Those hens which are best for setting will usually be found
to make the best mothers. The coop may be of almost any
size and shape. The “ A’’ shaped coops with a small protected
run shown in Figure 109 will be found convenient, serviceable,
and inexpensive.

Capons are sometimes used as mothers, but are more of
a curiosity than a success. In inducing them to take
the chicks, confine them in a roomy nest box with a
low roof and place the chicks under them at dusk. If on
examination in the morning it is found that the capon
has not accepted the chicks, they should be taken away
and kept warm throughout the day and placed under

Fie. 112

Capon brooding chicks. (Courtesy of George Beuoy.)

the capon again at dusk, he having been confined to the
nest throughout the day. He will frequently accept the
chicks the first night and rarely refuses them on the second.
Some breeders who use capons extensively for brooding,
wait until the chicks are two weeks old before trusting them
to the capons.

Natural versus Artificial Brooding.— Artificial brooding is a
more or less necessary accompaniment of the use of incu-
bators. Its advantages and disadvantages are quite com-
parable with those of artificial incubation. The natural
method is the proper one where only a few chicks are raised.
With any numbers, however, the use of brooders is to be

THE BROODING OF CHICKS

advised. It concentrates the many small flocks into a few
larger ones, thereby reducing the care. The great advantage
of artificial brooding is the possibility of raising chicks past
weaning, absolutely louse-free.

Principles of Artificial Brooding.—The principles of brooding
are essentially those of housing, with the addition of a tem-
perature requirement. A complete brooder is simply a
special form of house designed for the purpose of keeping
chicks comfortable. , The most recent developments in com-
mercial brooders are the portable hover and the large colony
brooder. The portable hover is a small compartment con-
taining its own heater, in which the temperature may be

Fie. 111

A portable hover. (Courtesy of Prairie State Incubator Company.)

controlled and which may be placed in any ordinary poultry
house, thereby rendering it habitable for chicks. The large
colony brooder is usually heated by a stove burning either
coal or oil.

The conditions necessary for successful brooding are (1)
a compartment in which the temperature is under control
and which has (2) a constant supply of fresh air and is (3)
dark; (4) dryness; (5) adequate space; (6) the admission of
sunlight; (7) ease of disinfection; (8) protection against chick
enemies; (9) safety from fire.

Temperature.—There is no general agreement among
poultrymen as to what constitutes exactly the proper hover

234 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Fia. 112

(ieee

Showing method of conducting fumes out-of-doors from a portable hover,
(Courtesy of Cyphers Incubator Company.)

4h, i te ; be ‘ 4 ’
‘ f : ‘ ‘
% Se
“es cies :
Large colony brooder, oil heated. (Courtesy of TH. F. Arenberg,
Petaluma, Cal.)

THE BROODING OF CHICKS 235

temperature for chicks just out of the incubator or at suc-
ceeding ages. There is no cumulative experimental evidence
determining definitely what these temperatures should be.
General experience, however, agrees with the results of a

Fig. 114

fasion

Large colony brooder, coal heated. Capacity 500 chicks. (Courtesy of
Iwansas Agricultural Experiment Station.)

single experiment reported by Lewis', in which he brooded
four groups of fifty chicks each in brooders where all con-
ditions were exactly alike, except that of temperature.

t Thirty-second Annual Report, New Jersey Agricultural Experiment
Station.

236 POULTRY PRODUCTION

The first brooder was kept very warm, having an average
hover temperature of 112° for the first twenty-cight days.
The mortality was 42 per cent. The second brooder was
cooler, having an average temperature of 104°, but the

Fie. 116

Large colony brooder with hover raised. (Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural
Experiment Station.)

variations in temperature were extreme, varying from SG6°
to 120°. In this brooder the percentage of mortality was
68. The third brooder was started at 100° and gradually
reduced to a temperature of 85° at the end of twenty-eight

THE BROODING OF CHICKS 237

days, the average temperature being 94°. The mortality
was 10 per cent. The fourth brooder had an initial hover
temperature of 90°, which was gradually reduced to 74°
at the end of the period. The average temperature was 85°
and the mortality was 24 per cent.

Pra. 116

i TSiaINUS Us ee

Front view

Plan of colony brooder house. (Courtesy of Missouri Agricultural
Ixperiment Station.)

As the result of this experiment, Lewis suggests 100° as a
suitable temperature for the first week, 96° for the second,
92° for the third, and SS° for the fourth, where the chicks
are Leghorns.

It is unsafe to lay down absolute rules for all breeds and
conditions. First and always the chicks must be comfortable.
In quite cold weather it is likely to take a higher temperature
to accomplish this than in more moderate weather. Less heat

238 POULTRY PRODUCTION

is required for snappy, vigorous stock than for birds of less
vitality. ‘Che temperature should in all cases be reduced as
rapidly, as the chicks grow older, as 1s compatible with their
comfort, and artificial heat taken away altogether as soon
as they are well feathered out.

A —teP?

Cross section

Plan of colony brooder house. (Courtesy of Missouri Agricultural
Experiment Station.)

While it is exceedingly desirable to get the chicks on a
self-sustaining basis with regard to the maintenance of body
temperature, it is always best to err on the side of too much
heat than too little. This is particularly true in cold weather,
when a high hover temperature is necessary to warm chicks
up quickly when they get cold. It does not hurt chicks to

THE BROODING OF CHICKS 239

run out in quite cold weather, provided they can get warm
quickly whenever they desire. Even after all artificial heat

Tia. 118

Q
+ 7-87
Kt + — i =X
So
Floor plan

Plan of colony brooder house. (Courtesy of Missouri Agricultural
Experiment Station.)

has been done away with, and the chicks well feathered, the
brooding apparatus should be held in readiness against

240 POULTRY PRODUCTION

unusually cool nights, which are likely to produce crowding
if a little extra heat is not supplied.

The thermometers used should be carefully tested at the
beginning of each season, if they are to be relied upon, just
as in the case of incubators.

Fic. 119

Continuous hot water pipe brooder. Hover in foreground raised. (Courtesy
of Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station.)

Effect of Chilling.—A little chick compelled to remain in
the cold after he begins to feel chilly, soon becomes helpless.
This is apparently caused by the paralysis of the breathing
apparatus. The lungs are located on either side of the
median line of the back at the circumference of the body
cavity. Lobes of the lungs extend between the ribs and are
protected from the outside temperature only by a thin
membrane, the skin, and a coat of down. It is not surprising
that when the chick is chilled the lungs are quickly affected,
breathing power restricted, and a general enfeeblement of the
powers of movement ensues.

In natural brooding, the back and lungs are the best
protected portions of the body. When a chick becomes

THE BROODING OF CHICKS 241

uncomfortably cold under conditions of artificial brooding,
and is unable to locate heat enough to warm him quickly,
he obeys that instinct which tells him to get his back up
against the mother hen. The result is that he tries to crawl
under the other chicks. This, taken up by the other chicks
in turn, results in bunching and crowding with the accom-
panying evils of smothered chicks and a diminution of thrift
on the part of the entire flock.

Where the temperature is not sufficiently low to actually
chill the chicks, but fails to make them comfortable, they
quickly show the effect by ruffled feathers, “ winginess,” and

Fie. 120

Showing the result of chilling. (Courtesy of Purdue Agricultural
Experiment Station.)

a general appearance of unthrift, which is frequently accom-
panied by digestive disorders quite similar to contagious
diarrhea in symptoms and results.

Fresh Air.—Not only should there be a well-ventilated
exercising pen and outdoor run, but the brooder-hover must
be so arranged that there will be a constantly changing supply
of the air. In the small oil-heated portable hovers of the
best type, the heater is so constructed that it both radiates
heat from a drum and heats air which is poured under the
hover, displacing and forcing out the old air. With the coal-

242 POULTRY PRODUCTION

stove brooders in which the hover acts largely as a deflector,
there is usually a good circulation of air. With those having
a long fringe or curtain, the latter should not be allowed to
reach the fbar by at least three inches if the alr underneath
is to be kept sw eet.

Darkness.—‘‘I’or the very best results the hover should
be at least partially darkened. The reason for this i is evident.
Not only does the chick normally seem to en) joy seclusion,
but when anything oceurs to frighten him the first thing he
wants to do is to get out of sight. In natural brooding he

An orchard is a great place for the chicks. (Courtesy of Purdue Agricultural
Experiment Station.)

ducks under;the mother hen. As soon as he get out of sight
or where he cannot see the thing that frightened him, he feels
safe. This is a case where it pays in dollars and cents to
humor the chicks.’? Fright interferes with proper growth
and comfort aids it.

Dryness. —Chicks cannot thrive in damp quarters. While
heat is supplied the floor of the hover is likely to be dry.
This should be true of the whole room or pen in which the
brooder is located. Dampness makes filth out of litter and

' Card and Kirkpatrick: Storrs (Conn.) Bulletin, No. 96.

THE BROODING OF CHICKS 243,

droppings, which harbors disease. Thrifty chicks may be
expected only when their quarters are dry and clean.

Sunlight.—Sunlight and cheerfulness are synonymous in
the brooder house. Sunlight is a powerful disinfectant and
wids in keeping the quarters dry. It adds materially to the
health and comfort of the chicks and aids in securing a profit-
able growth.

Number of Chicks to a Hover.—Commercial brooders are
usually overrated as to their capacity. While many of the
small hovers on the market rated at 100 chicks are capable
of brooding 100 chicks at the beginning, it is only when the
entire hover space is left free for the occupancy of the
chicks. In some hovers nearly half the floor space under
the hover is occupied by the heater. No hover, however,
which is not over 23 feet in diameter is capable of properly
rearing to weaning more than 50 chicks.

While large coal stove hovers are capable of keeping 1500
to 2000 chicks warm, the advice of Card and Nirkpatrick,'
that not more than 500 chicks be started in one lot is based
on sound practice. They advise 1 square foot of floor space
for each 4 chicks. On this basis a house or pen 10 by 12
feet is needed for each coal brooder.

Ease of Disinfection.—The mutual arrangements of the
brooder and the room in which it is housed must be such that
every crack and crevice may be easily reached and thoroughly
soaked by disinfectant from a spray pump

Safety from Fire.—While the brooder of today is much
safer from fire than its forerunners, this point should be
carefully considered in making a purchase and kept con-
stantly in mind after the purchase. There is always a con-
siderable fire hazard where colony brooders are being
operated.

Place of Operation.—Brooders should be located only in
buildings which meet the requirements of a good poultry
house. These requirements, already covered in part, are
fully discussed in Chapter VI. They are (1) dryness, (2)
good ventilation without drafts, (3) plenty of sunlight, (4)

1 Storrs (Conn.) Bulletin, No. 96.

244 POULTRY PRODUCTION

ease of cleaning and disinfection, (5) plenty of scratching
room for the chicks, and (6) protection against their enemies.
To this should be added that abundant shade is a necessity
as soon as the chicks are out of doors.

Preparing for the Chicks—A brooder which has ever, at
any time, been used, should be carefully cleaned and thor-
oughly disinfected in every part, including the thermometer,
drinking fountains, and feed troughs, before attempting to
brood a new group of chicks. The house in which it is
located (in the case of an indoor brooder) should receive
the same treatment.

It should then be leveled and the heater started. A new
machine, or one with which the operator is not familiar,
should be required to hold a fairly uniform temperature
of 100° for at least two days before trusting chicks to it.

The floor beneath and surrounding the hover should be
covered with a fine litter of some such digestible material as
fine-cut alfalfa or clover. Where indigestible material is
used, such as chaff, cut straw, sand, and the like, there is
always danger of the chicks filling themselves on this mate-
rial, thereby causing impaction and a resulting high death
rate. This may be replaced by a less expensive litter after
the chicks are three or four days old.

Some such arrangement as is shown in Tigures 122 or 123
should be made, which will prevent the chicks from wander-
ing too far from the hover at first. They are particularly
prone to being attracted by “sun spots” (7. e., the bright
places where the sun strikes the floor), and, feeling the
warmth of the sun, to camp there. When the spot moves on
or disappears, the chicks will remain and become chilled.

As soon as they all learn to go under the hover at night
without assistance, the arrangement may be removed.

The drinking fountain should always be located some little
distance from the hover so that any water that is spilled will
not render it necessary for the chicks to sleep in damp
quarters. A device for avoiding a spill is shown in Figure
124.

Daily Management.—Brooding routine consists in regular
and scrupulous care of the lamp, frequent and thorough

THE BROODING OF CHICKS 245

fe an ape nae Rees

(Courtesy of Cyphers

Showing square chick guard with corners protected.
Incubator Company.)

Half-inch mesh hardware cloth circular chick guard, an excellent arrange-
ment for confining the newly hatched chicks for the first few days. The
circle may be enlarged as the chicks get older. A very good substitute is a
light wood frame covered with burlap or light cotton cloth. (Courtesy of
Prairie State Incubator Company.)

246 POULTRY PRODUCTION

cleaning and disinfecting of the hover and its surroundings,
and a constant watch over the comfort of the chicks.

The lamp should be filled, cleaned, and the wick trimmed
every day with the same scrupulous care as with an incu-
bator. The fact that the lamp bowl contains enough oil
to last forty-eight hours should be made use of only on such
terrifically windy days that there is danger of being unable
to relight the lamp if it is put out. The time of filling and
cleaning should be that which proves, in the case of the
particular brooder being operated, to give the steadiest
and most dependable flame throughout the night.

Fra. 124

Device for catching spill. (Courtesy of Cyphers Incubator Company.)

The first four weeks of a chick’s life is the most critical
period. Usually when chicks are safely past this time, one
may be reasonably sure of rearing them. During this time,
however, they are highly susceptible to numerous chick
diseases and should be guarded against them in every way
possible. This means that the hover should be kept clean,
the litter frequently changed, and in case of the appearance
of disease, or of death under or about the hover for any cause
except injury, the brooder and its immediate surroundings
should be painstakingly disinfected. A whisk broom will
be found a convenience in spraying a small brooder.

Where several groups of chicks are being brooded, it pays
to have a cleaned and disinfected hover in reserve, which may
be used to replace one that needs special attention.

THE BROODING OF CHICKS 247

The necessity for constant watching during the early
weeks is fortunately made possible by the frequent feeding,
which is an essential of good feeding practice for little chicks.

It is considered good practice to get the chicks out onto the
ground just as soon as possible. ‘This may be done as soon
as they have the hover sufficiently well located so that they
may be allowed some distance away from it with reasonable
assurance that they will come back to it when they feel cool.
It will be sooner with some bunches than with others.

A muslin windbreak for little chicks. (Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural
Experiment Station.)

This should be done even with early chicks in quite cool
weather. If it is inclined to be a bit brisk, the chicks may
be protected by a cloth-frame enclosure, asin Figure 125. An
easy approach to the house or brooder should always be
provided. If it is at all steep it should be fitted with cleats
or have poultry netting tacked down for the chicks to hold
to with their toes.

Chicks should always be grouped by hatches when put in
the brooders. It is a great mistake to put a newly hatched
bunch in with a group a week or more old. Later on, the few
outstanding individuals which make a thriftier growth than

248 POULTRY PRODUCTION

the rest, should be moved to an older group, after having been
marked as possible breeders. The stragglers, however,
should not be moved to younger groups, but disposed of as
unfit to survive. The skilled breeder begins his work of
selection in the brooder.

For best results the sexes should be separated as soon as
they are certainly distinguishable. It is the only method
by which normal growth and satisfactory development of
the pullets can be secured.

Early roosting should always be encouraged. Perches
should be placed near the hover when the chicks are four or
five weeks old. A few will start to roost before the heat is
discontinued in the hover.“ Early roosting helps materially
in carrying the chicks over the critical period between arti-
ficial heat and full feather, when they are most likely to crowd
at night and become heated or smothered.”!

Brooder Vices. —The most common brooder vices, aside
from crowding, are “toe-picking,” and the development of a
“depraved appetite.”

Toe-picking with the youngsters appears to develop for
much the same reasons as feather-pulling with old stock.
It is likely to develop when the quarters are crowded or
when there is insufficient animal feed in the ration. The
constant picking at the toes finally causes blood to flow.
This, proving palatable, leads to cannibalism, which is
difficult to check, and which may cause quite serious loss.

When toe-picking is discovered, roomier quarters or more
animal feed or both should be provided. The chicks with
bleeding toes should be removed and kept separate until
they are well healed.

The depraved appetite is frequently difficult to assign
a cause or cure for. It may consist in eating the felt fringe
curtains of the hover, filling up on sand or earth, or other
unnutritious materials. The cause usually ascribed is the
lack of some necessary Ingredient in the ration.

Unless impaction occurs the vice usually does the chick
little harm. If the object of their interest is the hover
curtain, it may be necessary to substitute oilcloth for the
felt or flannel.

1 Card and Kirkpatrick, Storrs (Conn.) Bulletin, No. 96.

CHAPTER VI.
HOUSING AND HYGIENE.

Housing is Unnatural.—When the hen is confined in a
building she is placed under a highly artificial condition.
In her wild state she does not ordinarily seek protection or
seclusion in caves or burrows as do certain other birds. The
ancestors of the domestic white-egged varieties were jungle
dwellers, and sought safety and rest on the high limb of a
tree or the seclusion of the underbrush. While the ancestors
of at least a part of the feather-footed varieties probably
had somewhat different habits, nevertheless, they never
left the open.

Housing is Necessary. —The housing of poultry is necessary,
however, for, as Brown! points out, there has been a “ general
enfeeblement (of the races of poultry), which is the penalty
we have to pay for breeding under unnatural conditions, for
inbreeding to fix defined characters, and for using as stock
birds those specimens which, in respect to vigor of body, are
the least fit, even though they show the racial type to the
highest degree.” Artificial protection is necessary to ollset
this general enfeeblement.

It is also necessary in order that as much as possible of
the energy derived from feed may be used for productive
purposes, rather than in withstanding heat or cold winds and
dampness. The tree-roosting hen is usually vigorous, but
she is not a great producer except in very favorable weather.

Comfort the Prime Essential—Other things being equal,
production of meat or eggs is in direct proportion to the
comfort of the hens. So far as the hens are concerned,
ege production is essentially reproduction. The balance of
the process of bringing a new creature into the world may
be accomplished without the aid of the hen. The conditions

1 Races of Domestic Poultry.

(249 )

250 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Fic. 126

A simple and serviceable house may be made from piano boxes. (Courtesy
of Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station.)

The piano-box house complete. (Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural
Experiment Station.)

HOUSING AND HYGIENE 251

which lead to rapid reproduction are those which tend toward
comfort. The natural laying and breeding season is in the
spring, because conditions are those which furnish comfort.
The successful hen-house will furnish its occupants with
permanent protection from dampness, drafts, wind, filth,
vermin, or other causes of discomfort and disease, and
from their larger enemies. At the same time it will give
free access to the sunlight and fresh air. It furnishes all the
protective advantages of the tree limb or hedge row without
furnishing their discomforts or adding others, and insofar
as possible duplicates spring conditions the year round.

Location.—Comfort in the poultry-house is as much a
matter of location as it is of construction, and the location of
the building has very much to do with its success. In a
general way the house fixes the center of the circle which
marks the limits of the birds’ range. This is increasingly
true under modern methods of feeding, where each flock of
fowls is always fed in or near its own house, whether it
be fed by hopper or out of hand.

The house marks the spot where they spend much of their
time in the winter, which is the season that most taxes the
producer’s skill. The well-located house will be so situated
that its occupants spend a maximum of time out of doors.
This is desirable because it adds to the fowl’s health and
lessens the relative cost of the house. The greater the
proportion of time that the fowls remain outside, the larger
is the number of fowls the house will accommodate.

Shade and Shelter.—Extremes of temperature lessen pro-
duction, and should be modified insofar as it is practicable.
Although the ancestors of many of our common varieties of
chickens are believed to have come from a warm country,
the domestic fowl does not seem to be very well equipped
to withstand high temperatures. There are no sweat glands,
as in the horse, to aid in keeping the body cool. The molt
comes as a preparation for winter rather than for the purpose
of keeping the hen cool, as does the shedding of other animals.
About the only means for reducing her body temperature
when it is too high that has been furnished the hen is panting,
and panting steals productive energy.

252 POULTRY PRODUCTION

The jungle-dwelling fowl of the hot country is kept cool
by the shade of the thicket, and the domestic hen should be
protected in the same way. In addition to trees, there

Growing chickens need shade. (Courtesy of Purdue Agricultural
Experiment Station.)

Fie. 129

A chicken house near a corn field is good for the corn and good for the
chickens. (Courtesy of Purdue Agricultural Experiment Station.)

HOUSING AND HYGIENE 253

should be some low shrubbery under which the hens love
to hide and which serves as a protection from hawks and
crows in the case of young stock, as well.

The same trees that furnish shade will keep out the wind.
It is not enough to locate the poultry-house in the lee of
some larger farm building. Such shelter is valuable if it is
the best to be had, but the large building will not always be
to windward, and hot winds are often quite as blighting as
cold ones.

Fie. 130

When it is necessary to build where there are no trees, shade must be
provided for the stock. (Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural Experiment
Station.)

Sudden changes in temperature always lessen egg pro-
duction and generally lessen hatching power. The house
that is completely surrounded by trees will not be subject
to such sudden and severe changes as the house that is in
the full sweep of the wind. These trees may at the same
time comprise the farm orchard or be the means of supply-
ing fence posts. A hillside may be of great assistance in
protecting a house from prevailing winds, but it should be
supplemented by trees.

Soil and Drainage.—The ideal soil for the location of the
hen-house is one that is open enough to allow water to drain
out and warm air to get in quickly, and at the same time is
fertile enough to support a vigorous vegetable growth. The
sandy or gravelly loam furnishes these conditions. The
clay and gumbo soils are usually undesirable, because

254 POULTRY PRODUCTION

moisture passes through them with difficulty. Where there
is moisture there is evaporation. Evaporation is a cooling
process, and damp soils are always cold. Cold and dampness
are limiting factors in egg production.

Such a soil, unless thoroughly drained by tiling, is a
source of positive danger to the health of the flock. Moisture
furnishes one of the essentials of the survival and development
of disease-producing bacteria. A damp soil harbors disease.
When the movement of the soil water is slow, unless the
ground surrounding the house is so steep that it is self-
cleaning every time it rains, it becomes coated with filth
and contaminated with accumulations of droppings. Muddy
yards are unsatisfactory to feed on, and soon make the feeding
floor of the houses dirty. Unlike ducks, chickens are highly
sensitive to filth in their feed.

Aside from its hygienic aspects, the fact must not be lost
sight of that muddy yards mean that mud will be carried
into the pens and nests and dirty eggs will result. Dirty
eggs bring less on any market where quality is considered.

Exposure.—There are periods when despite the efforts of
the poultryman the birds are driven indoors. These periods
are shortened when the house is placed on a south slope,
well sheltered, that offers good air and water drainage.
The south slope is advantageous for poultry for the opposite
reason that a north slope is sought for fruits. The early
arrival of spring conditions is as desirable for poultry, as
the retarding of those conditions until all danger of frost
has passed is for fruit. The soil on a south slope will be
several degrees warmer than the same type of soil on any
other slope or on the level. Because it is warmer it is dryer.
The snow melts more quickly, and there is less discomfort for
the birds. Spring conditions arrive earlier and tarry later
on a south slope than on any other exposure, and spring is
the season of the greatest and most economical production.
Next to the southern exposure the east is the most desirable,
because if they cannot have both, chickens, in common with
flowers, prefer the morning to the afternoon sun. The west
slope is the next most desirable, and the north exposure is
the least desirable of all.

HOUSING AND HYGIENE 255

Air Drainage.—Poultry houses are sometimes placed on
low ground because of the shelter afforded by the higher
ground, or for reasons of convenience. Cold, damp air
settles in low places and frosts appear there earlier in the
fall and later in the spring than on the surrounding higher
ground. If there is no lower ground beyond, on to which the
cold air may drain, such a situation is bad. Because damp,
chilly air is uncomfortable it is not conducive to good pro-
duction. The shelter of high ground is desirable only when
there is enough ground lower than that upon which the
house is situated, so that the cool air that settles about the
house may quickly drain away.

A comfortable house with a board, glass, and muslin front, covered with
straw. (Courtesy of Reliable Poultry Journal.)

The Hen-house and other Buildings.—In locating a per-
manent poultry-house the fact that it must fit into the
general routine of farm work and bear certain relations to
other farm buildings must not be lost sight of. It is highly
undesirable to build very near granaries, cribs, or barns,
where the poultry is a nuisance, and which harbor rats and
other vermin that prey on poultry and destroy eggs. The
hen-house that is properly cared for may be located consider-
ably nearer the dwelling than the stables for other stock.
This is often a convenience for several reasons, among which
is the fact that it is likely to be near the water supply.

It sometimes happens that the physical characteristics

256 POULTRY PRODUCTION

of a location near the dwelling-house are bad. The soil may
be of a poor texture or the orchard and woodlot at some
distance. In general, however, if the building site for the
dwelling has been well chosen it will furnish good conditions
for the hen-house.

Dryness.—Of those conditions which help to make a hen-
house comfortable, dryness is of the utmost importance. It
is acondition dependent upon proper location, good construc-
tion, thorough ventilation, and an abundance of sunshine.
There is no condition under which poultry is kept, unless
it is a state of starvation, that is more surely and quickly
fatal to profitable production than dampness in the roosting
and scratching quarters. It makes the birds uncomfortable
and renders them susceptible to disease.

The chicken is of necessity a rapid breather. Its tempera-
ture is high (average 106° I.) and the oxidation within the
body is enormously rapid. Fowls live at a high rate of speed,
and, as with a highly geared machine, clogging spells disaster.

Damp air compels fowls to increase their already rapid
respiration. It is not uncommon to see chickens confined in
a damp house panting on a day that is rather cold. This
extra work of faster breathing uses up energy that should be
employed in the production processes.

A reason for the increased rapid breathing lies in the
fact that with the fowl a much larger proportion of the body
moisture is eliminated by way of the respiratory system
than in the case of other farm animals. While fowls do not
drink as much water in proportion to their weight as do
other animals, there is no elimination by means of sweat
glands, and the amount of moisture in the feces is com-
paratively small. ‘There is no urine passed. In the light
of the fowl’s high temperature, as well as the foregoing, it
seems reasonable to assume that a larger percentage of the
water drank by fowls is gotten rid of by means of the breath-
ing apparatus than is the case with other farm animals.

The elaborateness of the apparatus itself would also suggest
this probability. Besides a well-developed pair of lungs,
there are connected with them four pairs of air sacs of
considerable proportions placed on either side of the body,

HOUSING AND HYGIENE 257

and ranging in position from the neck to the abdomen, with a
single median sac located in the cavity of the thorax.
Besides opening into the lungs, these sacs communicate
directly with the cavities of most of the bones of the body,
with the exception of those of the forearm and hand of the
wing and those below the hock-joint of the leg.

Fic. 132

A farm poultry-house: no light, no ventilation. (Courtesy of Purdue
Agricultural Experiment Station.)

This elaborate system for gathering moisture from every
part of the body trunk is working at a distinct disadvantage
when the air which must be depended upon to take up the
moisture vapor is already laden with it.

Such a condition js debilitating to the system as well as
fatal to production. It is a law of universal application that
a debilitated condition always means weakened defensive
powers and a greater susceptibility to disease.

Moisture is one of the essentials of the development of
disease germs in common with all other bacteria. The

258 POULTRY PRODUCTION

more moisture there is in a building the more opportunity
there is for disease-bearing organisms to be present in large
numbers.

With the moisture of the body being constantly given off
by means of respiration and feces the air of the poultry-house
is bound to become laden unless it is as constantly replaced
with new air.

Fic. 133

Bribe

A farm poultry-house having no ventilation. (Courtesy of Purdue
Agricultural Experiment Station.)

Ventilation —Ventilation is of profound importance, how-
ever, not only because of the relation to the elimination of
moisture. With the moisture of the expired air, gases are
also given off, the principal one of which is carbon dioxide.
Among these gases are certain ones that are actually poison-
ous if rebreathed. They are far more poisonous when
breathed by another individual than when breathed by the
individual giving them off. There is no reason to suppose
that the striking result reported by King,'! where a mouse
confined in a pint fruit-jar until it was nearly suffocated
lived longer than a perfectly fresh mouse did that was put
into the jar at that point, is not holding true in the hen-house
continually. Every bird in the flock of fifty or a hundred is
compelled to breathe the poisons given off by all the other

1 Physies of Agriculture.

HOUSING AND HYGIENE 259

individuals in the flock unless there is constant and positive
displacement of the expired air by fresh air.

A poor poultry house; no ventilation.

Fig. 135

Making a good poultry house out of a poor one (Figure 134) by providing
ventilation by means of a cloth-curtain window and a straw loft.

The need of ventilation is further emphasized by King,!
who quotes Calin as giving the cubic feet of air breathed by
certain animals per thousand pounds of live weight as follows:

Cow 2804
Horse . 3401
Hen 8278

' Physics of Agriculture.

260 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Pearl and Surface! have to say, in reference to certain
breeding experiments: “ Conditions of housing have a marked
and definite influence on the mean or average fertility and
hatching quality of eggs.’ In the experiments discussed
it was found that both fertility and the hatching quality
of eggs were very much better when the breeding was done
in a curtain-front house, which furnished an abundance of
fresh, pure air, than when it was done in what was formerly
considered to be a highly desirable type of heated house with-
out curtain front, but with a supposedly adequate system of
indirect ventilation.

Ventilation and Drafts.—It is difficult to so house fowls that
they will have as full advantage of fresh air as they have in
the tree and at the same time be protected from drafts.
While a fowl can roost all night in a tree when it is blowing
a gale and not take cold or suffer any other noticeable ill
effects, it will take cold very quickly if compelled to be in a
draft inside of a house. Colds frequently form the beginning
of epidemics of roup, diphtheria, eatarrh and other kindred
ills. While ventilation should be ample it must be without
drafts.

Artificial Warmth versus Fresh Air.—A moderate tempera-
ture is one of the conditions of spring which is conducive
to high production. The question arises whether it will be
profitable in the broad sense to furnish artificial heat even
at the expense of ventilation. There is not nearly as much
evidence on this point as there should be, but such as we
have seems to point decidedly to the conclusion that to have
air fresh is of far greater importance than to have it warm.

Sunlight.—An essential of the best success of a chicken-
house is plenty of sunshine. Nothing helps more in the
effort to reproduce spring conditions in the hen-house than
flooding it with sunshine. The hens like it, and it helps to
moderate low temperature and to keep the house dry.
It helps to prevent disease as well. It is one of the most
effective germicides that can be made use of. Other things
being equal the house that admits the most sunshine in the

‘Maine Bulletin No. 168.

HOUSING AND HYGIENE 261

winter time will be the one out of which comes the greatest
production. As Dryden dryly remarks, “Sunshine is a germ
destroyer and a better egg producer than red pepper or other
condimental foods.”’

WHE

\we sir abil

SMG SERRE A?

A “lean-to’’ that was converted into a most satisfactory poultry-house.
Poles were placed inside to form a ceiling and the loft thus made was filled
with straw to add to the warmth of the house. (Courtesy of Reliable Poul-
try Journal.)
Fic. 137

Lyf,

Wei

A shed with the end toward the south that was converted into a satis-
factory poultry-house by cutting a large opening. (Courtesy of Reliable
Poultry Journal.)

Artificial Light.—A comparatively recent development in
poultry husbandry is the use of artificial lighting in the
chicken house to prolong the feeding day. The lighting

Per Cent

AND

TEMPERATURE

262 POULTRY PRODUCTION

problem is proving to be largely a feeding problem and will
be discussed in that connection in a later chapter.

For the present purpose it may be said that proper lighting
accompanied by proper feeding markedly increases the winter
egg production of pullets, and under certain circumstances,
probably of yearling hens.

While rather early to pass final judgment, it now appears
probable that where electric current is available and eggs are
produced as a source of money income rather than to supply
the home table, lights should form a part of the equipment of
the poultry house.

20 30 40 50

10
WEEKS From Nov 11913

Showing graphically the relation between the per cent. (of perfect) egs
production, temperature and hours of sunlight. (Temperature and egg

production per cents from the data of Card, Storrs (Conn.) Bulletin, No. 91.)

Rice! advises the use of lights which allow one watt to
6 to 8 square feet of floor space, assuming the walls are white
and reflectors are used. Lewis? has shown that two com-
paratively small lights are preferable to a single large one
1 Cornell Poultry Department, Stencil No. 1661.

* Paper read before Thirteenth Annual Convention of American Associa-
tion of Instructors and Investigators of Poultry Husbandry.

HOUSING AND HYGIENE 263

because shadows are thus largely avoided if wide angle
reflectors are used. The lights must be bright enough to
show fine grains in the straw. Lanterns and gasoline lamps
have so far not proved highly satisfactory.

Ease of Disinfection—Because of the small size and
corresponding small economic value of the individual hen,
not much time can be spent in doctoring her if she becomes
sick, even if the knowledge of how to treat her is at one’s
disposal. Yet many poultry diseases are highly contagious.
If they once gain entrance to the flock, nearly every bird is
likely to be affected. The only satisfactory way to deal with
such epidemics is by taking every precaution for prevention.

An essential of a good poultry-house, therefore, is ease of
cleaning and disinfection. All fixtures and appliances should
be movable, so that they may be easily cleaned and sprayed.
The general construction should be as tight as possible, so
that there will be a minimum of cracks and crevices. It is
in the cracks that the mites breed. They attack the hens
when on the nest or the perch and hide in any crack they can
find during the day. Such cracks as are unavoidable must
be easily reached.

Size of the House.—The size of the chicken-house is
determined by the number of birds to be sheltered, the
amount of time they will be compelled to stay in the house
by unfavorable outside conditions, and by its portability or
permanence. The portable house will necessarily be of such
size that it can be hauled from one part of the farm to another
with the motive power available. The topography of the
farm will influence the size of the portable house somewhat,
as a very much larger house can be handled by a team where
the ground is level than where it is rough and broken.

With regard to the amount of floor space required per bird,
Dryden! estimates that ‘“ Where there is little or no snow, or
where chickens can be out of doors every day in the year,
about two square feet of floor space will be sufficient. This
would apply to flocks of twenty or more. For smaller flocks
a more liberal allowance of space should be made. Where the

1 Oregon Extension Bulletin No. 2.

264 POULTRY PRODUCTION

climate is such that the fowls will seek shelter part of the
year rather than go outdoors in the yards and fields, more
space should be provided, say four to five square feet per fowl.
Halpin! says that a flock of fifty hens should usually be
allowed about five square feet of floor space per hen. He
further calls attention to the fact that “One hundred hens
will thrive in a pen 20 x 20 feet, that is, four square feet of
floor space per hen, but one hen will not thrive in a pen two
by two feet. As the number of the flock becomes less the

Fre. 139

A good farm poultry-house. (Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural
Experiment Station.)

amount of floor space per hen must increase, and anyone
keeping eight or ten hens should allow at least ten square feet
of floor space per bird unless he is prepared to give special
attention to cleaning and bedding the house. Rice and
Rogers? add that “The lighter breeds, because they are more
active and restless, require nearly as much room as larger
breeds.” App, Waller and Lewis? report that the average
floor-space per mature bird allowed by commercial poultry-
men in New Jersey was 3.9 square feet, based on a survey of
150 farms. ;

1 Wisconsin Bulletin No. 215. 2 Cornell Bulletin No. 274.
3 New Jersey Bulletin, No. 329.

HOUSING AND HYGIENE 265

Evils of Overcrowding.—When hens are too closely penned
or are not allowed enough floor and yard space they are
naturally discontented. Following the laws of nature, that
both plants and animals shall reproduce themselves most
abundantly when the conditions surrounding them come
nearest to fulfilling their wants, egg production is likely to
suffer under close confinement.

Besides this, certain vices generally appear in the flock
of considerable size that is closely confined or whose quarters
are too small. One of the first to appear is feather-pulling.
Starting at first as a manifestation of nervous impatience by
a few birds, it is likely to be imitated by most of the flock,
with the result that many fowls in the flock are kept rather
destitute of feathers. If it so happens that the feathers are
green and a little blood appears, cannibalism is likely to
develop, and at times is the cause of serious loss. At best,
protein that might otherwise be used toward the manufac-
ture of eggs must be used in constantly growing new feathers.

Egg-eating is very much more likely to develop in a
crowded pen, largely due, perhaps, to the fact that eggs
are more often broken under such conditions. Nevertheless
the loss from such cause may be large.

A further evil of crowding that must not be overlooked
is the curtailment of the production of the weaker indi-
viduals of the flock. Where generous space is allowed each
fowl the less vigorous ones have more opportunity and are
likely to respond with a stronger production. A fowl that
is being continually pecked around, as the least vigorous
ones are in crowded quarters, cannot be expected to be a
profitable producer.

Size of the Pen.—The small flock is usually housed in a
building containing a single room or pen. Large flocks are
generally divided in groups even when kept in the same
house and each group given a separate pen.

The question of just what constitutes a flock of the proper
size is a question upon which practical poultrymen differ
and upon which there is little experimental evidence. ‘The
natural covey of the wild ancestors of at least a part of our
domestic hens is five or six. With an unskilled poultryman

266 POULTRY PRODUCTION

the individual egg production of hens kept in comparatively
small groups is higher. On the other hand the more groups
there are the greater is the labor of caring for them.

Combining two small flocks in one larger one lessens the
time necessary for their care by nearly half. Just where
the increased labor of caring for small flocks begins to
offset the increased production is impossible to state. For
general farm practice, where poultry is not a specialty, the
maximum group is probably about one hundred. This
would require a pen 20 x 20 feet.

Foundations.—A good foundation will be solid enough to
support the building and keep the cold winds from blowing
under the house, deep enough to prevent heaving by frost,
and high enough above grade to keep out surface water. In
most sections it will be found advisable to build foundations
twenty inches deep to prevent heaving and twelve inches
above grade to keep out surface water. In order to leave
room for the opening and shutting of doors where a deep
litter is used the top of the foundation must be at least six
inches above the floor level. This brings the tops of the door
sills eight or more inches above the floor. If for some reason
it is necessary to locate the house where the texture of the
ground is such that it tends to hold moisture a tile placed
even with the bottom and just at the outside of the foun-
dation, and furnished with a suitable outlet is a necessary
precaution if the house is to be dry.

Floors.—The hen-house floor must be moisture-proof, free
from cracks, and easily cleaned. It should be rat-proof and
durable. The board floor, if properly laid, is free from
cracks and is easily cleaned and disinfected. It is usually
a dry floor, because the air space below it stops capillary
attraction. It is not a durable floor when compared with
cement, and it is not rat-proof unless raised well off the
ground as in igure 142.

The dirt floor is popular because of the supposed economy
and its being “nearer nature.’”’ Unless certain rather ex-
pensive precautions are taken the dirt floor is likely to
be damp. If it is not damp it is dusty. Either condition
threatens the health of the birds. To keep out the capillary

HOUSING AND HYGIENE 267

moisture it will be necessary in most locations to excavate
the floor and put in an eight-inch course of coarse-crushed
rock. Over this may be laid a course of gravel or cinders,
and finally the dirt. This will keep out the moisture, but
will not keep down the dust, which is very irritating to the
air passages, often producing a cold-like condition that
develops into roup. Unless fairly frequently replaced the

Fie. 140

A six- or eight-inch course of coarse crushed rock or hollow building-tile
laid flat should be the floor foundation. (Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural
Experiment Station.)

dirt becomes contaminated with filth and is a source of
danger.

The cement floor is dry, if properly constructed, and is
sanitary, durable, and rat-proof. It is not a cold floor when
properly bedded with a straw litter. In order to insure a
cement floor being dry it is necessary to take a precaution
similar to the one mentioned in the case of the dirt floor.

268 POULTRY PRODUCTION

The capillary moisture must be stopped. A six- or eight-inch
course of coarse-crushed rock or hollow building tile laid flat,
should be the floor’s foundation. Over this may be placed
a layer of gravel and finally the finishing coat, which should
be smooth to insure easy cleaning. It is an additional safe-
guard against moisture with both dirt and concrete floors to
inake the floor level six inches above the level of the ground

outside.
Fia. 141

The Kansas colony house. (Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural Experiment
Station.)

What seems to be proving a very satisfactory floor is made
by laying hollow clay building blocks on their flat side in a bed
of well- settled gravel and plastering the whole with cement
plaster. This floor is durable, rat-proof, and dry. It has the
advantage of an air space below it, the same as does the
board floor.

Windows.—It is necessary to have windows in a chicken-
house for both light and ventilation. The window intended
primarily to furnish light is of glass. The window for furnish-
ing fresh air is only protected by a light cloth curtain, by
open slats, or in some cases not at all.

HOUSING AND HYGIENE 269
Because of the desirability of admitting as much sunlight
as possible into the back part of the house it is customary to

place the glass windows as high as the construction of the

Via. 142

Tay

A board-floor house set on cement blocks. The cloth curtains are arranged
to side up and down instead of being swung on hinges. (Courtesy of
Purdue Agricultural Experiment Station )

Fre. 143

waa

wa Be iin

A row of half-monitor roof fresh-air houses. (Courtesy of IF’. L. Sewell.)

house will allow, and to have their length run vertically so
that as much as possible of the floor will be swept by the
sunlight.

270 POULTRY PRODUCTION

The custom often differs in the placing of the open window.
It is usually placed high enough so that the wind will not
strike the fowls, as in Figure 139, or clear at the floor, as in the
case of the Tolman house in Figure 162, and the Woods house
in Figure 148. Hither way is satisfactory. The main
function of this open window is to allow the free admission of
fresh air without creating drafts. In extreme cold or stormy
weather these windows should be protected by frames
covered with light muslin, heavy cheese-cloth, or by a
slatted frame as shown in Figure 148.

In the shed roof and combination roof types of houses
it is usual to have all the openings on the south side, as in
Figures 139 and 147. For very warm weather it is often
desirable, however, to have extra ventilation, as is given in
the house shown in Figure 151. In the combination-roof
houses of the type shown in Figure 162 the open window is
placed at the south and the glass window and door on the
east and west sides. In houses having openings on more than
one side, care must be taken to see that the fowls are so
protected that they are out of the line of any drafts.

Ventilation Systems.—Most of the ventilating systems
used in stables depend upon a considerable difference between
inside and outside temperatures for successful operation.
Owing to the facts that chickens require a much greater
amount of floor space per hundred pounds of live weight than
do the larger animals, and that the roof must be high enough
to furnish head room for the feeder, there is too much cubic
space in a hen-house for the hens to heat it sufficiently to
make such systems work. Up to the present time, open-
front, curtain-front, and slatted-front houses seem to furnish
the best means of ventilation. Where the summers are
extremely hot, such ventilation may be supplemented by
ventilators at the back of the house, as shown in Figure 144.
This is so arranged that the foals are never in a direct
draft.

Walls and Partitions—The walls and partitions must be
solid enough to support the roof and withstand heavy winds.
They must be draft-proof, dry, and easy to clean and dis.
infect. Matched boards free from knots, well painted, and

HOUSING AND HYGIENE 271

lined with building paper, or covered with prepared roofing,
will usually be draft-proof. If the boards are dressed on the

Tig. 144

FLOOR PLAIW

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ae fs
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Posh for supporting stringer
under raprers

m1
I

a4] Oreepings

‘Poof removable

Dust

|
Pera yeoverete ||
yaoen

r even with fop of Sill.

End view and floor plan of Cornell laying house. (Courtesy
of Cornell Countryman.)

272 POULTRY PRODUCTION

inside, as they should be, they will be easy to clean.

having the siding run vertically instead of horizontally the

Fig. 145

NESTS ANDO BROODY COOP

WIND BAFFLER
Arrows sho nd

i how we

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FRONT VIEW OF COMPLETED HOUSE

Front view and framing plan of Cornell laying house. (Courtesy of

Cornell Countryman.)

HOUSING AND HYGIENE 273

disinfectant used in spraying will penetrate the cracks much
better and render it an easier matter to get rid of mites
should they gain access to the house.

Fie. 146

pA frame made of 142" ~
pieces and covered with
Jmesh poultry wire to g
Aeep the hens from fiying
ap én the windows ITI VE

A boara /¥6 1s fastened fo the
studding on each side of tro —
windew fo act as a wind
snes

: ;

Frames hung with
hooks on sides —~_

Bution to hold window in-
Fee when closed,

(x1 Cleats to hold window =
in place when open

Partition
/ Vi \ \ z

Cross Section of Feeo Hopper

Details in Cornell laying house. (Courtesy of Cornell Countryman.)
18

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FRAMING ee FRONT

Showing front elevation and framing of the ‘‘ lowa Colony House”’ (portable).
(Iowa Bulletin No. 132.)

HOUSING AND HYGIENE 275

Such a wall as this will meet the requirements of most
climates and will be dry. The greatest difficulty from
moisture gathering on the walls usually comes from dead air
spaces in the walls that are double boarded. During the night
the air between the boards becomes cool. In the morning
when the sun pours into the pen it warms it faster than it
does the air shut in between the boards. The result is that
the wall on the north side in particular will be cooler than
the air of the pen and will condense the moisture from it.

A permanent farm poultry house, with slatted front and scratching basement.
(Courtesy of Missouri State Poultry Experiment Station.)

Roofing Materials.—-The so-called “prepared roofing’’ is
the material most widely used for poultry house roofs. It
has the advantages of being reasonable in price, and draft-
proof, as well as moisture-proof. It has the disadvantages of
drawing heat badly when placed on a south slope, unless it
is painted white, and of ripping in severe wind storms, unless
cleated down with wooden strips.

The Straw Loft.—One means of helping to keep the poultry-
house dry is the straw loft. A loft is built just under the roof,

ab. 0'4de—___. - 4 @___-»}

276 POULTRY PRODUCTION

the floor of which is made of rough boards placed one to two
inches apart. On this floor is placed a layer of straw about

Fic. 149

A good farm poultry house with straw loft. (Courtesy of University of
Missouri.)

Tic. 150

is = Somes we ltorambes ————
saad Lee eee gear CIADERS. ORDO RUSHED STONER.

Sectional view of house shown in Figure 149, showing arrangement of
straw loft. (Courtesy of University of Missouri.)

HOUSING AND HYGIENE 277

two feet deep. Doors or windows open into the loft so that
there may be a good circulation of air above without creating
a draft in the pen below. The straw absorbs any dampness
there may be in the air below through the openings between
the boards. On clear days the doors or windows in the loft
are opened and the current of air passing through dries out
the straw.

The straw loft also tends to make the house warmer in
winter and cooler insummer. It acts as an insulator between

Fic. 151

|
HM es iigg,

Showing ventilator door under eaves and windows for lighting the floor
under the dropping boards. (Courtesy of Purdue Agricultural Experiment
Station.)

the roof and the pen below. It is also likely to be a harbor
for rats and mice, and mites once established in it are difficult
to get rid of. So far as the efficiency of the loft is concerned
the straw may be left from year to year.

The straw loft is best adapted to the gable-roof houses,
as shown in Figure 149. It may be used with less con-
venience in either a shed roof or combination roof house.

Fixtures.—Those pieces of equipment which are built as a
part of the house should be simple, few in number, placed
high enough not to use up floor space, and removable. ‘They

278 POULTRY PRODUCTION

will generally consist of nests, perches, a broody coop, and a
shelf for the watering device and feed hoppers. A dropping
board beneath the perehes is desirable, where bedding is
expensive or the manure is to be saved for gardening purposes.
It is essential if the nests are located below the perches.

Nests.—The desirable qualities of a nest are that it be
roomy, easily cleaned and sprayed, dark, conveniently
located, and capable of being closed. For the common
farm breeds a nest fourteen inches square and six inches
deep is a good size. At least fifteen inches of head room for
the hens should be provided. There should be one nest for
every eight hens in farm flocks of ordinary size and produc-
tion. In high producing flocks there should be one nest
for every four or five hens. Enough of the parts should be
removable so that cleaning and thorough spraying are
possible. The whole battery of nests should be so arranged
that they can be taken out of the house for cleaning, spraying,
and sunning when it appears desirable.

Dark nests are highly desirable because the hen loves seclu-
sion for laying. If her whims are satisfied in this particular
she is very much less likely to steal her nest in undesirable
places. If the nests are dark, fowls are far less likely to get
to scratching in the nest, break an egg, and contract the
vice of egg-eating. Arranging it so the fowls may be easily
shut out, precludes their roosting in the nests and fouling
them. ‘lhis they are prone to do, particularly at molting
time, in order to escape being crowded by other birds on the
perch. While the new feathers are coming through they are
sensitive to being touched by other birds.

For convenience the nests should be placed at such a
height that the person gathering the eggs, who presumably
has a basket or bucket in one hand, may pick up the e
with the other without bending over.

Probably the commonest location for the nests is under-
neath the perches, though it is not necessarily the best. Nests
and perches are the two commonest locations for infestations
by mites. It would seem that the chance of discovering and
eradicating them before they have infested both the perches
and the nests, and so drain the vitality of the laying hens both

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POULTRY PRODUCTION

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HOUSING AND HYGIENE 281

by night and by day, is better if these two fixtures were some-
what separated. When the nests are placed under the perches
a dropping board is necessitated and the nests must either
be too low for the convenience of the caretaker or the perches
too high for the hens in heavy laying. If the perches are not
more than three feet high the bottoms of the nests will per-
force be so low as to make it difficult to clean out below them
and so dark that the floor is of little use for feeding, and the
hens are likely to lay there rather than in the nests.

A good type of wall nest.

The perches should be the most frequently disinfected
of any part of the house. With the nests below the perches
they are very likely to catch some of the drippings from the
spray and the eggs be tainted.

In bedding the nests the same care should be taken as is
suggested for the hatching nest (see page 198).

Nests for ducks should always be on the floor. In fact
there is no need of nests where the floor of the house is kept
well bedded with straw.

Perches.—Perches are necessary for chickens, but not for
waterfowl. The droppings of the former adhere to the feathers
if the birds are not on an elevated perch. With water-
fowl the voidings are semifluid and the feathers so arranged

282 POULTRY PRODUCTION

that soiling does not occur. The perches should be removable,
free from cracks, located where there is no possibility of
drafts, and comfortable. The roosting quarters are likely
to be the part of the house most often infested with mites.
Unless the perch is free from cracks and can he removed so
as to expose the ends, it is very difficult to reach the mites and
their eggs. Unless the eggs are reached and killed, spray-
ing only gives temporary relief. In order to avoid drafts
the perches will be located as far away from the windows
or doors as possible. In an open-front pen this will usually
be the back side.

Fig. 155

The dropping board should be removable for spraying. Good type of
broody coop. (Courtesy of Missouri State Poultry Experiment Station.)

In order to insure comfort the perches provided should
allow from seven to nine inches of room for each bird and be
fifteen inches apart, even more room is desirable for the
Asiaties. All perches should be on the same level to avoid
the crowding that results from the effort of all to sleep
on the topmost perch. Good rest is as essential to chickens
as to any other class of live stock. The most common
material used for perches is 2.x 4 lumber. This may be laid
on the side or placed on edge. In the latter case it is well to
round the upper edges to avoid bruising the feet.

HOUSING AND HYGIENE 283

If a dropping board is used in connection with the perches
it should be of the very best of matched material and tightly
made so that there will be no cracks for mites to find their
way into. It should be removable so that the ends may be
easily accessible when spraying. The dropping board should
be far enough below the perches to permit its being cleaned
without removing them.

Dust Wallow.—The advisability of furnishing hens with a
dust bath is a question upon which poultrymen differ. The
great arguments in its favor are that the hens like it and it
helps to keep down the lice. However, even where a covered
wallow is furnished, it makes the house dirty and fills the air
with dust particles. Almost invariably the hens will come
outside the inclosure before shaking themselves. If it lessens
the labor of fighting lice it increases the necessity of the
rather frequent cleaning of the house.

Broody Coop.—The broody coop is a great convenience for
breaking up broody hens, isolating injured fowls, or for keep-
ing extra male birds where one is alternating males. For its
main purpose of breaking up broody hens it should be con-
structed with a slatted bottom. It is often convenient to
locate the broody coop at the end of the dropping board,
but it may be fastened to the wall or suspended from the
roof.

Feeding Shelf.—It is necessary to have a place where the
watering device and feed hoppers can be kept so that the
hens cannot scratch the litter into them. For this a shelf,
as shown in Figure 157, is convenient. It should be placed
high enough so that the hens will not be tempted to lay under
it and it will not be an obstruction in cleaning out the litter.
It is well to place it near the door for the convenience of the
caretaker and toward the front of the house. Hens are likely
to face the light as they scratch and the litter flies toward
the back of the house more often than any other direction.

Types of Houses.—Houses are usually classified according
to the number of rooms or pens they contain, their porta-
bility or permanence, or their style of roof.

The term “continuous house” implies that several pens
have been incorporated in one building and several separate
groups of birds may be housed under one roof.

284 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Fie. 156

F< ge

SARS.

A slatted feeding shelf. (Courtesy of Purdue Agricultural Experiment
Station.)

Interior of poultry-house, showing feeding shelf, dry mash hopper, pro-
tected watering device, broody coop, perches, and dropping board. (Courtesy
of Purdue Agricultural Experiment Station.)

HOUSING AND HYGIENE 285

The term “colony house” usually indicates that only one
group is housed under one roof and usually at a considerable
distance from other groups. Portable colony houses are
comparatively small, so that a team can haul them from one
part of the farm to another. Permanent colony houses of
sufficient size to house a colony of a thousand birds are being
used successfully on specialized poultry farms. In a few
cases large-sized colonies of chickens are divided into two
groups, each having its own pen.

Fie, 158

There should be at least one portable colony house on every farm where
chickens are kept. (Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station.)

The continuous house, containing several pens, is somewhat
less expensive to construct than colony houses containing
the same amount of floor space as the respective pens. Its
pens are better protected in extremely cold weather and the
labor of caring for the several groups is concentrated. The
contamination of the ground and the loss of fertility will be
somewhat greater than with a permanent colony house, and
a great deal worse than with a portable colony house that
is moved from place to place. The danger of epidemics
travelling from flock to flock is very much greater in the
continuous house.

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REAR ELEVATION

Showing the details of construction of an" A" shaped portable colony house
suitable for hauling about in an orchard. (Iowa Bulletin No. 132.)

HOUSING AND HYGIENE 287

The portable house differs from the permanent house in
that instead of being anchored on a foundation it rests on
runner sills and may be drawn from one location to another.
This is highly advantageous in that it is possible to have the
fowls frequently on fresh ground; it allows the chickens to
be fitted into a rotation of crops, picking up the waste grain
and insects in the field after harvest, and dropping fertility
on the field where it can be used. Dryden makes a statement
that the droppings of fifty fowls will keep an acre of ground
in a high state of fertility, and Purvis! estimates that one
hundred fowls running at large on an acre should in the
summer season of six months have added to its fertility the
equivalent of at least 200 pounds of sulphate of ammonia,
100 pounds high-grade acid phosphate, and 60 pounds of
kainit.

In those western States where grasshopper outbreaks
occur, a portable house, full of young chickens drawn to the
edge of a field in the spring, and moved from time to time,
will do very much toward preventing damage in case of an
outbreak. If the house is moved at night with the chickens
in it, there will be little if any trouble about their returning
there to roost.

For most farms it will pay to have at least one portable
house to be used for the rearing of young stock and later for
the housing of pullets. Pullets develop much more satis-
factorily when range raised, and lay better when they are
kept by themselves. When they are turned in with the old
stock, they are so abused that their production is cut down
very appreciably.

In the winter time the portable house can be drawn up
close to the dwelling. If there are several of them they can
be drawn up close together and joined together as shown in
Figure 160. A furnace pipe furnishes a covered passageway
and the birds can roost in one house and lay and scratch in
the rest of them.

The styles of roofs commonly used in poultry-house con-
struction are the shed or single pitch (Figure 161), the gable

' Poultry Breeding.

288 POULTRY PRODUCTION

or double pitch (Figure 160), the combination (Figure 162),
and the half monitor (Figure 1438).

Fia 169

Showing method of uniting colony houses. (Courtesy of Cornell
Agricultural Experiment Station.)

Fie. 161

Large portable colony houses, having window for a dust bath. (Courtesy
of Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station.

The full monitor is sometimes used where prevailing winds
make it desirable to build a continuous house, running north

HOUSING AND HYGIENE 289

and south, rather than east and west. The monitor allows
the morning sun to find its way into the west side of the build-
ing and the afternoon sun to reach the east side.

Aside from the special case just noted the particular style
of roof does not have much to do with efficiency. The shed
roof is the simplest to build, throws all the rain-water to the
back, allowing the windows to be placed high, and does not
expose the roof to the direct rays of the sun. Where prepared
roofing is used, it lasts much longer on a north than on a

Tic. 162

A combination roof house known as the Tolman house. (Courtesy of Kansas
Agricultural Experiment Station.)

south slope and does not draw heat so badly, thereby
rendering the house cooler.

The combination roof is desirable for portable houses that
are hauled up and down orchard rows, as it will not catch the
tree limbs so badly as a shed roof. It gives good height to
the windows where the short slope is toward the front, and
gives good protection for houses with the open front running
clear to the ground where the long slope is toward the front.

The gable roof has the same advantage on a portable

290 POULTRY PRODUCTION

house used among trees that a combination roof has. For
a permanent house it is well adapted for having windows on
all sides, and for the straw-loft method of ventilation, as
shown in Figure 164.

The half monitor roof, as shown in Figure 143, allows a low
open front, and at the same time admits the sunlight from
above to the back of the pen, where the roosting quarters are.

Fic. 163

A cheap and serviceable house for capons and cockerels that are to be
marketed before extreme weather sets in. (Courtesy of Kansas Agricul-
tural Experiment Station.)

Two-story Houses.—A rather infrequent style of house, used
with marked success in a few cases, but not fitting in with
ordinary general farm conditions very well, is the two-story
house. It has some advantage in the cost of construction
as compared with one-story houses for the same number
of hens. It offers the same evils of congestion that the
continuous house does. If advantage of this style of house
is taken to house a considerable number of birds under one
roof it requires that greater attention be given the flocks
than is generally possible under general farm conditions.

A successful two-story house sheltering one thousand
birds is shown in Figure 164. This house runs from northeast
to southwest, so that at some time during clear days the sun

HOUSING AND HYGIENE 291

shines in every window. The attention necessary to properly
ventilate a house with windows on every side, so that the
birds will not be the victims of drafts, is more than can be
given on the farm where poultry is a side line. In this house
the birds are fed and have their scratching quarters on the
lower floor and the roosting quarters are above.

Tic. 164

Two-story house. (Courtesy of Yesterlaid gg Farms Company.)

Yards and Fences.—l'or profitable farm poultry production
there should be a minimum of yards. Insofar as is prac-
ticable, poultry should be fenced out rather than in. There
will be far better thrift if the hens are fenced out of the
garden and the door yard and allowed the range of the farm.

Stewart and Atwood! found that when all other conditions
were as equal as it was possible to make them, eggs from
Leghorn hens on free range gave a fertility of 91.5 per cent,
while eggs from those confined in yards 15 by 100 feet gave
a fertility of 75.6 per cent. At the same time, $3 per cent
of the fertile eggs from hens on free range hatched, while
but 67.5 per cent of the fertile eggs from the yarded hens
hatched. Bushnell and Maurer? found that range, as com-

1 West Virginia Bulletin.
° Unpublished data, Kansas Experiment Station.

292 POULTRY PRODUCTION

pared with close confinement, makes a decided difference
in the bacterial content of the eggs laid, even when the
rations fed are the same. Whether the difference was due to
the increase in exercise or the green feed and insects it was
impossible to determine, but when hens were given free range
on April 20 there was a marked falling off in the bacterial
content of the eggs. This change was not due to seasonal
variation, as summer eggs usually showed more than 10 per
cent greater infection than spring eggs.

Fic. 165

North yards are frequently piled high with snow while the birds are dusting
themselves to the south of the house.

When circumstances make it necessary to yard the stock
the yards should be as large as possible and provision made
for double yarding. By double yarding, reference is made to
the practice of keeping the stock in one yard while a crop is
grown on the other. In this way, by alternating the yards
from season to season, the ground is freshened, there is
pasture for the fowls, and the fertility dropped by the fowls
is made use of. i

It is practically impossible to yard hens at the rate of more
ae four hundred fowls to the acre and maintain a sod.

Vards that are crowded so as to be kept bare of gr
unless given considerable attention in te way of Lae
ground over, or by applying lime, or by cropping from time
to time, are a source of danger.

HOUSING AND HYGIENE 293

The efficiency of a poultry fence depends as much upon
having an invisible top as upon the height. The height of the
fence will need to be in inverse proportion to the size of the
yard it surrounds. Any but the Asiatic breed will fly very
high if they can see a place to alight, and it is necessary to
have the tops of the gates invisible as well as the fence.

Care of the House.—The poultry-house should be well
bedded with straw at all times when it is available at reason-
able cost. When not available, shavings, cotton-seed hulls
or other similar material may be substituted. The straw
should be renewed whenever it becomes badly broken up,
damp, or so full of droppings that grains fed out of the hand
are not quickly lost from sight, compelling the fowls to
scratch to find them. Where birds spend most of their time
out of doors and the house is so dry that the droppings dry
out soon after being voided, they need be removed only at
rather infrequent intervals. If they tend to remain moist
for some time, however, they should be frequently removed,
as their presence is likely to cause dirty eggs by being carried
to the nest on the feet of the hens, and in a moist condition
they serve as a harbor for germs.

As a precautionary measure the poultry-house and all its
fixtures should be thoroughly cleaned and then soaked in
every part with a good strong disinfectant at least once a
year, preferably before the beginning of the breeding and
growing season. This should be repeated promptly upon the
appearance of any ailment that shows the least sign of being
communicated from one individual to another. In cold
weather, low-grade kerosene with enough crude carbolic
acid to give it a distinct odor is preferable to the use of such
sprays as are administered in water solutions.

The most frequent cause for spraying is the appearance of
the chicken mite. It is usually first noticed on the under
side of the perches or in the corners of the nests. This tiny,
spider-like bloodsucker does not live on the body of the hen as
does the less troublesome louse, but at some place where it can
make its way onto the fowl’s body for the purpose of feed-
ing with fair regularity. Unless promptly checked, they
multiply with enormous rapidity, particularly in| warm

POULTRY PRODUCTION

294

; CUO} JUuOUULIOdxoy ean [NOLS y susuvy Jo Asozino,))
oy} ‘Aojd 09 [fetus 00} o1e suNI oY} JT

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peyVayypno Apuonbery oq prnoys osnoy-Ary[u0d oy} ynoqe punors oy,

99T “Ol

HOUSING AND HYGIENE 295

weather, and quickly sap the vitality of the stock and
often cause death. In order to eradicate them it is always
necessary to spray twice and often three times.

Most of the commercial coal-tar dips kill the mites, but
it is difficult to make them penetrate far enough into the
cracks between the boards to reach and destroy the eggs.
The result is that a new generation soon appears. It is
necessary to spray again in order to destroy these. The

period between sprayings is governed by the prevailing
temperature. If it is very warm the second spraying should
follow the first in five to seven days. If it is rather cool,
ten days will be about right.

Fic. 167

An excellent type of permanent poultry-house. Note the box for saving
the droppings at the right end of the building. (Courtesy of Purdue Agri-
cultural Experiment Station.)

Value and Preservation of Poultry Manure.—With reference
to conserving the value of the fertility in the droppings,
Purvis! quotes the New Hampshire Experiment Station as
saying: “As is well known, when poultry droppings accu-
mulate under the roosts and when they are left in barrels
there is a strong odor of ammonia noticeable. The develop-
ment of such an odor is a sure sign that gaseous ammonia
is escaping into the air, to be lost for the present.” Several

' Poultry Breeding.

296 POULTRY PRODUCTION

chemicals of more or less fertilizing value in themselves,
may be added to the droppings from time to time with good
effect, both in stopping the waste and in making the air of
the hen-house more wholesome. The best materials for this
purpose are gypsum or land plaster, acid phosphate, and
kainit, a cheap potash salt. Each of the compounds has the
power of forming new compounds with the ammonia as fast
as it is set free from the original combination. Wood ashes
or slaked lime should never be used, because neither com-
bines with ammonia, but forces it out of the compounds and
takes its place. W. P. Wheeler! states that over 40 per cent
of the nitrogen in poultry manure is normally lost in drying.
Philips? reports that Leghorn pullets produce about 21
pounds of manure a year while on the perch.

Hoskins and Walker’ report the average analysis of poultry
manure as showing 1.44 per cent nitrogen, 0.39 per cent
potash, and 0.99 per cent phosphoric acid. At current
prices for fertilizers the value of a ton of fresh poultry manure
is $6.28. On the basis of the average night droppings from
the medium breeds, reported by the Massachusetts Experi-
ment Station,’ the droppings per fowl amount to eighty
pounds annually.

1 Twenty-sixth Annual Report, New York Experiment Station.
? Purdue Bulletin, 82.

3 Massachusetts Circular No. 35.

‘Ibid.

CHAPTER VIL
THE NUTRIENTS AND NUTRITION.

The Objects of Feeding.—The purpose of feeding is the
transformation of vegetable, animal, and mineral matter,
in forms not edible by man, into food in the form of eggs and
meat.

This manufacturing process is accomplished through the
agency of three physiological processes carried on within the
body of the fowl. These processes are (1) growth, (2) repro-
duction, and (3) the storing of fat. Each process is made up
of a number of lesser ones which are in turn dependent upon
the proper functioning of many organs and tissues.

The objects of feeding are to furnish the proper kinds and
amounts of materials necessary: first, for the maintenance, in
perfect adjustment, of the organs and tissues concerned in
these tributory processes, and, second, to furnish the raw
materials out of which eggs, bone, muscle, and fat may be
manufactured.

The Maintenance of Life—The first use of all feed is to
support life. Unless life is maintained it is obvious that
neither growth, reproduction, nor the increasing of flesh may
occur. The maintenance of life depends upon (1) the pro-
vision of heat, (2) the renewal of tissues, (8) a supply of
muscular energy, (4) the elaboration of secretions, and (5)
the proper activity of the organs and tissues.

Heat is necessary in order that various functions of the
body, such as digestion, fertilization, and incubation, may
be performed, and which are at their best when that degree
of heat which is recognized as the normal temperature of an
individual is maintained. The normal temperature of the
common fowl is generally recognized to be 106° F. This is
considerably higher than the temperatures maintained by the
human race or by the common farm animals, and is the result
of the fowl’s tremendously rapid metabolism. It is probable

(297)

298 POULTRY PRODUCTION

that only in the severest weather is feed used directly as a
source of heat.

A considerable amount of muscular work must be done if
the bird is to live. It must at least make the motions neces-
sary for eating, and most individuals find it necessary to
move about in the search of feed. This is done by the fowl’s
own volition, and such movements are termed voluntary.
At the same time there is considerable muscular activity
within the body of the fowl over which it has no control,
and which is termed involuntary. Such motion is found in
the contraction of the gizzard and intestines in preparing
and digesting the feed. Energy must be furnished for both
voluntary and involuntary motion.

All the tissues of the body, whether active or at rest, are
continually breaking down and must be replaced. Material
for replacement must be furnished.

In order that the joints and muscles may move with little
friction and that the egg may slip down the oviduct to a
successful exclusion there must be lubricating material.
And in order that feed may be digested there must be diges-
tive juices. All these call for the elaboration of secretions of
various sorts for which there must be material.

It is a recent discovery that for the proper performance
of the various organ systems of the body, even for mainten-
ance, certain substances called vitamins, the chemical
composition and precise function of which are not understood,
are necessary .

The source of the supply of energy, the material for new
tissues and secretions and of the vitamins, can only be the
feed. A certain part of the feed, therefore, must always be
used for fuel, repairs, and lubricants; that is to say, for
the maintenance of life. With hens in full laying it takes
amounts varying from a little less than three-quarters to
about four-fifths of the feed supplied to meet the needs of
majntenance alone.!

Growth.—In reaching a normal size a chick is said to grow.
Growth, which is primarily an increase in bone and protein

1 See Tables XXXIV and XLI

THE NUTRIENTS AND NUTRITION 299

tissue, is a necessity of production. Bone furnishes the frame-
work for the support of the reproductive and vital organs and
the attachment of the muscles. The protein tissue furnishes
the material out of which the muscles and bodily organs are
very largely fashioned. Muscle, which is termed lean meat
when used for food, is one of the ultimate objects of poultry
production, and in the case of turkeys and most waterfowl
is the primary object. The development of the vital organs
is necessary to the maintenance of life itself, while the repro-
ductive organs are responsible, not only for the perpetuation
of the race, but, in the case of the hen, for the manufacture
of the primary product.

Growth is possible only when there is some source of supply
from which bone and protein tissue, as well as certain growth
promoting substances (vitamins) may be drawn. This
source can only be the feed that is fed in excess of that needed
for the bare maintenance of life.

Reproduction.—When growth is complete, or is nearing
completion, reproduction usually occurs. This is a necessary
process of production, not only from the stand-point of the
perpetuation of the race, as in all species, but, in the case of
the hen, because the egg, representing one stage in the repro-
ductive cycle, is so highly prized for human food as to have
a great commercial value. The whole philosophy of egg
production is bound up in the effort to induce abundant
reproduction.

Just as growth is possible when the material out of which
growth is made is furnished in excess of that necessary to
merely maintain life, so reproduction can only occur when an
excess of feed is furnished. While generous reproduction
depends on several conditions, it cannot be accomplished at
all without material out of which to form the potential new
creature, and which is furnished only in the form of feed.

Fattening.—In all birds, and especially in those that have
ceased to grow or reproduce, some of the feed consumed
above that necessary for maintenance is stored up in the
body as a reserve in case the regular supply of feed fails.
This surplus is stored in the form of fat, and increases not
only the quantity but the quality of poultry flesh.

300 POULTRY PRODUCTION

THE NUTRIENTS.

Every constituent of the feed that can yield heat or energy
or can serve for the production of body tissue is called a
nutrient. All poultry feedstuffs are composed of one or
more of the following groups of nutrients: (1) water, (2)
ash, (3) proteins, (4) carbohydrates, and (5) fats. [or con-
venience, these nutrients may be classed as follows:

Water (1) |

| Inorganic nutrients

(
(1) Ash (2)

Dry matter (1) Proteins

(1) Crude fiber

(2) Nitrogen-
free extract

(2) Organic nutrients | (2) Carbohydrates |

(3) Fats

Of these, water alone is a definite chemical compound.
Ash, protein, carbohydrate, and fats, which collectively
form the dry matter, are classes or groups of compounds
having certain distinctive characteristics.

Relation of the Nutrients to Production.—Both the fowl’s
body and the egg are composed of the same five groups of
compounds. These compounds are not in most cases trans-
ferred directly as such from the feed to the tissues, but are
split up in the digestive tract, absorbed and rebuilt into the
body.

There is, however, a close relation between the nutrient
composition of the feed and its use in building tissue. ‘The
ash in the body or in the egg can only come from the ash in
the feed. The protein of the body can be built up and the
protein of the egg elaborated only when protein of the proper
kinds is furnished in the feed. While, as is shown elsewhere,
fat may be manufactured from protein, it is normally made
over from fats in the feed or built up from carbohydrate from
the same source. The very smal] amount of carbohydrate in
the fowl’s body and the still smaller amount in the egg
usually have the carbohydrate of the feed as their original
source.

THE NUTRIENTS AND NUTRITION 301

Water.—Water plays a highly important part in the pro-
cesses which collectively result in production. (1) It serves
to soften the feed in the crop, preparing it for maceration
in the gizzard. (2) It isa constituent part of the body of the
fowl and of the contents of the egg, comprising over 55 per
cent of the former and more than 65 per cent of the latter.
A dozen eggs of good size contain a pint of water. (3) It
serves as a carrier, transporting the end products of digestion
from the digestive tract to all parts of the body and carrying
the waste products from all parts of the body to the points
of elimination. (4) It serves to cool the body by evapora-
tion through the air sacs and lungs and keep its various parts
at the same temperature. (5) It aids in the process of diges-
tion and absorption, by dissolving the end products of diges-
tion that are too concentrated to penetrate the walls of
the intestine. (6) It acts as a lubricant for the joints and
muscles.

Water usually forms from 8 to 12 per cent of the air-dry
weight of the common grains which generally make up the
bulk of the poultry ration. This fact points to the necessity
of a liberal supply beyond that furnished in the food.

The lack of water retards most of the processes of the body.
It hinders digestion and limits excretion. A continued lack
of water thickens the blood and raises the body temperature.
Growing chicks are easily stunted in their development by
a lack or an irregular supply of water. Starving is better
withstood by fowls than a complete absence of water in
warm weather.

Ash.—Ash is a term used to designate collectively the
mineral compounds found in feedstuffs, the fowl’s body, and
the egg. It varies from 1.1 per cent (gluten feed) to 17.6
per cent (meat scraps) of the weight of the common poultry
feeds, averaging 4.66 per cent. It forms 3.4 per cent of the
live weight of a laying hen and 12.2 per cent of the weight
of whole raw egg. While the common feeds would usually
supply sufficient ash to meet the necessities of the hen’s
body, they fall very short of supplying the needs of the
laying hen or growing chick.

As far back as 1844, von Bibra, as reported by Emmerich

302 POULTRY PRODUCTION

and Loew,! found that feeding hens with potato and barley
alone caused the shell of the egg to disappear. After about
three weeks laying stopped, apparently due to the ash
deficiency in the ration.

The principal ash elements required in poultry feeding,
aside from oxygen, are calcium, phosphorus, sodium, potas-
sium, silicon, sulphur and iron. Calcium and sodium salts
are essential for muscular contraction. Calcium as a car-
bonate forms nearly the entire shell, or 11.4 per cent of the
new-laid egg. In combination with phosphorus, calcium is
an important constituent of bone. Phosphorus is found in
the eggs, where it forms 0.27 per cent of the edible portion.
Sulphur and iron, which are essential constituents of the
proteins of the body, are also found in the egg. Silicon is
found largely in the feathers.

In the ordinary farm feeds, enough of all the ash elements
will ordinarily be furnished with the exception of calcium and
phosphorus, which should be furnished in the form of calcium
carbonate (oyster shell) for laying hens and calcium phosphate
(granulated bone) for growing stock. Lewis? found that an
organic source of phosphoric acid such as animal bone was
much more efficient than an inorganic one such as phosphate
rock.

Protein. —The term protein, or more properly crude protein,
designates the group of compounds found, both in the feed-
stuffs and the fowl’s body and egg, which contain nitrogen.
These compounds are often referred to as nitrogenous sub-
stances, because the constant presence of nitrogen is their
most distinguishing characteristic.

There are thousands of different proteins all of which may
be decomposed into eighteen or twenty amino-acids. Among
these are glycocoll, lysin, argenine, histidin, cystin and
tryptophan. Certain amino-acids can be built up by the
body while others cannot. Glycocoll, an essential consti-
tuent of feathers may be built up by the body while trypto-
phan, cvstin and lysin cannot. Milk casein carries but a
trace of cystin, which is a sulphur-bearing amino-acid.

' Deutsche Revue, July, 1912.
2 New Jersey Bulletin, No. 265.

THE NUTRIENTS AND NUTRITION 303

Commercial meat scrap, on the other hand, is well supplied
with cystin. Experiments in progress at the Kansas Station
indicate that possibly the lack of cystin in casein is a limiting
factor, when casein is used as the main source of protein in
the laying ration.

It is because of the fact that nitrogen is an absolute
essential to animal life that the nitrogenous compounds are
called “protein,’ a term adapted from the Greek word
meaning “to be first.” Besides nitrogen, protein compounds
always contain carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and some-
times contain sulphur, phosphorus, and iron.

As will be seen by referring to Table XX XV, over 21 per
cent of the entire body of a Leghorn hen is protein, while it
constitutes 48.9 per cent or nearly half of the total dry
matter. While it forms but 12.83 per cent of the new-laid
ege because of the large amount of water and ash, it will
be noticed that it constitutes 49.8 per cent of the dry matter
of the contents of the egg.

In the fowl’s body the muscles, skin, feathers, tendons,
brain, blood, and internal organs are composed mainly of
protein. The dry matter of the white of the egg is nearly
94 per cent. protein, while that of the yolk is over 34 per cent
protein.

Lewis' found that laying hens fed a ration deficient in
protein not only gave a low production but that the eggs
produced were undersized.

Heo white shows very nicely some of the characteristics
of protein compounds. In analysis it approaches very closely
the average analysis of proteins as given by Sherman?

Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Sulphur,
percent per cent per cent percent per cent

Average analysisof proteins 53.00 7.00 23.000 16.00 1.000
Analysis of egg white o- -5 22:75 7.10 23.024 15 51 1.616

When dry it forms a horny substance which decomposes
in the flame, forming a black mass. At the same time fumes
are given off, which smell like burning hair or feathers. When

1 New Jersey Bulletin, No. 265.
2 Chemistry of Food and Nutrition.

304 POULTRY PRODUCTION

in solution proteins display a mucilaginous character which is
made use of in the commercial glues and mucilages.

The most familiar example of a mixture of vegetable
proteins is the gluten of wheat. The protein content of
wheat averages a little less than 12 per cent and of corn a
little over 10 per cent. Most of the common whole grains
depart very little from these figures. While some of the
erain by-products such as wheat middlings (17.8 per cent)
and gluten feed (25.4 per cent) have a considerably higher
percentage, they are usually fed in rather limited quantities.

Tastes XXXV.—Composition oF Fowt anp Eaa.!

Water, Protein, Ash, Fat,
per cent per cent per cent per cent
Leghorn hen, entire fowl . 55.8 2136 3.8 17.0
Mature Plymouth Rock, capon 41.6 19.4 Dike 33.9
New-laid egg (entire) .. 65.9 12.83 10.68 10.59
New-laid egg (without shell) 74.45 12.16 0.97 9.74
White of egg 86.2 12.3 0.2 0.6
Yolk 48.63 17.58 1.56 32.23
Dry matter in hen E ee 48 9 8.6 38.5
Dry matter in entire egg REIN 33.3 35.6 25.9
Dry matter in entire egy aside
from shell ae 49.8 3.5 38.6

Carbohydrates.—Carbohydrates are compounds of carbon,
hydrogen, and oxygen, in which the hydrogen and oxygen
are almost always in the same mutual proportion as in water
(1.0). They are plentiful in plants, appearing usually in
the form of sugar, starch, or cellulose As protein pre-
dominates in the fowl’s body, so carbohydrates predominate
in the structure of the plant.

The sugars are soluble in the juices of the plant and con-
stitute the common portable carbohydrate building material
of plants. Starch is the form in which most plants store their
reserve. It serves much the same function for plants as
does fat for animals. The starch stored in the kernel of
corn and the potato tuber are familiar examples. It is
with this form of carbohydrate that the feeder of poultry
has most to do, forming as it does from 50 to 75 per cent
of the feed of vegetable origin.

Cellulose is that substance which constitutes the greater

1 The analyses recorded in this table are from several different sources and
are not always in exact agreement.

THE NUTRIENTS AND NUTRITION 305

part of the skeleton or framework of plants. In connection
with poultry feeding it is usually referred to as crude fiber
which is largely cellulose, and will be throughout this work.
It constitutes from 2 to 5 per cent of seeds and grains. All
of the other carbohydrates of nutritive value are found in
the nitrogen-free extract.

Carbohydrates, which are so plentiful in plants, are
scarcely found in the fowl’s body or the egg. Glycogen,
an animal starch, is stored in the liver, which converts
it into a sugar called glucose, and gives it out to the
circulation, from whence it helps to supply energy to
the muscles.

According to Atwater,! carbohydrates form 2.4 per cent
of the total weight of the liver of the young chicken. Lang-
worthy? reports that 0.67 per cent of the egg is carbohydrate,
one-third of which occurs in the yolk and two-thirds in the
albumen.

Fats.—Fat contains the same elements as do the carbohy-
drates, but in very different proportions. Perhaps the most
characteristic difference is in the proportion of oxygen,
which is very much lower in the case of fat. The ecarbo-
hydrates are oxidized fats. The comparison between the
percentage composition of starch and stearin, a fat found in
both the fowl’s body and the egg, is as follows:

Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen,
per cent per cent per cent
Starch 44.44 6.17 49.38
Stearin 76.85 12.36 10.67

Fats (lipins) are present in nearly all grains. but in very
small proportions as compared with the body of the fowl or
even the egg. While they form 5 per cent of the air-dry
weight of corn and oats and 2.1 per cent of wheat, they
constitute 17 per cent of the live weight of a nervous, active
Leghorn hen and 38 per cent of the dry-matter weight.
Fat comprises 8.9 per cent of the weight of the new-laid egg,
all but a trace being located in the yolk, of which it forms

1U. S. Farmers’ Bulletin No. 182.

2 Tbid., No. 128.
20

306 POULTRY PRODUCTION

33.3 per cent. The fats in both the eggs and the carcass are
chiefly palmitin, stearin, and olein.

Fat stores energy and acts as a non-conductor of heat,
the subcutaneous deposits being a very efficient protection
against cold.

Nature’s Provision of the Nutrients.'—The source of the
various nutrients in the rations of wild and domestic birds
is as follows:

NATURE PROVIDES THEY SUPPLY PRODUCER FEEDS

Worms, grubs, and_ Protein. Meat scrap, milk, oil

insects. meal, gluten-feed.

Seeds. Carbohydrate (protein The grains and their by-

and fat). products.

Sprouts and grasses. Succulence® (water, car- Sprouted oats, pasture,

bohydrate, protein, etc.
fat and vitamins).

Gravel. Ash and grit. Commercial grit, oyster
shell, granulated bone,
ete.

Water. Water. Water.

Mutual Relations of the Nutrients.—The elements, carbon,
hydrogen, and oxygen, are always present in all three of the
nutrients. These alone are found in the carbohydrates and
fats, and the practical difference between the two classes is
the greatly increased proportion of carbon in the case of the
fat. It has been found by careful experiment that fat has a
fuel and energy value about 2.25 times as great as does the
carbohydrate, principally because of this greater propor-
tional amount of carbon. That is to say, a pound of fat will
generate over twice as much heat as a pound of carbohydrates,
or will furnish the power for more than twice as much muscu-
lar effort. It may therefore be said to have a feeding value
2.25 times as great.

It was shown by Voit and Lehmann (as reported by
Lusk’), in experiments where rice was fed to geese, that almost
one-third of the carbon was retained in the bodies of the

' Adapted from a statement of Jaffa, California Bulletin No. 164.
? Succulence is a form of feed containing a large amount of water. Green
succulence is most desirable because of its vitamin content.
Science of Nutrition.

THE NUTRIENTS AND NUTRITION 307

geese in the form of fat, and that this fat must have been
built up out of the carbohydrate (starch).

The great difference between the foregoing and protein is
the presence of nitrogen in the latter. While fat and carbo-
hydrate are mutually interchangeable in feeding practice
to a considerable extent, neither of them can be fed in the
place of protein. Protein, on the other hand, may to a limited
extent replace either or both of the other two. This is be-
cause of the fact that it contains all the elements to be found
in them (carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen), and by wasting the
nitrogen may be made by the body into energy, or fat.

Fra 168

Laboratory devoted to the study of nutrition of chickens at Kansas
State Agricultural College.

This was demonstrated by Wolffberg and confirmed by Kulz
(as quoted by Lusk!), who showed in feeding fowls chopped
meat that part of the carbon of the protein was retained in
the body as glycogen (a carbohydrate of the liver). While
this is of interest it 1s not of great practical value, owing to
the fact that protein is the most expensive of the five food
nutrient groups and the tendency with most poultry feeders
is to slight the protein portion of the ration.

Further Functions of the Nutrients——Besides furnishing
material out of which the parts of the body and egg of the

1 Science of Nutrition.

308 POULTRY PRODUCTION

same class are manufactured, as is also the case with ash
and water, the organic nutrients (protein, carbohydrates, and
fats) of the feed perform other services to the body. The
carbohydrates and fats are largely responsible for furnishing
the energy with which both voluntary and involuntary work
is performed. The waste tissue is repaired with protein and
the reproductive elements are largely protein.

A summary of the uses of the nutrients is given below,
with the less important class placed in parentheses:!

Servics RENDERED. CLASSES.
Furnishing energy. Carbohydrate and fat (protein).
Repairing waste tissue. Protein.

Furnishing material for growth. Protein and ash.
Reproduction. Protein (carbohydrate and fat).
Fattening. Carbohydrate and fat (protein).

THE VITAMINS.

In the past the feed has been regarded chiefly as the source
of the material necessary for the constructive processes going
on in the body and of the energy required to support its
various activities. This aspect of the matter has been promi-
nent in the preceding paragraphs.

Recent investigations, however, are bringing into promi-
nence another class of influences exerted by the feed upon the
organism. ‘The study of the vitamins is rendering it increas-
ingly evident that quite aside from its value as a supply of
structural material and of energy, the nature of the feed may
profoundly influence the results of feeding.

It is clear that the vitamins influence the nutritive value of
a feeding stuff in an essentially different way than does the
quantity of ash, protem and energy which it supplies. The
latter limits the amount of production which the feeding stuff
can support; the former may determine how much of the
nutrients supplied may actually be used. A mixture of pure
nutrents may be prepared upon which young animals fail
to grow, while the addition to such a mixture of minute

' After Jaffa, California Bulletin No. 164.

THE NUTRIENTS AND NUTRITION 309

amounts of substances associated with certain fats enables
the ration to support normal growth

In some ways the vitam’ns might crudely be compared
with the lubricants of a machine which of themselves furnish
neither power nor material, but which enable power derived
from the consumption of the fuel to be more efficiently used.!

The vitamins so far discovered and entering largely into the
nutrition of chicks are called ‘fat soluble A” and “water
soluble B.”’ At least one other vitamin referred to as the
“antiscorbutic vitamin” is known but just what relation it
bears to the nutrition of birds is not understood.

Fire. 169

A Barred Plymouth Rock male, down on his legs because of a deficiency
water soluble B in his ration. (Unpublished photograph kindly furnished
by Hughes and Fox, Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station.)

As previously stated the chemical compositions of these
substances are not known. They have not so far been iso-
lated as separate substances and are known only by their
nutritional effects. It is known that certain feeding stuffs
contain both, or lack one and contain the other. It has been

1 The foregoing was somewhat modified from a statement by Armsby in
his ‘‘The Nutrition of Farm Animals.”

310 POULTRY PRODUCTION

possible | in some cases to measure comparatively the amounts
certain feeding stuffs contain through the agency of feeding
trials. It is indeed possible to state with confidence that
one or the other is found in abundance in one part of a given
erain while almost totally absent from another part As
compared with the nutrients however the knowledge of
them is so far very meager.

Water soluble B, found in abundance in the grains and in
the fresh green (eaves of plants, is necessary for growth, and
for the proper functioning of the nervous system in adult

Fic, 170

A Barred Plymouth Roek hen which had been fed on a ration deficient
in fat soluble A. Notice the sore eye. (Unpublished photograph kindly
furnished by Hughes and lox, Wansas Agricultural Experiment Station.)

fowls. Its absence from the ration prevents or limits growth
in young stock and brings on nervous disorders in both young
and mature individuals, particularly the paralysis of the
peripheral nerves. The latter condition is usually referred
to as polyneuritis. In growing stock the lack of the water
soluble causes the atrophy, or at least prevents the develop-
ment of the internal organs of secretion, including the
testis and probably the ovary.

THE NUTRIENTS AND NUTRITION 311

Fat soluble A is found in abundance in the fresh green
leaves of plants and in butter fat. Its lack in a ration brings
on a general unthrift and in particular a characteristic
pathological condition of the eyes.

Both vitamins are more or less easily destroyed, the water
soluble being more sensitive to adverse conditions than the
fat soluble. The drying of the legumes to make hay reduces
their vitamin content and may totally destroy it. Heating
to high temperatures is also likely to destroy or at least reduce
the amounts of these substances.

DIGESTION.

Definition of Digestion.—Digestion is the process, accom-
plished by the crop, glandular stomach, gizzard, pancreas,
liver, and intestine, of so dissolving and chemically changing
the material taken into the alimentary tract that it can be
absorbed by the blood and used by the body.

The Digestive Tract.—“ The structure of the alimentary
canal of the bird suggests that the digestive process is rapid
and that it partakes of features associated with both the
carnivora and herbivora. Thus the relative shortness in
length is a carnivorous characteristic, while the character
of the diet and the thorough comminution of the food in the
gizzard are features more akin to the herbivorous type.’”!

Mouth Parts.—The distinctive character of the mouth
of birds is the absence of lips and teeth, these parts being
replaced by a horny mandible on each jaw and forming the
beak of the land fowl and the bill of the water fowl. With
land fowl the beak is short, pointed, thick and strong, the
upper mandible curving over the lower. In water fowl the
bill is longer, less firm, flatter, widened at its outer end, and
supplied along the edges of each mandible and within the
mouth with a series of thin and sharp transverse lamine,
whose purpose is to cut soft herbage.

' Brown, Bureau of Animal Industry, Bulletin No. 56.

2 This account of the digestive tract is gleaned from various sources,
principally McNair, New York State Veterinary College Laboratory

Bulletin No. 3, Chaveauxs’ Comparative Anatomy of Domesticated
Animals, and F. Smith’s Manual of Veterinary Physiology.

312 POULTRY PRODUCTION

The tongue in fowls and turkeys is shaped like the barbed
head of an arrow with the point directed forward. The

Fig. 171

/g i= LOWER MANDIBLE
/ TONGUE

/% \

OPENING TO TRACHEA

MUSCLES CONTROLLING
TONGUE

OPENING INTOGULLET

GULLET

CROP

GULLET
SMALL LOBE OF LIVER
SPLEEN
GLANDULAR
STOMACH

GALLBLADDER

CECUM BILE DUCT

DUODENAL LOOP

The digestive tract of the fowl,

THE NUTRIENTS AND NUTRITION 313

barb-like projections at the back of the tongue serve the
purpose of forcing the grain toward the entrance to the gullet
when the tongue is moved from front to back. In water
fowl, the tongue is wider, softer, and more flexible.

The salivary glands are present in the mouth of the com-
mon sorts of domestic birds, but are imperfectly developed.
Shaw! recently showed that ptyalin, a starch-digesting
enzyme, is present in the saliva of a chick soon after hatch-
ing. The presence of abundant saliva is made unnecessary
by the fact that the feed is swallowed whole, or in quite
large pieces, and there is little opportunity for its action.

Gullet and Crop—Upon leaving the mouth the feed is
forced into the gullet by the tongue. The gullet (esophageal
canal) is distinguished by its enormous expansibility.
Immediately before entering the body cavity the gullet
enlarges to form a pouch called the crop (ingluvies), which
acts as a storage for the food eaten much as does the paunch
of ruminants. It is into this pouch that the feed finds its
way. Here it becomes softened and takes on an acid re-
action. Although a comparatively profuse secretion is
poured into the pouch, it contains no ferments. Its function,
if other than storing and softening, is not yet understood.

Glandular Stomach.—Beyond the crop the gullet contracts
until well within the body cavity, when it expands somewhat
to form the glandular stomach (proventriculus), from which
it passes immediately into the gizzard (ventriculus bulbosus),
an involuntary sphincter muscle separating them.

The glandular stomach, which is little more than a thick-
ening of the gullet wall, does not appreciably detain the feed,
but surrounds it with an acid gastric juice which passes with
it into the gizzard. It is supplied with but one type of com-
plex cells, which secrete pepsin and acid. The pepsin reduces
the proteid to peptones, which are further reduced by the
pancreatic juice. Besides furnishing the proper medium for
the action of the gastric juice, the acid acts as a solvent for
such mineral matter as is not in assimilable form, thereby
making its absorption possible.

1 American Journal of Physiology, 1913, vol. xxxi, No. 7.

314 POULTRY PRODUCTION

The Gizzard.—The gizzard is oval in form, having two
openings on its upper side, one communicating with the
proventriculus and the other with the small intestine. It is
depressed on each side, being situated behind the liver
and partly covered by the lateral lobes of that gland. It
is composed of two thick, red, powerful muscles covered
internally with a thick, horny epithelium.

The gizzard is a very efficient crusher. It has been stated
that iron tubes capable of supporting a weight of 535 pounds
have been completely flattened out by passing through the
eizzard of a turkey. This crushing process is absolutely
necessary for the digestion of grains, and is most efficient
only when aided by the presence of grit and gravel taken in
through the mouth and always present in a normal bird.
The gastric juice is incapable of digesting the cellulose walls
of the grains and does not act until the grains are reduced
by the gizzard to a more or less homogeneous pulp. The
constant action of the gizzard may be noticed by holding a
little chick that has been supplied with grit to the ear. “The
gizzard does not possess digestive glands.””!

From the gizzard, the partially digested material passes
into the small intestine. Up to this point there has been no
digestion of fats, a limited digestion of carbohydrates and
protein, and a dissolving of mineral elements.

Pancreas —Immediately after its attachment to the
gizzard the intestine is folded in a long loop called the duode-
num, the sides of which are parallel and inclose the pancreas.
The pancreas, though it does not come in contact with the
food material, plays a very important part in the work
of digestion, and is relatively longer in birds than in animals,
It secretes a fluid known as the pancreatic juice, which
contains “proteolytic, amylolytic, and lipolytic ferments,’”?
which help prepare protein, starch, and fat respectively for
digestion, acting in a slightly alkaline medium. This j juice
emptied into the duodenum ‘by one duct at each end.

In 1856 Bernard, as reported by Brown,’ “first pointed

1Shaw, Jour. Am. Assn. Inst. and Invest in Poul. Husb, vol. i, No
? Shaw, American Journal of Physiology, vol. xx, No. 7.
* Bureau of Animal Industry, Bulletin No. 56.

THE NUTRIENTS AND NUTRITION 315

out the great vital significance of the pancreas in birds. THe
removed the organ, and observed that while the subjects
endured the operation well, starch passed through the gastro-
intestinal tract undigested, and death resulted in from ten
to twelve days.”

Liver.—At practically the same time that the pancreatic
juice enters the intestine the bile from the liver is also poured
in. The function of the bile is to aid in the digestion of fat
by furnishing the alkali with which it may unite to take on a
soluble form. It also aids in neutralizing the acid of the
gastric juice received from the gizzard, so that the pancreatic
juice may have the proper medium for activity. The liver
of the chick contains glycogen on the twentieth day of
incubation.!

Besides secreting the bile, an eminently necessary contri-
bution to digestion, the liver of the goose has been demon-
strated by Minkowski (as quoted by Brown?) to be the seat
of much of the synthesis of the uric acid that escapes
in the urine. It is also the seat of the manufacture of
glycogen, a carbohydrate whose function is to furnish energy
to the muscles throughout the body.

Intestine.—The walls of that portion of the intestine which
forms the duodenal loop probably secrete no digestive fluids.
Vurther on it secretes a fluid (succus entericus) which con-
tains erepsin and the invertases. Erepsin is an enzyme which
carries to a conclusion the work of digesting the protein.
The invertases are enzymes which have the power of
converting more or less complex sugars into simple ones,
capable of absorption.

It will be noticed that there has been no provision for the
digestion of crude fiber. So far as the all too few digestion
trials show, crude fiber is almost entirely undigested by
chickens and geese. In the first three compartments of the
stomach of ruminants and in the cecum of the horse, bacteria
have an opportunity to act on crude fiber.

With fowls, however, bacteria have little opportunity for
action. As soon as the hard-coated grains become moist

1 Shaw, American Journal of Physiology, vol. xxxi, No. 7.
2? Bureau of Animal Industry, Bulletin No. 56.

316 POULTRY PRODUCTION

and soft enough for bacterial action, the material passes
down the gullet to the proventriculus, where the acid reaction
checks bacterial action. Immediately after passing from the
gizzard to the intestine the reaction becomes so alkaline as
possibly to inhibit their development. The time spent in the
short rectum, which corresponds to the large intestine in
larger animals, is so limited and the uric acid from the kidneys
so plentiful that bacterial growth is again inhibited.

Besides its digestive function, the small intestine also
acts as an organ of absorption, as does also the rectum to a
certain degree, taking in the soluble nutrients and inorganic
salts.

Ceca.—At the juncture of the intestine and the rectum are
two blind pouches, given off from either side, called ceca.
These are usually four to six inches in length, and more or
less completely filled with fecal matter. Their function, if
other than absorption, is not understood.

Rectum.—The rectum terminates the digestive canal,
being a short and somewhat enlarged continuation of the
intestine. It is terminated by the cloaca, a chamber common
to the digestive and genito-urinary passages, and which
opens externally at the anus. One marked function of the
rectum is the absorption of water from the urine, as it is
delivered from the kidneys by the ureters. The urine appears
with the feces normally as a white paste. It leaves the
kidneys in a highly liquid state. The only possible conclusion
from this and other evidence seems to be that the water is
reabsorbed by the rectum, to be used further in the economy
of the body, travelling as it were in a sort of vicious circle.
Weiner, as quoted by Sharpe,! noted that when an arti-
ficial anus was provided so that there was no chance for
water to be absorbed by the rectum, hens drank abnormally
large amounts of water. Pohlman? notes that until pulmo-
nary breathing starts the muscles of the chick embryo contain
a very large amount of water. This decreases rapidly after
hatching which he interprets as meaning that most of the
water in birds is excreted by the lungs.

1 Sharpe, American Journal of Physiology, vol. xxxi, No. 11.
? Anatomical Record, vol. xvii, No. 2.

N“N

THE NUTRIENTS AND NUTRITION jl

Bacteria and Digestion—It is probable that bacterial
action is responsible for a part of the digestive process, though
studies of the bacterial flora of the digestive tract have not
proceeded far enough to give a great deal of accurate infor-
mation on the subject. While there is no opportunity for
microdrganisms to break down crude fiber and make it
available, as is done in the rumen (paunch) of the ruminants,
the work of Schottehus (as reported by H. J. Wheeler!)
seems to show that they enter very markedly into the
digestive processes. He hatched chickens from eggs which
were free from foreign organisms, in germ-free air, and fed
them on sterilized food, only to have them die in two to three
weeks. If hatched in the same manner and fed unsterilized
or normal food the chickens lived. Other chickens fed like the
first until near death were saved by feeding normal chicken
feces or unsterilized feed. This work was done before
anything was known concerning the vitamins and it is pos-
sible that these may have been a factor in the result.

Disposition.—In comparing fowls with other farm animals,
besides the anatomical differences, there is a decided difference
in disposition. Birds are more active, have a higher tempera-
ture, and more rapid digestion. As a rule, six months
represents the age of maturity and four or five years the life
period.

With these things in mind it is easy to see that all of the
body processes must be extremely rapid. The relation
between feed and these productive processes, while no closer
in point of composition than is the case of other domestic
animals, in point of time is very much closer.

The result of wrong feeding is more quickly disastrous
than with any other class of stock, and for the same reason
that breakage is likely to be more serious in a high-geared
as compared with a low-geared machine, the disaster caused
by wrong feeding, particularly during the growing period,
is more likely to be so serious as to be permanent. With
slower-growing animals there is more opportunity for
recovery and repair.

' Rhode Island Bulletin No. 84.

318 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Physiological Efficiency of the Laying Hen.—In the amount
of edible food solids manufactured as compared with the
weight of the dry matter in her body the hen leads all farm
animals. As shown in Table XXXVI, a three and a half
pound Leghorn hen, laying two hundred eggs in a year,
produces five and three-quarter pounds of edible-food solids,
or 3.8 times the amount of dry matter in her body. The
cow is the only farm animal which is at all comparable with
the hen in this particular.

A Jersey cow weighing 1000 pounds, giving 7000 pounds
of milk containing 14 per cent solids, would rank as high,
if not higher, among dairy cattle than the hen mentioned
would rank among high-producing hens. Such a cow would
produce 2.9 times her own dry-matter weight in solid food.

Taste XXXVI.—A CoMPARISON OF THE HEN AND THE DarRY Cow
IN PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFICIENCY.

Dairy cow, Hen,
pounds. pounds.
Gross weight 1000 3.5
Dry-matter weight 340 1.5
Edible solids produced in one year 980 Sao
Proportion of dry matter of the body
to cdible solids produced 1to2.88 1 to 3.83

Digestibility of Feeds ——The mere chemical composition of
a feedstuff is of little value in poultry feeding unless it is
known how much of each nutrient is digestible and avail-
able for the fowls. It is not enough, for instance, to know
that oats contain 11.8 per cent protein, 59.7 per cent carbo-
hydrates and 5 per cent fat. In order to have an intelli-
gent basis for feeding, it must also be known what proportions
of these nutrients are digestible for poultry.

Ash is usually absorbed by the intestine without change
in composition, and cannot be said to undergo digestion in
the ordinary sense of the term. Insoluble ash compounds
may be rendered soluble by the hydrochloric acid of the
glandular stomach.

Ordinarily no nutrient is completely digested and assimi-
lated by fowls. The undigested portion passes through the
body without change, and has manurial value only. That

THE NUTRIENTS AND NUTRITION 319

percentage of a nutrient which is digested is called the
digestive coefficient of that nutrient. The digestive coefh-
cients vary for each nutrient and are determined by direct
expermment.

These experiments, which are usually referred to as diges-
tion trials, are made as follows: A fowl is fed a given
amount of feed, the exact composition of which has been
determined by analysis. All the intestinal voidings pro-
duced during the period are carefully collected, weighed, and
analyzed, the excreta from the kidneys having been diverted.
The undigested portions of the nutrients appear in the
voidings, and the difference between the amount fed and that
excreted, reduced to a percentage basis, represents the
digestion coefficient. It is never exactly accurate, however,
since some waste material is given off from the intestines.

Digestion trials are very much more difficult with poultry
than with other farm animals, owing to the fact that the
urine is not temporarily stored in the bladder and eliminated
through a separate genito-urinary opening, as in mammals,
but is conveyed directly from the kidneys through the ureters
to the cloaca, where it is constantly mixed with the fecal
matter from the intestines. “The fact that the urine and
feces are excreted together has formed the chief obstacle to
progress in the performance of digestion experiments with
poultry.’! This is because the so-called urine contains the
broken-down tissue from the body, which cannot be dis-
tinguished from the undigested portions of the food by
present analytical methods.

The white, pasty material appearing in the droppings of
birds is uric acid, excreted by the kidneys. This increases
in amount as the ration becomes more nitrogenous. The
droppings of wild birds living almost entirely upon worms and
insects are quite white.

No satisfactory method of separating the urine from the
feces has been generally adopted. Some successful work
has been done by means of a surgical operation, whereby a
false urinary aperture has been made. In very few cases

1 Brown, Bureau of Animal Industry, Bulletin No. 56.

320 POULTRY PRODUCTION

however, do the birds operated upon return to apparently
normal health so that the results of the trials are trustworthy.
The digestive coefficients of the three organic nutrients for

those feeds upon which trustworthy work has been done is
given in Table XX XVII.

TaBLE XXXVII.—AveERAGE DIGESTION COEFFICIENTS OF THE
NUTRIENTS WITH CHICKENS. !

No. of Organic Nitrogen-free

trials. matter. Protein. extract. Fat
Bran (wheat) . . 3 46.70 7.10 46.00 37.00
Beef scrap . 2 80.20 92.60 Bae 95.00
Beef (lean meat) 2 87.65 90.20 aor 86.30
Barley 3 ie 77.32 85.09 67.86
Buckwheat 2 69.38 59.40 86.99 89.22
Corn (whole) 16 86.87 81.58 91.32 88.11
Corn (cracked) 2 83.30 72.20 88.10 87.60
Corn-meal 2 83.10 74.60 $6.00 87.60

Corn-meal and clover (equal

parts) 3 56.40 71.50 61.60 66.90
Clover 3 27.40 70.60 14.30 35.50
India wheat 3 72.70 75.00 83.40 83.80
Millet 2 Sec 62.40 98.39 85.71
Oats (whole) 13 62.69 71.31 90.10 87.89
Oats (rolled) 4 89.30 80.10 94.3 92.20
Peas 3 77.07 7.00 84.80 80.01
Wheat 10 82.26 72.05 87.04 53 00
Rye 2 79.20 66.90 86.70 22.60
Potatoes 6 78.33 46.94 84.46

Digestive Powers of Chickens.— he different structure of the
alimentary tract of chickens as compared with other farm
animals would lead one to suspect a different digestive
capacity and different digestive coefficients. In comparison
with other animals, fowls show digestive powers most
nearly comparable with swine, except that in the digestion
of fat they correspond most closely to the ruminants. Unlike
ruminants, they digest very little crude fiber.

While they consume over twice as much feed as is required
by the same weight in cattle, they cannot make use of the
coarser kinds of feed, such as hay and fodder. They must
be fed a concentrated ration made up quite largely of grains
and their by-products.

' Rearranged from Bartlett, Maine Bulletin No. 184, who secured the
data from various sources.

THE NUTRIENTS AND NUTRITION 321

While the different nutrients have differing coefficients in
different feedstuffs and under different conditions, as a rule
the nutrients rank in the following order of digestibility for
poultry: Nitrogen-free extract, protein, fat, and crude fiber.

Variations in Digestibility and Their Cause.—It would seem
that it should be a comparatively easy matter to determine
the digestive coefficients of a nutrient aside from the physi-
ological and chemical difficulties already described. As a
matter of fact there are many causes of variation in the diges-
tion of foods which make accurate determinations that may
have general application difficult. A knowledge of the more
important known and probable causes should be had by a
practical feeder as well as by the investigator. These are
(1) the mechanical condition of the feed; (2) the combination
of feeds; (3) amounts of feed consumed; (4) the source of the
feed, whether vegetable or animal; (5) the concentration of
the feed; (6) its palatability; (7) cooking and wetting the
feed; (8) age and exposure of the grain or grass when cured,
and (9) age, species, and individuality of the bird fed.

Mechanical Condition of Feed.—While for some of the larger
animals grinding certain of the grains increases their digesti-
bility, this does not hold true for poultry. Fields and Ford!
found that chickens digested kafir and corn more completely
when the grain was fed whole than when it was ground into
meal. It will be noted in Table XX XVII that over 3 per cent
more organic matter from whole corn was digested than when
the corn was cracked or ground into meal. The increased
digestibility brought about by grinding for larger animals is
usually because hard grains are not well masticated. With
poultry the grinding of the feed is involuntary and, unless
grit is not available, consistently thorough.

Because of the fact that corn or any other grain is less
digestible for poultry when ground it must not be assumed
that it is less profitable and therefore bad practice to feed
a part of the ration in ground form. (For further discussion
see page 336.)

! Oklahoma Bulletin No. 46.

322 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Combinations of Feeds.—Some feeds are more digestible
when combined with certain other feeds than when fed
alone. Thus Bartlett! found by combining 7 per cent bone
meal with a ration made up of 200 pounds bran, 50 pounds
corn meal, 50 pounds linseed meal, and 100 pounds gluten
feed the organic matter was rendered 4.6 per cent more
digestible.

Sometimes combining certain feeds adds to the palata-
bility, thereby inducing a greater consumption of feed, but
not actually rendering the feed consumed more digestible.
This is very possibly the case in adding salt to the ration.

Kalugine (as reported by H. J. Wheeler?) is authority for
the statement that fine gravel, when fed in combination
with a ration, increases the coefficient of digestibility of the
nutrients.

Amount and Frequency of Feeding.—There is no direct
experimental evidence bearing on these points. There is
no reason to believe, however, that, even taking into account
the involuntary grinding on the part of the fowl, poultry are
an exception to the rule for other animals, that when large
amounts of food are consumed the work of the digestive
tract is not so thorough and the coefficients of digestion of
at least some of the nutrients will be smaller. With other
animals this difference is noted with all food constituents
except fat.

There appears to be small probability that the frequency
of feeding affects digestibility appreciably.

Nutrients from Vegetable and Animal Sources.—As will be
seen by reference to the table of digestion coefficients for
poultry, protein in all cases, and fat in most cases, is more
digestible when supplied from animal sources than from
vegetable sources. These coefficients are borne out by
practical experience and by feeding experiments generally.
With particular reference to protein Hartwell and Wirk-
patrick’ found that beef scraps and milk albumin showed
a marked superiority over cottonseed meal, linseed meal,

1 Maine Bulletin No. 184. 2 Rhode Island Bulletin No. 84.
3 Wellner, The Scientific Feeding of Animals.
“Rhode Island Bulletin No. 45.

THE NUTRIENTS AND NUTRITION 323

and gluten feed as asource of protein for growing winter
chickens, where the same amount of protein was added to
the same basal ration in each case, and an abundance of ash
supplied.

W. P. Wheeler! found that with 10 lots of chicks, 6 lots of
immature pullets, 2 lots of young hens, and 2 lots of old
hens, fed contrasted rations which were as nearly alike as
possible, except that all the protein was of vegetable origin
in one case and 40 to 50 per cent of animal origin in the
other, with every two lots contrasted, the results were
markedly more satisfactory where the animal feed was the
source of protein. The chicks having the animal feed ration
consumed 12 to 84 per cent more feed and made 22 to 100
per cent faster gains.

The pullets fed the animal-feed ration consumed 13 per
cent more feed and laid 30 per cent more eggs than those
restricted to protein of vegetable sources, while the old
hens having the animal protein consumed 15 per cent more
food and laid 36 per cent more eggs.

Kempster? reports that he could find no evidence that
vegetable proteins alone or in combination with feed of
animal origin increased egg production. Lewis? found that
protein from a vegetable source, even when supplemented
by feeds rich in available phosphoric acid was not efficient
for growing chicks or laying hens.

There is much further evidence bearing out the above
from numerous sources.

A possible partial explanation of this may be in the fact
that the protein in the plant is surrounded by cellulose,
while in animal products it is surrounded by the more easily
digested fat.

Concentrated Feeds.—Poultry are able to digest little of the
bulky feeds, such as the cured hays and fodders. ‘The con-
centrates, such as grains and their by-products, they digest
with a fair efficiency. It is possible, however, to secure a
feed of so great a concentration that the digestive tract will

New York Experiment Station, Twenty-sixth Annual Report,
Missouri Bulletin, No. 155.
New Jersey Bulletin, No. 265.

324 POULTRY PRODUCTION

become disarranged and fail to carry on the work of diges-
tion properly, in which case the digestive coefficient would
undoubtedly be lowered.

Cochel and Jackson! found that rations carrying 3.5 per
cent of total weight in crude fiber seemed to give better
results for laying hens than those with a higher or lower
per cent, and it is reasonable to suppose that at least a
part of the value of the fiber is to be found in its opening
up the ration so that the digestive juices may act more
readily and thoroughly.
idence showing that palata-
bility in and of itself increases the digestive coefficient of
feeds is lacking. It is popularly supposed to be the case,
however, and the supposition does no harm. As Brown?
points out in discussing the comparative digestibility of
oats and corn, palatability and good digestibility are likely
to go together. Bartlett* calls attention to the fact that of
two mixtures he was feeding in digestion trials, the mixture
which was the least palatable was also the lowest in
digestibility.

The relative palatability of different feedstuffs is some-
what dependent upon the individual idiosyncrasies of the
stock. Iempster allowed 15 hens to choose their own ration.
Fight consumed more wheat than any other feed-stuff. Five
consumed more kafir, 1 more middlings and 1 more cornmeal.
The relative digestibility of the nutrients of these feedstuffs
was not given.

Cooking and Wetting Feed.—The cooking and wetting of
feeds have little if any effect upon their digestibility, directly,
though either may increase the palatal bility of a ration.

Rice! found as a result of a year’s test with forty Single
Comb White Leghorn pullets, to twenty of which the ground
or mash portion of the ration was fed wet and to twenty it

was hopper fed dry, that the dry mash gave better results
in gain in weight, production of eggs, gain in weight of eggs,
hatching power of eggs, days lost in molting, mortality

1 Pennsylvania Bulletin No. 120.
2 Bureau of Animal Industry, Bulletin No. 56.
5 Maine Bulletin No. 184. * Cornell Bulletin No. 249.

THE NUTRIENTS AND NUTRITION 325

and profit per hen. Atwood! concluded, from experiments
with White Leghorn pullets, “that there was no benefit from
the extra labor involved in moistening mash as compared
with hopper feeding if dry.’’ Mairs? found that “the loss
among chicks fed on wet mash was much greater than those
on dry feed.’ While none of these experiments included
digestion trials, the results were not such as to point to the
probability that moistening the feed made it more digestible.

Age and Curing of Feedstufis——The younger a plant is the
less crude fiber it contains. Unless, as in the case of young
rye, it contains a laxative property which brings about its
voidance before digestion is complete, the younger a plant is
the more completely will it be digested. [or this reason
young clover is more desirable for poultry feeding than
fully matured clover, whether it is fed in the green or matured
state since young plants are richer in the vitamins. Expo-
sure of alfalfa, clover, oats, ete., to rain during curing will
also lower the digestive coefficient by bleaching out the
soluble constituents which are likely to be highly digestible
and leaving the less soluble and less digestible ones.

Age, Species, and Individuality of the Bird Fed.—It is prob-
able that, as in the case of other farm animals, the age of
poultry does not influence their digestion of the food and
that different breeds of the same species possess an equal
digestive power.

There is considerable variation between individuals of
the same breed which may be due to some slight physical
weakness. Bartlett,’ for instance, reports a Plymouth Rock
capon that digested 81.6 per cent of the organic matter of
a given ration, while another capon of the same breed digested
94.1 per cent of the organic matter of the same ration.

It is not likely that different species of poultry have an
average digestion coefficient that is the same, any more than
do horses and cattle. St. Weiser and Zaitschek, as reported
by Brown,! found that the digestive coefficient for the starch
of millet was 65.80 for ducks and 91.80 for geese. There

' West Virginia Bulletin No. 130.

* Pennsylvania Bulletin No. 87. 3 Maine Bulletin No. 184.
4 Bureau of Animal Industry, Bulletin No. 56.

326 POULTRY PRODUCTION

has been very little work done with any species of poultry
besides the chicken, however, and it is not possible to draw
general conclusions on the meager data available.

Nutritive Ratio—In order to quickly and conveniently
see the relation between the protein that is digestible for
poultry and the digestible carbohydrate and fat, what is
termed the “nutritive ratio” is made use of. The nutritive
ratio is an arithmetical proportion stating the amount of
digestible carbohydrate and fat (estimated as carbohydrate)
that fall to one part or one pound of digestible protein.

It will be seen by referring to Table LIII, that 100
pounds of corn contains 8.4 pounds of protein that can be
digested by chickens, 64.29 pounds of carbohydrate and 4.4
pounds of fat. As previously noted, fat has a feeding value 2.25
times that of carbohydrates. It is possible to estimate the
fat as carbohydrate by multiplying its weight by the factor
2.25. For the purpose of securing a simple proportion, the
equivalent of the fat in carbohydrates may be added to the
amount of carbohydrate found in the corn, giving the pro-
portion of 8.4 pounds of protein to 74.19 pounds of
carbohydrate In order to simplify this proportion and
make it comparable with all other similar proportions, both
amounts are divided by the amount of protein, giving the
porportion of one to eight and eight-tenths, and expressed
thus: 1: 8.8. This is called the nutritive ratio of corn for
chickens. Expressed arithmetically, the process is as follows:

Digest. fat Digest. cai bohydrate
(4.4 X* 2,25) + 64.29 = 88 Second factor of
8.4 ~~" nutritive ratio.

Digestible protein

The nutritive ratio of corn for ruminants is 1: 9.7.

In calculating the nutritive ratio, care should be taken
to distinguish between the amounts of the nutrients consumed
and the amounts digested. Brown! found 100 pounds of
hens fed on the exclusive diet of corn consumed 4.83 pounds
of organic matter daily, but they digested only 4.19 pounds.
The nutritive ratio for corn, as may be seen from Table

! Bureau of Animal Industry, Bulletin No. 56.

THE NUTRIENTS AND NUTRITION 327

XXXVIII, was 1 to 8.6 onthe basis of the nutrients con-
sumed, but was 1 to 9 on the basis of the nutrients digested.
It is the latter ratio in which the feeder is interested:

TaBLE XXXVIII.—A Comparison or THs NutTRigNTts CONSUMED ON
AN ExcuusivE Diet oF Corn, AND THE Nurrignrs Dicrestep Par HEN
FOR Birps WEIGHING BETWEEN THREE AND Four Pounpbs, ON THE Basis
or One Hunprep Pounps Live WEIGHT.

Organic Protein, Fat, Nitrogen-free Nutritive

matter, extract, ratio.
Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. Pounds.
Consumed 4.83 0.53 0.28 3.89 1 to 8.6
Digested 4.19 0.45 0.24 3 46 1 to 9.0

Nutritive ratios are referred to as wide, medium, or narrow,
when the difference between the first and second factors
of the ratio is great, medium, or slight, respectively.

Just what the exact limits of a wide or narrow ration are
is not fixed with definiteness. For convenience in this
work, any ratio less than 1 to 5 will be referred to as narrow
and any ratio having a greater proportion of protein than
1 to 7 will be called wide. A ratio lying between | to 5 and
1 to 7 will be called medium.

An illustration of the relation which may exist between a
proper nutritive ratio and production is given by W. P.
Wheeler,! who reports that a nutritive ratio of 1 to 4.3 gave
21 per cent more eggs during the more productive months,
with the heavier breeds, then did a ratio of 1 to 5.8. Hens of
the lighter breeds gave 26 per cent more eggs where the latter
ratio was used.

The nutritive ratio in and of itself, however, is not so
much emphasized as a guide in feeding practice as in times
past. This is fortworeasons. The first is that various pro-
teins vary so widely in their nutritive desirability, that a
proper nutritive ratio from the standpoint of some proteins
might be a very improper one with others. Thus the most
efficient nutritive ratio for a ration whose chief source of
protein supply was meat scrap, might very well differ from
that where the chief source of protein was powdered inilk.

* Twenty-sixth Annual Report, New York Experiment Station.

328 POULTRY PRODUCTION

In order to determine such matters much careful experimental
work is sorely needed.

A further reason lies in the fact the nutritive ratio of a
feed or ration gives no information concerning its vitamin
content, the importance of which is increasingly apparent.
It would be easily possible to prepare a ration in which the
relative proportion of proteins to carbohydrates and fats was
highly satisfactory, yet fowls fed on it would die for lack of
one or both of the vitamins.

CHAPTER VIII.
THE FEEDS.
CLASSIFICATION OF FEEDING STUFFS.

Tor convenience, poultry feedstuffs may be classified
according to the five divisions of a ration, which are grain,
green feed, mash, mineral feed, and drink, into grains, suc-
culence, mash constituents, mineral constituents and liquids.

The Grains.—While chickens are omnivorous feeders they
are primarily granivorous, or grain eaters. As Jaffa! points
out, rations for chickens are properly built up by selecting
such grains as are available and reasonable in price, and sup-
plementing them with the mash, mineral ingredients, suceu-
lence and liquids necessary to the needs of the fowl.

In experiments carried on at the Petaluma (California)
Poultry Station with barley, wheat, and corn, it was found
that as far as egg production alone was concerned, one grain
was just as valuable as another, provided it was properly
supplemented. This allows a choice between grains on the
basis of their price.

Grains and their products, which make up the majority of
poultry feeds, are classed among the concentrates for the
larger animals. hey are usually sufficiently bulky to supply
the needs of poultry in this particular, and roughage, save
when it is fed as succulence in its green form, has small
place in the poultry ration.

Grains in general are very deficient in fat soluble A. It is
more abundant in the germ than in other parts of the grain.
Those grains having a comparatively large endosperm are
particularly deficient. All grains appear to have an abun-
dance of water soluble B which is largely localized in the outer
coating.

! California Bulletin No. 164.
(329 )

330 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Barley.—This grain contains less fat, fiber, and ash than
oats, but more protein and carbohydrates. It does not rank
as high as wheat in digestible protein and contains more
fiber. It is not as palatable a feed as corn, wheat, or oats,
but is a good one to add to a ration by way of variety.

The amounts of digestible nutrients found in 100 pounds
of whole barley as determined by digestion experiments
with chickens are 9.3 pounds of protein, 1.2 pounds of fat,
and 58.4 pounds of nitrogen-free extract. It contains 2.5
pounds of ash and has a nutritive ratio of 1 to 6.6 for
chickens. The crude fiber content is 4.2 pounds.

Buckwheat.—Owing to its large proportion of crude fiber,
this grain has a lower per cent. of digestible organic matter
than any of the grains except oats. Fowls do not eat it readily
because of its dark, unattractive appearance. It has a ten-
dency to cause light-colored yolks. The amounts of digestible
nutrients found in 100 pounds of buckwheat as determined
by digestion experiments with chickens are 6.4 pounds of
protein, 2.1 pounds of fat, and 51.9 pounds of nitrogen-free
extract. It contains 2 pounds of ash and has a nutritive
ratio of 1 to 8.8 for chickens. The crude fiber content is 117
pounds.

Corn.—As the result of digestion experiments, Bartlett! is
led to remark that his results, “like those of Brown and
others, show that corn is a most valuable grain for poultry.
Its palatability and high digestibility has brought it into
much favor with all poultrymen. It cannot, of course, be
fed alone, as it is too concentrated a feed and is also deficient
in protein, but when combined with feeds rich in protein and
some bulky material, as cut clover, it makes a most desirable
ration.”

The Cornell Experiment Station? records the fact that
chickens fed an exclusive corn diet failed to develop satis-
factorily. This was especially true of the feathers, which
are largely protein. An exclusive corn diet induced sluggish-
ness and caused the laying on of masses of internal fat.

1 Maine Bulletin No. 184. ? Bulletin No. 25.

THE FEEDS 331

Hughes! has, however, shown that corn alone is an ade-
quate diet for adult pigeons for maintenance for at least one
year. The protein deficiency in corn seems to be due to the
poor quality rather than to the quantity. [or corn which
usually contains about 9 per cent protein will produce a very
slight growth even when all the other necessary dietary
factors are present in sufficient amounts. A diet containing
this amount of protein in the form of milk albumen as shown
by Osborne and Mendel? will produce a maximum growth.
This protein deficieney in corn is undoubtedly due to the
high per cent of zein, a protein which contains neither lysin
nor tryptophan, and which is incapable of supporting life.

Fie. 172

White Leghorn cockerel at eight months’ of age which had been fed only
corn and salt mixture. (After Hughes.)

Corn is the best liked grain that is fed to poultry in the
Middle West. Yellow corn imparts a deeper color to the
yolk of eggs than wheat or oats and produces yellow flesh as
a fattening ration. It carries more of fat soluble A than the
white corn. It also tends to make white birds creamy
in color.

1 Kansas Technical Bulletin, No. 5.
2 Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. xxiv.

32 POULTRY PRODUCTION

There is little, if any, advantage in feeding corn cracked
to fowls that can consume whole grains. Because of its
cheapness, attractiveness, palatability, and, in the case of
yellow corn, its effect on the yolk of the egg, it should
form a large proportion of the ration.

The amounts of digestible nutrients found in 100 pounds of
corn as determined by digestion experiments with chickens
are 8.4 pounds of protein, 4.4 pounds of fat, and 64.29 pounds
of nitrogen-free extract. It contains 1.5 pounds of ash and
has a nutritive ratio of 1 to 8.8 for chickens. The crude fiber
content is 2.2 pounds. It contains an abundance of water
soluble B but not enough fat soluble A to produce normal
growth.

Cow Peas.—Peas, as well as other leguminous seeds, contain
a large amount of protein. They are little used as a poultry
feed because of their scarcity and high price. Manufacturers
of prepared scratch feeds often include them in the ration
to narrow it and add to its attractiveness.

The amounts of digestible nutrients found in 100 pounds of
peas as determined by digestion experiments with chickens
are 17.8 pounds of protein, 1.2 pounds of fat, and 47.7 pounds
of nitrogen-free extract. They contain 3.2 pounds of ash
and have a nutritive ratio of 1 to 2.8 for chickens. The
crude fiber content is 3.9 pounds.

Kafir—The only data to be found concerning the avail-
abilty of the nutrients in kafir for chickens! has been some-
what criticised and declared untrustworthy by certain
investigators. While they perhaps cannot be trusted in
certain details, it appears that in the matter of the comparison
of the total digestible matter with that of corn, the data may
be tentatively relied upon. At least, they are the best we
have.

According to this data, kafir and kafir meal yielded about
2 per cent. less total digestible matter than corn and corn
meal. Judging from its feeding value for swine, it is nearly
as valuable as corn as a chicken feed.

The average amounts of the nutrients found in 100

' Pields and Ford, Oklahoma Bulletin No. 46.

THE FEEDS 333

pounds of kafir are 11.8 pounds of water, 1.7 pounds of ash,
11.1 pounds of crude protein, 70.1 pounds of carbohydrates,
of which 2.3 pounds are crude fiber and 3 pounds of fat.
The proportions digestible for poultry have not been defi-
nitely determined.

Millet —Millet is similar in composition to oats and is used
extensively as a chick feed, but it contains too much fiber to
be a very economical feed. It is supposed to have a beneficial
action upon the kidneys. Probably because it glistens it
is one of the first grains that a newly hatched chick will
pick up.

The amounts of digestible nutrients found in 100 pounds of
millet as determined by digestion experiments with chickens
are 6.8 pounds of protein, 3 pounds of fat, and 61.59 pounds
of nitrogen-free extract. It contains 2.8 pounds of ash and
has a nutritive ratio of 1 to 10 for chickens. The crude
fiber content is 8.1 pounds. Having a comparatively large
germ it carries enough fat soluble A to support nearly normal
erowth.

Oats —The general nutritive value of whole oats for
poultry appears to be less than that for ruminants and horses.
This is because the crude fiber seems to be of insignificant
feeding value for domestic birds. Oats, including the hulls,
possess the largest amount of fiber and nearly the highest
of ash of all the cereals, while the percentage of fat runs
nearly as high as in corn. Hulled oats are similar to wheat
in composition, except that the fat content is higher.

The relative amount of hull and kernel governs their
desirability for poultry feeding. Light oats have a poor
feeding value because of large per cent. of hull, which is
about as digestible as straw. Heavy, clean oats are relished
by chickens and add variety to the ration.

Hulled oats seem to be especially adapted for growing
chicks because of their oil content and their stimulating
effect on the nervous system.

The amounts of digestible nutrients found in 100 pounds of
whole oats as determined by digestion experiments with
chickens are 8.1 pounds of protein, 4.2 pounds of fat, and
53.5 pounds of nitrogen-free extract. It contains 3.2 pounds

304 POULTRY PRODUCTION

of ash and has a nutritive ratio of 1 to 7.7 for chickens. The
crude fiber content is 10.8 pounds.

s classed as a fattening feed because of its
large proportion of carbohydrate, nevertheless it is considered
an excellent feed for little chicks because of its regulating
effect on the bowels. It is usually fed in the grain portion
of the ration. In the case of a tendency toward bowel trouble,
however, it is frequently boiled. The boiled rice is fed as a
wet mash, and the water drained off and given the chicks to
drink after being cooled.

The average amounts of the nutrients found in 100 pounds
of polished rice are 12.3 pounds of water, 0.5 pound of ash,
7.4 pounds of crude protein, 79.4 pounds of carbohydrates,
of which 0.4 pound is crude fiber, and 0.4 pound is fat.
The amounts digestible for chickens are not known. Hughes!
found that pigeons fed on polished rice only, developed poly-
neuritis in twenty to twenty-eight days. These birds could
be cured by feeding the polishings, which goes to show that
there is little water soluble B in polished rice, but an abun-
dance in the outer coating, taken off in the polishing process.

Rye.—This grain, although quite similar to wheat in com-
position, is not suited for poultry feeding. It seems to
contain some ingredient which renders it unpalatable to the
fowl though this is possibly due to low per cent of fat. When
fowls are compelled to eat it, it has a tendency to cause
digestive disorders and affect the flavor of the egg.

The amounts of digestible nutrients found in 100 pounds of
rye as determined by digestion experiments with chickens
are 7.5 pounds of protein, 0.48 pounds of fat, and 64.6
pounds of nitrogen-free extract. It contains 2.1 pounds of
ash and has a nutritive ratio of 1 to 8.7 for chickens. The
crude fiber content is 1.5 pounds.

Sunflower Seeds—The high fat content (21 per cent)
of sunflower seeds, makes them highly prized for feeding birds
intended for exhibition. The aL produces a Gaambte gloss
thatismuch sought. Their high fiber content (nearly 30 per
cent) and the prev ailing high prices render them unprofitable
for feeding except for ‘the purpose noted above.

1 Kansas Technical Bulletin, No. 5.

THE FEEDS 335

Wheat.—Wheat is usually spoken of as the best of the grains
for poultry feeding. This is probably because it contains
more protein and ash than corn or kafir and less fiber than
oats.

As shown by Brown! the amount of protein available for
chickens found in 100 pounds of wheat is 9.69 pounds,
while the amount found in 100 pounds of corn is 9.27, or
but 0.42 pounds less. At the same time, wheat contains less
than one-third as much digestible fat as corn and slightly
less nitrogen-free extract.

Brown further reports digestive disturbances when fowls
were fed on a pure wheat diet, accompanied by loss of appetite
and bodily depression. Changing to a diet of oats and corn
stopped the trouble.

These facts, coupled with its high cost, due to its demand
for flour-making, indicate that too much emphasis has been
laid upon wheat as the most important single grain for
poultry feeding. It is, however, a very valuable addition to
any ration by way of variety and because of its palatability.

The plump, soft wheats are more palatable for fowls than
the hard wheats, but the comparative feeding value has not
been determined.

Shrunken wheat, caused by frost or drouth, contains a
larger proportion of protein than plump wheat because the
starch, which is the last material stored in the grain, failed
to reach it before growth ceased. As such wheat is unfit
for flour-making, it may usually be purchased at a less price
than fully matured wheat, while it is more valuable for
feeding purposes.

The amounts of digestible nutrients found in 100 pounds of
wheat as determined by digestion experiments with chickens
are 8.9 pounds of protein, 1.1 pounds of fat, and 62.6 pounds
of nitrogen-free extract. It contains 1.8 pounds of ash and
has a nutritive ratio for chickens of 1 to 7.3. The crude fiber
content is 1.8 pounds.

Shrunken wheat has been found to carry 4 per cent
more digestible protein than plump wheat on the basis of

* Bureau of Animal Industry, Bulletin No. 56.

336 POULTRY PRODUCTION

digestion experiments with other animals. On this basis its
nutritive ratio was 1 to 4.6.

Wheat Screenings.—Screenings are the refuse of the better
grades of wheat. They usually contain weed seeds, broken
and shrunken kernels, and often much trash in the form of
chaff, straw, and dirt. The feeding value depends upon the
quality. Musty, smutty, heated, or burnt wheat should never
be fed, because of the bad effect upon the digestive organs
of the fowl.

Mash Constituents.—As previously noted, it is considered
good feeding practice to furnish about one-third of the ration
in a finely ground form comprising what is termed a mash.
The mash furnishes an opportunity of supplementing the
whole grains which are sed y deficient in protein and
saves the energy that would be used up by the gizzard in
grinding the whole ration. The mash constituents, which
are frequently grain or animal by-products, usually furnish
digestible protein at less cost than do the whole grains.

The further fact should not be lost sight of, that in market-
ing nearly every farm product except butter, considerable
nitrogen, the characteristic element in protein, is being carried
off the farm. It is excellent farm practice to replace this
nitrogen by the purchase of the concentrated by-products
used as the mash constituents of a ration.

Care should be taken to see that the constituents of the
mash are evenly ground. Any coarse particles are likely to
be picked out by the birds, while the remainder of the mash
is wasted.

Alfalfa Meal.—During the last few years finely ground
alfalfa hay has appeared on the market as alfalfa meal, and
if of good quality is a good substitute for wheat bran, as it
is high in protein, ash, and fat. In buying this feed, however,
the guaranteed analysis should be carefully considered and
an examination made as to the crude fiber content. A large
proportion of fiber would indicate that the meal was ground
chiefly from stalks, which are of little feeding value, rather
than the leaves, which contain most of the nutrients and the
vitamins. The efficiency of alfalfa meal as a source of the
latter depends upon the relative proportion of leaves and

THE FEEDS 337

stems and also upon the way it is dried, though conditions
governing the latter are not well understood.

Other alfalfa feeds, known as chopped and shredded alfalfa,
are more easily examined and less liable to be of a poor grade
because of their coarser condition than alfalfa meal. Al-
though alfalfa feed contains a large percentage of nitrogen
compounds, it must be remembered that they are made from
alfalfa hay and not concentrates, and therefore should not
be fed to excess because of their high crude fiber content and
low availability. They may be used with good results up
to 20 per cent of the mash portion of the ration, provided no
bran is used. The total amount of bran or alfalfa meal
should not exceed 25 per cent of the mash at any time.

Alfalfa meal has the same composition as does the best
quality of alfalfa hay. In protein content it is ahead of that
reported for bran or middlings, but the total food value of
the latter is greater because they contain comparatively little
fiber (average 5 per cent) as compared with alfalfa meal
(over 26 per cent).

The average amounts of the nutrients found in LO0 pounds
of alfalfa meal are 8.8 pounds of water, 9 pounds of ash,
14.3 pounds of crude protein, 65.9 pounds of carbohydrates,
of which 30.1 pounds are crude fiber, and 2 pounds are fat.
The amounts digestible for chickens are not known. Under
certain not well-understood conditions it may serve as a
source of both the vitamins.

Barley (Ground).—“ Barley meal, or ground barley, is an
excellent material to use in a mash, but great care must be
taken in preparing it. It is necessary either to have the entire
erain evenly ground or sift it before using, or the hulls cause
trouble in the chicken’s crop, especially when dry mash is
used. Care must be exercised in the sifting or a considerable
part of the nutritious bran will be discarded with the hulls,
causing unnecessary waste.”! Where barley meal can be
purchased at a reasonable price it is an excellent addition
to a fattening ration as well as to a mash.

1 Jaffa, California Bulletin No. 164.

338 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Brewers’ Grains —Brewers’ grains are a barley refuse from
the brewing of alcoholic beverages and are sold on the
market both wet and dry. Wet brewers’ grains can be pur-
chased only in the vicinity of breweries, where they may be
hauled directly to the farm, because of their high water
content and the ease with which fermentation takes place.
Wet grains make an excellent food, as they are succulent,
palatable, and nutritious. Care should be taken, however,
that they be fresh and unfermented, as, if strong or musty,
they will affect the flavor of the egg.

Dried brewers’ grains are the wet grains with the moisture
driven off. In this state they have good keeping qualities
and are light in weight, thus enabling them to be shipped to
distant markets. Because of their high protein and fat
content, together with their light, chaffy nature, they
make a valuable addition to the mash portion of the ration
and form a good supplementary food to corn meal and wheat
middlings.

The average amounts of the nutrients found in 100 pounds
of dried brewers’ grains are 7.5 pounds of water, 3.5 pounds of
ash, 26.5 pounds of crude protein, 55.6 pounds of carbo-
hydrates, of which 14.6 pounds are crude fiber, and 6.9
pounds are fat. The amounts digestible for chickens are not
known.

Buckwheat Bran and Middlings—In the preparation of
buckwheat flour the outer layers of the kernel are separated
into the hulls and middlings. The hulls, which have but
very little feeding value, are sometimes mixed with a varying
proportion of the middlings and sold as buckwheat bran.
This feed is a better cattle than poultry feed, however, as
poultry do not require the hulls to add bulk to the ration.

Buckwheat middlings are high in protein and fat, and are
oftentimes used in fattening rations to produce white flesh.
When buckwheat feeds of any kind, either whole grain or
ground, are fed, they have a tendency to lighten the color of
the yolks of the eggs.

The average amounts of nutrients found in 100 pounds of
buckwheat middlings are 12 pounds of water, 4.8 pounds of
ash, 28.3 pounds of crude protein, 47.5 pounds of carbo-

THE FEEDS 339

hydrates, of which 4.8 pounds are fiber, and 7.4 pounds are
fat. The amounts digestible for chickens are unknown.

Condiments.—The advisability of feeding stimulating foods
like pepper and mustard is a point upon which opinion is
divided. The belief that such feeds will sometimes stimulate
egg production appears to be well founded. It is also true
that there is always a reaction in the animal body when it
has been artificially stimulated. In practice it is safe to use
condiments only with great moderation, not more than is
necessary to season the mash fairly well.

Corn Meal—For use in mashes, corn meal possesses the
same desirable qualities as it does in the whole grain for the
grain portion of the ration. It is also very valuable for
fattening rations. The bolted corn meal, which has much of
the bran and germ removed, differs somewhat from corn in
the amounts of digestible nutrients it contains. These two
parts contain the vitamins, ash and the best of the proteins.
On the basis of 100 pounds, it contains 6.9 pounds of protein,
3.3 pounds of fat, 59.1 pounds of nitrogen-free extract, and
1.4 pounds of ash. The nutritive ratio for chickens is | to
9.8. The crude fiber content is 1.9 pounds. Meal made from
new corn is quite likely to heat in the bin, or even in the sack.
Heated meal is undesirable for old stock and absolutely unfit
for chicks.

Cottonseed Meal.—The evidence relative to the value of cot-
tonseed meal as a source of protein for poultry is somewhat
contradictory. Morrison! found “that cottonseed meal used
as a chief source of protein is palatable to fowls” and further,
“that as far as can be determined (after a six months’ trial)
the general condition of the cottonseed-meal-fed fowls seems
just as good as the condition of those on beef scrap.”
Bittenbender and Lippincott? found in crate-fattening trials
that cottonseed meal could be successfully substituted for
meat scrap, that it produced flesh of fine flavor and texture,
and was more palatable when added to a basal ration of
ground oat meal than oil meal, meat scrap, mutton tallow,

1 Mississippi Bulletin No. 162.
2 Unpublished data, Iowa State College.

340 POULTRY PRODUCTION

beef fat, barley meal, or molasses. It was excelled in this
particular only by corn meal.

Hartwell and Lichtenthaeler,! as the result of a rather
extensive comparison of cottonseed meal and meat scrap,
concluded that “If the constituents of bone are supplied,
there appears to be no reason why cottonseed meal may
not be used to furnish a considerable portion of the protein
required by chicks, especially if a moderate consumption of
food is satisfactory to the feeder. If the most rapid growth
is desired, regardless of the amount of feed consumed, beef
scrap will be found more satisfactory, since the chicks con-
sumed more of the beef-scrap ration when allowed to have
all they would eat, and made a more rapid growth in con-
sequence. When limited to the same amount of nitrogen,
however, the gains were not very different whether cotton-
seed meal or beef scrap formed a prominent part of the
rations.”

Jeffrey,? however, reports that in experiments including
Barred and Buff Plymouth Rock and Buff Orpington pullets,
cottonseed meal was not relished and the birds ate sparingly
of mash containing it. The pullets were slower in developing
and coming into laying when the main source of protein was
cottonseed meal than when it was meat meal. Philips®
reports that Leghorn pullets fed cottonseed meal as the chief
protein concentrate, derived practically no benefit from it,
laying no better than birds fed no protein concentrate of any
kind. Pullets receiving their protein mainly from cotton-
seed meal gave an average annual production of 55.69 eggs,
while pullets fed ona ration in which 5.3 pounds of cottonseed
meal was replaced by 50 pounds of buttermilk, gave anaverage
annual production of 166.87 eggs. There is further evidence
bearmg out Jeffrey's results, and the general opinion among
poultry feeders is that cottonseed is not a desirable feed,
Until a greater preponderance of decisive data is secured tor
or against its use, it should be avoided, or at least used with
extreme caution.

* Rhode Island Bulletin No. 156
* North Carolina Bulletin No. 211.
Purdue Bulletin, No. 227

THE FEEDS 341

The average amounts of the nutrients found in 100 pounds
of cottonseed meal are 7.5 pounds of water, 6.2 pounds of
ash, 44.1 pounds of crude protein, 33.1 pounds of carbo-
hydrates, of which 8.1 pounds are fiber, and 9.1 pounds are
fat. The amounts of these digestible for chickens are not
known. ‘The vitamin content is small.

Cut Clover—Young clover hay cut fine is a valuable feed
for poultry, though it is not so generally used as alfalfa meal.
Bartlett! found that equal parts of early, fine-cut clover and
corn meal made a more digestible feed than wheat bran.
Steamed cut clover, like steamed cut alfalfa, makes a good
temporary substitute for succulence, but it should be recog-
nized that such a substitute is only temporary.

The amounts of digestible nutrients found in 100 pounds of
early cut clover hay based on digestion experiments with
chickens are 8.68 pounds of protein, 2.77 pounds of fat, and
31.77 pounds of nitrogen-free extract. It contains 6.2 pounds
of ash and has a nutritive ratio of 1 to 4.4 for chickens. The
crude fiber content is 24.8 pounds. It is similar to alfalfa
in its vitamin content.

Dried Blood—Dried blood is not palatable for chickens.
Wheeler found that even when supplemented by bone
meal, dried blood gave a much slower growth when fed to
ducklings than did one containing meat scraps or another
containing milk albumin supplemented with bone meal.
Lack of palatability appeared to be a cause, though blood
is known to be an inefficient protein, lacking certain of the
amino-acids.

Fish Scrap.—Dougherty? found “that a good grade of fish
scrap gave as good results as commercial meat scrap, and
when properly fed did not in any way taint the eggs laid.”
Philips? found that when the feeding value of meat scrap
was $23.92 per hundred pounds and of skim milk was $2.04
per hundred pounds, fish scrap had a feeding value of $27.65
per hundred pounds. While all these values have been
criticised for being high, there appears no reason for doubt-
ing them from a comparative standpoint.

1 Maine Bulletin No. 184.

2 California Experiment Station Report, 1914-1915.
‘Purdue Bulletin No. 182.

342 POULTRY PRODUCTION

The average amounts of the nutrients found in 100 pounds
of fish scrap are 12.8 pounds of water, 32.6 pounds of ash,
52.4 pounds of crude protein, and 2.2 pounds of fat. The
amounts of these digestible for chickens are not known.

Gluten Feed—In the manufacture of glucose and corn
starch, the kernels of corn are soaked and separated into germ,
bull, gluten, and starch. The gluten is dried and ground and
was formerly sold as gluten meal, containing about 35 per
cent protein and 3 per cent fat. Because of its high concen-
tration it has so frequently produced a bad effect on animals
when used by inexperienced feeders, and also to provide a
market for corn bran, it is now mixed with corn bran and
marketed as gluten feed.

The bran increases the bulk, reduces the fat and protein
content and increases the proportionate amount of the water
soluble. The proportion of meal to bran is about 55 per
cent to 45 per cent. The protein content of gluten feed
varies so much that it should always be purchased on a
guaranteed analysis.

Gluten feed is a valuable source of protein, as it appears
to be readily digested and palatable. It should never be
used to entirely displace protein feeds from animal sources
and should be accompanied by bone meal.

The average amounts of the nutrients found in 100 pounds
of gluten feed are 8.7 pounds of water, 2.1 pounds of ash,
25.4 pounds of crude protein, 60 pounds of carbohydrates,
of which 7.1 pounds are fiber, and 3.8 pounds are fat. The
amounts of these digestible for chickens are not known.

Hominy Feed.—This consists of the hull, germ, and part
of the starch cells of the corn kernel which are separated
out in the process of making hulled corn or hominy. This
feed runs about the same as the whole grain in protein
and carbohydrates, but is higher in ash and fat. It is an
excellent poultry feed, but is not used extensively because
of the limited supply.

The average amounts of the nutrients found in 100 pounds
of hominy feed are 10.1 pounds of water, 2.6 pounds of ash,
10.6 pounds of crude protein, 68.7 pounds of carbohydrates,
of which 4.4 pounds are fiber, and 8.0 pounds of fat. The
amounts of these digestible for chickens are not known.

THE FEEDS 343

Meat (Fresh).—Fresh meat is undoubtedly the most palat-
able feed of animal origin except that furnished in nature
in the form of insects and worms. It may be ground fine
and mixed with a wet mash or it may be fed separately. An
idea of its feeding value may be gathered from the discussion
of meat scrap.

Kionka, as reported by Brown,! found that an exclusive
diet of meat increased the uric acid output of chickens 550
per cent, as compared with an exclusive diet of barley.
Each fowl receiving large quantities of beef (150 grams daily)
developed symptoms similar to gout in man, and autopsies
revealed uric acid in certain of the joints and tissues. This
same result would probably prevail in the case of overfeeding
meat scraps and possibly any protein of animal origin.

Meat Scrap—Meat scrap, quite commonly called beef
scrap, is composed of the meat trimmings, including some
bone, from various animals slaughtered at the packing-houses.
These are cooked to extract some of the fat or tallow, and
then ground to varying degrees of fineness and sacked. Being
cooked dry and fairly free from fat, it will keep for a long
period if stored in a dry place.

Meat scrap “should not contain any appreciable quantity
of hoof, horn, or hair, as these materials have practically
no food value for the growing chick or laying hen. A pre-
liminary examination of such food preparations may be made
by placing a small sample on a piece of white paper and noting
carefully the particles which have more or less the appearance
of a ‘dark-brown glass.’ These represent the hoof and horn,
are very rich in nitrogen, but not of the form that is adapted
to the nutrition of fowls. Another method of testing beef
scrap is to treat a small quantity with boiling water. If
there is a putrid odor, indicating decomposition, the scraps
should not be used.’”?

In the buying of this feed, attention should also be paid to
the guaranteed analysis, as it varies widely, sometimes run-
ning as low as 20 per cent protein, and as high as 80 per
cent.

1 Bureau of Animal Industry, Bulletin No. 56.
2 Jaffa, California Bulletin No. 164. 3 West Virginia Bulletin No. 83

344 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Meat scrap is the most generally used source of animal
protein there is, though it is being somewhat displaced in
some sections by the use of milk and milk by-products.

Stewart and Atwood report that when the same amount of
protein was furnished by beef scrap, milk albumin, and fresh
meat scrap, respectively, to three pens of twenty White
Leghorns each, ten of which were pullets and ten hens, the
hens receiving beef scrap laid 886 eggs in 120 days; the ones
receiving milk albumin laid 228 eggs during the same period,
while the hens receiving the fresh meat and ground bone
laid 279 eggs.

This test began November 1, and at the end of 120 days
the pens were shifted so that the beef-scrap pen received the
fresh meat, the milk-albumin pen received beef scrap, and
the fresh-meat pen received milk albumin. During the 120-
day period following, the pen receiving fresh meat laid 947
eggs, the one receiving beef scrap 987 eggs, while the one
receiving milk albumin laid 935 eggs.

Philips! reports results in which three pens of Leghorns
were fed corn, wheat, oats, bran, and shorts in the same
proportion. To the ration of pen No. 1 was added 10 per
cent meat scraps. To pen No. 2 was added enough skim milk
to equalize the amount of protein contained in the meat
scrap of pen No. 1. He makes note of the fact that this was
about all the milk the chickens would drink. In pen No. 3
no animal feed of any kind was given. As the result of two
years’ work, the following average egg production was
secured :

Meat-scrap pen 135.0 eggs
Skim-milk pen. 133.5 *
No animal-feed pen 365.0: °**

Me further found? that meat scrap at $2.50 a hundred
pounds was slightly cheaper than skim milk at 30 cents a
hundred pounds when fed to Leghorns.

In later experiments? with White Leghorns which were

"Indiana Circular No. 40.
* Purdue Bulletin No. 182.
3 Purdue Bulletin, No, 227.

THE FEEDS 345

of better breeding as regards egg production, he found that
when pullets were fed the same ration except that one con-
tained 10 per cent meat scrap while the other contained no
animal feed, the meat scrap fed pullets gave an average pro-
duction of 179 eges while the no animal feed birds gave an
average production of 59.35 eggs.

It is sometimes claimed that liberal feeding of meat scrap
injures the fertility of eggs, but so far no definite data on the
matter has found its way into experimental reports.

The amounts of digestible nutrients found in 100 pounds
of meat scrap of good quality, as determined by digestion
experiments with chickens, are 65.9 pounds of protein, 13.01
pounds of fat, and 0 pounds of nitrogen-free extract. It
contains 4.1 pounds of ash, and has a nutritive ratio of 1 to
0.44 for chickens. It contains no crude fiber.

Middlings (Wheat)—Wheat middlings are more finely
ground than either bran or shorts, and run lower in crude
fiber, ash, and protein, but higher in carbohydrates and fats.
They are frequently only a good grade of shorts, but should
more nearly approach low-grade flour. They will usually
contain more gluten than most of the grain by-products,
and because of their finely ground, heavy character, should
be mixed with bulkier feeds.

The average amounts of the nutrients found in 100 pounds
of wheat middlings are 10.7 pounds of water, 3.7 pounds of
ash, 17.8 pounds of crude protein, 62.8 pounds of carbohy-
drates, of which 4.7 pounds are crude fiber, and 5 pounds
are fat. The proportions of these digestible for chickens have
not been determined. hey contain less of the water solu-
ble than bran

Molasses —Bittenbender and Lippincott! found that when
enough molasses was added to a basal ration of oat flour to
form 10 per cent. of the solid portion of a milk-fattening
ration, it increased the average gains slightly, though a
little less feed was consumed. It did not appear to increase
the palatability of the ration. The flavor of the fowls fattened
on molasses was excellent (see Sugar, p. 347).

1 Unpublished data, Iowa State College.

346 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Oil Meal (Linseed).—In the extraction of linseed oil from
flaxseed, the residue or cake that is left is ground and placed
on the market as a stock food of considerable worth. There
are two methods commonly used in extracting the oil, called
the old and new processes, respectively.

In the old process the flaxseed is crushed, heated, placed in
sacks, and the oil expressed by hydraulic pressure. In the
new process the oil is extracted by washing the crushed and
heated seed with naphtha, thus dissolving out the oil. The
naphtha is then driven out by steam, the seeds dried, ground,
and sold.

Old process (O. P.) meal is more valuable as a food because
it contains a much larger percentage of fat than new process
meal, and is also rich in protein. It makes a good feed for
moulting hens, as its oil, being readily assimilated, assists
in the formation of new feathers. It also has a beneficial
physiological effect upon the digestive system and seems
to aid in the assimilation of concentrated rations. Because
of its laxative tendencies, however, it should not form over
10 per cent of the ration. It is undesirable for use in wet
mashes because it tends to gum up the mash, making it
difficult for the fowls to eat.

The average amounts of the nutrients found in 100 pounds
of old process (O.P.) oil meal are 9.1 (9.6) pounds of water,
5.4 (5.6) pounds of ash, 33.9 (36.9) pounds of crude protein,
44.1 (45) pounds of carbohydrates, of which 8.4 (8.7)
pounds are fiber, and 7.5 (2.9) pounds are fat. The figures in
parentheses represent the amounts in the new process meal.
Its vitamin content depends somewhat on the process of
manufacture.

Red Dog Flour.—This is similar to middlings, but more
nearly approaches the patent grades of flour. It is richer
in gluten and has a wider nutritive ratio. It is a valuable
feed when it can be secured at a reasonable price. Like mid-
dlings, it should be lightened up with some more bulky feed.

Shorts (Wheat).—Shorts are composed chiefly of the outer
portions of the wheat kernel which lie nearer the starch
than those which go to make up bran. It is practically fine
bran mixed with low-grade flour. Shorts usually contain less

THE FEEDS 347

fiber, protein, and ash and more carbohydrate and fat than
bran. Very many markets do not distinguish between shorts
and middlings.

The average amounts of the nutrients found in 100 pounds
of wheat shorts are 10.5 pounds of water, 4.4 pounds of ash,
17.4 pounds of crude protein, 62.8 pounds of carbohydrates,
of which 6 pounds are fiber, and 4.9 pounds are fat. The
proportions of these digestible for chickens have not been
determined. It contains less vitamin than bran.

Tankage.—Philips' used common “digester” tankage in
comparison with commercial meat scrap in feeding White
Leghorn pullets with excellent results. He replaced the
meat scrap in the following ration with 3 pounds of tankage
and secured an equally good egg production.

GRAIN. Masn.

10 pounds of corn 5 pounds of bran
10 pounds of wheat 5 pounds of shorts
5 pounds of oats 4.5 pounds of meat scrap

In practice the precise amount of tankage which should
replace a given amount of meat scrap will depend upon the
protein content of each. In the work quoted the protein
content of neither was given. It took about 5.4 pounds of
feed to produce a dozen eggs when tankage was fed.

The average amounts of nutrients found in 100 pounds of
tankage varies, but is on the average 7.5 pounds of water,
19.7 pounds of ash, 51.7 pounds of crude protein, 7.2 pounds
of carbohydrates and 14.0 pound of fat.

Sugar.—Hartwell and Wirkpatrick? found that the addition
of sugar at rates varying from 20 to 100 grams for each ee
of milk added to a mash made up of 5 parts corn meal,
part wheat bran, and } part whole milk, and fed to Tthede
Island Red chicks weighing 1.1 lbs., for two and three weeks,
for the purpose of finishing them off as broilers, did not bring
increased gains, nor an increased palatability, as shown by
the amount of feed consumed.

1 Purdue Bulletin No. 2
2 Rhode Island sae a 145,

348 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Wheat Bran.—Wheat bran is a by-product of flour manu-
facture and consists of the outer layer of the wheat kernel. It
is one of the most popular means of adding bulk to the mash.
Its chaffy character has seemed to make it particularly well
suited for mixing with some of the heavier concentrates, as
corn meal, oil meal, middlings, and gluten feed. It is also
said to have a cooling effect upon the digestive tract and be
slightly laxative in character due to the presence of phytic
acid. It frequently forms 50 per cent of the constituents of
a mash intended for mature stock and is just as frequently
kept constantly before very young chicks without aadiden
of other feedstuffs.

The only data as to its digestibility available represent
three experiments by Bartlett! which uniformly show a
decidedly low digestibility of the organic matter. He further
found that a mixture of equal parts of fine-cut clover and
corn meal was sufficiently bulky to feed with concentrates
and was more digestible and, for the East at least, a more
economical feed than bran.

It may be that bran, like succulence, will continue to be fed
for its physiological effect rather than its feed value. There
is need of further light upon its exact value as a constituent
for mashes.

The amounts of digestible nutrients found in 100 pounds of
wheat bran as determined by digestion experiments with
chickens are 11 pounds of protein, 1.48 pounds of fat, and
24.79 pounds of nitrogen-free extract. It contains 5.8 pounds
of ash and has a nutritive ratio of 1 to 2.5 for chickens. The
crude fiber content is 9.5 pounds. It is high in the water
soluble but low in the fat soluble.

Succulence.—Regarding green feed, Jaffa? remarks that it
“must be considered from the stand-point of its medicinal or
hygienic value rather than from the stand-point of nutrition.
Some green stuff, like alfalfa and the legumes in general,
possesses a much higher food value, but the more tender and
succulent the green, ‘the more it is enjoyed. Some green stuft

should always “be given as a separate feed where it is possible

‘

1 Maine Bulletin No, 184.
° California Bulletin No. 164.

THE FEEDS 349

to do so. Alfalfa meal, fed in the mash, does not take the
place of a succulent feed. At the same time, it must be re-
membered that kale, cabbage, lettuce, ete., if fed beyond
the amount necessary for hygienic or physiological purposes,
become an expensive form of nourishment.” Besides having
a desirable effect on the digestive tract, it serves as an
appetizer, adds variety to the ration, and tends to give a good
color to the yolk, owing, according to Palmer and Kempster, !
to the xanthophyl the green feeds contain.

It now appears probable one of the reasons for its great
desirability in the rations of both growing stock and layers,
is that the green leaves of plants are a splendid source of fat
soluble A which is deficient in the grains.

During the spring and summer months, fowls that run at
large will find an abundance of succulence, and the problem
of its supply arises only during the winter. A supply of
succulence is distinctly a spring condition.

Alfalfa (Green).—It is frequently claimed by commercial
egg men that green feed, and particularly alfalfa, is responsible
for an undesirable condition in eggs which appears in the
spring, known as “‘green whites,” or “grass eggs.” W. P.
Wheeler? states that, while the orange-yellow color of the
yolk varied in intensity in direct proportion to the amount of
clover hay and green alfalfa in the ration, the greenish
color of the white also varied, but not so regularly.

At the Kansas Experiment Station, Maurer and Harris
kept six Barred Plymouth Rock hens in an alfalfa field for
several weeks. The eggs from half the hens were subjected
to careful qualitative bacterial analysis. Although infection
was frequent, no pigment-producing organisms could be
isolated. Alternate eggs from the rest of the hens were kept
for four weeks at room temperature and blood temperature
respectively. They were then broken into a white porcelain
dish and carefully examined for greenish discoloration. No
grass eggs were found. Until further data on the subject is
accumulated, no statement on the point is possible.’

! Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. xxxix, No. 2.

2 Jordan’s Feeding of Animals.

‘A pigment-forming organism has recently been isolated from green
whites by the Bureau of Chemistry.

350 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Alfalfa and clover are generally considered to furnish the
very finest pasturage for fowls. Both are an excellent source
of the vitamins. Cut alfalfa hay that is cured green furnishes
an excellent temporary substitute for sueculence when
steamed.

Beets (Mangel Wurtzels) —Mangel wurtzel beets are among
the most convenient forms of succulence for winter feeding,
all things considered. They are easily and cheaply raised
and are good keepers. They should not be fed in large guan-
tities in the early fall, as they have a tendency to cause scours.
In the winter they may be fed raw at about the rate of 25
pounds per 100 hens per day. A good way to feed them is to
split them in halves lengthwise and stick on nails driven in
the walls of the pen, about 18 inches from the floor, allowing
the hens to pick at them. As mangels are practically 90
per cent water, they have a low feeding value except as a
succulence. ‘Their dry matter, however, contains a large
percentage of ash. They are low in vitamins.

Cabbage.—Cabbage forms an excellent early green feed, but
is more difficult to raise, keep, and has a lower feeding value
than either beets or turnips. It is rich in water soluble B
but deficient in the fat soluble.

Clover—sSimply as succulence, green clover is probably
just as desirable as alfalfa, though it does not have quite
as great feeding value. The need of supplying succulence
usually arises in the winter, when green clover and alfalfa
are not available. While they are highly desirable for
pasture or for birds that are confined in bare yards, they
cannot be considered among the forms of succulence for
winter feeding as can cabbage, sprouted oats, and mangel beets.

Letluce.—Lettuce is used chiefly to furnish suceulence for
brooder chicks in early spring, before other greenness is
available, and is among the best plants for this purpose. It
is a good source of the vitamins.

Onions.—Onions and onion tops are relished by both
chicks and mature stock, and if fed occasionally give a
welcome variety to the diet and are said to have a beneficial

effect on the digestive sy stem. Sliced onion is particularly
valuable in “cheering up” a bunch of brooder chicks that

THE FEEDS 351

have become listless and dumpish. When they once become
acquainted with it, chicks will scrap and tussle over pieces
of onion about as quickly and freely as over worms.

Care must be exercised, in feeding onion to laying stock,
not to overdo the matter. If fed to excess to laying hens
onions will impart their flavor to the eggs.

Pumpkins.—Pumpkins form a good feed for fall and
early winter, but keep poorly.

Rape.—Rape can be planted in drills and, if not cut below
the crown, may be gathered several times during the summer.
It furnishes an excellent source of succulence for birds
confined on bare lots.

Rye Pasture-—Because of its early greenness in the spring,
rye is often planted in the fall. It is liable to cause scours
if the fowls are allowed to eat too large quantities at first,
but, if fed with caution, makes an excellent early source
of succulence.

Stlage.—Little is known concerning the value of silage in
poultry feeding. Apparently, the fowls relish it and it seems
to have no bad effects, unless it has been frozen or partially
spoiled.

Sprouted Oats —One of the increasingly common means of
supplying succulence during the winter is sprouted oats.
It should be recognized that sprouting only changes the form
of the feed and does not increase the nutriment.

There are several ways of sprouting oats. The necessary
conditions are warmth and moisture. They may be placed
in a bucket or tub which is filled with water as warm as
the hand can bear, and left over night. They may then be
drained off and placed in racks as shown in Figure 173, being
spread out until they are about an inch deep. If there is
a good, warm furnace cellar with a cement floor available,
they may be spread out on the floor. In either case they
should be sprinkled with warm water daily.

In order to prevent mould, Rice and Rogers! recommend
that the oats be treated with formalin. ‘One pint of formalin
should be added to thirty bushels of oats. The liquid should

1 Cornell Bulletin No. 248.

352 POULTRY PRODUCTION

be sprinkled over the grain and thoroughly mixed with it.
Success will depend largely upon the thoroughness of mixing.
The pile of wet grain should be covered with blankets and

Fie. 173

\ homemade oat sprouter. (Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural Experiment
Station.)

allowed to remain for twelve hours. The blankets should then
be removed and the grain stirred twice a day until dry,
requiring usually about two days. It should then he bagged

THE FEEDS 353

in sacks which have been sprayed thoroughly with the for-
malin mixture each time they are used.”

When the top sprouts are two or three inches long, the
root sprouts will be found to have become closely inter-
woven so that the whole tray of oats may be picked up like
a rug and thrown over the shoulder. Tear off as much for
the birds as they will entirely clean up in twenty minutes
to half an hour. Bartlett! states that “sprouted oats at the
proper stage to feed will carry about 77 per cent of water,
2.8 per cent protein, 8 per cent crude fiber, 1.3 per cent fat,
and 16 per cent nitrogen-free extract. There is an actual
loss of dry matter in sprouting oats and the only advantage
of the process is to produce a succulent green food at times
when grass or other green foods are not available.” It
should be added that green sprouted oats undoubtedly
supply both the fat and water solubles

Turnips and Rutabagas.—While these are a good feed, they
are not as good a source of succulence as mangels, because
they do not yield so highly per acre, are poorer keepers, and
if fed in excess may give a strong taste to the eggs. Also,
cooking is necessary to make them palatable. They are
useful, however, to feed in the fall, if enough mangels are not
obtainable to last the entire winter.

Mineral Constituents.—Eight and six-tenths per cent of the
dry matter of the fowl and 35.6 per cent of the dry matter
of the whole egg are ash, or mineral matter. It can therefore
be readily seen that it is necessary to supply mineral matter
in a form that may be assimilated by the fowl, for the rapid
upbuilding of the bones in the growing chick and the for-
mation of shell on eggs. It is also necessary that mineral
matter in a hard form not easily assimilable be furnished for
the purpose of crushing and grinding the feed in the gizzard
so that digestive juices may act upon it with ease.

Bone (Granulated).—The phosphate of lime is as desirable
for the formation of bone in growing chicks as the carbonate
of lime is in the ration of the laying hen for the formation of
the egg shell.

1 California Bulletin No. 164.
23

Bo4 POULTRY PRODUCTION

The customary form for furnishing it is granulated bone.
This is a by-product of the packing-house and consists of
animal bones, from which all the gristle and grease have been
removed, ground to a suitable size varying from powder to
the size of a grain of corn.

Rock phosphate (floats) has sometimes been urged as a
more desirable source of phosphate than bone. H. J.
Wheeler,! and Hartwell and IWirkpatrick,? both found that
ground bone was a better source than the rock phosphate.

Bartlett® found that the addition of 7 per cent bone ash
to a ration consisting wholly of vegetable matter gave a
slightly higher digestion coefficient than when the mixture
was fed without it. Bolte’ reports that the addition of bone
ash to a ration whose main source of protein was granulated
milk markedly increased the efficiency of the ration.

Fine ground bone contains:

Phosphoric acid 20.22 per cent.
Lime ; ZRAOOR Se ss
Protein 26:40 8 tt

Bone (Green Cut)—l'resh bone trimmed from meats in
butcher shops are run through a green bone cutter and used
for feeding poultry. This isa palatable and nutritious food,
containing a high percentage of ash in the bone and easily
digestible proteids in the meat which clings to the bone,
and is especially good for egg production. This food cannot
be shipped or kept for any length of time before it spoils.
Therefore it is usually prepared directly on the farm, or in
the market for a loeal trade. Although fowls are more fond
of meat in this form than any other, care should be taken
not to feed an excess or any that is tainted in the least.
When fed at the rate of one ounce per fowl every other day,
no harm results and it is decidedly palatable. Too high a
price should not be paid for this feed, however, as it contains
but about 18 per cent protein and should be purchased on
the protein basis, using first quality beef scrap as a standard.

‘The Massachusetts Experiment Station’ report bowel

' New York Bulletin No. 242. ° Rhode Island Bulletin No. 145.

3 Maine Bulletin No. 184. * Rhode Island Bulletin No. 126.
5’ North Carolina Bulletin No. 211. * Bulletin No. 122.

THE FEEDS 35

trouble “among fowls receiving cut bone . . appar-
ently due to the fact that in spite of the precaution taken
to distribute it evenly some fowls occasionally secured more
than their proper share.”

Charcoal.—This is fed for its effect, and probably does not
enter directly into the nutrition of the fowl. It is an intestinal
corrective and should be kept before the fowls in a readily
obtainable form at all times. It is sold commercially as
granulated charcoal.

Grit.—The chief functions of grit are to prevent impaction
in the gizzard and aid it in crushing food, although some
of it may perhaps be assimilated. Its most desirable quality
is hardness. If there is not an abundance of gravel where
the birds may pick up pebbles, grit should be constantly
supplied. Fowls prefer shiny particles of sparkling grit to
that which is dull. Commercially, grit appears on the market
under many names, but is made chiefly from crushed quartz,
feldspar, phosphate rock, and granite. Oyster shell, which is
very valuable as a source of ash, is not hard enough to serve
as grit.

The size of grit must of necessity be regulated by the
size of the stock fed. Commercially, it is usually offered as
chick size, medium, and large size grit.

W. P. Wheeler: found that mixing sand with the food of
newly hatched chicks resulted in better health for the chicks
and a more efficient use of food. He also found that ground
oyster shell could not take the place of sand.

Salt.—Salt in some quantity is considered necessary to all
farm animals. It adds palatability to the ration and is
generally supposed to aid digestion. It should be fed with
caution. Wheeler? reports experiments in the feeding of
salt in which he found no bad results until he reached a
proportion of 6.3 ounces per 100 hens. At that point diarrhea
appeared. This disappeared when the amount of salt was
reduced one-third. He recommended salt at the rate of 5
ounces per 100 pounds of feed for mature stock, and that no
salt be fed young stock until after they are two months old.

' New York Bulletin No. 242.
2 Twenty-sixth Annual Report, New York Experiment Station.

356 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Payne,! however, notes that when salt was used inter-
changeably in four different mashes it did not appear to
influence their palatability as indicated by the relative
amounts consumed.

Shell (Oyster).—Vhe necessity of a supply of lime or calcium
for the formation of egg shells is shown by Wieke (as reported
by H. J. Wheeler?) in the following analysis of egg shells:

Per cent.
Carbonate of lime 93.71
Carbonate of magnesia 1.39
Phosphate of lime 0.76
Organic substance . 4 24

W. P. Wheeler*® found that where oyster shell was the only
mineral feed given hens, aside from that contained in the
grains, in one case S4 per cent, and in another over 88 per
cent of the lime of the egg shell was unaccounted for by
any feed given aside from the oyster shell. When broken
glass was substituted for the oyster shell, fewer eggs were laid
and the shells were thinner.

Card‘ has shown that the correlation between the number
of eggs laid and the amount of oyster shell consumed is very
high (S724 = .0079). That is to say, the consumption of
shell increased or decreased directly as egg production in-
creased or decreased.

Oyster shell contains 95 per cent carbonate of lime. One
pound of oyster shell contains lime enough for the shells of
seven to cielt dozen eggs. Like grit, shell should be fed in
sizes to suit the size of the stock. Clam shell is not so highly
esteemed by poultrymen as oyster shell. Hart and Halpin’
found that when the exact caletum equivalent was furnished
from oyster shell and clam shell the former was considerably
more efficient for egg production, and both were superior
to lime rock, calcium carbonate and bone.

1 Jour. Am. Assn. Inst. and Invest. in Poul. Husb., vol. iti, No. 3.
’ Rhode Island Bulletin No. 84.

' Twenty-sixth Annual Report, New York Experiment Station.

4 Jour. Am. Assn. Inst. and Invest. in Poul. Husb., vol. ii, No. 6.

® Wisconsin Bulletin No. 319.

THE FEEDS 357

The Liquids.—One of the marks of recent progress in
feeding practice has been the increasing attention given
to supplying all classes of stock with abundant and suitable
drink.

Developments in connection with feeding under artificial
lights have emphasized the necessity of having drink always
available, winter as well as summer, whenever the birds are
off the perches. The growing knowledge concerning the
vitamins has given a further impetus to the use of milk as
a regular feature of rations for growing, laying and breeding
stock, as well as for fattening stock.

Milk ( Butter) —Buttermilk is similar to skim milk, but has
a still higher feeding value. The amounts of digestible
nutrients found in 100 pounds of buttermilk, as estimated
from digestion experiments with skim milk with swine, are
3.84 pounds of protein, 1.05 pounds of fat, and 3.92 pounds of
nitrogen-free extract. It contains 0.7 pounds of ash and has
a nutritive ratio of 1 to 1.6. It contains no crude fiber and
an abundance of both vitamins. Dried and semi-dried
buttermilk are finding their way into the market but their
value for egg production has not been determined The
semi-solid milk is used in large quantities at packing houses
in milk fattening What effect the process of manufacture
has on the vitam’n content has not been determined.

Milk (Skim).—Skim milk is bemg increasingly recognized
as a valuable poultry feed. Philips! reports that Leghorn
pullets consumed an average of about 93 pounds of skim milk
ayear. This amounts to nearly 5 tons or 1171 ga lons for
each 100 hens. He further found that when all the milk
the pullets would drink was added to a ration consisting
entirely of grains, it was at 30 cents per hundred, slightly
more expensive to feed than meat scraps at $2.50 per hundred
pounds.

In later experiments with White Plymouth Rock pullets
he found the feeding value of skim milk to be $1.C0 per
hundred pounds as compared with a meat scrap value of
$20.03 per hundred pounds. Pullets fed on a standard

: Purdue Bulletin No. 182

358 POULTRY PRODUCTION

ration with the animal protein supplied by skim milk gave
an average production of 140.2 eggs, while pullets fed the
same ration except that 50 pounds of milk was replaced by
3.5 pounds of meat scrap gave an average production of
135.9 eges

Anderson! found that the addition of skim milk to a
ration increased the consumption of other feed. Nixon?
found that during the first eight weeks Leghorn chicks
grew faster when sour skim milk was used for moistening
the mash than when the mash was fed without milk. Sour
skim milk was found to have no harmful effect on the chicks,
even when fed from the first meal.

Milk may be fed either sweet or sour, but is to be preferred
sour. Shaw? reports that milk-sugar cannot be digested by
young chicks, but that when this sugar is converted into
lactic acid by the souring process it is digestible. “Our
experiments show that not only is lactose not digested (by
the chick), but it acts as an irritant to the gastro intestinal
tract.’ According to Rettger, Kirkpatrick, and Jones,!
“sour milk has a most favorable influence on growth and
vigor’ and “is an important agent in the reduction of
mortality from all causes.”

Thompson® found that when two one-hundred bird lots of
February hatehed White Leghorn pullets were both fed a
standard ration, but one pen had access to sour skim milk
at all times, while the other did not, the sour milk lot laid
5661 more eggs ina year than did the no milk lot.

\xempster® found that 100 pounds of sour skim milk took
the place of 5.4 pounds of meat scrap in the ration, though
unfortunately he does not mention the per cent of protein
the meat scrap contained.

Milk may be used to moisten mashes, or given the fowls to
drink. In the latter case particular care must be taken of the
drinking vessels in warm weather. Unless the precaution of

1 Indiana Bulletin No. 71. * Cornell Bulletin No. 327.
3 American Journal of Physiology, vol. xxx, No. 7.

‘Storrs Bulletin No. 77

6 Jour. Am. Assn. Inst. and Invest. in Poul. Husb., vol. tii, No. 2.
6 Missouri Bulletin, No. 155.

THE FEEDS 309

frequent scalding is taken there will be an accumulation of
solids which will putrify and are likely to cause such nervous
troubles as limberneck, so-called, and the like.

The average amounts of the nutrients found in 100 pounds
of skim milk are 90.1 pounds of water, 0.7 pound of ash,
3.8 pounds of crude protein, 5.2 pounds of carbohydrates
and 0.2 pound of fat. The proportions of these which are
digested by chickens have not been determined. It contains
both of the vitamins, though not nearly so much of the fat
soluble as does the whole milk.

Milk (Whey).—Whey is low in protein content because of
the loss of the casein in the making of cheese. It is good for
moistening mashes or as a drink. Its sugar content furnishes
nourishment and its acidity aids digestion. Practically all
the water soluble of milk is found in the whey.

Water.—This highly important part of all poultry rations
has been discussed as a nutrient (see page 301). It must
be further emphasized, that a suitable and constant supply
of clean, cool water is essential to the best feeding practice.
To provide water that is always clean and cool is a summer
problem that must be met by the feeder’s ingenuity if he
is not so fortunate as to have running water available (see
Figure 176).

In the northern and central states a constantly available
supply of water during the winter also presents its problems.
The recognition of its importance, however, is bringing into
use water heaters of various styles so designed as to involve
slight fire hazard and heat the water sufficiently to prevent
its freezing in the coldest weather.

CHAPTER IX.
THE COMPOUNDING OF RATIONS.

Definition of a Ration Technically, a ration is the feed
consumed by a given number of birds in a specified time.
The formula of a ration should include a statement of the
kinds, proportions, and amounts of feeds included, the time
being assumed to be twenty-four hours unless otherwise
stated. In poultry feeding practice, the amount is so largely
governed from day to day by the judgment of the feeder,
based on the changing requirements of the birds themselves,
that it is not customary to specify the amount to be fed ina
given time, and a statement of the kinds and proportions of
constituents fed, without regard to the amount, is referred to
as a ration.
anced ration is a combination of
feeds furnishing the vitamins, and the several nutrients in
such proportion, amount, and form as will, without excess of
any nutrient, properly nourish a given group of birds for a
specific time.!

FEEDING STANDARDS.

A feeding standard is a statement of the exact quantities
and proportions of all the digestible nutrients necessary
for a ration that is to serve a particular purpose. It differs
from a balanced ration in that it does not specify the amount
or kinds of feed from which the nutrients shall be secured
and thus takes no account of the vitamins. Having a feeding
standard as a basis from which to work and a knowledge of
the feedstuffs available, including not only the amounts of
the digestible nutrients contained but their nutritive effect

' Adapted from Henry and Morrison, Feeds and Feeding
(360)

THE COMPOUNDING OF RATIONS 361

as well, the feeder may compute a balanced ration, making
due allowance for the vitamins.

There are two methods of calculating a feeding standard.
One is by means of digestion trials and the other by dietary
trials. Theoretically, the proper method is by means of
digestion experiments. While this is possible for maintenance
standards, it is not practicable for a standard for hens in
full laying or for growing young stock. This is because the
necessary technique employed in carrying on digestion experi-
ments would greatly interfere with egg production or growth
and so would defeat their purpose.

The method using dietary trials is the one to which poultry
feeders must look for the present. By this method the efli-
ciency of different rations for a given purpose is compared
and the amounts and proportions of the digestible nutrients
in the most efficient rations may then be taken as a standard.

The most complete standards to be had at present are
those compiled by W. P. Wheeler at the New York Experi-
ment Station. Unfortunately in the absence of specific
data for poultry his calculations were of necessity based on
coefficients of digestibility observed for other animals. ‘These
are therefore only approximations to a true standard. It will
remain impossible to compile a true standard until very much
more work has been done upon the establishing of the diges-
tion coefficients of all the common poultry feeds, than has
been done up to the present time. In the meantime the
Wheeler standards will continue to be of great service in
pointing toward the rational feeding of poultry.

Maintenance Standard.—A maintenance ration is one that
furnishes a sufficiency of each and all of the several nutrients,
but no more than is required to maintain a given bird that
is not laying and is as nearly at rest as possible, so that it will
not gain or lose in weight.

Because of the pronounced vitality, the very rapid breath-
ing, the high body temperature, and the fact that the
smaller the animal the greater is the surface area relative to
bulk, and the greater the relative heat production, it might
be expected that poultry would demand a relatively high
consumption of carbohydrate. As a matter of fact, while

302 POULTRY PRODUCTION

fully nine-tenths of a maintenance ration of the larger farm
animals may consist of carbohydrate, a somewhat less pro-
portion prevails in the maintenance ration of chickens.

The fact that poultry “requires a much higher proportion
of nutrients per unit body weight, presupposes their adapt-
ability to concentrated feedstuffs, like the grains.’

TasLp XX XIX.—DiceEsTipLtp NoTRIENTS REQUIRED PER Day FoR Eacu
100 Pounps Live WeiaHT FOR MAINTENANCE.

Total dry Carbohy- Nutritive
matter. Ash. Protein. drates. Fat. ratio.

Capons of 9 to 12 pounds

weight : 2.30 .06 .30 1.74 .20 1 to 7.5
Hens of 5 to 7 pounds

weight Cae 2 dO) .10 40 2.00 20 1to 6.2
Hens of 3 to 5 pounds

weight . 3.90 «HS .50 2.95 .30 1to0 7.4

From feeding trials not covering any moulting period and
during a time when egg production was suspended, W. P.
Wheeler? deduced the standards given in Table XXXIX
and the tables following.

This data was taken from a total of 52 capons averaging
by different lots from 9 to 12 pounds in weight and fed for
158 days, and from 69 hens ranging from 3 to 7 pounds
and fed for 150 days.

“A ration which corresponds to the standard given for
maintenance for hens of the larger size could be composed of
1 pound of cracked corn, 1 pound of corn meal, 4 pound each
of ground oats, wheat middlings and clover hay, + pound
fresh bone, and 10 ounces of beef scraps.’’

Standard for Growing Chicks.—As is to be expected, the
proportions of protein and ash in a growing ration for chicks
is even greater than that for a hen in full laying, because
growth means the building of tissues, the development of
vital organs, and the growth of feathers‘ that are largely

‘ Brown, Bureau of Animal Industry, Bulletin No. 56.

2W. P. Wheeler in Jordan’s Feeding of Animals.

' Tbid.

4 Rice, Rogers and Nixon (Cornell Bulletin No. 258) found that growing
chicks experienced at least four moults by the time they were old enough
to lay.

THE COMPOUNDING OF RATIONS 363

protein, and of bone, which is largely ash. Both are so
important from the stand-point of growth that they are
frequently referred to as “the growing nutrients.”

As will be noted in Table XX XV, of the dry matter of the
hen’s body, about one-half is protein and 8 per cent is ash.
As W. P. Wheeler! suggests: “This of itself would suggest
that a slow growth must follow the use of feeds containing
small amounts of nitrogenous and mineral matter.’’ The
proper development of the bony skeleton of the chick is
dependent upon an adequate supply of ash. If this supply
is stinted, the chicks quickly show signs of stunting, which
can never be entirely overcome.

Wheeler finds that the “requirements of rapidly growing
young fowls are so constantly changing that a satisfactory
average ration for any extended period cannot be formulated.
In the following statement of rations for chicks they are
averaged for periods of two weeks at different ages during the
time of most rapid growth. The ration for the last period will
suffice for several weeks longer, although the amount required
per 100 pounds live weight will gradually diminish up to
maturity.”

Taste XL.—Dicestiste Nutrients RequireD PER Day FoR Eacu
100 Pounpos Live Wercut or GRowine CHICKS.

Dry Carbo- Nutritive
matter. Ash. Protein. hydrates Tat. ratio.

First 2 weeks 10.1 0.5 2.0 7.2 0.4 1lto4.1
Second 2 weeks 9 0.7 2.2 6.2 0.5 1to3.4
From 4 to 6 weeks 8.6 0.6 2.0 5.6 0.4 1to3.4
From 6 to 8 weeks 7.4 0.5 1.6 4.9 0.4 1t03.7
From $ to 10 weeks 6.4 0.5 1.2 4.4 0.3 1to4.3
From 10 to 12 weeks 5.4 0.4 1.0 3.7 0.3 1t04.4

“As an example of a day’s ration which would correspond
to the requirements of the standard given for young chicks
during the second week, the following is stated: Four pounds
of cracked wheat, 2 pounds of granulated oat meal, 3 pounds
of corn meal, 4 pound each of wheat middlings, buckwheat
middlings, ground oats and old-process linseed meal, 2}
pounds of animal meal, and 27 pounds of young green alfalfa.

1 Jordan’s Feeding of Animals.

364 POULTRY PRODUCTION

This would feed from eight hundred to a thousand chicks of
this age.”

In practice it is not always practicable to vary the ration
from week to week with the exactitude pointed out in the
standard. The needs of the chick govern its appetite very
largely, and if offered a variety of feeds it may be depended on
to balance its own ration with fair accuracy.

Laying Standard.—“ It is a physiological axiom that protein
is a cell stimulant.’ It is to be expected therefore that grow-
ing chicks and laying hens need considerably more digestible
protein than the minimum that will barely maintain them.
Because of the large amount of ash required for the manu-
facture of egg shell, the proportion of ash is also noticeably
increased. ‘The amounts and proportions of the nutrients for
hens in full laying as computed by W. P. Wheeler? are given

in Table XLI:

Tabsie XLI.—Dicestiste Nutrients Requirep ppR Day ror EHacu
100 Pounps Live WeicuT or Hens In Fou Layina.

Total dry Carboby-
matter. Ash. Protein. drates. Fat. Nutritive
Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. ratio

lens of 5 to 8 pounds

weight . 3.30 .20 0.65 2.25: 320 -to.4:.2
Hens of 3 to 5 pounds
weight 5.50 .30 1.00 3.75 .385 1 to 4.6

W. P. Wheeler? has to say concerning these standards:
“These standards are not absolute and inflexible rules, for
such would not be justified by a thousand times the number
of available data. They supply a starting point and do not
obviate the use of judgment. Because it is found convenient
on account of different requirements and capabilities to
divide hens into two groups, it should not be presumed that
a hen just under five pounds in weight must always have
one ration, or a hen just over five pounds must always have
the other.”

The following stated ration is given as an illustration of
one which would supply the nutrients called for in the

1 Henry and Morrison, Feeds and Feeding.
2 Jordan's Feeding of Animals. 5 [bid.

THE COMPOUNDING OF RATIONS 365

standard for laying hens of the larger size: One pound of
cracked corn, $ pound of wheat, 3 pound of corn meal, 4
pound each of wheat middlings, buckwheat middlings, and
animal meal, } pound of fresh bone, and 2 pound of young
green alfalfa.

Computing Rations.—Rations are computed by trial, taking
the standard feedstuffs as basal and balancing them with such
feeds as will supply the deficiency of nutrients. By referring to
Table XLI, it is found that hens in full laying and weighing
between 3 and 5 pounds should be furnished with 0.3 pound
ash, 1 pound of digestible protein, 3.75 pounds of digestible
carbohydrates, and 0.35 pound of digestible fat for every
100 pounds of live weight. This has a nutritive ratio of
1 to 4.6.

In an effort to formulate a ration giving the nutrients
in proper proportions and amounts, as a trial ration, 3 pounds
cracked corn, 1 pound wheat, 1 pound cornmeal, 1 pound
oatmeal, | pound bran, and 3 pound meat scrap may be taken.
Upon reference to the proper Table LIT, it is found that this
ration supplies the following amounts and proportions of
the nutrients: Protein, 0.967 pound; carbohydrates, 4.03
pounds; fat, 0.521 pound, and ash, 0.175 pound, making the
total dry matter 5.49 pounds. The nutritive ratio is found
upon calculation to be 1 to 5.1 pounds.

Upon comparing this with the standard it will be noticed
that there is a negligible deficiency in total dry matter and
that the nutritive ratio is a little wide. In order to narrow
the ration, the amount of meat scrap may be increased to 0.7
pound. It will then be found that the ration supplies the
nutrients in approximately proper amounts and proportions,
save for a deficiency in ash which may be made up by hopper-
feeding, oyster shell or granulated bone. The vitamins may
be supplied by an abundance of green feed.

REQUIREMENTS OF A RATION.

In the feeding of poultry we may regard the fowl as a
physiological machine which manufactures eggs and meat.
The ration is the raw material from which the desired product

365 POULTRY PRODUCTION

must be obtained. It must be prepared in accordance with
the requirements of the desired product and the process of
manufacture. If best results are to be obtained, other factors
beside feeding, such as kindness, cleanliness, and the general
comfort of the fowls must be considered and may be referred
to as the care of the machine.

The requirements of a ration with the view of obtaining
the greatest efficiency in production will be discussed under
the following topics: (1) amount of feed, (2) feeding condi-
tions, (3) size of ingredients, (4) palatability and attractive-
ness, (5) nutritive effect, (6) composition, (7) digestibility,
(8) variety, (9) adaptation to purpose, (10) effect on product
and (11) cost.

Amount of Feed.—It is readily understood that the amount
of a ration may easily govern not only the amount of eggs
produced or flesh put on, but may have an effect upon the
general health of the bird. Eggs are formed and flesh pro-
duced from the feed fed in excess of that required for the
mere maintenance of the body. If the amount of feed fed is
sufficient for maintenance only, no products can be secured.
If it is less than enough for maintenance, the bird will lose
flesh and perhaps eventually die of starvation.

There are, on the other hand, dangers from overfeeding.
If the ration is extremely palatable, a fowl] may eat such an
amount as to overtax the digestive organs. This may cause
both a waste of nutrients and those ailments grouped under
the head of indigestion.

While the high art of poultry feeding is to so encourage
and stimulate the appetite of a flock that it will consume
large amounts of feed, overfeeding is to be avoided with
care. Of the two feeding errors, overfeeding or underfeeding,
a little overfeeding is by far the most serious. It tends to
make the fowls “go stale,” depressing the appetite, and
checking their activity.

No rule can or should be given as to the exact amount of
feed to be given any certain class of poultry during a specified
time. The amount offered should be that which the fowls
will work industriously to secure until the last bit is gone.
This applies to growing, laying or fattening stock. The

THE COMPOUNDING OF RATIONS 367

proper amount is always just a little less than the fowls
would like to consume. The ability to judge just what this
amount is, comes from a study of the flock, and marks the
skilful feeder.

It may appear that hopper feeding young stock on range
or leaving dry mash available for laying stock, forms an
exception to this rule. It must be noted that in each case
the supply of the most palatable kinds of feed is limited.
On range, the bugs and worms are so eagerly sought and at
such an expenditure of exercise, that there is little danger of
the chicks overeating of the hopper-fed grains, from the
stand-points of amount and proportion. Only enough will be
sought to satisfy the craving that is developed from the
necessity of balancing up the ration of insects and worms,
and furnishing energy for abundant exercise.

In hopper feeding dry mash to laying fowls, the same
condition prevails. The hens prefer the whole or cracked
grains to the finely ground mash, and usually eat only as
much as is necessary to piece out the ration of whole grain,
or to satisfy the craving for some ingredient of the mash,
as meat scrap or salt.

Feeding Conditions—Rettger, Kirkpatrick and Jones! call
attention to the fact that “with early hatched chicks that
are confined in small quarters without an opportunity for an
abundance of green food, fresh air and particularly exercise,
; one-half or less (of the regular proportion) of the
protein concentrate should be incorporated in the ration
when the chicks are supplied with all the milk they care to
consume. In short, chicks grown in small quarters instead of
on range, and on a 15 or 20 per cent meat ration in combina-
tion with an abundance of milk are likely to be literally
grown off their feet, or, in other words, suffer with rickets or
what is ordinarily called weak legs.’ Hart, Halpin and
Steenbock,? however, have since shown that certain forms of
leg-weakness may very possibly be due to a deficiency of
crude fiber in the ration (see page 370).

1 Storrs Bulletin No, 77.
2 Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. xlui, No. 2.

368 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Size of Ingredients.—The size of each particle of the ration
must be such that it may be readily eaten by the fowl.
Poultry generally seem to prefer the larger grains. It has
been unquestionably proved by experiment and experience,
however, that a hen will consume more feed and lay more
eggs if a part of her ration is ground for her. This is perhaps
owing to the fact that the alimentary tract can digest and
assimilate more feed than the gizzard can grind.

It is owing to this, and the fact that protein may usually
be purchased more cheaply in the ground by-products of the
grains than in the whole grains, that the custom of feeding
mashes has grown up. It is possible to overdo the matter of
giving ground grain, thereby failing to compel enough work
of the gizzard to keep the digestive tract in good tone. The
consensus of opinion at present seems to be that the pro-
portion of two pounds of the whole and cracked grain to one
of the ground is proper. The amount of mash eaten may be
controlled by the amount of the more palatable whole and
cracked grain given.

It is also customary to use cracked corn in the scratching
feed for the purpose of making the birds scratch and hunt
for more particles. Gowell! found, however, in a test with
1000 pullets, lasting from November to April, during which
half of them received cracked corn and half whole corn, that
there was very little difference in actual results, the balance
being slightly in favor of the birds receiving the whole corn.

Palatability and Attractiveness.—Palatability and high
digestibility usually go together, as is noted by Brown,
who holds that it “should be emphasized that in incorporating
grains into poultry rations, the relative palatability should
be correlated with the digestion coefficients.”” The amount
of feed consumed depends quite largely upon its palatability.
It is a safe rule to use very little or leave out of the ration
entirely any ingredients that are not palatable where fed
singly. Rye, cottonseed meal and blood meal are examples
of unpalatable feeds. Jeffrey? found that pullets ate sparingly

1 Maine Bulletin No. 144.
’ Bureau of Animal Industry, Bulletin No. 56.
3 North Carolina Bulletin No. 211.

THE COMPOUNDING OF RATIONS 369

of a mash containing cottonseed meal and as a result were
slower in developing and coming into laying, where it fur-
nished the main source of protein, than when the protein
was furnished by the more palatable meat scraps.

Grits are selected by fowls according to their attractiveness,
those which shine and sparkle most being the ones chosen.

Nutritive Effect.—The nutritive effect of a feed or ration
must be considered as well as the amount of the various
digestive nutrients it contains. Linseed meal is a valuable
source of vegetable protein, but if fed in a greater proportion
than 10 per cent of the ration it is likely to be very laxative
in its effect, or to impart an undesirable greenish cast to
the color of the egg yolks. Winter rye offers a convenient
source of early spring greenness, but it must be fed with
caution at first, as it frequently causes digestive disorders.

Musty grain or tainted meat is likely to cause difficulty
in the alimentary tract, which in young stock may be so
serious as to cause heavy mortality.

Certain materials, as grit and charcoal, are not properly
feeds, as they are not fed for the purpose of furnishing any of
the nutrients. They are spoken of as feeds, however, because
they are commonly fed to bring about certain nutritive
effects. The function of the grit is to grind the feed, thereby
increasing its digestion coefficient, while charcoal acts as an
absorbent and as a corrective of intestinal disorders.

One of the most important feed constituents in this con-
nection is crude fiber. While it has a very limited digestibility,
a certain proportion is necessary in the ration. Its function
is to dilute and open up the ration in the crop, gizzard, and
intestines so that the secretions in these respective organs
may have an opportunity to act. It serves to keep the intes-
tine properly distended and aids in preventing constipation.
If it was possible to feed fowls a ration that was wholly
digestible, they would very probably die of acute consti-
pation.

Hart. Halpin and Steenbock! have secured very suggestive
results in feeding growing chicks in confinement on a synthetic

' Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. xliii, No. 2,

370 POULTRY PRODUCTION

diet which indicate that there may be a close relation between
the crude fiber content of the ration and a chick malady
called leg-weakness (see page 511). The chicks in the
several lots fed on various diets exhibited this trouble to a
greater or lesser extent except the lot which was fed a ration
containing 10 per cent of crude fiber in the form of finely
ground paper. Just what relation this result bears to practi-
cal chick feeding it is too early to state. The lots fed were
small and the number of lots was not large. Further work
will be awaited with interest.

Too much crude fiber ina ration is also disastrous. Gowell!
reports that hens that had been bedded with oat straw, and
giving a 60 per cent egg yield, were suddenly reduced to a
yield of less than 10 per cent by bedding the house down with
oat hay cured green. The hens ate freely of the finer parts,
which immediately caused acute digestive disorders. The
hay was removed at once, but it was twenty days before the
birds regained their normal production.

Cochel and Jackson? found that rations carrying 3.5 per
cent of the total weight in crude fiber gave better results
for laying hens than those with lower or higher percentages.
Fowls were kept in fairly good condition on a ration carrying
5 per cent of crude fiber, but showed a decreased egg yield.
Serious intestinal disorders occurred when a ration carrying
over 5 per cent was fed.

They further found that fowls did not seem to make
any appreciable use of coarse floor litter to supply a defi-
ciency in the fiber content of a ration; that the amount of
succulence consumed was governed to some extent by the
proportion of crude fiber in a ration, and that fowls with
unlimited alfalfa or bran will make up rations carrying
approximately 3.5 per cent of crude fiber.

Composition.—If the best results are to be obtained from
feeding, the ration must be complete and properly balanced.
If the ration is improperly balanced with regard to the pro-
portions of the nutrients, the fowl is compelled to consume
a larger amount of one nutrient to secure the necessary

1 Maine Bulletin No. 144. 2 Pennsylvania Bulletin, No. 120

THE COMPOUNDING OF RATIONS 371

amount of others. So, in an extremely wide ration, a fowl
is compelled to consume more carbohydrates than its body
requires in order that it may obtain the vital amountsof protein.

Securing the proper composition not only refers to the
proper nutritive ratio, regarding the nitrogenous and non-
nitrogenous nutrients, but also the completeness and proper
balance between grain, animal food, succulence, ash, grit,
charcoal, bone or any other material that may be fed. A
ration is balanced when it contains all the nutrients in right
proportions. It is complete when it contains, in addition to
the nutrients, every material that may produce a desirable
nutritive effect.

Digestibility—The digestibility of feeds has been fully
treated elsewhere in another connection. In feeding practice
it is necessary to fully appreciate its importance in relation
to cost, the need of guarding against too much bulk on the
one hand and too great concentration on the other. A ration
composed wholly of mangel beets (90 per cent water) and
chopped oat straw might have a nutritive ratio that was
approximately correct, but it would be so bulky and so
lacking in available nutrients that enough energy could not
be secured from it to carry on the work of digestion.

On the other hand, a ration composed entirely of corn
and meat scraps would contain so small an amount of
bulky material that the intestines would not be sufficiently
distended to allow for thorough digestion and prevent
constipation.

Between two feeds having the same composition and cost-
ing the same, the one having the highest digestion coefficient
is the more profitable to feed. While the exact situation is
not met in actual practice, the principle involved is met and
must constantly be considered.

Variety.—Variety is one of the spring conditions responsible
for the increased production of that season. There is not only
grain, animal feed, and green feed in abundance, but there are
very many kinds of each. Aside from the cultivated grains,
there are many seeds from the weeds and grasses, there are
hundreds of kinds of insects and worms and nearly as many
different kinds of tender greenness.

312 POULTRY PRODUCTION

In formulating the ration, not one, but several kinds of
both whole and ground grains and as many sorts of animal
food and greenness should be furnished as possible. Variety
stimulates the appetite and offers an opportunity for the
fowl to exercise some choice in the selection of the ration.
It also makes likely a supply of the vitamins so far recognized
and perhaps others not yet discovered.

Philips! reports observations upon the feeding habits of
hens, wherein he found in feeding a grain ration containing
corn, oats, and wheat, that certain hens preferred corn to the
exclusion of the other grains, others preferred wheat, while
still others showed a marked preference for oats. If any one
of the grains had been fed to the exclusion of the others,
even though properly balanced with a mash, the birds would
not have been quite satisfied and production would probably
have been lessened.

Adaptation to Purpose.—There is usually one of four pro-
ductive purposes in view in feeding. These are (1) laying,
(2) fattening, (3) growing, and (4) breeding. In addition
to these, there are the factors of age, class, and species
to consider. ‘The most characteristic differences between
rations formulated for these respective purposes are as
follows: An egg ration is composed, in addition to grit, shell,
charcoal, bone and water, which are before the fowls at all
times for all purposes except fattening, of whole or cracked
grains and mash mixtures. A laying ration should have a
nutritive ratio between 1 to 4 and 1 to 5, the lighter hens
requiring a proportion coming nearer to the latter and
heavier hens coming nearer to the former ratio.

A fattening ration is usually composed entirely of finely
ground grains or grain by-products, mixed with buttermilk
or skim milk to a consistency of a porridge. Wheeler? suggests
a nutritive ratio of 1 to 8 as proper for a fattening ration for
mature fowls. Bittenbender and Lippincott? found a ratio
of 1 to 6.3 gave better gains than any narrower ratio, while
Lee! reports that in commercial establishments and packing

' Kansas Bulletin No. 164. * Jordan’s Feeding of Animals.

5 Unpublished data, Iowa State College.
4 Bureau of Animal Industry, Bulletin No. 146.

THE COMPOUNDING OF RATIONS SY is)

plants where fattening is carried on on a large scale, rations
having a nutritive ratio of 1 to 6.2 gave the best results. In
both cases, however, the birds were young and still growing.

The fattening ration is made up entirely of ground grains
and milk, because it is desirable that the ration be of con-
dition consistency and palatability to be consumed, digested,
and assimilated rapidly and in large quantities. This is be-
cause the fattening period rarely lasts over three weeks, and
usually not over two.

A growing ration for young chicks is similar to a laying
ration, save that the ingredients are smaller and the pro-
portion of both ash and protein is greater.

The breeding ration is frequently exactly the same as the
laying ration. Many poultrymen, however, hold the view
that the fertility of eggs and the vitality of offspring are
injured by encouraging the laying of large numbers of eges
by feeding a narrow ration, and prefer to widen it somewhat
for feeding breeding birds. This view appears to be borne
out by experimental evidence. Others feed only whole grain,
so that the birds will be kept in good trim by plenty of
internal exercise in grinding the grains, as well as by the
usual exercise in scratching for them.

Effect on Product.—Certain feeds have an undesirable
effect on the flavor of the eggs and flesh of fowls, that are at
the same time nutritious, palatable, and healthful. Onions,
rape, turnips and fish scrap, if fed in excess, impart a strong
taste to eggs, but otherwise are excellent feed.

Green feed and yellow corn help to give the rich golden-
yellow color which is so desirable in the yolk, while excessive
amounts of linseed meal impart a green color to the yolks.
Beets give the yolks a pale color. Waite! found that yellow
corn, when composing three-sevenths of a ration, gave a very
deep yellow to the yolk of the resulting eggs. When it formed
three-elevenths of the ration, it gave a noticeable yellow tint,
but not as rich a yellow as is desired.

Wheat, when forming the same proportions as above, gave
no yellow color to the egg yolks, and white corn gave no

* Maryland Bulletin No. 157.

374 POULTRY PRODUCTION

better results. he balance of the ration was in each case
the same.

In fattening experiments, Bittenbender and Lippincott!
found that when meat scraps formed 25 per cent of the finely
ground portion of a fattening ration, it imparted a distinctly
strong flavor to the flesh of the fowls, as compared with
birds fattened on oat flour and gluten feed.

It is because of the effect of their food that wild ducks
have the characteristic “ gamey”’ flavor that is conspicuously
absent in the same species when domesticated.

Bushnell and Maurer? found that there was a marked in-
crease in the bacterial infection of eggs laid by hens when
fed a wet mash, as compared with a dry mash.

Fic. 174

Showing effect on the egg yolk of feeding a fat stain (Sudan TIT)
to laying hens.

Cost.—A very important factor in any ration is its cost.
The best ration, all things considered, is the one which gives
the greatest economic returns. This does not mean either the
greatest returns or the cheapest ration. The greatest returns
might be obtained only from a ration that cost more than the
product is worth, and the cheapest ration might result in
such limited production that it would be as unprofitable
as the most expensive ration. To find the most profitable
means between these two unprofitable extremes is the nice
problem which confronts every practical feeder.

It is customary to rate feeds on the basis of their digestible
protein content, because protein is an essential nutrient for

: Unpublished data, Iowa State College.
* Unpublished data, Wansas Agricultural Experiment Station

THE COMPOUNDING OF RATIONS 375

Taste XLII.—leep Cost or a Dozen Haas av Varying Prices
or Fsps.

Price per Pounds of feed Cost per
pound of consumed per dozen dozen
feed. eggs produced, eggs.
{ 6.0! 30.06
$0.010 ents 0 075
rt 9. 08 0.09
| 6.0 0.09
0.015 Ail 0.1125
| 9.0 0.135
{6.0 0.12
0.020 a Ware 0.15
| 9.0 0.18
(6.0 0.15
0.025 47.5 0.1875
| 9.0 0.225
{60 0.18
0.050 1.5 0.225
| 9.0 0.27
| 6.0 0.21
0.035 ea Ol 0.2625
| 9.0 0.315
{ 6.0 0.24
0.040 47.5 0.30
| 9.20 0.36
{ 6.0 0.27
0.045 AT se 0.33875
(9.0 0.405
(6.0 0.30
0.050 tee ben 0.375
(9.0 0.45
| 6.0 0.33
0.055 7.5 0.4125
lo'o 0.495
(6-0 0.36
0.060 7.5 0.45
l9.0 0.54

1 The amount of feed necessary to produce one dozen eggs by Leghorns
whose average normal production was 155.5 eggs.

2 The amount of feed necessary to produce one dozen eggs by American
breeds whose average production was about 142 eggs.

3 The amount of feed necessary to produce one dozen eggs on commerci:
farms whose stock was about 94 per cent Leghorns and whose average
production was 109 eggs.

376 POULTRY PRODUCTION

all rations and is the most expensive. This classification
holds only to a limited extent on the market. The feeds
containing the most digestible protein are ordinarily com-
paratively high in price, but the prices are not always in
exact proportion to the protein content. Therefore protein
may be cheaper from one source than from another.

It frequently becomes advisable in practice to vary the
nutritive ratio of a ration in order to use larger amounts of
a cheap feed. While this may be done without serious results,
care should be taken that too great a deviation is not made
from the accepted ratio, and a return to the correct ratio
should be made as soon as the prices of feeds will permit.

The feed cost of a dozen eggs with feed at varying prices
is shown in Table XLII, page 375. This table was calculated
from the data of Nirkpatrick and Card! and of App, Waller
and Lewis” (see page 380).

1 Storrs Bulletin, No. 82.
> New Jersey Bulletin, No. 329.

CHAPTER X.
FEEDING PRACTICES AND APPLIANCES.

FEEDING PRACTICE.

Basis of Feeding Practice.—There is no other class of live
stock that surpasses poultry in the difficulty of successful
feeding. With the larger animals, and particularly the
dairy cow, with which the laying hen is most nearly com-
parable, the individual may be dealt with, and individual
tastes and peculiarities catered to.

Fic. 175

The foundation of an efficient feeding practice is a uniform flock. (Courtesy
of Purdue Agricultural Ixperiment Station.)

With poultry, the value of the product of a single indi-
vidual is not sufficient to warrant individual care and atten-
tion. The best that can be done is to build up feeding
practices that meet the requirements of the average hen.

377)

37 POULTRY PRODUCTION

In order to make such practices really efficient, however,
it is necessary to have every hen in the flock approximate
fairly closely the average hen. It means little to feed the
average hen intelligently if the extremes on either side of the
average vary from the Mediterranean to the Asiatic type,
as is frequently the case in mongrel flocks. he first step
toward making a rational and efficient feeding practice
possible is building the foundation for a uniform flock by
grading or by establishing a pure-bred flock.

The Feeding Problem.—‘Skill in feeding is the art of
stimulating the appetite.” The factors which enter into
the problem of inciting the fowls to a large consumption
of feed include (1) variety, and (2) palatability which have
received a full discussion elsewhere. The further factors
which have to do directly with feeding practice are (3)
regularity, (4) compelling of exercise, and (5) gauging the
amount to be fed.

Regularity.—Fowls of all sorts are highly responsive to
regularity in feeding. Where regular feeding hours are kept
the birds will usually congregate at the place of feeding
shortly before feeding time and wait quietly for the appear-
ance of the feeder. In the event of his non-appearance at
the usual time the birds begin to become irritated and
fretful. Such a condition long continued or occurring with
frequency, in common with all sources of discomfort, causes
a more or less noticeable lessening in the consumption of
feed and a corresponding loss in production.

Exercise.—Good feeding practice requires the encourage-
ment of a generous amount of vigorous exercise as an ac-
companiment of the ration for all purposes save maintenance
and fattening. As feeding for a bare maintenance is seldom
desirable in practice it may be said that the compelling of
exercise 1s a part of the feeding routine with all classes of
stock except that which is being fattened.

Stock on range during the spring and summer will need
little encouragement in this line. The eager desire for insects,
worms, and tender greenness will keep any but the heaviest
and most inactive breeds hunting and scratching quite
constantly.

FEEDING PRACTICES AND APPLIANCES 379

During the winter, or with stock that is somewhat closely
confined it is usually necessary to compel exercise by forcing
the fowls to scratch for all whole or cracked grain in a deep
litter of straw or some similar material. Plenty of exercise
is distinctly a spring condition and should be required in
abundance save in hot weather, if the digestive and repro-
ductive organs are to be kept in good tone.

The Amount of Feed.—While ability to so stimulate the
appetite that birds of all classes will consume large
amounts of feed with relish is the feeder’s greatest virtue,
overfeeding is his greatest failing. Nothing will more
quickly defeat the very purpose of feeding, in contrast
to allowing the fowls to feed themselves, than habitually
offering more feed than the fowls are keen to consume.
The difference between “just enough” and “a little too
much”’ is a cloyed appetite and a listlessness that foretells
a limited performance at the nest or small gains in the crate.

The amount of feed offered to any class of birds, for
whatever purpose, must be governed by the judgment of
the feeder, based on the size and disposition of the fowls
and the amount of feed they are picking up about the farm.

The fact should not be overlooked that the crop capacity
of the hen is insufficient to supply through the long winter
nights the feed necessary for heavy egg production. It is
perfectly possible to overfeed during the day and underfeed
during the night. Both practices limit production. The
development of the use of lights to lengthen the feeding day
and shorten the night is overcoming the latter difficulty but
the former must still depend upon the skill and judgment of
the feeder.

As a basis for estimating production costs or for purchasing
feeds the following records will be found useful.

Gowell reports that the amount of feed consumed per hen
in twelve months by a flock of Barred Plymouth Rocks

averaging 144 eggs each was:

Grain and mash 90.0 pounds
Oyster shell 4
Dry cracked bone . ; F 2s
Grit 2
Charcoal 2
Clover... 10

380 POULTRY PRODUCTION

He further reports that 2000 pullets of the same breed
were raised to laying age with an average consumption of:

28 pounds of grain and mash
y granulated bone

oyster shell

grit

charcoal

iw)
a oe elo

At the third annual international egg-laying contest
Nirkpatrick and Card! found that the average feed consump-
tion of 380 Plymouth Rock, Rhode Island Red, and Wyan-
dotte females for one year, when the average egg production
was a trifle under 142 eggs, was 88.34 pounds of grain and
mash. On this basis it took 7.5 pounds of feed to produce a
dozen eggs. During the same period the average con-
sumption of 830 Leghorn females whose average production
was 155.5 eggs, was 76.8 pounds of grain and mash, the
amount of feed per dozen eggs being approximately 6
pounds.

App, Waller and Lewis? found that on commercial poultry
farms in New Jersey, where Leghorns composed 94.3 per
cent of the stock and the average annual production was 109
eggs, the average annual feed consumption, not including
green feed, was 82.97 pounds per head. This approximates
9 pounds of feed for each dozen eggs produced. The
amount of feed necessary for the production of a dozen eggs
varies with the class of stock and the rate of production.

Wet and Dry Feeding.—The relative merits of wetting
all or a part of the feed and of feeding it all dry are points
upon which skilled poultrymen are not agreed. The experi-
mental evidence at hand leans rather favorably toward
dry feeding (see page 324) with regard to both results and
labor, except under conditions hereinafter mentioned.

Hopper-fecding Dry Mash.—One of the great advantages
of dry mash is that it may be hopper fed. Aside from the
lessening of labor there is a great advantage in the avoidance
of mobbing which always occurs when a wet mash is fed in a
tray or trough. he weaker and more timid hens are likely

' Storrs Bulletin No. 82.
2 New Jersey Bulletin, No. 329.

FEEDING PRACTICES AND APPLIANCES 351

to be abused or crowded out so that they fail to get their
share and frequently go hungry, while the more vigorous
fowls gorge themselves. Where the mash is hopper fed there
is opportunity for all birds to eat all they desire. At the
same time there is not the same likelihood of overeating
on the part of some individuals, found with wet-mash
feeding, because of the fact that the fowls prefer the whole
grain of the scratching ration and will eat only as much
of the dry mash as they need to satisfy their appetite.
This affords a basis of control of the amount of dry mash
consumed that is fully as effective as the daily measuring
out of the portion of the wet mash to be offered.

Wet-mash Feeding—Many poultrymen prefer moistening
the mash with water to feeding it dry. This practice is not
to be recommended except under circumstances that warrant
a considerable increase in labor for small and doubtful
increase in production. Apparently the only advantage
in wetting mash comes by increasing its palatability. The
resulting increase in production is not ordinarily commen-
surate with the labor involved in wetting up the feed
at each feeding, spreading it upon the feeding trays, and
cleaning the trays from time to time in warm weather.

As pointed out previously (see page 374), wet mash in-
creases the number of infected eggs when fed to laying hens,
and is generally supposed to predispose the stock to bowel
trouble somewhat.

Mairs' found that chicks under one pound in weight
seemed to grow faster on a wet mash, while those weighing
a pound and a half or more made faster growth on dry feed.
The loss of chicks, however, was much greater among those
fed wet mash than among those receiving only dry feed,
even when weighing less than one pound.

Lewis? found that for little chicks a wet-mash system of
feeding produced a greater gain in weight than a ration that
was wholly dry. This gain, however, was more than offset
by the increased mortality of the chicks fed the wet mash.

Where wet mash is fed for any purpose except fattening,

+ Pennsylvania Bulletin No. 8&7.
2 New Jersey Experiment Station, Thirty-second Annual Report.

382 POULTRY PRODUCTION

it should be moistened only enough to render it crumbly.
Sloppiness should be consistently avoided.

Feeding Little Chicks.—Chicks should not be fed for from
thirty-six to forty-eight hours after hatching. The exact
time will be determined by the chicks calling so lustily as
to leave no uncertainty about their being hungry.

It has been found that when feeding is somewhat delayed
the yolk material which is taken into the body just prior
to hatching is more quickly and satisfactorily absorbed.
It is the fact that the yolk furnishes an ample supply of
feed for two to three days after hatching that makes possible
the practice of shipping baby chicks. Tongl (as reported
by Lusk!) found that “48 per cent of the original energy
in the egg is largely found in the abdomen of the chick’’
and is absorbed by the intestine during the early days of life.
Before giving any grains the chicks should be provided with
clean fresh water that is not too cold, bone meal, and clean
sand or very fine grit. Grit, bone, and charcoal should be
before them at all times thereafter.

When regular feeding begins, frequency of feeding is an
essential of good practice. This is particularly true in tke
case of artificially brooded chicks which do not have the
hen to hunt up their feed for them bit by bit and keep them
interested. Little and often should be the rule, with periods
of not longer than three hours elapsing between feeds.

Successful poultrymen differ as to the advisability of
feeding moistened feed to chicks, as well as to laying hens,
though the number that prefer the dry feeds seems to be
increasing.

“A soft feed of dried bread-crumbs soaked in milk is
very nourishing and supplies all the elements essential to
growth, but is open to the criticism of being softer than the
food supplied by nature. A mixture of hard-boiled egg
chopped fine, shell and all, and mixed with four to six times
its bulk of dried crumbs or rolled oats (one egg to 100 chicks)
seems a little nearer to the natural diet of bugs and seeds.

1 Science of Nutrition.

FEEDING PRACTICES AND APPLIANCES 383

This can be supplemented by milk to drink by those who
can obtain it at a suitable price.’

As soon as possible the chicks should be gotten to scratch-
ing for cracked grains, and exercise encouraged in every
possible way. At times when they appear a little listless
they should be interested and livened up by supplying some-
thing that they like very much and will scrap over. Angle
worms are the best thing for this purpose, but are not
always easily available. Long pieces of onion made by slic-

Fic. 176

A barrel with a slightly open faucet allowing a tiny stream to flow. is
the next best thing to a flowing spring. (Courtesy of Purdue Agricultural
Experiment Station.)

ing the onions, separating and cutting the rings, will serve
nearly as well after the chicks become accustomed to it.
The skilled feeder is one who so feeds his chicks that they
are constantly active and busy. Overfeeding or infrequent
feeding is likely to result in listlessness or dumpishness on
the part of the entire flock, which should be recognized at
once as a danger signal and some means of livening them up

resorted to.
1 Jaffa, California Bulletin No. 164.

384 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Chick Feeds Must be Sweet.—In feeding little chicks it is
absolutely essential that the grains be perfectly free from
mould or must and the meat scraps from taint. So important
is this in newly hatched chicks that poultrymen frequently
go to the expense of purchasing kiln-dried grain in order that
they may be sure that it has not heated or moulded. A
feeder should always take the precaution to bury the nose
in a double handful of any grain intended for newly hatched
youngsters in an effort to detect the slightest suggestion
of sourness or mustiness. Meat scraps should also be care-
fully scrutinized for taint (see page 343). Only those feeds
which are perfectly sweet may be fed without grave danger
of a high death rate.

Chick Rations.—Philips' reports excellent results from the
following ration for chicks:

GRAIN. Masu.
6 pounds cracked corn (sifted) 2 pounds bran
4 pounds cracked wheat 2 pounds shorts

% pound charcoal
All of the sour milk or buttermilk
the chicks will drink.
All the green feed the chicks will consume. Grit and granulated
bone before them all the time.

2 pounds ‘steel cut” oats

If milk is not available, 23 pounds of fine meat scrap must
be added to the mash. The milk, however, is very much
preferred.

For chicks, as for old stock of whatever class, the drinking
water should be plentiful, kept fresh and always contain
enough permanganate of potassium to give it a rich wine
color. The reason for doing the latter with all classes of
stock is that it helps to keep in check intestinal parasites
of various sorts, and is an excellent means of preventing the
spread of such diseases as effect the nasal cavities, mouth
and intestinal tract, through the drinking water.

The grain is fed in a litter from the first and the mash
supplied in a suitable hopper when the birds are five to
seven days old. If it is desirable to force the chicks rapidly,
the proportion of mash may be increased.

' Purdue Extension Leaflet, No. 72

FEEDING PRACTICES AND APPLIANCES 385

Jaffa! recommends as a chick feed a mixture made up of
the following material cracked or crushed until it is the size
of a millet:

20 parts wheat 6 parts corn
15 parts oats 10 parts grit
5 parts millet 5 parts charcoal
2 parts rice 5 parts bone meal
Pig. 177

Chickens relish sour milk and thrive on it. (Courtesy of Purdue Agricultural
Experiment Station.)

“The grit and charcoal are added to the chick feed, as
the babies cannot at first be depended upon to visit the
grit trough regularly, but the trough is placed in the run
to teach them to acquire the habit for the future.

“Toward the end of the second week it will be well to add
a little cracked wheat and steel-cut oats to the above mix-
ture, gradually increasing the amount until it finally replaces
the chick feed. Then begin gradually to add whole wheat
to the cracked until at the end of the sixth or seventh week

1 California Bulletin No. 164.

to
on

386 POULTRY PRODUCTION

they are having only whole wheat and cracked corn. The
steel-cut oats are too expensive for long use and the unprepared
article is not safe on account of the husks.

“A mash may be used about the eighth to the tenth day.
This may be fed dry or wet. By ‘wet’ is never meant a
sloppy mass, but one which is just sufficiently moistened to
make it adhere in lumps or appear crumbly. The difference
of opinion in regard to the advantages of these two mashes
may be due to the fact that a careless feeder can produce
bad results in his chicks by cramming them with mash
that is soft and sloppy and handled with difficulty by the
digestive apparatus. If moistened with skim milk the mash
will be more palatable as well as more nourishing.

“The mash can be made from various materials, and the
two presented below are offered as samples of many that may
be equally good:

iv II.
3 parts bran 4 parts bran
2 parts shorts 2 parts alfalfa meal
1 part coarse corn meal 1 part corn meal
1 part oat meal + part meat meal
} part meat meal i part bone meal
i part bone meal 4 part charcoal

i part charcoal

“One teaspoonful of salt should be added to each couple
of gallons of this mixture. The meat meal and alfalfa meal
should be sifted so that no coarse particles remain.

“The above mixtures are suited to chicks that are from
ten days to six weeks old. From this time to about the
tenth week the meat meal should be gradually increased
from one-quarter part to one-half part. From the tenth
to fourteenth week another gradual increase should bring
the meat meal up to one part in the above formula, which
would then be the same as a formula for laying hens.

“The bone meal should also be increased, but more
gradually, so that wben the meat meal reaches one part the
bone meal amounts to one-half part.”

Card and Wirkpatrick! recommend the following: “On

1 Storrs (Conn.) Bulletin, No. 96.

FEEDING PRACTICES AND APPLIANCES 387

removing (the chicks) from the incubator take each chick
individually and dip its beak into sour milk in order to make
sure that milk is the first food taken into its system. Be
sure that the chick swallows two or three times before passing
it on to the box or basket in which it is to be carried to the
brooder.

“The first day’s ration should consist of fine chick feed in
which has been mixed a large proportion of fine grit. It may
be even well to give clear grit for the first feed. After two or
three days the proportion of grit may be reduced and after
the first week it may be hopper fed if desired.

“Beginning with the third day wheat bran should be con-
stantly available. During the second week feed grain three
or four times daily and substitute chick mash for the wheat
bran. Make all changes of feed gradually.” The following
is the ration.

Grain MasH
Cracked wheat 15 pounds Wheat bran 20 pounds
Fine cracked corn . 15 as Corn meal 10 ie
Pinhead oats 10 i Sifted ground oats. 10 Ee
Broken rice 3 Us Low-grade flour 10 a
Fine charcoal 2 " Meat and fish scrap 10 .

An abundance of green feed.

When the chicks are six weeks of age this ration is gradually
replaced by a regular laying ration as follows:

GRAIN Masu
Cracked corn 200 pounds Corn meal 100 pounds
Wheat 200 | Wheat bran 100
Ground oats 100 is
Middlings 100 ee

Meat or fish scrap 100 s

Schoppe! recommends as a first feed a mixture of 2 parts

wheat bran and 1 part rolled oats fed in shallow tin pans,
the bottoms of which have been sprinkled with fine chick
grit. The chicks are allowed to pick at this for about ten
minutes and then it is removed. For the first few days they
are fed five times a day, very sparingly. During the first
week the mash is gradually changed until it contains equal
parts of bran and rolled oats.

1 Montana Agricultural College, in Poultry Life, March, 1913.

388 POULTRY PRODUCTION

On the second day a little fine-cracked grain is sprinkled
into the litter. This may be made up as follows:
Parts by weight
Fine-cracked wheat 15
Pinhead oats 10
Fine-screened cracked corn 15
line-cracked peas . 3
Broken rice 2
Chick grit (limestone) 5
Tine chareoal (chick size) 2

This grain mixture should be fed during the first three
weeks, then gradually changed during the fourth week so

that at the end of the week it will contain:
Parts by weight

Cracked corn 4
Cracked wheat 2
Pinhead oats a

The grains are cracked somewhat coarser than for the
chick feed. This grain mixture is fed for the remainder of
the summer.

During the second week the mash should contain a little
corn meal, which is gradually increased, and later animal
meal and Daisy flour are added, so that at the end of the
second week it contains:

Parts by weight

Bran 1
Corn meal or barley meal 13
Rolled oats . 1
Daisy flour (or any low-grade flour) 3
3eef scrap (fine) 4

‘The chicks should be fed this about four times a day.

During the third week this mash is gradually changed
by dropping out the rolled oats and adding gluten meal
and increasing the other ingredients until it contains:

Parts by weight

Bran : 2
Corn meal or barley meal a

Gluten 5 1
Daisy flour (or any low-grade flour) 1

Beef scrap

This mash is fed until the chicks are six to eight weeks
old. It is kept in the hopper before the birds all the time,

FEEDING PRACTICES AND APPLIANCES 389

and they also have access to ground oats, fed from the
hopper or flats.

After the eighth week the composition of the mash is
varied to suit the needs of the birds, as indicated by their
stage of development. This change is generally made by
decreasing the proportion of gluten, as indicated:

Parts by weight

Bran . 4 ao
Corn meal or barley meal . 15
Gluten. 2}
Daisy flour (or any low-grade flour) 5
Beef scrap. 5

The mash is always fed dry.

During the first three weeks the tops of sprouted oats
cut fine are furnished for succulence and from three weeks
on rape or clover. Whenever the chicks show signs of
diarrhea they are given some boiled rice at once and until
the trouble disappears. As the result of somewhat extended
feeding experiments Rice and Nixon! recommend the fol-
lowing rations and methods of feeding:

THE Ration THE MetHop

Mixture No. 1.
8 pounds rolled oats.
8 pounds bread-crumbs or
cracker waste.
2 pounds sifted meat scrap
(best grade)
1 pound bone meal.

One to Five Days.

Mixture No. 1, moistened with sour
skimmed milk, fed five times a day;
Mixture No. 2 in shallow tray containing
a little of No. 3 (dry) always before
chicks. Shredded green food and fine
grit and charcoal scattered over food.

Mixture No. 2.
3 pounds wheat (cracked).
2 pounds cracked corn (fine)
1 pound pinhead oatmeal

Mixture No. 3.

3 pounds wheat bran.

3 pounds corn meal.

3 pounds wheat middlings.

3 pounds meat serap (best
grade).

1 pound bone meal.

Five Days to Two Weeks.

No. 2 in light litter twice a day; No. 3
moistened with sour skimmed milk, fed
three times a day; No. 3 (dry) always
available.

Two to Four Weeks.

As above, except that the moist mash is
given twice a day.

1Cornell Bulletin No. 327.

390 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Tue Rarion Tue Meruop
Four to Six Weeks (until Chicks are on

Mixture No. 4. Range).
3 pounds wheat (whole). Reduce meals of moist mash to one a day;
2 pounds cracked corn. Mixture No. 4 in litter twice a day; dry
1 pound hulled oats. mash always available.

Mixture No. 5. Siz Weeks to Maturity.
3 pounds wheat. No. 3 and No. 5 hopper fed. One meal a
3 pounds cracked corn. day of moist mash if it is desired to

hasten development.

Further Directions.

1. Provide fine grit, charcoal, shell, and bone from the start.

2. Give grass range or plenty of green food

3. Have fresh, clean water always available.

4. Feed only sweet, wholesome foods.

5. Avoid damp and soiled litter.

6. Test all meat scrap before feeding.

7. Keep chickens active by allowing them to become hungry
once daily.

8. Feed moist mash sparingly.

9. Keep dry mash always before the chicks.

Feeding Broilers—When the young males are to be dis-
posed of as broilers they are frequently forced a little more
rapidly than the pullets or males intended for breeding
purposes. The feeding of broilers may for convenience
be divided into three periods: (1) growing, (2) forcing, and
(3) fattening.

The growing period is generally about four weeks, its
length varying somewhat with the breed, the time of hatch-
ing, and the size at which it is desirable to market them.
The early-maturing breeds are usually forced somewhat
earlier than the slower-growing kind.

During this growing period a regular growing ration is
fed. It should be continued until the chicks have become
well established physically and are well past the danger of
the ordinary little chick ills.

The length of the forcing period is also variable and for
the same reasons as the first period.

The forcing ration usually differs from the growing ration
for chicks of the same age by carrying a larger proportion
of protein which may be accomplished, as Philips suggests

FEEDING PRACTICES AND APPLIANCES 391

(see page 384), by increasing the proportion of ground
feed. The chicks must be watched carefully for any indica-
tion of digestive disorders which sometimes arise when the
proportion of protein or of mash is made too great. If
possible the increase in protein should be brought about by
adding cottage cheese to the ration rather than by increasing
the meat scraps. By doing this the ration may be made
narrower without upsetting the digestion, than may usually
be done with the aid of meat scraps.

During the fattening period the method and rations
described under milk feeding may be used (see page 401).
The fattening period for broilers is usually not longer than
twelve days and is frequently limited to eight. The time
of feeding depends somewhat upon how long the chicks
“stand up’ to the fattening ration without losing their appetite.

Where the broilers are not intended for private trade
they should not be milk-fed but penned up and corn-fed
for a period of two to three weeks. They will then be in
good shape for the milk feeding at the packing house.

Developing Pullets—It is not a wise practice to force
pullets intended for egg production or breeding. In order
to have them mature for winter laying they should be
hatched early enough to allow them to reach their proper
development normally and without forcing.

Any deviation from normal development tends to lessen
vitality and reproductive powers. If a pullet is to stand
up under the strain of being forced for heavy egg production
after she begins to lay, or to produce vigorous offspring
if she is a breeder, she should have the benefit of a normal
development prior to that time. Mairs! found that chicks
forced when young did not make as rapid growth as they
approached maturity as those fed a more moderate ration.

When the cockerels are taken out for forcing and finishing,
the pullets should be moved to a grassy range where they
can develop unmolested by male birds. The ration should
be one to promote health, and calculated to produce sub-
stantial growth rather than particularly quick growth.

1 Pennsylvania Bulletin No. 87.

392 POULTRY PRODUCTION

It may be entirely hopper fed, though most feeders will
prefer to feed out of hand at least once a day in order to
keep in touch with the progress of the stock.

The pullets should be left on range until they are beginning
to lay, when they should be moved into their permanent
laying quarters.

Developing Breeding Males.—The same principles and
practices involved in developing pullets apply to breeding
males. They should be kept separate from the pullets from
the time they begin to show marked secondary sexual
characteristics. The cockerels develop sexually earlier
than the pullets do, and, unless they are separated, will
worry the pullets to a degree that will seriously interfere
with the proper development of the latter.

Routine in Feeding Layers Without Lights.—The details of
feeding practice, like the constituents of a ration, vary with
feeders and conditions. As there is no one best ration, so
there is no feeding routine for chickens that is outstanding
in its excellence. The following practice, which has proved
successful in a large number of cases where lights were not
used to lengthen the feeding day, is given as being suggestive
of what a good routine may be:

Give a light feed of grain, soon after the birds leave the
perch in the morning. This should be scattered in a deep
litter of straw to every part of the pen so that the birds will
be compelled to scratch vigorously for some hours in order to
search it all out. Fresh water should be supplied in the
morning.

At noon as much succulence as the birds will clean up in
twenty minutes to half an hour should be supplied. Fresh
water should be given and the dry mash hopper opened.

Two to three hours before the birds go to roost they should
be given a full feed of grain thrown in the litter. It is essential
to the best results that the birds go to roost with full crops,
and this feeding should not be stinted. An examination
of the crops of the birds should now and then be made after
they are on the perch to ascertain whether they are well
filled.

It is better to overdo the matter of evening feeding a

FEEDING PRACTICES AND APPLIANCES 393

little than to slight it. If a little grain is left in the litter
it will be eagerly scratched out in the morning. Great
care should be taken, however, to so feed that the straw
is scratched absolutely free of grain at least once a day. In
following this particular routine this should be the condition
at noon. The really skilled feeder is the one who so handles
the ration that he constantly piques the appetite of his fowls
that they will consume large amounts of feed with relish, yet
never gives quite all they would like to consume. As noted
in other connections, of the two evils, “overfeeding” or
“underfeeding” to a slight degree the latter is preferable.
It limits production slightly, by not furnishing quite all the
raw material that could be made over into a finished product,
but it keeps the appetite keen and the body in good working
order. Overfeeding, on the other hand, cloys the appetite
and clogs the system, thereby limiting production even more
than in the first case.

Unless the weather is quite cool, fresh water should be
supplied at the time of the evening feeding. In freezing
weather commercial water heaters should be used, or other
means provided to keep the water from freezing. Water
must be available whenever the birds can see to eat if the
best production is expected.

Feeding with the Aid of Lights.— Rice! has pointed out that
for best results at the nest, the period between feeds should
never be over ten to twelve hours. During the winter months
the time between the night and morning feeds exceeds this
by several hours. The use of lights to lengthen the feeding
day appears to have been first practised by Dr. E. C. Waldorf?
in 1895. Halpin® secured favorable results from the experi-
mental use of lights at Michigan Agricultural College as
early as 1906. It is only within quite recent years, however,
that practical use has been made of artificial light in con-
nection with feeding. The practice is now quite general in
the coast states where commercial poultry farms abound.

1 Cornell Countryman, vol. xvi, No. 1.
2 Reliable Poultry Journal, vol. xxvii, No. 8
3 Ibid., vol. xxvi, No. 3.

394 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Lewis! reports that practically all of the commercial poultry
raisers of New Jersey are making use of lights.

Just what the approved practice regarding the use of lights
will finally be, cannot yet be foreseen. Among the several
methods in use two appear to give the most promise. These
are referred to as “morning lights” and “evening lunch.”

Morning Lights. —Lewis found morning lights superior to
evening lights or to a combination of morning and evening
lights. The best time for starting the lights was found to be
4 aM. running them until sun-up. In connection with
morning lights grain should be fed four times daily in a deep
litter, viz., 4 and 8 a.m., 1 p.m. and just before dusk. The
heaviest feedings should be given at dusk and at 4 a.m.
The early morning feed may he scattered in the litter at night
after the birds are on the perch.

Evening Lunch.—With the so-called evening lunch method
the birds are allowed to go to perch at dusk, and come down
at daylight. The lights are turned on, however, for one
hour at 8 p.m. during which time the birds are given a heavy
feeding of grain with plenty of fresh water available. This
method reduces the cost of lighting, as compared with other
methods, gives the birds longer hours of rest and does not
require the use of dimming devices as when evening lights
are used; for after the first few days the birds will have all
returned to their perches by nine o’clock at which time the
lights are turned off.

A graphic presentation of Lewis’s? results with 600 pullets
without lights, 500 pullets with morning lights and 100 pullets
given an evening lunch may be seen in Figure 178. The
comparative profits per bird for a period of nine months were
$3.30, $5.07 and $5.48 respectively for the three groups.

Details of Lighting Practice.—Following Lewis, when
lights are used it is of the greatest importance that the stock
should be graded and flocked according to age, condition and
laying qualities. Pullets of different ages or pullets and hens
should always be kept in different flocks.

1 Hints to Poultrymen, vol. ix, No. 1.

° [bid

FEEDING PRACTICES AND APPLIANCES 395

When pullets are kept under lights, the latter should he
started November Ist and continued until April Ist, or later.
Beginning with lights before November Ist brings on a heavy
production in the early fall, making it almost impossible to
hold the birds in high producing condition during the winter
months. The few early eggs gained by the earlier starting of
the lights are more than discounted by the winter production
slumps which are almost sure to follow.

60 Fes

: —
a ri ae a= Se
} 7 ] iN SN
/ / Ne
Tr . SS
7

Nov DEC Jan Fea Mar ApR May June = Juvy

A graphic presentation of Lewis’s data on the use of lights.

Lights are usually not so profitable with hens as with
pullets. They should not be started before January Ist. The
reason for this is that the hens must have time to finish the
fall molt and regain their body weight. The regaining of the
body weight is essential to satisfactory results in the breeding
pen the following spring.

Tests show that layers will respond to lights in from seven

to ten days.

596 POULTRY PRODUCTION

All classes of birds under lights should be more heavily
grained than is customary under ordinary feeding conditions.
The purpose of this is the maintenance of body weight. If
it is not done the birds will lose weight rapidly under the
drain of heavy laying, and are likely to go to pieces in the
spring, so far as production is concerned. Lewis! found that
for heavy producing Leghorn pullets 14 pounds of grain
daily for each 100 birds was about the right amount, dry
mash being available at all times.

After April Ist the shortening of the period of lighting
under any method should be very gradual, a reduction of
ten minutes a day being the maximum. The sudden stop-
ping of lights is quite likely to bring on a spring molt which
is disastrous to production. Irregularity will produce a like
result.

Typical Laying Rations—The Purdue Experiment Station?
has had excellent success with the following ration for laying
hens in confinement:

Grain Dry MASH.
10 pounds corn 5 pounds bran
10 pounds wheat 5 pounds shorts
5 pounds oats 334 pounds meat scraps
25 pounds 134 pounds

The grain mixture is fed in a deep litter, a light feed
being given in the morning, and all the hens will consume
in the evening. The dry-mash hopper is kept open all the
time in the case of the lighter breeds, but is left closed until
noon for the middle-weight and heavy breeds. In the
winter, succulence in the form of silage, sprouted oats,
cabbage, or stock beets is supplied. Professor Philips
suggests the following possible variations in this ration:
(1) replace the beef scrap with 50 pounds of skim milk;
(2) drop out the wheat and increase the corn and oats;
(3) in case fowls are following stock and can pick up an
abundance of corn, the grain portion of the ration may be
greatly reduced; (4) during the summer when the fowls

! Hints to Poultrymen, vol. ix, No. 1
’ Purdue Extension Bulletin No. 10, and Purdue Bulletin No. 218.

FEEDING PRACTICES AND APPLIANCES 397

are allowed to range freely, the mash portion of the ration
may be considerably reduced.

A laying ration originating at the Cornell Station and
fed with excellent success at several of the stations is made
up as follows: The scratching part of the ration consists
of three parts wheat, two parts corn or kafir, and one part
oats. The dry mash, fed at the rate of one pound for each
two pounds of the scratching feed consumed, consists of :

60 pounds corn meal
60 pounds wheat middlings or shorts
50 pounds meat scrap
30 pounds wheat bran
10 pounds linseed-oil meal
10 pounds alfalfa meal
1 pound salt

This ration is fed in accordance with the routine outlined
on page 392, succulence being furnished at noon, and grit,
bone, shell, and charcoal kept before the birds at all times.

A ration that has proved successful for laying hens of the
Mediterranean type consisted, for the scratching part of
the ration, of corn and wheat in equal parts. The dry mash
was made up as follows:

Corn meal 34 pound
Wheat bran ee 54 i
Wheat middlings or shorts 3 be
Linseed-oil meal 1 Jr
Meat scraps 24

Silage was fed in place of greenness during the winter.
Shell grit and charcoal were before the fowls constantly.

Gowell! recommended the following ration and routine
for American breeds, which has been widely used:

“Early in the morning for each 100 hens, 4 quarts of
screened cracked corn are scattered on the litter, which is
6 or 8 inches deep on the floor. This is not mixed into the
litter, for the straw is dry and light and enough of the grain
is hidden; so the birds commence scratching for it almost
immediately. At 10 o’clock they are fed in the same way,

1 Maine Bulletin No. 144.

398 POULTRY PRODUCTION

2 quarts of wheat and 2 quarts of oats. This is all of the
regular feeding that is done.

“Along one side of the room is the feed hopper. In it is
kept a supply of dry meals mixed together. This dry-meal
mixture is composed of the following materials: 200 pounds
good wheat bran, 100 pounds corn meal, 100 pounds mid-
dlings, 100 pounds gluten meal or brewers’ grains, 100 pounds
linseed meal, and 100 pounds beef serap.

“Oyster shell, dry cracked bone, grit, and charcoal are
kept in slatted troughs and are accessible at all times. About
5 pounds of clover hay cut into half-inch lengths is fed dry
daily to each 100 birds in winter.

“For green food during winter and spring, mangels are
used. They are liked by the birds, and when properly
harvested and cared for remain crisp and sound until late
spring. They are fed whole, by sticking them on to pro-
jecting nails about a foot and a half above the floor. Care
must be exercised in feeding them, as they are laxative
when used too freely. On the average about a peck per day
to 100 hens can be safely used. They would eat a much
greater quantity if they could get it.”

Forcing Egg Production.—“l’orced egg production during
the season when eggs are the highest in price can sometimes
be accomplished by increasing the protein, especially the
animal protein, and stimulating the fowl by the use of
moderate amounts of pepper, onion, etc. This must be done
cautiously, however, and must not be continued too long.
Green feed stimulates in a more normal manner, by refresh-
ing the system (and furnishing an abundance of the fat solu-
ble). Any grateful change in the feed stimulates the fowl.’

Feeding During the Molt.—Poultrymen requently force
chickens, intended for winter shows, to molt early, by gradu-
ally cutting down the amount of feed fed to about one-third
the normal amount during a period of about three weeks,
and then during the following week increasing the ration
rather rapidly until the birds receive all they will eat.

This practice results in the dropping out of the old feathers,

1 Jaffa, California Bulletin No. 164.

FEEDING PRACTICES AND APPLIANCES 399

and if done far enough in advance will result in the grow-
ing of a new coat of feathers in time for the early winter
shows.

It is a matter of common knowledge that hens usually
stop laying while going through their general molt in the
fall, and do not begin again until along toward spring.

The question is frequently raised whether hens cannot be
induced to begin laying in the late fall or early winter by
forcing the molt so that it will be well over by that time.

In extensive experiments carried on by Rice, Rogers, and
Nixon! they found that starved hens produced less eggs
after the molt was complete and produced them at a greater
cost per dozen than with hens fed normally. Mairs? also
found that the net result of forced molting was against the
practice.

It is sometimes considered that as long as egg production
ceases during the molt the feed may be cut down. Voit (as
quoted by Lusk’) showed that the metabolism of a pigeon
may be doubled after removing its feathers. In a late
general molt when the weather is cold, it seems reasonable
to suppose that this condition is somewhat approached by
hens. This certainly does not call for a diminution in the
heat-supplying foods. The feathers themselves are largely
protein, and demand a generous supply of protein for their
growth.

It is considered good practice to furnish an extra amount of
oily feeds such as old-process oil meal, or sunflower seeds,
and an abundance of granulated bone to furnish phosphates.

Feeding Breeding Hens.—‘‘The hens selected for breeding
should not be forced either for rapid growth or egg production.
In the early weeks they are fed, just as the others are, for
erowth, health, and vigor. When the special feeding for
rapid growth or fattening of broilers begins, and also later
when the laying stock is being pushed toward egg production,
the breeding stock should be allowed to develop more slowly.
It is better for the vigor of the progeny that they should
lay fewer eggs and these of a high degree of vitality. Their

1 Cornell Bulletin No. 258. ’ Pennsylvania Bulletin No. 87.

2 Science of Nutrition.

400 POULTRY PRODUCTION

mash should contain somewhat less of the concentrated
protein.”

So far as routine is concerned, it is essentially the same as
for layers.

Feeding Capons.—In tests at Ohio Station, Sherwood and
Buss? found that capons fed a ration consisting of corn,
ground corn and meat scrap gave practically as good gains
as a more elaborate ration containing wheat, oats and bran
in addition, and gave a pound of gain a cent and a quarter
cheaper at the then prevailing prices. The capons used
were Barred Plymouth Rocks hatched June 6 and caponized
October 6. They were fed for a period of fifty-seven days
beginning December 12 and ending February 6. The birds
were hopper fed in pens and allowed to balance their own
ration. The average weight at the beginning of the feeding
period was 4.13 pounds and at the end was 7.24 pounds, mak-
ing an average gain of 47.77 per cent. The average feed con-
sumption per bird for the period was 11.38 pounds of corn,
5.88 pounds of ground corn, 6.7 pounds of meat scrap and
0.4 pound of grit, shell and charcoal combined.

Pen Fattening.—The final finishing of fowls for slaughter is
usually the work of the packer rather than the grower. It
is accomplished by milk feeding in crates. Farm-fattening,
when practised at all, is usually limited to penning the birds
intended for market so as to limit their exercise and feeding
them for a period of from one to three weeks on a somewhat
wider ration than 1s given for growing or laying, and increas-
ing the amount of mash, moistening it if necessary.

Because of the fact that the final finish is put on by the
packer, fattening on the farm is usually unnecessary if the
birds have been properly fed for laying or growth. A hen in
prime laying condition usually carries a considerable amount
of fat, and a rapidly growing bird will make more gain in
weight by growth than will be taken on in the form of fat.

When for any reason stock has been restricted with regard
to feed or because of unfavorable conditions the chickens are
not in good flesh, it will be found profitable to feed mature

1 Jaffa, California Bulletin No. 164.
2? Ohio Bulletin No. 262.

FEEDING PRACTICES AND APPLIANCES 401

stock for a limited period upon a ration consisting largely of
corn and corn meal before killing or selling for food purposes.
Care should be taken, while encouraging the fowls to eat
a large amount of feed, not to overdo the matter. It is well
to supply all the accessories of the ration, including grit, shell,
and charcoal, as with other classes of stock, and to furnish
succulence and animal feed by way of variety.

Milk Fattening—Milk fattening refers to the practice of
forcing the laying on of flesh with fowls by feeding a ration
which consists of about two-thirds buttermilk by weight.

So far as the author can ascertain, milk fattening was
first practised in this country in 1900. During that year
5. Brill, a large poultry dealer from London, spent the fall
months at the St. Joseph (Mo.) plant of Swift and Company
and fed 1200 birds by way of demonstration. The following
season he supervised the feeding of seven thousand head,
since which time milk feeding has had an enormous growth.

Owing to the action of acid in the milk or the lack of
calcium in the ration, or some other cause, the bones of milk-
fed chickens are usually very brittle and easily broken. This,
in connection with the fact that milk-fed birds shrink very
badly when shipped alive, precludes milk fattening on the
farm, unless the fowls are also dressed at the farm. It is
practically impossible to move fowls that have been fully
finshed on milk without causing the breakage of legs or
wings, so bruising and scarring them that they present an
unattractive dressed carcass, and having such a shrinkage
that a large part of the gains are lost.

In the routine of fattening, as many birds are placed in
crates (see p. 415) as can find room to stand along the front
of the crate to reach out to the trough for feed. They are
starved twenty-four hours before the first feeding. The feed,
which usually consists of about two parts by weight of butter-
milk toone of ground grain, is in the form of a porridge, which
is poured into the troughs before the birds, the feeder being very
careful not to supply more than the birds will consume, or,
in case of an oversupply, removing what remains just before
the birds have had all they desire. The development of that
judgment which enables the feeder to sense when the birds

402 POULTRY PRODUCTION

are almost through eating and remove the feed just before
they secure the last mouthful, which they desire, is the mark
of the skilled fattener.

The practice as to the number of times stock is fed daily,
varies. It may be either two or three times. For the
beginner, three times is probably advisable.

Taste XLIII.\—Tup Resutts or MILK FEEDING UNDER PACKING-
HOUSE CONDITIONS.

Per cent of gain. Gr ain per pound of gain.
Average c |
Number Days weight. High Low Average High Low Average
of head. fed. Pounds. per cent. per cent. percent. pounds. pounds. pounds

2,068 10 2.51 23.5 11.5 18.5 5.32 3.01 4.04
10,360 9 2.40 26.1 11.2 19.4 5.10 2.55 3.52
11,878 8 2.55 27.1 10.9 17.2 4.40 2.17 3.37
15,731 ve 2.39 29.6 11.4 19.2 4.55 1.92 2.68
3,907 6 2.18 18.6 8.2 13.1 5.35 2.14 2.66
43,944 2.42 29.6 8.2 18.1 5.35 1.92 3.26
Cost of labor per Cost of feed per Total cost per pound

pound of gain. pound of gain. | of gain.

}

Aver- Aver- Aver-

Number High. Low age. High Low. age. High. Low. age.
ol ey Cts. Cts. Cts. Cts. Cts. Cts, | Cts. Cts Cts.

2,068 | 1.95 | 1.48 | 1.67 |10.37 | 5.81 | 7.84 |12.32 | 7.24 | 9.51
0,360 | 2.09 | 0.99 1.51 | 9.95 4.97 | 6.88 /11.77 5.96 | 8.39
11,878 | 1.86 | 0.92 1.39 8.58 4.23 | 6.64 |10.12 5.15 | 8.03
15,731 | 2.31 | 0.88 | 1.17 | 8.78 | 3.71 | 5.42 |11.09 | 4.61 | 6.59
13,907 ; 2.81 | 0.98 1.73 |10.389 4.17 | 7.28 |13.14 | 5.15 | 9.01
43,944 | 2.81 | 0.88 | 1.40 |10.37 | 3.71 | 6 4.61 7.85

45 [eee

As shown in Table XLIII, Lee? found that on a ration
consisting of 60 per cent corn meal and 40 per cent low-grade
wheat flour, stock av eraging 2.42 pounds in weight Pi fed
for periods ranging from six to ten days, made an av erage

1 Bureau of Animal Industry, Bulletin No. 140.
2 Tbid.

FEEDING PRACTICES AND APPLIANCES 403

gain of 18 per cent at an average feed cost of 6.45 cents per
pound.

These figures involved nearly 44,000 birds fed under
packing-house conditions, and represent a fair average for
birds of this weight. The stock used was of all sorts and
conditions.

With smaller numbers and high-grade stock the producer
that sells dressed birds may secure greater and somewhat
more economical gains than are secured under packing-house
conditions.

Pierce and Lippincott,! using a ration composed of:

1 part ground corn

1 part ground oats (hulls removed)

1 part ground barley (hulls removed)
1 part meat scrap

8 parts buttermilk

which was fed to grade Barred Plymouth Rock cockerels
averaging between 34 and 34 pounds, secured an average
gain for twelve birds of over 50 per cent in a two-week
feeding period at a cost of less than 45 cents per pound
gain in one test, and a trifle over 5 cents at the then pre-
vailing prices in the second test. The results in detail are

shown in Table XLIV

Taste XLIV?.—Tue Resuttrs or Mitk Freepina Fowrs in SMALL

Groups.

First Second

test. test.
Cost of ration per pound . 30.0075 $0.0075
Average weight of twelve birds, hemnnine ; One 3.49
Average weight of twelve birds, end of first week 4.25 4.72
Average gain per bird 1.00 La22
Average weight of birds, end of second week 5.05 5.40
Average gain for second week 0.80 0.68
Total gain per bird 1.80 1.90
Per cent. gain for entire period 55.6% 54.6%
Amount of ration eaten, first week . 4.41 Sth
Amount of ration eaten, second week 6.44 6.97
Total amount of ration eaten 10.85 12.74
Cost of ration for twelve birds 0.9768 1.146
Cost per pound of gain . 0.0441 0.0503

' Unpublished data, Iowa State College.
2 Thid.

404 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Bittenbender and Lippincott! found that while the addition
of 5 per cent mutton tallow or beef suet to a basal ration of
oat flour for crate fattening slightly increased the gains and
lowered the cost of gains a little, the flavor of the resulting
flesh was comparatively poor. When meat scrap formed
25 per cent of the solid portion of the ration it imparted a
noticeably strong taste to the flesh. When the meat scrap
was replaced by corn meal the flavor of the flesh was ex-
cellent. It was also found that when green clover and char-
coal were put before the birds, two or three times a week,
they ate of them greedily, brightened up considerably after
each feeding, and consumed more of the regular ration.

Mitchell? tested rations containing varying proportions of
corn meal, low-grade flour, oat meal, pea meal, buckwheat
middlings, and wheat middlings, and found that their effh-
ciency varied directly with the proportion of corn meal. As
a result of these tests he recommended that 24 pounds of
white bolted corn meal, 6 pounds of wheat middlings, and
4 pounds of pea meal or oat flour be mixed with enough
buttermilk to make it the consistency of thin batter. Sour
milk may be used if buttermilk may not be had, and if
neither is available, add 15 per cent of beef scrap to the
ration and moisten with water. This will not be nearly so
satisfactory, however, as buttermilk.

Philips? reports excellent results from a ration composed of:

2 pounds corn meal
1 pound shorts

1 pound ground oats
8 pounds buttermilk

This mixture was allowed to stand twenty-four hours
before feeding.
FEEDING APPLIANCES.

The feeding apphances found in general use are supply
cans, feed hoppers, feeding troughs, and watering pans.

1 Unpublished data, Iowa State College.
2 Missouri State Board of Agriculture Bulletin, vol, xi, No. 2.
3 Jour. Am. Assn. Inst. and Invest. in Poul. Husb., vol. ii, No. 8.

FEEDING PRACTICES AND APPLIANCES 405

For force-fattening, crates are a necessity, and cramming
machines are infrequently used.

Supply Hopper.—A supply of the grain fed out of hand
should be kept at the hen-house. Everything that can
reasonably be done to encourage poultry to make the poultry-
house their headquarters when they are not ranging should
be resorted to. It is bad farm practice to throw out feed for
poultry around the granary. They soon learn the source of

Fie. 179

A serviceable supply hopper of proper dimensions to hold 200 pounds of grain.
(Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station.)

supply and will hang about the granary waiting for feeding
time or watching for an opportunity to fly in. On most
farms this constitutes a nuisance.

If the poultry is fed at the poultry-house, as the practice
should be, at least two trips from the granary to the chicken-
house become necessary. These may be avoided by having
a supply of grain at the chicken-house and at the same time
will result in the hens gathering at the proper place at feeding
time.

406 POULTRY PRODUCTION

A supply hopper, large enough to hold grain for at least a
week’s feeding, isa great convenience. While a metal hopper
is preferable to a wooden one, because it is mouse- and rat-
proof, a covered box hung on the wall will serve the purpose.
It should have a sloping top, so that the fowls cannot roost
on it. Such a hopper, of proper size to hold 200 pounds of
grain, 1s shown in Figure 179.

Feed Hoppers.—Hopper feeding is finding its way into
all lines of feeding practice with the exception of crate
fattening. In some cases it is restricted to the feeding of
mineral foods. Usually it includes the feeding of the dry
mash and in the case of growing stock at certain seasons of
the year may be extended to include the feeding of whole
ration.

A hopper should have capacity enough not to require too
frequent filling, should allow the birds free access to what-
ever it contains, when open, without waste, and in some cases
should be capable of being closed. If in addition it can be
rat-proof, it is a great advantage.

The most popular type of hopper is what is called the
force-feeding, or self-feeding, hopper, by which is meant
that only a small part of the feed contained in the hopper
can be reached by the fowls at one time. As fast as it is
consumed, however, more feed slips down from the storage
compartment to take its place. An outdoor hopper covered
over with prepared roofing is shown in Figure 185. Figure
1S6 shows working plans of the same hopper. Figures 183
and IS4 gives the plans of a home-made indoor hopper that
is capable of being closed. Figure 187 shows a three-com-
partment and Figure ISS a single-compartment hopper for
erit, charcoal, granulated bone, or oyster shell

Feeding Troughs.—F or those mixtures which will not serve
as scratching feeds and are not suited for hopper feeding,
troughs or trays of some sort are usually necessary. This
apples to moist mashes for young and old stock and for the
finely ground dry material fed little chicks before they are
big enough to eat from a self-feeder.

Vhe desirable features of such appliances are ease of
cleaning where moist feeds are given and the prevention

FEEDING PRACTICES AND APPLIANCES 407

Home-made indoor hoppers. (Courtesy of Purdue Agricultural Experiment
Station.)

Fic. 181

A home-made hopper for indoor or outdoor use. (Courtesy of Kansas
Agricultural Experiment Station.)

A simple home-made dry-mash hopper. (Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural
Experiment Station.)

Fie 183

Home-made, self-feeding mash hopper holding 100 pounds, closed
(Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station.)

FEEDING PRACTICES AND APPLIANCES 409

Tie. 84

Showing the same hopper as in Figure 183 opened for the fowls to eat.
(Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station.)

Fie. 185

An outdoor hopper. (Courtesy of Cornell University.)

410 POULTRY PRODUCTION

of waste with the dry. For little chicks the latter may be
accomplished by putting a piece of half-inch mesh hardware
cloth into the top of the tray, as shown in Figure 190. The
chicks are able to eat through this, but cannot scratch out
the feed and waste it.

Watering Pan.—A perfect watering device should keep the
water clean and cool in warm weather, and be of such
construction that it may be easily cleaned and _ freezing
will not injure its usefulness. To keep water clear the water-
ing arrangement should be high enough so that straw will not
be scratched into it, and at the same time so situated that
the fowls are not likely to perch on the edge and contaminate

Fic. 186

Working plans of the double outdoor hopper shown in Figure 185.

it with droppings (see Figure 191). Earthenware is probably
best for keeping water cool in summer, but it will not stand
freezing. Galvanized iron pans with flaring sides, as shown
in Figure 191, withstand freezing well, and are among the
most used watering devices for mature stock. Galvanized
iron, however, Is attacked by potassium permanganate, which
is frequently put in the drinking-water to prevent the spread
of disease by means of the water. In the course of time
the permanganate will eat holes in it if used to any extent.

For small chicks, a good form of watering utensil is shown
in Figure 193. These work much the same as a self-feeding
hopper. The tank, 4, 1s closed at the top and open at the
bottom. When it is filled and in place in the pan, b, the

FEEDING PRACTICES AND APPLIANCES 411

Fie. 187

A three-compartment hopper for grit, shell, and bone. (Courtesy of
Cornell Agricultural Experiment Station.)

Fia. 188

a]
|
|

OYSTER §
SHELL &

Single-compartment grit and shell hoppers. (Courtesy of Cornell
Agricultural xperiment Station.)

412 POULTRY PRODUCTION

water is given down only as fast as air is admitted to take
its place. The latter can occur only as the chicks drink

Fic. 189

A home-made hopper to be used for free-range chicks. It can be divided
so that one side holds a mash and the other coarsely cracked grains.
(Courtesy of Reliable Poultry Journal.)

enough of the water in the pan surrounding the tank to
lower it below a small hole near the bottom of the tank.
This allows a small volume of air to be admitted and enough

Fia. 190

A chick feeding-trough. (Courtesy of A. G. Philips.)

water flows into the pan to bring the water level above the
hole, thereby preventing any further flow of water into

FEEDING PRACTICES AND APPLIANCES 413

the pan. A tomato can and a pie tin will serve the same
purposes.

This arrangement gives a constant supply of water and
prevents the chicks from getting into the water. It does

Fia. 191

A desirable galvanized-iron watering pan with a sloping top for protection.

Fie. 192

Chick drinking fountain. Used for young chicks in brooders and on
range. Easy to keep clean.

414 POULTRY PRODUCTION

not prechide the scratching of litter and dirt into the pan
or avoid some slopping and spilling. This may be accom-
plished, however, by the arrangement shown in Figure 124.
Where sufficient care is taken to keep the pan free of
dirt these devices prove very satisfactory. While they
are not so shaped as to withstand freezing, they are not
likely to be in use in freezing weather.

A Mason jar water fountain for chicks. (Courtesy of Kansas
Agricultural Experiment Station.)

Commercial watering devices fitted with a small lamp
which warms the water just enough to keep it from freezing
are finding increasing favor among poultrymen.

Fattening Crates——The purpose of the fattening crate is
to so confine the birds intended for fattening that they will
have little opportunity for exercise and will be grouped
within a small space so that the labor of feeding is reduced
as much as possible. A number of crates built together as
is usually done at the feeding stations of the packing-houses
is called a battery.

415

FEEDING PRACTICES AND APPLIANCES

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416 POULTRY PRODUCTION

The floor of each crate is 1-inch mesh-woven wire, which
allows the droppings to work down into the dropping pan
below. Each crate is provided with a removable roosting
board upon which the fowls may rest between feeds. The
dropping pan as shown in Iigure 195 may be taken out and
cleaned as frequently as necessary.

Fie. 195

Portable battery of feeding crates. (Courtesy of J. V. Mitchell.)

For good results the crates should be located in the coolest
spot possible. If this happens to be in a shed, care should
be taken to provide an abundance of ventilation without
direct drafts.

Cramming Machine.—In European countries, cramming
or machine feeding is practised quite extensively for the
same purpose as crate feeding. It consists of a container
in the form of a bucket, which is connected with a force
pump worked by the feeder’s foot by means of a treadle.

FEEDING PRACTICES AND APPLIANCES 417

A tube leading from the pump is inserted into the gullet
of the fowl until it reaches the crop, as shown in Figure 196,
and the crop is filled by pressing the foot on the treadle.
The ration used is the same as for crate fattening.

Cramming machine.

The advantage of this method over crate feeding lies in
the fact that the fowl may be forced for several days after
the appetite has begun to wane. The labor is considerably
in excess of that necessary for crate fattening. Owing to a
lack of skill, or some other unknown cause, machine feeding
has not proved nearly so successful in this country as it has
across the water. These two facts have prevented its general
adoption in this country.

CHAPTER XI.
TURKEYS.
TURKEYS were first discovered on the American continent

in 1518. They are still found wild in a few sections of
North America and over wide areas in Central and South

Fie. 197

Bronze turkey, male.

America. After their discovery they were promptly domes-

ticated and found their way to England as soon as 1524.

They spread rapidly over Europe, and by 1565 were famous

as a Christmas dish both at home and abroad, though there
(418 )

TURKEYS 419

are records that indicate that they did not reach Germany
until 1580.

In this country the Bronze and White Holland varieties
have proved by far the most popular.

Fig. 198

White Holland turkey, male.

Turkeys are essentially birds of the open country. For
the best development, ease and economy of rearing, a wide,
free range is necessary. Although they are indigenous to
America and the climatic conditions are favorable, their
numbers in the United States have declined very markedly
in recent years, the last general census (1910), showing a loss

420 POULTRY PRODUCTION

of 44 per cent as compared with the last census previous,
and it is a serious question whether the race is not travelling
toward extinction. The decrease has continued since 1910
aceording to poultry dealers. This loss in numbers has been
due in large measure to the spread of a fatal disease popularly
known as “blackhead” (infectious enterohepatitis), and the
reduction of suitable ranges by more intensive methods of
farming.

With the hope of building up the vitality of the domestic
races to a point where they may resist this and other diseases,
wild turkeys have quite frequently been crossed with them.
In sections where wild turkeys still prevail, the crossing has
been almost as frequently without design. This, combined
with the fact that turkeys have never taken as kindly to
domestication as chickens, has made them restless and im-
patient of confinement, given to ranging and stealing their
nests in out-of-the-way places.

It has been found that the blackhead disease is apparently
harbored by chickens, though causing them little inconve-
nience. When it is communicated to the turkeys, however,
it proves surely, and usually rather quickly, fatal. Once
introduced on a farm, turkey-raising becomes difficult as
long as chickens are also kept.

This condition has led to the use of the western ranges for
rearing turkeys, and it appears now as though the bulk of
turkey-raising might eventually be found in the semiarid
regions where great stretches of country are available.
It is now frequently customary to put them out on range
in droves, with a drover to look after them. A round-up of
over eleven thousand turkeys in a turkey-raising district in
Texas is shown in Figure 199.

Farm Production. —The farm rearing of turkeys is extremely
profitable in those sections in which blackhead has not made
its appearance, and where foxes and coyotes are not prev-
alent. A flock of turkeys requires but little investment
in the way of buildings, and practically no feed, except
during the fall when they are being fattened for market,
and for the breeding stock during the winter.

The turkey is a valuable aid to the farmer in keeping

199

Fia.

TURKEYS

A turkey round-up, Cuero, Texas.

421

422 POULTRY PRODUCTION

down insects and worms in the fields, and in making them
over into a marketable form.

This is particularly true at the time of grasshopper out-
breaks and the like. In 1911, Mr. Coffin, of Scott City,
Kansas, had the second crop of 160 acres of alfalfa badly
damaged by grasshoppers. After the damaged crop was
removed, he turned 100 turkeys into the field. Thereafter
there was very little damage done and but few grasshoppers
found in the field the last week in August.

“Tn 1912, Mr. Maune, of McCue, Kansas, raised 140
turkeys whose range included 135 acres of alfalfa, 35 of which
was left for a seed crop. The seed crop on other fields in
that vicinity where no turkeys ranged was entirely destroyed,
but this 35 aeres set a heavy crop of seed.””!

Fic. 200

Turkeys saved this alfalfa crop. The neighboring fields were taken by
grasshoppers. The owner of this field marketed the grasshoppers in the
form of turkey meat. (Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural Experiment
Station.)

Selection of Breeding Turkeys.—The same care and atten-
tion regarding constitutional vigor, size, trueness to breed
type, and color should be observed in the selection of
breeding turkeys as in fowls, particular attention being
given to securing birds that show good size of bone in the
shank.

Birds that are deformed in any way, such as having crooked

1 Iwansas Bulletin, No. 215.

TURKEYS 423

backs, legs or toes, blindness or lameness, should never be
used as breeders, unless the deformity is known to be the
result of an accident and will not impair the breeding powers.
There is a tendency among turkey breeders to breed as large
in size as possible. Bronze toms have been known to weigh
as much as 50 and 60 pounds. This tendency to breed large
sized birds is because the large-sized birds appear best at
shows and weigh most on the market.

The market for large birds for meat purposes is limited,
as the popular family weight is from nine to eighteen pounds,
which will be the weight of a well-grown pullet and cockerel
in the fall of their first year. Besides this, large toms are
hard on the hens and usually do not make successful breeders.

Number of Hens Per Tom.—One tom will serve from twelve
to twenty hens, a good number being fifteen. It is well to
have more than one male in each flock, as but one mating is
required to fertilize a clutch of eggs, and if one hen does
not mate well with one tom she may with another, thus
avoiding infertility in her clutch. Most turkey breeders use
early hatched, well-grown young toms (cockerels) as breeders.
Care should be taken where more than one tom is used to
see that they are docile and will not fight with each other.
If they are quarrelsome they should be used alternately.
The toes and spurs should be blunted and rounded, if neces-
sary, before the breeding season, in order to prevent torn
backs in the hens; especially is this necessary with extra
heavy toms. If any backs are torn the cuts should be
carefully washed out and the edges sewed together with a
needle and thread, the hen kept in a separate pen for
three or four days, and the wound bathed with a creosote
disinfectant or rubbed with vaseline or lard and sulphur, to
aid in rapid healing. Birds affected with torn backs may be
detected in the flock by being lame and stiff in their walk,
the torn skin being hidden by the surrounding feathers.

Incubation of Turkey Eggs.—Turkey eggs may be success-
fully hatched in incubators and the poults raised in brooders
in a similar manner to chicks. It is the usual custom, how-
ever, to allow the hens to raise their own poults.

When a turkey becomes broody, as evinced by her remain-
ing upon the nest at night and becoming angry when dis-

424 POULTRY PRODUCTION

turbed, she should be either allowed to set in the nest
where she lays regularly or she may be moved. Moving a
hen to a nest more suitably located should be done at night
and two or three china or hard-boiled eggs should be placed
under her as nest eggs. The nest should also be darkened
during the day after removal, and the bird allowed off for
food and water near night. If the moving is carefully done
and the hen is thoroughly broody the change may be done
without “breaking up” the hen. After she has been setting
for two or three days a clutch of fifteen to twenty eggs may
be placed under her, depending upon the size of the bird
and the season. A large bird in warm weather may cover
the larger number easily. At the time the turkey sets, from
seven to nine turkey eggs should be placed under a broody
common fowl, and the poults when hatched given to the
turkey hen. The number allowed each hen should not exceed
twenty to twenty-five.

Turkey eggs hatch in from twenty-six to thirty days, the
average being about twenty-eight. At the time of hatching
the first hatched poults may be removed and placed under
hens, if they will own them, or kept wrapped in a flannel
in a basket in a warm place, or placed in a brooder, thus
encouraging the hen to remain on the nest until the last
hatched poults gain strength, rather than to start off with
the first hatched, leaving the weaker ones behind. The
poults removed may be placed under the hen at night, when
she will own them without difficulty. The hens should be
dusted three times with insect powder while setting, the
last time on the twenty-fourth day.

Nesting of Turkeys.—Turkeys mate the first clutch of eggs
from the first of March until the first of April, and commence
laying during the latter part of March orin April. These dates
are subject to variation, due to climatic conditions. The breed-
ing fowls should have been selected not later than the first of
the year and only those birds held over which are to be used
as breeders or sold on the holiday market. It is natural for
a hen turkey to steal her nest, therefore many breeders
place boxes and barrels tipped on their side and a nest made
therein about the farm, in order to entice the turkeys to
lay in them, where the eggs may be easily gathered. Other

TURKEYS 425

breeders yard their turkeys until about four o’clock in the
afternoon, when all eggs have been laid, thus compelling the
hens to lay in nests provided for the purpose. Either method
is good, and better than allowing the hen to steal her own
nest, where it is subject to the raids of foxes, weasels, hawks,
and skunks.

A hen turkey will lay from twelve to twenty eggs in the
first clutch before evincing a desire to set. If broken up
at this point she may begin laying a second clutch after an
interval of ten days. As soon as the hens begin to lay, the
eggs should be gathered daily and kept in a cool place of
even temperature and turned gently at least every two days.
One egg of some kind should be left in the nest as a nest
egg. More eggs will be laid when the eggs are gathered daily
than when allowed to accumulate in the nest, because the
large number of eggs in the nest seems to induce the hen to
set sooner.

Care and Feeding of Young Poults.—The attitude of inves-
tigators toward the black-head disease (infectious entero-
hepatitis) in turkeys has recently undergone a marked
change. Hadley, who is perhaps the foremost American
authority on blackhead in turkeys, gives the reasons for this
reversal of attitude in a recent paper. He now takes the
position that the organisms causing this malady are omni-
present, and that effort to avoid them is useless. Wild
turkeys are quite free from the trouble, however, while their
domesticated brothers are highly susceptible. This is in
spite of the fact that the wild birds probably always harbor
the organisms in the digestive tract. The difference is that
modern methods of domestic turkeys feeding have somehow
broken down the defensive agencies of the species, whatever
they may be.

The problem in feeding poults, therefore, is to so feed
that the “normal antagonistic factors” can operate advan-
tageously with regard to the disease.

Dr. Hadley tentatively suggests the following routine for
feeding to avoid blackhead. He points out that “it does
not make so much difference what young turkeys are fed as

1 Jour. Am. Assn. Inst. and Invest. in Poul. Husb., vol. 11, No. 8.

426 POULTRY PRODUCTION

it does how, and how much, they are fed. Particular atten-
tion should therefore be given to his method.

“After collection from the nests, hatch the turkey eggs in
incubators, in the meantime having ordinary hens set on
china eggs in nest boxes or brooders on the permanent range.
Remove the poults from the incubator about twenty-four
hours after hatching, and distribute at night among the hens,
giving from twelve to fourteen to each hen. Be sure that the
hen accepts them before they are left. Give no feed before
the poults are two days old. Each family may then receive
two teaspoonfuls of egg chopped fine with some green food
such as nettles, dandelion, onion tops or lettuce. A little
cracker may be added to take up surplus moisture so that
the mixture will not be pasty. This ration may be repeated
for the remainder of the feedings upon this day, or bread
soaked up in sweet milk may be substituted for one meal.

“During the first three or four days of feeding, the poults
receive four meals each day, at about eight o’clock, eleven,
two and five; after this but three meals are given. On the
second day of feeding about the same rations are given, but
one of the meals may be of chick grain, and some rolled oats
may be added to the chopped-egg mixture. The third day
of feeding is like the second. The poults are allowed to run
in their enclosure. On the fourth or fifth day of feeding,
the number of meals may be reduced to three, at eight
o'clock, twelve and four-thirty, respectively. The amounts
are slightly increased and a little grit may be added.

“When the poults are about a week old they may be
allowed to run free with the old hen on the range on pleasant
days when the grass is dry. Chopped egg in the ration is
reduced and omitted by the seventh day of feeding. On the
sixth day of feeding the feeding is put on a time basis.
Several spoonfuls of food are put on the tray and well dis-
tributed, but the poults are not allowed to eat for more than
about three minutes at any one meal. By the end of the
second week, the time limit is reduced to two and one-half
minutes, since the poults are now obtaining more food on the
range in the form of insects.

“About the same time sour milk is introduced. It is placed,
whey and curd well mixed, in shallow pans or in troughs

TURKEYS 427

scattered about the range. It is at first given each morning

and night at the rate of about one quart to forty poults, and

is gradually increased in amount until by the beginning of the

fourth month one quart may be given for each twenty birds,
each morning and night.

“During the second month, which is the critical period for
the young birds, the feeding is continued about as in the latter
part of the first month. But, after the age of about six
weeks the number of meals per day may be reduced to two.
Green food in the form of chopped carrot tops, onion tops,
or lettuce should be given in abundance; it should comprise
at least one-half of the ration for each meal. The time limit
remains at about two and one-half minutes.

“When the poults are about six weeks old the nest or
brooder coops should be replaced by larger houses made of
laths and covered partly with roofing paper. Such a house
may suffice until the poults are about three or four months
old. These may be about three feet by five feet and three
feet high at the apex. Family houses should then be given up
and all the poults, with their mothers, be brought together in
a single roosting shed.

“The feeding for the third month is like that of the second
except that the amount of sour milk is gradually increased
and that a grain mixture of equal parts of cracked corn and
wheat may be gradually substituted for the chick grain.

“As the autumn months advance and the insect life dis-
appears, the time limit may be lengthened to three or three
and one-half minutes. In rainy weather the noonday meal
may be added and a four-minute period allowed. [olled
oats may be omitted and the ration made to consist of the
grain mixture with an occasional feed of rolled oats or bread
and milk. A mash may now be added containing some
beef scrap.

“Before Thanksgiving the breeders for the coming season
should be selected and marked. Their feeding for the winter
may consist of the following grain mixture fed at the rate of
one quart for six or seven turkeys each night and morning:

Cracked corn 3 parts
Barley . ee
Wheat ee
Oats 1 part.”

428 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Both hen and poults should be carefully examined for lice,
and if they are found should be carefully dusted with lice
powder twice a week. The lice may usually be found, if
present, in the vicinity of the vent, on the head and neck
and at the base of the wing feathers. The walls and roof
of the roosting-house may also be sprayed with a liquid lice
killer or creosote dip, but it should not be applied to the
floor, as the fumes rising under the feathers of the hen will
sometimes suffocate the poults. Lard in very small amounts
may be rubbed on the head of the poults to kill the head
lice, but care should be used not to apply too much, as it will
kill the poults if applied in excess. A piece the size of a pea
is sufficient for each bird.

Feeding for Market.—As soon as the supply of feed on the
range fails the turkeys begin to hang around the buildings
more. Unless the birds are penned up it is practically im-
possible to do much in the way of fattening until they quit
ranging, which is hardly early enough to get them ready
for Thanksgiving trade in most sections.

Bolte! found that while greater gains could be secured by
crate-fattening than by corn-feeding on range, the increased
gains were not great enough to pay for the extra labor
involved.

Blanchard? tried feeding turkeys in darkened pens for two
weeks, admitting light only at feeding time, and could secure
no gains. Other birds fed the same ration and confined in
roomy pens having a runway of twenty by fifty feet gained
two pounds to ten and one-half pounds each in two weeks.
The ration consisted of 6 parts corn meal, 2 parts wheat
middlings, 2 parts meat scrap by weight, moistened with
milk. No statement is made as to the cost of the gains.

Where penning is impracticable they should have all the
corn they will consume and be given a liberal allowance of
meat scraps. The birds that are not in condition at Thanks-
giving should be fed out for the Christmas market.

1 Rhode Island Bulletin No. 126 ? Washington Bulletin No. 96.

CHAPTER XII.
DUCKS AND GEESE.

DUCKS.

Ducks are the meat birds among poultry. They are hardy,
easy to handle, with the exception of picking, and make
the quickest gain in flesh from time of hatching of any kind
of domestic poultry excepting possibly geese. A duck, to
be profitable, should weigh five pounds at the end of ten
weeks. It will take a chicken of the American varieties
twice as long to attain that weight.

Most of the domestic breeds of ducks are Asiatic in origin,
though Europe and America have each made contributions.
The Pekin, which is easily the most important meat producer
among the ducks, came originally from China. It was first
imported into England in 1872, and reached the United States
in January, 1874. The Aylesbury originated with a pair of
wild white ducks, captured in England. The Rouen is
descended from domesticated wild Mallards in France and
takes its name from the city of Rouen. The Muscovy
originated in South America where it is still found in the
wild state. “The Cayuga derives its name from Cayuga
County. New York, where it was probably developed about
1850.” It resembles the Pekin in shape, but is somewhat
lighter in weight. Though a very good market duck, it has
not become widely distributed, possibly because of its dark
plumage.

The Runner duck was introduced into England about
the middle of the last century and reached this country
during the last decade of that century. It is winning a
reputation as an egg producer, but their ultimate popularity

1 Lee, U. S. Bulletin 697.
( 429 )

430 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Fia. 201

A farm flock of White Pekin ducks.

Fawn and White Runner ducks.

Fie. 203

MET
ee

White Runner ducks.

DUCKS AND GEESE 431

and usefulness are not yet determined. Its place of origin,
usually attributed to India, is uncertain.

Tor practical purposes ducks may be divided into three
groups, namely, (1) the meat group, which includes the
Pekin, Aylesbury, Muscovy, Rouen, Cayuga, Buff, and
Swedish (2) the egg group, which includes the Runner
only, and (3) the ornamental group, which is comprised of
the Call, Crested White and Black East India. The Man-
darin and Wood ducks are beautiful birds which could well
be included in The Standard.

Breeding Ducks.—The heaviest, most vigorous, and best-
shaped birds should be selected, at the time of marketing
the green ducks, as breeders the succeeding year. Watery
eyes are usually considered a sign of weakness in ducks. By
selecting the largest birds as breeders, the rapidity of growth
in the offspring may be increased to such an extent that the
average weight of ten-weeks-old ducks may be raised consid-
erably. Individual Pekin drakes have been known to weigh
nine pounds at this age and ducks, seven. With good care,
ducks begin to lay from the first of December until the middle
of February, and should lay from eighty to one hundred
eggs each before the middle of July, when they begin to
moult. Only ducks over two years old should be used for
breeding. The drake is at his best the first two seasons.

Number of Ducks per Drake.—In the early part of the breed-
ing season five ducks should be allowed for each drake, and
the number increased as the season progresses. The propor-
tion of drakes should be decreased when they begin to worry
the ducks. In April eight or ten females is not too many for
one drake.

Means of Telling Drake from Duck.—In the colored varieties,
as the Rouen, the drake may be distinguished by his brilliant
coloring, but in the solid white varieties, such as the Pekin
and Aylesbury, the task is not so easy. The drake seldom
quacks, but hisses, is generally heavier, and not so fine
about the head and neck. The most pronounced difference,
however, is that the drake has two feathers near the base of
the tail, called “curl feathers,” which curl toward the head,
while the duck’s feathers lie smooth.

432 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Incubation of Duck Eggs.—The desire to incubate their own
eggs has been bred out of many strains of ducks, especially
the Pekin. For this reason the incubator or broody hens are
necessary. The eggs should be gathered daily, kept in a
cool place, and turned daily. Ducks’ eggs will not keep as
well as hens’ eggs.

In natural incubation the eggs are placed under a broody
duck in a nest on the ground or floor of the house. If placed
under hens, ten are about all that may be successfully
covered.

When placed in incubators the care given duck eggs is
similar to that given hens’ eggs except that the temperature
should be kept at 102° F. for the first three weeks. Special
duck incubators are manufactured, which have a larger egg
chamber than do those used primarily for hens’ eggs. More
moisture is also required in the hatching of ducklings than
of chicks. Ducks’ eggs should be tested for fertility on the
third or fourth day when developing embryo may be readily
seen.

Brooding Ducks.—Ducklings take even more kindly to
artificial brooding than chicks do. They are handled in the
same manner as chicks except that the temperature which
should be 95° F. at the beginning will usually be reduced to
between 80° and 85° within a week or ten days.

Housing and Yarding Ducks.—The chief factors in a house
for ducks are dryness, fresh air with freedom from draughts,
and cleanliness. It is not necessary to build as expensive
houses as for fowls, because ducks are naturally hardier and
can stand the cold and lack of sunshine better. The floor of
a duck-house, which may be any tight shed or outhouse if
but few are kept, should be kept well bedded with straw and
cleaned out as soon as the straw becomes matted and damp.
Dry feet while in the house at night seems to be a necessity
for good egg production. The ducks will make their nests
on the floor of the house by burrowing in the straw. The
number of ducks per house should be about one for every
six square feet of floor space for breeders; fattening and
young ducks may be kept closer.

An eighteen-inch two-inch mesh fence will hold most ducks,

DUCKS AND GEESE 433

and a two-foot fence all of those commonly raised, as most
of them cannot fly.

Care should be taken not to frighten ducks by moving
among them at night with a lantern, as they are liable to
stampede, thereby causing a stopping of egg production,
loss of flesh, if not the death of some by trampling.

Feeding Standard for Growing Ducks.—Ducks grow faster
than chickens do, and not only demand more pounds of dry
matter per unit of weight, but also a greater proportion of the
growing nutrients, protein and ash. The standard for grow-
ing ducklings as computed by W. P. Wheeler is given in Table

MEN

Taste XLV.—Dicestiste Nurrienrs Required PER Day For Eacu
100 Pounps Live WercHt oF Growina DUCKLINGS.

Dry Carbohy- Nutritive
matter Ash. Protein. drates. Fat. ratio.

Virst 2 weeks 17.2 Lt 4.0 i 4 14 Lito 3.7
From 2 to 4 weeks 17.0 15) 4.1 10.1 le3 1 to 32
From 4 to 6 weeks 1132 0.8 2G 7:0 O.7 1:46.3.35
From 6 to 8 weeks 8.0 0.6 ead 52 0259, Leto 38
From 8 to 10 weeks 70 0.5 1.4 4.7 0.4 1to 4.1
From 10 to 15 weeks 4.6 0.3 0.9 3.2 0.2 1to 4.1

A “ration in accord with the standard given for ducklings
might be constituted as follows: Eight pounds of corn meal,
3 pounds wheat middlings, 2 pounds ground barley, 2 pounds
old-process linseed meal, 6 pounds animal meal, 2 pounds of
fresh bone, and 3 pounds of young green alfalfa.”

Feeding Breeding Ducks.—The birds selected for breeders
should be kept, ducks and drakes separated, in roomy, shady
pastures, where plenty of grass may be obtained, or on free
range, and fed a light ration of bran, ground oats, a little
meat meal, and grit. A large portion of the ration will come
from the grass upon which they may graze. A good mash
mixture to feed during this period is 2 parts wheat bran, 1
part corn meal, and 1 part ground oats. Corn, oats, or barley
may be fed lightly at noon, although some breeders omit
the noon feeding. Water in dishes deep enough so that the
nostrils may be cleansed is necessary, and an inverted can
should be placed in the dish or a grate placed over it to pre-

434 POULTRY PRODUCTION

vent the birds from getting into the dish. Water in which
the birds may swim is not necessary, although ducks kept

Fic. 204

Ducks receiving no animal protein. Notice comparative number and size.
T
(Courtesy of W. P. Wheeler.)

on a sandy soil or thick green sod will keep cleaner if a
swimming place is provided.

Fig. 205

EVEL: Kr Oe

Ducks receiving animal protein. (Courtesy of W. P. Wheeler.)

About the first of November the breeding ducks should be
placed in flocks of thirty to forty in the breeding pens and
yards and fed for laying by allowing free access to a dry
mash, which may be composed of 2 parts wheat bran, 1 part
middlings or ground oats, 1 part corn meal, and 1 part beef

DUCKS AND GEESE 435

scraps. All the green feed in the shape of cut alfalfa, clover,
or chopped roots that they will clean up should be given.
Grit and water should be available at all times. If they
are kept confined in the pen until eight o’clock in the morning
nearly all eggs will be laid upon the floor of the house rather
than some in the yard, as ducks usually lay in the early
morning.

Feeding Young Ducklings.—<After the ducklings are hatched
they should be kept without food for thirty-six hours,
either in the incubator or under a hen. After removal
to the brooder or after thirty-six hours under the hen without
feed, the feed for the first week may consist of equal parts of
bran, corn meal, and middlings, with 5 per cent. sand in it
for grit, fed five times daily. After the third day, 5 per cent
of sifted meat scrap may also be added, and green food in the
form of chopped lettuce, alfalfa, or clover should be fed freely.

After the first week a good growing ration is 2 parts wheat
bran, 1 part wheat middlings, 1 part corn meal, 4 part meat
scrap, 5 per cent sharp sand, scalded cut clover, alfalfa,
or other green food, as much as they will eat. Feed four
times a day.

At the beginning of the eighth week the young ducks should
be moved into the fattening shed or kept in a shady place
and fed for three weeks on a fattening ration of equal parts
wheat bran, middlings, corn meal, and 10 per cent of beef
scrap, 5 per cent sharp sand, and green food. It must not
be left before them at all times, however, as it is rather
concentrated, and they are Hable to tire of it.

Special care should be taken that young ducks are not
exposed to a hot sun without a chance of shade, nor allowed
out in arain-storm before they are feathered out. Rain while
in the downy stage is oftentimes fatal.

GEESE.

The geese most common on American farms are the
Embden and Toulouse. Both are probably descended from
the Gray Lag goose—until recently found all over Europe
and Northern Asia. The Toulouse owes its name to the city

436 POULTRY PRODUCTION

of Toulouse in France. The Embden was developed around
Westphalia in Northern Germany from white mutants of
the Toulouse.

The market demand is for quickly grown green goslings.
The demand is somewhat limited, however, and the presence
or absence of a good local outlet for geese will usually be the
principal factor in deciding whether geese should be numbered
among the farm stock, unless they are desired for home use.

Fic. 206

Pair of Embden geese.

Geese are usually extremely hardy, needing nothing but the
crudest sort of shelter for the mature stock even in the severest
weather. They are good foragers and great scavengers,
subsisting largely on grass and other soft herbage, and should
be allowed ample range, though a hog-tight fence will keep
them confined when necessary. They will care for themselves
practically the year round.

Too many geese should not be pastured with cattle,

DUCKS AND GEESE 437

owing to the fact that if there is any considerable amount of
droppings on the pasture the cattle will refuse to eat the grass.
A few geese at liberty on a farm of any size do no noticeable
harm in this regard.

When they are pastured on swamp land, which they may
be to the number of fifty to the acre, there should always
be some high, well-drained land available where the birds
can get away from the dampness when they wish.

Fig. 207

Pair of Toulouse geese.

They must have shade in warm weather or they suffer
from the heat. Tf allowed the run of the orchard they will
consume the wasted and spoiled fruit, making gains that
are practically without cost. They should not be turned
into a newly planted orchard, however, as they will injure
the tender bark of the young trees.

438 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Selection of Breeding Geese.—Geese should not be used
for breeding purposes until the second breeding season.
The ganders may be used the first season and for several
seasons thereafter. For best results not more than two
geese should be mated to one gander, though the number is
frequently increased to four.

“Sex is difficult to distinguish in geese, especially when
they are young. The gander is usually somewhat larger and
coarser than the goose and has a shrill cry, while the female
has a coarse cry. The male has a heavier, longer neck and a
larger head. The sex may be determined by inspecting the
sexual organs or by the action of the geese at mating time.
The sphincter muscle which closes the anus of the female is
folded and winding or sinuous if stretched, while a slight
pressure on the corresponding section of the male will make
the sexual organ protrude. This test is more easily made
on a mature inale and in warm weather.””?

Live Plucking —The live plucking of geese is not nearly
so common as formerly. It used to be quite common to
pluck the geese five times a year at intervals of seven weeks,
beginning the Jast week in March. Where it is practised
at all now it is generally confined to the period immediately
preceding the moult. They should not be plucked during
the breeding season.

Incubation of Goose Eggs.—The first goslings should not
be hatched until the grass is green. Incubators have not
proved very successful for the hatching of geese, and it is
better to allow the geese to set or place the eggs under hens.
Geese will cover nine or ten eggs successfully, while hens
of the American breeds should not be given over three or
four in cool weather and five or six in warm weather. The
length of time necessary for hatching varies from twenty-
seven to thirty-three days, but will average about thirty
days.

When they are about due to hatch, if hens are used the
nest should be carefully watched and the first goslings taken
out as soon as they hatch, wrapped in a woollen cloth, and kept

‘Lamon and Lee, Farmers Bulletin, 767, U. 8S. Dept. of Agric.

DUCKS AND GEESE 439

in a warm place. They should be kept away from the nest
until the youngest goslings are several hours old, when they
may be given back to the hen. If this is not done the hen
is likely to become restless and leave the nest with the older
goslings before the late ones are strong enough.

They should be closely confined with their mother until
they are three or four days old, after which they may be
allowed at liberty with their mother in a grassy pasture.

Most successful goose raisers make a practice of not allow-
ing the goslings in the water until they are full-feathered on
their breasts. Until they are fairly fully feathered they
should be sheltered on rainy days. If they are thoroughly
wet through and chilled before growing their feathers it is
likely to prove disastrous.

Feeding Mature Geese.—When, because of drouth in the
summer or during the winter, it becomes necessary to feed
mature geese, they should be fed such feeds as mangels,
turnips, steamed clover and the like, supplemented by a
mash of equal parts of corn meal, bran, and ground oats.
Owing in part, perhaps, to the limited development of the
crop, the goose is not able to make very satisfactory use of
dry whole or cracked grains. In furnishing any feed to young
or old stock there must always be an abundance of drinking
water at hand at the place of feeding. Grit, bone, and char-
coal should also always be available.

Breeding geese should not be very fat. For this reason
geese do better on pasture with stock than about the troughs
of the feeding lot. They should be fed grain only semi-ocea-
sionally, to prevent their becoming too wild. In the winter,
mangels, Swede turnips, clover, or alfalfa hay should form
most of their ration. Wherever they are kept they must
have plenty of drinking-water, though water for swimming
is not necessary. During the breeding season, however,
water deep enough for swimming ts considered a necessity for
successful mating.

Geese lay from twenty to thirty eggs in a season if not
allowed to set. Boxes and barrels should be placed in secluded
spots where they will be somewhat hidden by brush. The
geese will usually take to them if they are secluded enough,

440 POULTRY PRODUCTION

and thus save considerable trouble in locating the nests.
Each goose prefers her own nest, and an ample number
should be provided.

Feeding Goslings.—Goslings should be fed carefully for the
first week or ten days, after which time they will secure most
of their feed if allowed the run of a good pasture. The
rations fed by different raisers vary in composition, but all
are agreed in feeding only a mash. This may consist of
corn meal, to which is added 10 per cent meat scrap or 6
parts corn meal, 6 parts shorts, and 1 part meat scrap.
Either of these rations should be moistened to a crumbling
consistency with milk or water. The amount of feed neces-
sary, however, will be quite limited if the birds have good
pasture.

Noodled Geese.—A new industry that is developing in some
sections, notably about Watertown, Wis., is the production
of noodled geese. By this, reference is made to the method
of fattening by means of “noodles.”

The noodles, which comprise practically the entire ration,
are made as follows:! They consist of different mixtures,
largely low-grade flour, corn meal, sifted barley meal, and
oat meal. This is mixed into a stiff batter with milk or water
and run through an old-fashioned sausage press. As it comes
from the press it 1s cut up into links two to three inches long
with a pair of shears. These links constitute the noodles,
which are then rolled in a good grade of flour, care being
taken to round the ends a little.

The noodles are then put into a double boiler and so
arranged that they are held in a woven wire basket so that
they cannot come in contact with the bottom of the boiler.
They are then boiled until they rise to the top. As soon as
this occurs they are immediately immersed in cold water,
which prevents them from sticking together and renders
them capable of being handled without danger of breaking.

As many as are needed for feeding are dropped into a
pail of warm water, which softens the outside of the noodle
sufficiently to make it easy for the goose to swallow.

‘For this information the author is indebted to Prof. J. G. Halpin, of
the University of Wisconsin.

DUCKS AND GEESE 44]

For feeding, the geese are confined in a shed in pens about
eight by ten feet. Near one corner a partition about two feet
high is built, extending out from the side of the pen about
three feet, leaving a space about three feet square. Into this
space the geese are driven for feeding. The feeder sits on a
low stool at the end of this partition, reaches back and leads
a goose from the small pen. he goose stands on the ground
between the knees of the feeder, who opens the mouth with
the left hand while he slips a noodle in with his right.

Fig. 208

Unloading dressed noodled geese. (Courtesy of J. G. Halpin.)

Enough noodles are inserted to fill the gullet up to within
two inches of the throat. After feeding the goose is allowed
to walk out into the main pen and drink from a trough of
warm water, in which may be sprinkled a little corn meal.

A goose should never be noodled until she has digested all
the noodles from the previous feeding. At first the geese
are fed about four times a day. The number of feedings is
increased gradually until the birds are fed every three hours,
day and night. Great care must be taken at all times not to
frighten the birds, or they will stampede.

442 POULTRY PRODUCTION

The feeding period usually lasts from two to three weeks,
and the gains made run from 20 to 40 per cent at a feed
cost varying from 10 to 20 cents per pound gain. Besides
the marked gain in weight secured, the livers of the birds
become very much enlarged, and are much prized by epi-
cures, being known under the name “pate de foi gras.” The
demand for these enlarged livers is not anywhere near sup-
plied, and considerable quantities are imported from France
and other European countries. Goose fat, or goose oil, is
also in good demand and high in price.

Noodled geese are in demand in the Hebrew sections of the
larger cities, and offer a lucrative though very confining
three weeks’ work, falling usually in late November and early
December.

CHAPTER XIII.

PIGEONS AND GUINEA-FOWL.

BREEDS OF PIGEONS.!

Picgeons are divided into three general classes: (1)
Those differentiated by characteristics other than color
markings, which include the English Carrier, Pouter,
Barb, Short-faced Tumbler, and Runt; the latter strangely
enough is the largest of the pigeons. (2) Those differen-
tiated by a peculiar arrangement of the feathers, as well
as by color markings, which include Turbits, Jacobins,
Seandarcons, Frillbacks, Owls, Trumpeters, Fantails, Dra-
goons, Priests, Brunswicks, Oriental Frills, Florentines, and
Homers. (3) Those in which color markings alone are
distinguishing characteristics, which include the Nuns,
Magpies, Swallows, Helmets, Spats, Archangels, Suabians,
Shields, Ice Pigeons, Starlings, Breasters, Moorheads,
Long-faced Tumblers, Porcelains, Hyacinths, Quakers,
Lahores, and Mookies.

Of all these breeds the Homer, with its grades and crosses,
is the only breed that enters largely into squab production.

Pigeon Breeding.—With pigeons the influences of breed-
ing is confined to a single pair, and the breeding loft should
contain only working pairs of breeders. A working pair
refers to birds which have voluntarily taken each other as
mates. The so-called “hand-mated” birds, by which refer-
ence is made to the fact that the birds have been mated
by confining them in a mating coop, frequently prove un-
satisfactory because the mating proves to be temporary.
Voluntary mating is usually for life.

1 This classification is the one offered by Long in ‘‘The Poultry Book.”

(443 )

444 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Mating is accomplished by allowing the unmated birds
to occupy a room containing some nest boxes. As soon as
a pair is observed to start building a nest together they
should be caught, banded, and removed to the breeding
loft. Usually about 90 per cent of the birds will mate
where upward of one hundred are placed in the mating-
room. After a pair is mated the cock drives the hen until
she deposits her eggs in the nest. A good driver is likely
to be a good breeder.

Fic, 209

Squabs (‘‘peepers’’), twelve hours old.

Two eggs are laid about thirty-six hours apart and usually
hatch between sixteen and eighteen days after the last egg
is laid. When the eggs are first hatched sex cannot be
determined, but if both eggs are hatched and prove to be
a pair the cock will usually hatch about twelve hours earlier
than the hen. Where two squabs hatch in the same nests
of unequal size they should be changed from nest to nest
so that the pairs are evened up in size. If this is not done
the earliest hatch or largest bird will crowd the smaller one
so that it is likely to die.

PIGEONS AND GUINEA-FOWL 445

Pigeons mature at five months, but are said not to breed
until the tail feathers are moulted. In order to hasten the

Tic, 210

Squabs (‘‘squealers’’), twenty-eight days old, ready for market.

breeding it is sometimes customary to pull the tail feathers
out at the age between six and nine weeks, at which time
they may be placed in the mating-room.

446 POULTRY PRODUCTION

A young pair will usually not produce more than two
pairs of squabs the first year. While unusual, mature pairs
sometimes produce as high as twelve pairs in twelve months;
the average production probably lies between five and six
pairs. Breeders are at their prime at three years, and six
to seven years mark the limit of their usefulness.

In squab-breeding the white meat is the most desirable.
This white meat may be detected by the white toes, beak
and flights, and red legs. Some of the best breeders secure
this by crossing a Florentine and Runt and crossing the off-
spring with a Homer, while others prefer the pure Homer.

Pigeon Houses.—Any outbuilding that is dry and has a
board floor may be used for a pigeon loft. It should be
sheltered and have a south exposure. It is customary to
allow four square feet of floor space per pair of birds. Upon
this basis it is possible to house one hundred pairs in a
building 25 x 16 with a gable 10 feet high. Dryness is
so essential that squab breeders frequently erect their
houses on posts, giving a clearance of two feet between the
ground and floor.

The nests should be placed on the north, east, and west
walls, beginning one foot above the floor. This may be
done by nailing a cleat on the east and west walls one foot
wide and holding a board ten to twelve inches wide one foot
above the floor; every ten inches above these other cleats
should be laid clear to the roof, after laying boards of uni-
form width clear to the topmost cleat. Partition pieces
10 x 12 may be cut and inserted between the shelves every
ten inches. Between these partitions pottery nests nine
inches across and four inches deep should be placed.

Good perches may be made by nailing two pieces five
inches wide and six inches long at right angles. These
perches should be nailed to the wall (as shown in Figure 212)
running clear to the top of the house, one perch every nine
inches. By placing these at right angles and letting the
median line of the upright bisect this angle the necessity
of cleaning the perches will be obviated. There should
be one perch for every bird. The floor of the house should
be kept bare of litter and cleaned at least once a month.

PIGEONS AND GUINEA-FOWL 447

Tobacco stems cut up into four-inch pieces make the
best material for nests.

A flight should be ce ided, figuring on the basis of a
space 25 x 25 feet and as high as the house, for fifty birds.

Fie. 212

IN
Vw fi

=)
LY

Interior of pigeon pen showing a feed hopper, roosts, nest boxes, and different
kinds of nest pans. (Courtesy of Bureau of Animal Industry.)

Feeding Pigeons.— During the first days of its life the squab
is fed a cheesy substance regurgitated from the crop of both
parents for a period of five to seven days; for the subse-
quent two weeks partially digested grain is fed in the same

448 POULTRY PRODUCTION

manner. After they are three weeks old they can usually
be fed the same ration as the old stock. This should con-
sist of a variety of feed, such as corn, peas, and red wheat.
White wheat seems to have an injurious effect upon the
digestive tract and to cause bowel trouble.

Fig. 213

Pigeon house and fly. Note bath pan against fence. (Courtesy of Bureau
of Animal Industry.)

A good ration is reported by T. S. Wright, one of the

largest squab breeders in the East, to be the following:

1 bushel cracked corn.

1 bushel red wheat.

} bushel Canada peas.
1
2
1

bushel kafir.
peck Russian hemp seed

The ration may be fed three times daily on the floor,
allowing one handful for every three birds, or by means of
feeding troughs. Care must always be exercised to see that
the grain is not musty, for musty feed will kill pigeons just
as it does young chicks.

Rock salt, oyster shell, and grit should always be avail-
able, and green feed in the form of lettuce, plantain, and
water cress should be fed once a day. Aside from the water

PIGEONS AND GUINEA-FOWL 449

furnished for drinking, and contained in fountains similar
to chick fountains, water for bathing should be supplied in
pans three to four inches deep. This water should be
thrown out as soon as the pigeons have had their daily bath.

GUINEA-FOWL.

Guineas are quite similar to turkeys in their habits and
management. ‘They have never become fully domesticated,
are impatient of restraint, preferring to roost out in the

Ira. 214

Pearl Guinea-fowl. Male and female. (Courtesy of Bureau of Animal
Industry.)

open, though they will frequently roost in the hen-house
with the chickens. They are very hardy and usually neces-
sitate little care. Because of their watchful alertness and
their loud warning cries in the presence of danger, they are
frequently kept on farms to warn the other fowls of danger
and to frighten away hawks, crows, and the like. Guineas
have only recently been recognized as a standard class of
poultry. But one variety, the pearl, has been admitted to
the standard, though whites are not uncommon.
29

450, POULTRY PRODUCTION

Breeding Guineas.—It is frequently difficult to distinguish
between the sexes with guinea-fowl. While the head fur-
nishings of the male are generally more developed than in the
female, the surest way to tell them apart is by their cry.
The female has a cry that sounds like “ buckwheat,” while the
male always gives a prolonged scream.

If there are equal numbers of males and females they will
pair off. Themalesmay be mated successfully with several
females, however. In small flocks the number is usually
three or four.

Incubating Guinea Eggs.—It will be found least trouble-
some to incubate the eggs under ordinary hens, as the guineas
are likely to be late in becoming broody and are difficult of
control after hatching. A hen of the American breeds can
successfully cover about eighteen guinea eggs. The eggs
hatch in twenty-eight to thirty days.

Feeding Young Guineas.—The newly hatched guineas are
very small and should be somewhat carefully watched for
the first week or ten days. During this time it is well to
keep them confined to a coop so that they will not be lost.
After that time they may be given their freedom with their
mother. During the period of confinement they should be
frequently fed on very finely cracked grains. At first they
should be fed a little every hour. This may be gradually
reduced, until at the time they are given their liberty they
may be fed but five times a day. This may further be
reduced as time goes on.

The further feeding of either the young or the mature
stock will be similar in rations and routine to chickens.

CHAPTER XIV.
PREPARING POULTRY PRODUCTS.

SEASONAL PRODUCTS.

Eacs and poultry are seasonal products. According to
the Bureau of Statistics, United States Department of Agri-
culture,! 49.8 per cent. or practically half of the egg crop of
the United States is produced in March, April, May and June,
as shown in Table XLVI, though July and August are
usually counted as a part of the egg season. The flush (point
of highest production) has fallen in April every vear for the
last thirteen years, with the exception of 1906 and 1909,
when it fell in May. This date is somewhat earlier in the
southern states than in the northern. “The lay in Ten-
nessee and Kentucky is from December until April. In
March and April, southern Ohio and Missouri stocks appear
on the market, helped along by Texas, southern Missouri,
and southern Kansas. In the later spring, northern Kansas,
Towa, Indiana, linois, and the Central States generally have
their heavy producing season, and it is when this occurs that
eggs are best and most plentiful. Minnesota and Michigan,
with a still later season, help out somewhat when the supply
of the Central States begins to fail, but the output of both
the southern and northern egg belt is far from adequate to
supply the demands of the widespread consuming public.’

The poultry season begins in August and lasts until about
the first of January. In July and August there are usually
quite heavy receipts of broilers, with the heavier roasting
chickens coming later. The average number of pounds of
all grades of poultry received each month during the last

1 Bulletin No. 101.
2? Pennington and Pierce, United States Department of Agriculture, 1910

Year-book,
(451)

452 POULTRY PRODUCTION

four years, at a western packing-house, is shown in Table
XLVI which is put in graphic form in Figure 216.

Taste XLVI.—Tue Percentace or THE NationaL EaG Cror
Propucrp Wacn Monta.

January 6.6
February ez:
March 12.4
April 13.4
May 13..3
June 10.7
July 9.6
August 8.6
September 6.2
October 4.2
November ual
December 43

TasLte XLVII.—Tue Averace Receipts oF PouLTRY AT A WESTERN
Packine-House ror EHacn Montru, Basep ON THE PERIOD
1910-1919 INcuLusive.!

Pounds.
January 238,598
February 175,689
March 168,159
April 125,920
May 212,554
June 258,196
IU 286,472
August p 435,519
September 505,173
October 638,850
November 120,302
December 639,088

It must be understood that these seasons are longer and
are hardly so clearly defined as the seasons for strawberries
and vegetables. They are sufficiently marked, however,
so that during the egg season practically the whole force
at a packing establishment is employed in packing eggs.
The transition from the egg season to the poultry season is
somewhat gradual, but in October and November the whole
force is busy packing poultry.

This discussion, of course, applies to the general condition.
Both eggs and poultry may be and are produced out of season.

1 Courtesy of Seymour Packing Company, Topeka, Kansas.

PREPARING POULTRY PRODUCTS 453

Some of the specialized poultry farms east and west make a
practice of furnishing poultry products out of season and very

Fie. 215

——
|
roa
|

alld
|

PER CENT OF THE NATIONAL EGG CROP PRODUCED EACH MONTH
—.

3 <r

JAN, FEG, MAR. APR. MAY JUNE JULY AUG. SEPT. OCT. (NOY. DEG.

| | |

| | |
|

A graphic presentation of Table XLVI.

454 POULTRY PRODUCTION

many general farms secure a few eggs during the winter,
and with a little care and attention may get more. As

Tia. 216

PERE Hin

600 is |
/

400

300 /

200 fi |
RO ale
NY

Jan Fee. Mak APR May June JuLy AuG. SEPT Oct Nov Dec. a

POULTRY IN THOUSANDS OF POUNDS
Ly
wy

A graphic presentation of Table XLVIL.

previously noted, however, farmers specializing on out-of-
season broilers and eggs bear much the same relation to the
general production of poultry that truck gardeners who raise

PREPARING POULTRY PRODUCTS 455

radishes, lettuce, and tomatoes under glass bear to the
general production of vegetables. Fresh winter eggs, like
fresh winter strawberries, are out of season products and
should be paid for as such. For most persons, the straw-
berries eaten in winter must be preserved by canning and
saved over from the previous season. The eggs eaten out
of season by most of the consuming public must also be
preserved, usually in cold storage.

The View-point of Preparation.—The preparation of a prod-
uct depends upon the purpose for which it is intended. As
was pointed out in the first chapter, there are numerous
channels through which poultry and eggs may reach the
consumer. In general, however, both products may be
designated for our present purpose as intended for zmme-
diate or for future consumption. Immediate consumption
refers to those products which are delivered to the actual
consumer by the producer without the aid of any interme-
diate agency. his means retailing by the producer, unless
the producer is also the consumer, and is usually referred to
as “private trade.” When the products are to reach the
consumer by any channel less direct, they must be considered
as intended for future consumption.

In any discussion of proper methods of preparing poultry
products for consumption in those sections where production
is greater than consumption, the producer should have two
points clearly in mind: (1) the possible distance of the con-
sumer from the place of production and (2) the time that
may elapse before consumption. It is the quality of the goods
when they reach the table of the consumer, not when first
produced, that quickens or depresses consumption and has a
marked influence upon the price paid the producer.'

1 [It is not within the province of this work to discuss marketing save
in so far as an understanding of marketing conditions affects the prepara-
tion of the products. It may sometimes appear to the producer, however, that
as his products are likely to be marketed in a distant city after months
in cold storage, his pains in preparing poultry or eggs for consumption
are likely to be wasted. If his efforts are not spoiled by the blunder or
carelessness of some middleman, it is the middleman who receives the
added profit.

Under the present systems of marketing farm products, this is undoubtedly
frequently true for all classes of goods. With the growth of the poultry-

456 POULTRY PRODUCTION

PREPARING POULTRY.

Most of the poultry produced on general farms is sold
alive and is prepared for consumption by the packer. The
tendency appears to be for home killing for general consump-
tion to be less and less practised and for the preparation to
be made by some one other than the producer. In some cases,
however, home preparation is profitable and for private
trade is usually necessary. It consists of dressing and pack-
ing if intended for general consumption, and may consist
of dressing, packing, trussing, and, infrequently, boning
if intended for private trade.

Dressing.—A fowl] is said to be ‘‘dressed”’ when it has been
killed and plucked. For convenience, the operations inci-
dent to dressing will be discussed under the topics of (1)
killing, (2) bleeding, (3) picking, and (4) cooling and shaping.
If any part of the process is not carefully and thoroughly
done, deterioration of the product follows promptly. The
function of dressing is preservation, or rendering the poultry
less perishable, as well as putting it in edible form.

Before the actual dressing operations are begun, the birds
should be kept from all feed for twenty-four hours, allowing,
however, a liberal supply of fresh water. This will serve to
empty the crop of allfood. A full crop not only means wasted
feed, or selling the feed at the rate per pound received for
the carcass, but that spoilage will set in in the vicinity of the
crop very much quicker than it ordinarily would or than
it will in other parts of the body. The intestines will also
be partially emptied, which will generally preclude post-
mortem defecations caused by handling, and which frequently
soil an otherwise attractive carcass.

packing industry on the one hand and coédperative marketing associations
on the other, this, however, is becoming less true. The real packer needs
and pays for the very best products he can get, and takes care that they
do not deteriorate in his care. In coéperative marketing, the relation
between the producer and consumer is made closer, and any benefit derived
from marketing superior goods reverts at once to the producer.

In a broad way, however, the statement made above is true even at the
present time, and the better the products, the wider will be the consumption
and the higher will be the price level.

PREPARING POULTRY PRODUCTS 457

Killing —The method of killing will depend upon the des-
tiny of the bird. If it is for home consumption, the simplest
way is by dislocating the head. With this there is no external

External view of head and neck, showing position of veins. (Courtesy
of Bureau of Chemistry.)

bleeding. The blood collects in the pocket formed inside
the skin and between the head and the end of the neck. While
this method is used commercially in England, it is not in
general use in this country because it is thought that the

458 POULTRY PRODUCTION

bleeding is not thorough enough to make the birds keep well,
and further, it does not fit in with the rest of the dressing
operations, as practised commercially.

For home use it is convenient because there is no spattering
of blood. The bird may be held until the spasmodic actions
of the muscles have stopped, instead of allowing the fowl to
flop about, bruising the flesh. The bleeding is probably more
complete than with the old-fashioned methods of wringing
the neck or chopping off the head, in both cases bruising the
bloodvessels and exposing them to the clotting action of
the air, and thereby checking free bleeding.

For private trade where scalding is practised, the killing
is done by severing the principal bloodvessels of the neck
(see Figure 217) and causing the bird to die by bleeding.

In commercial dressing where dry picking is practised,
the birds are killed by “sticking,” by which is meant the
piercing of the brain with a small-bladed knife, for the
double purpose of killing the bird and at the same time so
paralyzing the feather muscles that dry picking is possible.

Sticking may be accomplished “by running the knife under
the eye at such an angle that its point will touch the skull
midway between the eyes and a little behind them,’ or
“by placing the knife about half-way down the groove in the
roof of the chicken’s mouth, and then thrusting it up until
the knife reaches the top of the skull.’? These two ways
of sticking are referred to as “outside” and “inside” sticking,
respectively. In both cases the point of the knife should
be moved about a little after it is thrust home, in order to
destroy enough brain tissue to loosen the feathers thoroughly.

Bleeding.—Pennington and Betts’ report that fully 30
per cent. of the poultry received in the New York market
is incompletely bled. “Much of it is so badly bled that
it results in a loss of from two to five cents a pound, as com-
pared with the corresponding carcasses which are well bled
and in good order. Aside from the bad appearance of
incompletely bled chickens, their keeping properties are

1 Pennington and Betts, Bureau of Chemistry Circular No. 61

’ Thid.
‘ Bureau of Chemistry Circular No. 61.

CORRECT CUT

CORRECT CUT 7
GROOVE IN :

ROOF OF MOUTH ANGLE OF JAW

EVIE
EVE

END OF BEAK

Lower jaw removed, showing position of veins, anatomy of skull, and
location of cut. (Courtesy of Bureau of Chemistry.)

Fia. 219

Correct grasp of head at angle of jaw and position of small knife when
cutting vein. (Courtesy of Bureau of Chemistry.)

460 POULTRY PRODUCTION

very inferior. The flesh loses its firmness sooner; its flavor
is not so good; the odor of stale flesh and finally of putrefac-
tion comes sooner, and in every way the product is more
perishable.

“A very large proportion of the unsightly poultry in our
markets, aside from the rubbing and tearing of skins, is
caused by an incomplete removal of the blood. This is
evidenced by red dots which frequently occur where the
feathers have been removed, especially over the thighs and
wings; or by small veins which are seen over the breast and
in the angles of the wings, or larger veins which mar the
appearance of the neck. Generally it is the neck which shows
most plainly the presence of blood in the veins, or that a
wrong method has been used in an attempt to empty them.
The neck is the first part to discolor, becoming first red,
then bluish red or purple, and finally green as aging pro-
gresses. . . . Not only are the results of bad bleeding
observed in certain parts of the body, but the clear, bright
color of the flesh . . . is never at its best unless the
blood has been completely drained out.’”!

In dislocating the head and in killing by severing the
main bloodvessels of the neck, both killing and bleeding
are accomplished in one operation. When killing is accom-
plished by sticking, the bleeding should be done either before
or after sticking, each way having its advocates.

Whether done before or after sticking, or with birds
intended for scalding without sticking, great care must be
taken, until skill makes care unnecessary, to sever the veins
at their point of joining, as shown in Vigure 218. Just the
location of these veins can only be learned by a careful
first-hand study of the head and neck of the fowl! itself.

The best knife to use, according to Pennington and Betts,?
is one “which is not more than two inches long, one-fourth
inch wide, with a thin, flat handle, a sharp point, and a
straight cutting-edge.”

Picking.—There are two methods of pic king (plucking) in
general use, known as “scald picking” and “dry picking.”

! Bureau of Chemistry Circular No. 61. 2 Tbid.

PREPARING POULTRY PRODUCTS 461

If the birds are being dressed for immediate consumption
and no use is to be made of the feathers, chickens may be
scalded and the feathers easily plucked. If reasonable care is
taken not to cook the skin, this is both an easy and reliable
method. Yellow-skinned birds present a better appearance
after scalding than after dry picking if the work has been
properly done, because it brings out the color better. Ducks
must be scalded or steamed, because no means of sticking
them so as to loosen the feathers has been devised. Imme-
diately after scalding, the bird should be plunged in cold

water. This stops the cooking action of the hot water and
renders the bird plumper in appearance.

If the consumption of the bird is to be delayed for any
reason, as by shipping, storing, or even awaiting sale in a
retail store, it should be dry picked. Even the most careful
scalding destroys the delicate but very important cuticle
that covers the skin. This cuticle is the fowl’s defense against
the invasion of microérganisms of all sorts, and if destroyed
during the dressing process, putrefactive bacteria quickly
gain entrance to the carcass and begin their work of decom-
position.

Successful dry picking depends upon the proper sticking
of the fowl, which loosens the feathers by paralyzing the
control muscles of the feathers. If this is successfully
accomplished, for a short time, the feathers may be re-
moved with as much ease as if the bird had been scalded.
The cuticle is left uninjured and the carcass will stand
holding, shipping, or freezing very much better than when
scalded.

There are three ways of dry picking, known as string
picking, bench picking, and frame picking, which is a com-
bination of the first two. In the first, the legs are caught
in a loop or shackle, and the bird hangs head downward.
After sticking, a weighted bloodcup is attached to the fowl’s
mouth, which helps to hold it steady.

With bench picking, a bench or table is used, as shown in
Figure 221. The head of the bird is held by a hook over
a hole in the bench, so that the blood may run down into

462 POULTRY PRODUCTION

a bucket below. The feet are held by a U-shaped shackle,
fastened by a rope passing over a pulley, which suspends a
weight.

Fira. 220

String picking in a commercial establishment. (Courtesy of lowa
State College.)

Dressing-room at wu poultry packing-house. Notice men picking on
benches and the women pinning on strings. The birds are taken directly
from the fattening crates for killing. (Courtesy of Seymour Packing
Company.)

PREPARING POULTRY PRODUCTS 463

With frame picking, the head is held exactly as in bench
picking, but the shackle holding the feet, comes from
above and is weighted in such a way as to hold the bird’s
body up off the bench, thus giving the benefit of both
methods.

The question of the relative merits of these methods
of dry picking is one upon which packers and investigators
are not agreed among themselves. The bench has grown
in popularity rapidly, because somewhat faster work can
be done on it than on the string, and the feathers more
easily sorted and saved. The bird is seldom smeared with
blood, as in the case of string picking. On the other hand,
the government investigators have found that even when the
bench is padded, the carcass is more or less bruised during
the convulsions that follow the sticking and in flopping a
bird over on its breast to pick its back. It is claimed that
these bruises are not noticeable at first, but that if the
carcass is held or stored they become breeding places of
bacteria which bring about deterioration. Some of the
largest packers in the country, however, whose pack of
poultry stands at the very top for quality, use the bench
method. With string picking, there is, of course, little chance
for bruising, though the picker and the carcass are often
covered with blood, and the method does not appear so
sanitary. In just how far the frame picking will displace the
other two, remains to be seen.

With either method, the greatest care must be used not
to tear or even scuff the skin. In the superficial muscles of the
breast taken from a carcass whose skin was neither torn nor
rubbed there are very few bacteria. In both the superficial
and deep breast muscles of a fowl with a torn or even a
rubbed skin, such numbers of bacteria will be found within
twenty-four hours, that a marked change in the chemical
composition will already have taken place.

In a well-organized commercial picking room the work of
picking is divided between roughers and pinners. The
roughers bleed and brain the bird and remove the wing, tail,
and larger body feathers. The pinners finish the plucking,
carefully removing all pin feathers.

464 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Singeing is not practised when dressing for future con-
sumption, because it tends to soften the skin and injure
the keeping qualities

Precooling.—It is absolutely necessary that animal heat
be allowed to pass out of a dressed bird as soon as pos-
sible after it is killed. Bacterial action begins at once.
While cooling does not entirely stop it, it does greatly retard
it. There are two methods of cooling—dry and wet. When
dry cooling is employed, the carcass is simply placed in cold
air until the animal heat has all escaped. While it is the
common practice to freeze poultry that is to be held any
time, care must be taken that freezing does not occur during
the cooling process. If it does occur the carcass will not cool
out properly. The reason for this is that freezing hardens
the outside of the carcass, causing it to act as insulation.
And further, it congeals the moisture near the surface and
stops the flow of the juices of the body. The juices of the
bird continue to flow from one part of the body to another
for a considerable time after the bird is killed, especially if
one part of the body is colder than another. This affords an
opportunity for the internal animal heat to escape at the
surface. It is well known among practical packers that with
a bird placed in too cold a temperature immediately after
dressing, the heat is held within long enough to give the
putrefactive bacteria a chance to develop to a sufficient
extent to give the bird an offensive flavor when cooked.

The best cooling temperature is between 30° and 35° F.
To determine when a carcass is cool enough for freezing,
insert a small stemmed thermometer into the vent. It should
show a temperature of not more than 35° F. The time
necessary for cooling will vary with the size of the carcass.

Wet cooling is frequently resorted to. As soon as the fowl
is dressed it is plunged into ice-water. This removes the heat
effectively, but Pennington! has found that 4 per cent. of
the protein in chicken flesh will dissolve out in an hour. For
every ounce of protein dissolved 4.3 ounces of water are
absorbed. The practice is to be discouraged, and js coming

! Address before Missouri Carlot Shippers of Poultry, Kansas City, 1912.

PREPARING POULTRY PRODUCTS 465

to be discriminated against. The soaked skin, like the sealded
skin, gives entrance to injurious bacteria. Deterioration in
taste and appearance soon follows.

The matter of precooling both dressed poultry and eggs
before shipment by parcels post to city customers should be
carefully looked after. If a refrigerator is not available, the
products should be hung down the well in an open bucket,
unwrapped, until thoroughly cool. If well cooled before

Poultry cooling rack holding 180 birds (Courtesy of Bureau of
Chemistry.)

wrapping, they will arrive at their destination in much better
condition. This matter has not received the emphasis it
should.

Faults in Dressed Birds.—At the central packing plants,
birds are discriminated against for the following reasons.
When the producer markets his own products he can elimi-
nate each of these defects:

1. The birds are not properly finished. If two birds both
weigh 4 Ibs., but one is plump, well filled, and thick-fleshed,

466 POULTRY PRODUCTION

while the other is somewhat gangling and scrawny through-
out, the former will outsell the latter every time. The second
bird should never be marketed until enough flesh has been
put on to make him round out.

2. Birds such as were just described are found packed in
the same package. The result is invariably that the package
goes at a price much nearer that paid for the poorer quality
than for the better quality. Poor quality drags down the
price much more than good quality can pull it up. Much
more will be realized if the good birds are packed together
and the inferior ones together. When the inferior ones are
all together they gain the advantage that comes from
uniformity and are not at the disadvantage of being in direct
comparison with better goods.

3. Birds are not picked clean. Too many feathers are
left on the neck or a garter or ring of feathers is left around
the hock-joint. Often the wings are not picked clean. At
times the whole body of the bird must be gone over to remove
feathers or pin-feathers. Careful work in this particular
greatly adds to the appearance and salability of the product.

4. Birds often reach the grader with some food in their
crops. If stored in this condition the flesh around the crop
soon turns dark green. It is necessary to remove the contents
of the crop. ‘To do this one must make an incision under the
shoulder where it will show least. A bird that has had the
contents of the crop removed in this way is on a par with a
torn bird, as far as keeping qualities are concerned. Birds
properly starved need have no food in the crop.

5. Fowls are frequently received with voidings protruding
from the vent. With a little manipulation the intestines
for some distance back from the vent may be emptied of
their contents and the contamination of the other birds in
the box avoided.

6. Many birds that are not actually torn have the skin
barked or scuffed. Abrasions of the skin of whatever sort
result in poor keeping quality.

7. The chickens are not properly bled, as evidenced by the
red feather follicles or prominent bloodvessels in any part
of the body, followed usually by a purplish discoloration on

PREPARING POULTRY PRODUCTS 467

the neck and hips particularly, and frequently extending
over the whole body.

Loss of Weight in Dressing.—The dressing percentage of
the fowl is not of as much importance as in the larger meat-
producing animals. The skill of the cattle buyer, in judging
the dressing percentage of animals he buys, often makes the
difference between the profit and loss. It should be noted,
however, that with poultry, dressing does not refer to the
removal of anything except the blood and feathers. The
dressing percentage with steers takes into account the re-
moval of all unmarketable parts. The trussing percentage
with poultry is more nearly comparable to the dressing per-
centage with the larger animals.

With poultry the individuals are so small and they are
handled commercially in such large numbers that an average
loss of about 10 per cent is usually assumed by the packers
for birds in good condition, during the months of January
to June inclusive. The shrinkage of dressing for the balance
of the year is approximately as follows: July, 12 per cent;
August, 12 per cent; September, 13 per cent; October,
14 per cent; November, 14 per cent; and December, 12
per cent. It is probable, as the standard breeds become
more generally introduced among general farmers, that
some discriminations in price will be made in favor of those
breeds which dress out with the least loss, other qualities
being equal.

In the following tables! are given a comparison of the dress-
ing and trussing percentages of young and old males and
females and of several of the common breeds and varieties.

Lee? found, as the result of extended observations of milk-
fed poultry, that the dressing percentage of the following
classes were, respectively, hens 85.6 per cent, roosters 85.3
per cent, springs 87.9 per cent, and broilers 85.7 per cent.

Special Dressings.—Capons should be dressed capon style.
By this is meant the style that has become standard and
which requires that the feathers be allowed to remain on a con-
siderable portion of the bird. The feathers should be left on

1Stoneburn, Storrs Bulletin 38.
2 Bureau of Animal Industry, Bulletin No. 140.

468 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Taste XLVII.—Comparative Dresstnc aNnp Trussinc PeRcENTAGES.
Dress- Truss-

No. of Live Dressed ing, Trussed ing,
birds. weight. weight. perct. weight. per ct.

Cocks 18 127.0 117.9 | 92.2 97.8 | 76.6
Cockerels 278 | 1773.0 | 1577.5 | 89.0) | 1312.0) 74.0
Hens 201 | 1195.0 | 1103.4 | 92.3 906.3 75.8
Pullets 47 261.1 240.0 | 91.9 1933.7 | 74.2.
Total | 3357.0 3038.8 90.6 2509.6 74.8
Barred Plymouth Roek 187 | 1199.9 | 1090.8 | 90.9 910.4. 75 9
White Plymouth Rock 125. 859.1 779.4 | 90.8 644.9 | 75.0
White Wyandottes 103 618.2 558.3 | 90.4 460.8 74.6
Rhode Island Reds 18 109.7 98.0 | 89.3 80.2 | 73.1
Black Langshan 32 200.5 182.7 | 90.1 WSU 7Se5
S.C. White Leghorn 22 88.3 78.0 88.3 62.1 | 70.3
R.C. Brown Leghorn 35. 129.6 116.0 89.5 90.4 69.8
TaBLe XLIX.—SHowina ComparaTIVE PERCENTAGE WEIGHT OF THE

Dirrerent Parts or THE Carcass.)

White White White White Light Light Barred Barred

Wyan- Wyan- Leg- Leg- Brah- 3rah- Rock Rock

dotte — dotte horn horn ma ma Cock- — Pull-

Cocks. Pullets. Cocks. Pullets. Cocks Pullets. erels ets

1. Blood 3.57 3.20 5.40 5 70 5.11 4.43 4.02 4.26
2. Feathers 8.97 6.07 8 64 8.46 9.11 9.38 8.36 7.87
3. Intestines? . 6.78 6.62 | 10.13 9/91 ates mt 10.16 9.91 8.52
4. Head and feet 7.78| 7.76| 7.90] 6.30] 6.88| 6.77| 7.43] 6.56
5. Bones of body? 7.42 6.29 6.86 6 50 6.66 6.25 7.43 7.87
6. Giblets* 4.49 4.64 4 32 4 46 8.00 8.07 7.74 7.54
7. Flesh 60.99 | 65.45 66.75 | 58.67 53.13 54.94) 55.11 7.38

Smet pie et reads ess

Total 100.00) 100.00) 100.00 100.00 100 00° 100.00 100.00 100 00
No. of chicks . 16 12 20 12 4 2 6
Avg. live weight 5.46 4.53 3 36 2.54 4.50 3.84 3.23 3.05

1 Mairs, Pennsylvania Bulletin No. 87.
Does not include giblets.
* Does not include bones of head and feet

‘ Heart, liver,

and gizzard.

PREPARING POULTRY PRODUCTS 469

the upper half of the neck. The breast and body should be
plucked clean up to the large tail feathers. Pick the entire
underside of the wing; pick the upper part of the wing,
from the shoulder to the first joint. Leave the rest of the

Fre, 223

A pair of properly dressed capons.

wing feathers, which include the primary and secondary

feathers, and a garter of feathers about the hocks.
Guineas should not be picked. Simply dislocate the head

and cool out thoroughly. Pigeons should have the head

dislocated and the feathers left on. Squabs (young pigeons)

470 POULTRY PRODUCTION

should be dry-picked and graded to size. Turkeys and ducks
should be picked clean except where special markets desire
it otherwise.

Geese should be picked clean. They should weigh 10
pounds or over and be of good quality. Under that weight
they are likely to be very red-skinned or dark-colored when
dressed. Geese should be packed as soon as properly cooled.
If left exposed to the air they take on an oily and disagreeable
appearance.

Different classes of chickens are frequently dressed in
some special style, as leaving certain of the wing feathers
on fowl. Such a means of dressing acts as a means of quick
identification of certain classes of fowl not readily distin-
guished from other classes by the unskilled purchaser.

Feathers.—A by-product of dressing any class of poultry
is feathers. There is ready market for all prime feathers
that have been properly cared for. As will be seen by the
quotations given below, white feathers are by far the most
valuable. They should therefore be kept from the colored
feathers, and wing and tail feathers should be kept from the
body feathers and may be sacked at once. Body feathers
should be placed in bins to dry and forked over every few
days to keep them from matting. Duck and geese feathers
bring a much higher price than the other classes.

COMPARATIVE PRICES PER POUND ON THE DIFFERENT CLASSES OF FEATHERS,

Goose....Pure white feathers $0.80
Good average white .70
Largely gray 60
Largely gre ay, scalded .40 to .45
Long goose-quills .10
Duck.....Pure white feathers : . 60,
Stained and scalded white .40 to .50
ID chal eee 38 to .40
Dark, scalde d 35
Chicken... Body, dry picked, all white w2d
Body, dry picked, dark 06
Damp, scalded, musty or very quilly .02 to .024
Hackles (no quills) : ma Us ‘

Rooster tails, long fancy (free from stiff
feathers) . 5 : 1.00

PREPARING POULTRY PRODUCTS 471

Turkey... Body, dry picked, all white . 60
3ody, dry picked, dark .10
Tails, dark, no skirts? .30
Wings, dark, no shorts 12
Tails, wings and pointers,? no shorts .10
Wings and pointers 06
Pointers, dark .02
Shorts and skirts, free of body .05

Fia, 224

J<UNDRAWN (236)
|

foo] SC WIRE DRAWN (68,864)

BOSTON DRAWN (23,284)
FULL DRAWN (77,580)

@ |EUNDRAWN (10,790)
2 WIRE DRAWN (82,648)

BOSTON DRAWN (341,650)

L a1dwys

uo FULL DRAWN

SYAIVSAIOHM LY SYRHOVd LY

KUNDRAWN (168,170)

[7] WIRE DRAWN (5,481,640)

Do SJ 2oston DRAWN (34,258,000)

se FULL DRAWN

= (1,885,710,000)
H unorawn (1,468,000) i

WIRE DRAWN

0,739.20) i ——————
o—

[J eoston prawn (20,309,000) =

L€°S) NMVWHO 11N4

(2) Su¥aTIVLaY Lv
> JIdWvS

Showing the comparative increase in bacteria in the wall of the abdominal
cavity after four different methods of dressing.’

Rate of Decomposition of Drawn and Undrawn Poultry.—
In studying the comparative rate of decomposition in un-

1 Saddle feathers. 2 Primary wing feathers.
3 Bureau of Chemistry Circular No. 10.

472 POULTRY PRODUCTION

drawn poultry and poultry that had been drawn by three
different methods, Pennington, Witmer, and Pierce’ found
that undrawn poultry decomposed more slowly than that
which has been either wholly or partially drawn.

The three methods of drawing studied, as described by
them, are “full drawn,” ‘‘wire drawn,” and ‘“‘Boston drawn,”
as follows:

“For the ‘full drawn’ specimens the body cavity was
opened by a transverse cut across the abdomen, and the
vent was removed by cutting around it. The head was cut
off and the intestines and viscera completely removed.
The heart, liver, and cleaned gizzard, as well as the excess
body fat, were put back into the body cavity. The shanks
and feet were removed and the hocks were thrust through
the opening in the abdomen and the vent.

““Wire’ drawing consists in pulling out a loop of intestine
by inserting the finger through the vent; cutting the loop,
and drawing out the gut by careful traction until it breaks
at the gizzard. The vent of a bird so drawn presents a normal
appearance; the only indication of drawing is the collapsed
abdomen.

“The ‘Boston’ drawing is a modification of the ‘wire’ in
that a circular incision is made around the vent and the
intestines pulled through until rupture occurs at the gizzard.
The undrawn fowls were shipped with heads and feet on,
and had no incisions except for bleeding and braining.

“The ‘full-drawn’ poultry decomposed most rapidly,
while the ‘wire drawn’ and ‘Boston drawn’ stood midway
between the undrawn and full drawn in speed of decom-
position. Of the latter, the wire drawn, which approached
the undrawn condition most nearly, was the least objec-
tionable.”’

The usual objection to undrawn poultry is that the flesh is
likely to be contaminated from the intestines. A graphic
representation of the comparative bacterial infection of the
abdominal wall in the four methods of dressing, at the
packers, wholesalers, and retailers, is shown in Figure 224.

' Bureau of Chemistry Circular No. 10.

PREPARING POULTRY PRODUCTS 473

Grading.—Grading can hardly be spoken of as one of the
really necessary steps in preparing poultry for consumption.
In commerce, however, uniformity is so universally demanded
by middlemen and by consumers who purchase more than a
single carcass, that it has become an essential of successful
marketing and for practical purposes may be considered
among the necessary operations in preparing the products
for consumption.

Market Classification of Chickens.—Grades and classes vary
somewhat in different parts of the country and with different
markets. The classification here given is that used by the
Seymour Packing Company of Kansas, the largest exclusive
poultry packers in the United States.

The live birds are classified according to sex, size, age, or
hardness of bone, into (1) broilers, (2) springs, (3) fowl, (4)
stags, (5) capons, (6) slips, (7) roosters.

(1) A broiler is a young chicken of either sex weighing
two pounds or under. (2) A spring is a young, soft-boned
bird of either sex that weighs over two pounds. (3) A fowl
is a hen (female over one year old), ora pullet that shows too
much hardness in the breast bone (keel) to be classed as a
spring. (4) Stags are cockerels that exhibit too much hard-
ness of bone, development of spurs or comb to be classed
as springs, but not enough to be classed as roosters. (5)
Capons are cleanly castrated male birds. (6) Slips are birds
upon which the operation of castration was not entirely
successful. (7) Roosters are cocks (male birds over one year
old).

Classification of Other Live Poultry.—Turkeys are classified
as young (under one year) and old (over one year) toms,
young and old hens. Ducks are usually marketed as green
(young) roasting ducks. Geese are classified as young and
old, one year the dividing point.

Grades of Dressed Chickens.—The same terms do not al-
always refer to the same weights of live chickens as they do
when the birds are dressed. The following are the grades
used by Seymour Packing Company. While this exact
classification will not hold in every section, it is given as
representative of the various grades under which dressed

474 POULTRY PRODUCTION

chickens are marketed. The weights are for a dozen birds
instead of one, as in the case of the live-weight classification.

f 1st grade

Prailers 24 pounds and under | 2d grade
Broilers . 25 to 29 pounds { ee
Chickens. , 30 to 35 pounds ioe ee
Gieeene:. 36 to 42 pounds oN a
Roasters. . . 43 to 48 pounds { eae

{ 1st grade

Roasters . i 49 pounds and up \ 2d grade

XX Springs unworthy to be placed in the first or second grade, all
weights.

XXX Springs unworthy to grade XX, all weights.

All the foregoing come out of the broilers and springs of
the live classification.

Fowl 30 to 35 pounds { a aes
Fowl 36 to 42 pounds { eee
Fowl 43 to 48 pounds { fe
Fowl . 49 pounds and up { Sede

Small fowl under 30 pounds.

XX Fowl unworthy to be placed in the first or second grade, all
weights.
XXX Fowl unworthy to be placed in grade XX, all weights.

The foregoing are the fowl of the live-weight classification.

C Roasters, 42 pounds and under.
C Roasters, 43 to 48 pounds.
C Roasters, 49 pounds and up.

The above are the stags of the live-weight classification.

Light capons under 72 pounds.

Heavy capons over 72 pounds.

Slips, mixed weights.

Old roosters, mixed weights.

Torn birds, mixed weights. Chickens and fowls being packed sepa-
rately.

PREPARING POULTRY PRODUCTS 475

Packing.—In the broad sense, packing refers to all of the
operations incident to preparing and preserving poultry for
use as food. In a more restricted sense, it refers to wrapping
it or placing it in suitable packages for shipment or storage.

Heretofore barrels have been used almost entirely for
packing poultry. For the better grades, boxes are now almost
wholly used. These are generally made from what is known
as whitewood. Pine is cheaper, but it is likely to impart
a piney flavor to the poultry if it remains long in the box.
The boxes may be purchased knocked down (Ix. D.). The
lumber is sawed to the exact size desired and comes in bun-
dles of 25 parts each. Special cement-coated 5d or 6d box
nails are used in making up the boxes, as ordinary nails
rust if the box is placed in a refrigerator.

At present, in order to obtain the highest price and sell
to the best advantage, all classes and grades of poultry,
with the exception of culls unworthy to be graded, torn
birds, and old roosters which are packed in barrels, should
be packed one dozen to the box. Care should be taken not
to put the birds into the boxes too loosely; that is, the box
should not be too large. It is better to crowd the birds into
the boxes, for when they fit snugly they look plumper when
the box is opened.

There are very many styles of packing poultry, almost
as many as there are different lines of trade. The following
standard styles are taken from the ‘Poultry Packers’
Guide:

1. Standard Broiler—Wrap heads; line box with parch-
ment paper. Pack one dozen birds to the box, six birds on
each side with feet extended past the centre of the box. The
breasts should be up, heads and feet hidden. The head is
packed under and to the side of the bird it belongs to, and the
feet crossed with those of the opposite bird, and tucked under
the opposite bird. Be careful not to draw out the legs too far
so that the bird will lose its plump appearance.

2. Standard Export——Pack in single layer boxes. Line
the boxes with parchment paper. Heads not wrapped. Pack

' Pool Publishing Company, Mason City, Iowa.

476 POULTRY PRODUCTION

six birds with breasts up; six birds with backs up; heads
brought forward and turned sideways so that the eyes show.
A box packed in this style has the same appearance on both
top and bottom.

3. Standard Roaster Style—All heavy fowl and turkeys
should be packed in this style. Some capons are also packed
in this style. Boxes lined with parchment paper. Heads
wrapped. Pack twelve birds to the box in two layers. Parch-
ment paper between layers. Bottom layer heads and feet
up. Top layer heads and feet down. Both layers packed

30x of well-dressed roasters

on both sides and butts locked. To accomplish this three
birds are packed with breasts one way and three with breasts
the opposite way.

4. Single Layer Roaster Slyle—Is used when marketing
extra-fine stock for a particular customer. Arrange as in
upper layer of the Standard Roaster Style, but pack in a
single layer.

5. Standard Duck Style—Is used for both ducks and
geese. Pack in two layers, twelve to the box. Line boxes
with parchment paper. Wrap heads. Parchment paper
between layers. Lower layer breasts down, feet and heads up.

PREPARING POULTRY PRODUCTS 477

Upper layer breasts up, heads and feet down. Both layers
packed butt to butt.

6. Standard Capon Style-—Use deep box. Twelve to the
box in two layers. Line box. Wrap heads. Parchment
paper between layers. Lower layer, breasts down, heads
and feet up. Upper layer, breasts up and heads and feet
down. Legs crossed with those of the opposite and feet buried.

Stencilling.—If one is marketing a superior product it is
decidedly advantageous to the name of the producer to have
his name neatly stencilled on the box. In time one may gain
a reputation for good goods and his products come into
demand. This is particularly true if one comes in close
touch with the consumer. If one deals through a jobber,
he will probably prefer to place his own trade mark or name
upon the goods.

For each class of poultry there should be a corresponding
number which should appear at the upper left hand corner
of one end of the box. This tells the person selling the goods
exactly what to find in the box. For instance, the number
5 in the proper corner might indicate that the box con-
tained fancy broilers weighing under 13 pounds apiece. The
number 43 might indicate fancy spring chickens between 4
and 5 pounds’ weight. The figures representing the number
of pounds net weight should always appear in the lower right-
hand corner of the end of the box:

The foregoing would indicate that there are in the box 12
fancy spring chickens of roaster size and that they weigh
54 pounds net, and are packed in Standard Roaster Style.
Unless otherwise noted, it is always assumed that there are
twelve birds in a box. This is all that is necessary if one is
shipping toa jobber. It is the jobber’s reputation that helps
to sell the goods and, as before indicated, he places his own
trade name or mark upon the box. If one is dealing directly

478 POULTRY PRODUCTION

with a retailer, however, one should give themselves the
benefit of a reputation for high-class products. ‘To do this,
more extensive stencilling is advisable.

43 617 12
White Bird Farm
Fancy

D. P. Roasters

62 8 54

In the above-suggested stencilling the numbers 483 and 54
appear as before. The number 62 represents the gross and §
the tare weights. The number 617 is a serial number by which
any particular box may be recognized if any question is
raised about it. It also aids in keeping track of the amount of
business done. Fancy D. P. Roasters is the trade name by
which the ordinary buyer will recognize them. D. P. means
dry-picked. Aside from the farm name, there is no more
necessary information on the second box than on the first.
Giving full particulars, however, fosters confidence with the
ordinary retail purchaser. At the same time, if for any
reason the goods should be shipped to a wholesaler, the
information he desires is there. If the number 48 should
appear in place of 48, the wholesaler might know that he had
12 Fancy Roasters between 4 and 5 pounds the same as
in the above case, but that instead of being packed Standard
Style, they are packed Single Layer Style. or the retail
purchaser this would make no difference. The class numbers
may be arbitrarily chosen, or they may be those already
in use in a given line of trade.

Determining the Classification —Late in the fall it becomes
difficult to determine whether certain chickens belong among
the springs or among the fowls. To determine whether a
chicken should be graded among the fowl or roasters, press
the rear end of the keel. If it is hard and unyielding it should
be classed as a fowl. If soft and pliable, it goes with the
roasters.

PREPARING POULTRY PRODUCTS 479

The classification of dressed ducks may be gotten at by
squeezing the windpipe between the thumb and forefinger.
If it can be compressed and flattened with slight resistance,
the duck is young. If it is solid like a whip cord, it is an old
bird.

Trussing.—Tor fancy family trade the producer frequently
finds it profitable to go beyond the ordinary operations of
dressing in the preparation of poultry for the consumer , and
to truss the bird. Trussing refers specifically to fastening
the legs or wings to the body, but is used here in the broaden
sense, including all of the common operations of preparing a
roasting fowl for the oven. It includes singeing, pulling
the feons, removing the shanks, head and neck, wish- bone:
and internal organs, and pinioning the wings and legs. Re-
moving the internal organs is referred to as “drawing.”
Trussing should be resorted to only when the birds are
intended for immediate consumption. <A dressed bird with
head wrapped ready for trussing is shown in Figure 226.

Singeing.—Singeing refers to the removing by means of a
flame the hair-like feathers (filoplumes) which cannot be
removed in picking, whether the bird is dry picked or scalded.
For this purpose, wood aleohol furnishes an excellent flame
because it is smokeless and does not give the meat any taint
or odor. The bird should be flamed only as much as is
necessary to get rid of the filoplumes. Too much flaming
will sear the skin and injure the appearance of the carcass.

Removing the Neck.—1T’o remove the neck, make an incision
in the skin at the point on the back of the neck where it
joins the body, as shown in Figure 227. Cut the skin along
the dotted line, as shown in Iigure 227, and then loosen the
skin from the neck, as well as the ai crop, and wind-
pipe, pulling the latter out from the body as far as possible
before pulling them free. Then cut off the head, leaving the
gullet and wind-pipe attached to the head, and loose neck
skin attached to the carcass.

Now slip the knife down close to the base of the neck, as
shown in Figure 228. Cut it on both sides and then across
the top. If ‘the ligaments surrounding the neck are carefully
cut it can be pulled off easily.

480 POULTRY PRODUCTION

Taking Out the Wish-bone.—Now place the bird on the
rump, fold back the loose skin of the neck, scrape the wish-
bone bare, and pass the knife-blade under it, as shown in

A dressed bird with head wrapped ready for trussing. (Courtesy of
F. E. Mixa.)

Figure 229, cutting through the shoulder on both sides. The
more thorough the scraping the easier it is to lift out the bone.

A great many more slices of breast meat may be carved
off without striking the bone when the wish-bone is out

PREPARING POULTRY PRODUCTS 481

of the way. This adds far more to the attractiveness of the
bird than one would suppose before trying it. It also makes
it possible to draw the bird without tearing.

Fie. 227

Starting to remove the neck. (Courtesy of I’. E. Mixa.)

Pulling the Tendons and Removing the Shanks.—The tendons
which connect the muscles of the leg with the toes frequently
annoy the consumer by getting between his teeth when he
attempts to eat the drumstick. These may easily and quickly

482 POULTRY PRODUCTION

be removed by making an incision in the shank, as is being
done in Figure 230, and passing the knife up and down as far
as possible between the hock and the foot. In this incision
slip a hook or bent nail and give a steady pull. The beginner
will find it easier to pull the tendons one at a time. They
are easily seen and separated. With a steady pull they will
come out looking like long strings, as shown on the removed
shank in Figure 230, leaving the drumstick more tender and
palatable and fully as desirable as the other dark-meat

sections of the fowl.
Fic. 228

EEIO TL

Removing the neck. (Courtesy of F. E. Mixa.)

After pulling the tendons the shank should be cut off at
the hock-joint. Jf a half-inch of yellow shank skin, which is
quite firmly attached to the bone, is left the meat of the drum-
stick is not so likely to slide up the bone as it generally does
in roasting. This makes the carcass appear more attractive
on the table when roasted. It will be found, in marketing
fancy poultry products, that an attractive appearance often

PREPARING POULTRY PRODUCTS 483

makes a marked difference in the selling price. ‘The appear-
ance of the drumstick is shown at the right in Figure 231,
when the shank is properly removed, and on the left when
improperly removed, as is likely to be the case when the
bone is cut by the use of shears or by forcing with a butcher

Fie. 229

Taking out the wish-bone. (Courtesy of F. E. Mixa.)

knife, instead of simply cutting the ligaments that bind the
two bones together at the joint. The latter would be proper
n the case of a bird intended for frying. In this case it is
desirable to have the meat slide up the bone, thereby leaving
a handle for grasping the drumstick for eating.

POULTRY PRODUCTION

Fia. 230

Fia, 251

Showing a bird with properly and improperly removed shanks. (Courtesy
of F. Ik. Mixa.)

PREPARING POULTRY PRODUCTS 485

Drawing and Trussing.—The bird should be drawn by
first making an incision at the side of the vent and cutting

Trussed for the roasting pan, legs tied. (Courtesy of I’. E. Mixa.)

Fie. 233

Trussed for the roasting pan, legs supped through incision in skin
(Courtesy of Iowa State College.

completely around it, making the smallest hole possible.
Then insert the finger, Joosen the intestines, and draw them

486 POULTRY PRODUCTION

out carefully, breaking them off at the gizzard. Then take
a piece of broomstick or a chisel handle and push the gizzard
out the opening made by the removal of the neck and wish-
bone. This avoids the unsightly tearing which must occur
when the gizzard is removed from behind. The oil sac
should then be removed from the base of the tail.

All that remains to put the bird in shape as an extra-fancy
roasting bird is to fold the loose skin of the neck up over the
back and lock the wings over it as shown in Figure 232. The
drumsticks may be slipped through a couple of incisions
made in the skin close to the tail as shown in Figure 253, or

may be tied,in place as shown in Figure 282.

A case holding thirty dozen eggs is the wholesale commercial unit. If
properly protected with excelsior before being covered, an egg case is a safe
and efficient carrier whether the haul is over country roads or by rail.
(Courtesy of Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station.)

PREPARING EGGS.

An egg is among the most perishable of food products.
It is never so desirable for consumption as when it is first
laid. Its food value, flavor, and general attractiveness is
greater then than at any time later. Aside from cooking and
removing the shell, which are points of preparation for which
the producer is not responsible, its preparation is complete.

PREPARING POULTRY PRODUCTS 487

It is usual, however, for the producer and consumer to be
removed from each other by a considerable distance. Some
time must elapse after laying, under the most favorable
conditions, and at any time of year, before the egg can reach
the table of the consumer. During the season of heavy pro-
duction very many of the eggs must be preserved, by means
of refrigeration, for the season of low production.

The producer’s problem is to prepare the egg for preser-
vation or, more accurately, to avoid those conditions which
are responsible for the deterioration of the product during
the time that must elapse between its production and
consumption.

What the Loss Is.—Every egg that grades below first-class
represents an economic loss that increases as the grade
lowers

These low grades are in a large measure responsible for the
wide difference between the price paid to the producer and
the price paid by the consumer. The price to consumer
would tend to be lower, and the price to the producer would
tend to be higher if the preventable loss was eliminated.

Hastings,! after a comprehensive survey of the egg trade
in this country, estimated the average annual preventable
loss at 17 per cent (or $45,000,000), distributed as follows:

Per cent

Dirties . 2.0
Breakage 2.0
Chick development 5.0
Heated and shrunken 5.0
Rotten eggs 5 2:5
Mouldy and badly flavored eggs 0.5

Total 17.0

This did not take into account the curtailed consumption
caused by poor quality. This estimate is based on the annual
loss of which the most occurs during the warm summer
months.

Where the Loss Occurs.—Lamon and Opperman? found, as
the result of extended observations in Kansas, that when the

' Bureau of Animal Industry, Circular No. 140. 2 [bid., No. 160.

{SS POULTRY PRODUCTION

total loss of clean, infertile eggs from the time of laying to
their arrival at the packing-house during warm weather
was 23.97 per cent of all eggs marketed, 15.5 per cent, or
over two-thirds, of the loss was before the eggs arrived in
town.

In another test, also made in warm weather, where clean,
fertile eggs were used, and the total loss was 42.5 per cent
of all eggs marketed, 29 per cent, or over two-thirds, of the
loss was before the eggs arrived in town.

Kinds and Causes of Deterioration. Deterioration comes by
shrinkage, liquefaction, germination, bacterial and mould
infection, absorption of odors and stains.

The most prolific sources of deterioration are heat, fertility,
breakage, dampness, filthy surroundings, and the presence
of strong penetrating odors.

Shrinkage.—Shrinkage is caused by the evaporation of the
moisture of the egg through the pores of the shell. The
amount of shrinkage is noticed in candling by the size of the
air cell. The rapidity with which it progresses depends upon
the temperature in which the egg is kept, the ventilation and
humidity, and the condition of the bloom. Cool temper-
atures retard it while any injury to the bloom hastens it by
opening the shell pores and allowing the easier escape of
moisture. While keeping the eggs in a humid atmosphere,
or restricted ventilation, would tend to check shrinkage,
this cannot be resorted to, owing to the fact that moisture
causes injuries that are more serious than shrinkage. If
this were not the case, warehousemen could make the
storage egg difficult of detection by keeping the cold rooms
humid and without ventilation.

Liquefaction —When a new-laid raw egg is broken into a
saucer the thick or viscous albumen is readily distinguishable
from the thin or watery albumen. This distinction in the
kinds of albumen becomes less marked as the egg becomes
older, owing to the fact that the viscous albumen gradually
loses its viscosity and becomes more liquid, beginning at
the large end of the egg. This condition, which is noticed
in what is known as the heated egg, is accentuated by heat,
particularly if the egg is fertile. It is usually accompanied

PREPARING POULTRY PRODUCTS 489

by a weakening of the yolk membrane, which makes such an
egg difficult to poach or fry without the yolk breaking. Such
an egg is only fit for general cooking purposes, and not for
table purposes. Just what the difference in food value of
such an egg is, as compared with a new-laid egg, has not been
determined. The deterioration in appearance and flavor,
however, can be distinctly noticed, and they make it com-
mercially less desirable.

Infection..—Many eggs that are free from bacteria when
laid, are subsequently infected because of improper handling.
Bacteria under favorable conditions may penetrate the shell
by way of the numerous pores, find their way through the
shell membranes, and enter the contents of the egg.

As long as an egg is perfectly dry this cannot occur. Where,
for any cause, the egg becomes moist, the bacteria and other
microorganisms, which are always abundantly present on
the shell, grow and move through the pores and finally
reach the egg contents.

Dirty nests, particularly those fouled with droppings,
are a prolific source of infection. An egg has the same tem-
perature when first laid as the hen laying it. As soon as the
hen leaves the nest it begins to cool, and the contents to
contract. If the egg is smeared with fresh manure, some of
the organisms in it will be drawn through the pores and
find their way into the egg. Wiping the egg with a damp
cloth only makes matters worse. It dissolves off the bloom,
thus opening up the pores, and rubs the organisms into them,
leaving the egg moist. It may be that the eggs are then
carried to a cool cellar, which will cause further contraction of
the contents.

Care must also be taken not to remove eggs from a very
cool cellar into the heat of a warm summer day. The moisture
vapor of the atmosphere will condense on the cool surface
of the egg, causing it to “sweat.” Moisture is favorable to
the entrance and development of microdrganisms whenever
it finds its way onto the shell of the egg.

A damp cellar is favorable to the development of mould in

1 This statement is adapted from one by Bushnell and Maurer in an
unpublished manuscript, Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station

490 POULTRY PRODUCTION

the content of the egg, which occurs even at cold storage
temperatures (29° to 31°).

Bushnell and Maurer! found that the keeping quality does
not necessarily run parallel with the amount of bacterial
infection. The keeping quality is determined by the kinds
of bacteria present rather than the numbers.

This fact must not lead one to underestimate the sig-
nificance of infection with regard to spoilage. While not
all eges that contain bacteria will spoil, it is only those eggs
which do contain bacterial or other microdrganisms that
can spoil to any considerable extent. Further, from a prac-
tical stand-point, it is impossible to distinguish between
different kinds of infection. The only safe practice is to
avoid infection in every way possible.

As has been noted in connection with feeding, the bacterial
contents of eggs is increased by feeding wet mash as compared
with dry mash, and that the furnishing of free range for
laying hens brought about a marked reduction in the numbers
of bacteria found in their eggs.

The poor packing of eggs for the purpose of taking the
eggs to market or for shipping is likely to result in cracked
eggs that leak. The contents of one egg smeared over several
others not only moistens them, but at the same time furnishes
a very excellent medium for the development of bacteria
and moulds.

The eggs obtained from different hens also vary widely in
their keeping quality. For instance, two hens at the Kansas
Ixperiment Station laid eggs of which only 4 per cent
spoiled; while at the same time 33.8 per cent of the eggs
laid by another hen spoiled. This is a difference of almost
30 per cent. Unfortunately, we have, at the present time,
no practical means of eliminating such hens whose eggs show
an exceptional susceptibility to spoilage.

Absorption of Odors.—Iggs, like milk and butter, readily
absorb strong or penetrating odors. When kept for any
length of time near onions, fish, or citrus fruits, or in a vege-
table cellar where there is more or less decay, or even when

' Unpublished data, Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station.

PREPARING POULTRY PRODUCTS 491

laid in nests recently sprayed with an odorous disinfectant,
they will absorb enough of the flavor to taint them very
noticeably. While this cannot be detected by the candler,
except in extreme cases, it is a real source of loss in that a
tainted egg disappoints the consumer and tends to limit
consumption. Limited consumption means a lower price.

Stains.—Besides causing increased infection, foul and dirty
nests are responsible for numerous soiled eggs. Such an egg
can only rank as second-class commercially, even if it is
carefully washed.

“A year ’round observation of New York egg receipts
showed that over 12 per cent were dirty shelled, and sold
for a lower price on this account.’? Damp, muddy yards
are also responsible for a large number of dirty eggs. When
the houses are so crowded that it is necessary to allow the
birds to run at large, even during rainy weather, a certain
portion of dirty eggs are unavoidable. If the house is properly
located with reference to soil and drainage, or the ground
surrounding the house is carefully tiled, the number of days
when dirty eggs are necessary will be very much lessened.

GRADES OF EGGS.

The different kinds and degrees of deterioration met with
have led to the classification of eggs into generally recognized
commercial grades known as firsts, seconds, checks, leakers,
spots, blood rings, and rots. The grading is done by means
of a “candle.” Candle is the name given to an egg tester
when it is used in connection with market eggs. It operates
on precisely the same principle as the lamp tester usually
sent by incubator manufacturers, and usually consists of a
tin can with a hole in the side and an electric-light bulb
inside, as shown in Figure 235. The use of such a candle
necessitates a dark room.

Firsts.—A first is the nearest approach to a fresh egg that is
known to the egg trade. Besides being new laid, it must be
clean and unwashed, average very close to 45 pounds to

1 Pennington, Open Letter to Buyers and Shippers of Eggs, August 6,
1913.

492 POULTRY PRODUCTION

the thirty-dozen case (13 pounds per dozen), show a very
small air cell, and a smooth, strong shell free from cracks.
Only firsts are usually considered as fit for storage.

Fie. 235

saree cen

Candling eggs. (Courtesy of H. C. Pierce.)

Seconds.—Second-class eggs are those which are not up to
standard in physical qualities or show a more or less marked
deterioration in food qualities. The poor physical qualities
that cause rejection for the first grade, without regard to
its food qualities, are lack of size, being dirty or stained,
washed, or having a markedly rough or misshapen shell.

The kinds of deterioration in food quality and which render

albumen ‘‘stands up”’
bottom of the dish.

PREPARING POULTRY PRODUCTS 495

them unfit for successful preservation by storage or prescr-
vative compounds are as follows:

1. Weak or Heated Eggs.—With fertile eggs the develop-
ment of the embryo to a period corresponding to eighteen
to twenty hours of normal incubation temperatures brings

Fie. 236

art

Appearance of uw new-laid egg when broken out. Note how the thick

as compared with the thin albumen which covers the
(Courtesy of University of Missouri.)

about the condition known as heated. The infertile egg will
not show heat so quickly, but in either case the color of the
yolk is intensified, the yolk moves about with greater freedom
when the egg is rotated, showing that the albumen has become
less viscous. While the yolk maintains its relative position

4O4 POULTRY PRODUCTION

with reference to the poles of the egg in a new-laid egg, it
may move up or down in an egg showing heat. At first it
becomes loosened on the side toward the large end of the
egg and later from the other side. In an advanced stage of
weakness, the yolks may appear swollen, caused by the
absorption of water from the albumen.

Fie. 23

Fertile egg after twenty-four hours of incubation. (Courtesy of Bureau of
Animal Industry.)

2. Shrunken Eggs.—These eggs are easily distinguished
before the candle by the size of the air cell. The shrink is
caused by the evaporation of moisture through the shell.
This may be caused by a comparatively short holding in a

PREPARING POULTRY PRODUCTS 495

warm, dry atmosphere, or by holding for an extended time
under quite favorable conditions.
3. Watery Eggs—The watery egg is quite similar to the

heated egg, save that in addition the inner shell membrane
has become ruptured at the large end of the egg, allowing the

Fig. 238

Fertile egg allowed to die after thirty-six hours of incubation, showing
slight blood ring. (Courtesy of Bureau of Animal Industry.)

contents to escape into the space occupied by the air cell,
giving a movable air cell.

4. Liver Spots—Somewhat frequently the rupture of a
bloodvessel in the oviduct or the sloughing off of a piece of
tissue or membrane causes the appearance of foreign matter

496 POULTRY PRODUCTION

on the yolk or in the albumen, which appears as a spot before
the candle. This should properly be classed among the
physical defects. It is not a mark of deterioration, but is a

Fig. 239

A live fertile egg after incubating forty-cight hours. (Courtesy of Bureau
of Animal Industry.)

condition existing in the egg when it is laid. As it is situated
in the edible portion, it is classed among the defects in food
quality.

PREPARING POULTRY PRODUCTS 497

5. Grass Eggs or Green Whites.—Frequently in the spring
a condition of the albumen of the egg is met with that causes
eggs to be referred to as “grass eggs” or ‘‘green whites.”
This has usually been attributed directly to the increased con-

Fra. 240

Live fertile egg after seventy-two hours of incubation. (Courtesy of
Bureau of Animal Industry.)

sumption of greeness by the layers because they are likely to
appear with the product of the spring lay. From the meager
evidence at hand, it appears probable that this condition is
due to an infection by a pigment-forming organism and due

oe
32

498 POULTRY PRODUCTION

only indirectly, if at all, to the increased consumption of
green feed.!

Checks.—Checks are cracked eggs. Those in which the
erack is small and the contents of the egg is still retained
are called “blind checks.’ Where the contents is escaping

Fic. 241

Fertile egg allowed to die after seventy-two hours of incubation, showing a
pronounced blood ring. (Courtesy of Bureau of Animal Industry.)

they are designated as “leakers.” Such eggs may be per-
fectly sweet and wholesome, but are extremely perishable,
and are good for immediate consumption or to be broken out
and dried or frozen.

' The pigment-forming organism has been isolated by the Bureau of
Chemistry, U. 8. Dept. of Agriculture.

PREPARING POULTRY PRODUCTS 499

Spots.—Eggs in which mould or bacteria has developed
in isolated areas inside the shell are called “spots.” They
are not fit for food. Eggs in which the yolk has adhered to
the shell are also classed as spots, being known as stuck
spots. These eggs are unfit for food, but may be used for
tanning purposes.

Fig. 242

Fertile egg after seven days of incubation. (Courtesy of Bureau of
Animal Industry.)

Blood Rings.—Tertile eggs in which the embryo has so far
developed as to show considerable blood and then died, the
blood is usually left in a more or less imperfect circle sur-
rounding the germ. Before the candle this appears as a pink
ring which from its nature has given the name “blood ring”’
to eggs containing dead germs. These eggs are declared

500 POULTRY PRODUCTION

by the government authorities to be unfit for human food,
and are a total loss, except that in the vicinity of tanneries
they may be disposed of at a very low price for use in tan-
ning certain classes of leather goods.

Fria. 213

An infertile egg after seven days of incubation. (Courtesy of Bureau of
Animal Industry.)

Rots.—ggs that are so far decomposed through the agency
of mould or bacteria as to be totally unfit for food are termed
rots. The appearance of rots varies with the kind of organism
causing its decomposition. They are severally designated
as black, white, pink, and blood rots. All are equally unfit
for human consumption.

PREPARING POULTRY PRODUCTS 501

Simple Precautions for Securing Firsts —Almost one-half of
the annual hot weather egg loss from low grade and spoiled
eggs is traceable to defects in management existing before
the eggs are laid and capable of control by the producer.
Lamon and Opperman! found, during a test carried on in
Kansas and lasting from June 17 to August 26, that by taking
the following simple precautions over 97 per cent of the eggs
taken to town during that time were graded as firsts:

1. The males were kept from the laying flock. This may
be accomplished by caponizing the young males not needed
for breeding purposes, or disposing of them as broilers before
they reach breeding age. The birds reserved for breeding
should be confined except during the breeding season, at
the end of which they should again be confined or disposed of.

2. The hens were furnished with plenty of roomy clean
nests.

3. The eggs were gathered twice daily.

4. They were kept in a cellar that was cool, dry and free
from odors.

5. The eggs were taken to market twice a week and care-
fully protected from the sun on the way to town.

6. All eggs that were small, dirty, misshapen, or found in
stolen nests, were kept for home use.

Home Preservation of Eggs.—Commercially, poultry prod-
ucts are preserved most largely by the aid of artificial
refrigeration. In the case of eggs, they are also preserved
by breaking out of the shell and drying. The dried product
is packed in barrels for shipping, but for best results must
be kept under refrigeration when held for any length of time.
This dried product is soluble and is usually dissolved in water
before using.

For home preservation, the most successful method yet
devised seems to be with the aid of water glass (soluble sodium
silicate). A 10 per cent solution is made by adding one part
of the water glass to nine parts of boiled rain-water that has
been cooled. March and April eggs, preferably infertile,
give the best results. The solution should be put in an open

1 Bureau of Animal Industry, Bulletin No. 160.

502 POULTRY PRODUCTION

crock or glazed jar and the eggs immersed as they are gathered
every day. At least, two inches of the solution should always
be above the top layer of eggs. The eggs should be placed in
the solution with the large end of the egg uppermost, so
that the contents of the egg will not rest on the air cell and
rupture the inner shell membrane. Piercing the air cell
with a coarse needle just before cooking will prevent the
cracking of the shell caused by the expansion of the air cell
upon boiling.

While this method is fairly successful for home preser-
vation, such eggs are not considered desirable for general
market purposes, because they are unsuited for preservation
by the ordinary commercial methods after being preserved
in water glass. In most states it is unlawful to expose them
for sale without labelling them “pickled” or ‘‘preserved”’ eggs.

CHAPTER XV.
POULTRY DISEASES AND PARASITES.

Maintenance of Health.—The conservation of vigor and
maintenance of health are fundamental problems of poultry
production. In the last analysis these constitute but a
single problem, for great vigor is only an abundant health.
The preceding chapters have been given up, for the most
part, to discussing methods of maintaining health, under
such divisions as breeding, feeding, and housing.

In proceeding to a brief and practical discussion of the
more common poultry diseases, it cannot be too greatly
emphasized that constructive breeding, with rational feeding
and management, is the first and principal line of defence
against disease. This corresponds in a general way to the
construction and maintenance of a repro building. Tlock
treatment to prevent the spread of disease that has somehow
gained entrance to the flock, monictoontl to the efforts of
the firemen to save other buildings in the block, for even
“fire proof” buildings sometimes burn. Endeavoring to
cure a diseased individual corresponds to the efforts to save
a badly damaged building from complete destruction, with
this very important difference, that while fire in a building
may be entirely put out and the damage completely repaired,
a bird sick with contagious disease is seldom so completely
cured that it does not constitute a source of danger to its
flock mates, or so quickly cured that it is capable of complete
self repair. A sick fowl may usually be considered as
permanently damaged for productive purposes. Comparing
the small value of an individual fowl with the serious menace
to the entire flock of a bacillus-carrying, cured bird, it is
questionable whether it is ever advisable to attempt the

cure of birds infected with a contagious disease.
(503 )

504 POULTRY DISEASES AND PARASITES

The following pages are given over, with a few exceptions,
to methods of preventing the further spread of disease which
has actually gained entrance to the flock and to the control
of both internal and external parasites. No pretension is
made at a critical discussion of these diseases, nor do those
discussed by any means exhaust the list of ills to which fowls
are heir. Only those rather frequently found on general farms
are referred to. For arather complete and critical discussion,
students are referred to Diseases of Poultry by Pearl, Surface,
and Curtis, which is the most satisfactory work so far
published.

Aspergillosis—Aspergillosis is a disease that is very
generally confused with tuberculosis because the general
symptoms are so similar, though caused by a fungus growth on
the interior of the air passages. It is usually impossible to
distinguish between it and tuberculosis during life. On
postmortem examination red patches of fine mould will be
found on the interior of the air passages instead of the
characteristic lesions of tuberculosis. The origin of this
trouble is the presence of the mould, or its spores, in the
feed, litter, or surroundings of the birds affected. So far
as is known, there is no cure. Where postmortem examina-
tion has disclosed the presence of the disease in a flock
steps should at once be taken to remove the cause through
disinfecting the house, providing sweet, clean litter, and
avoiding all feed that is musty or mouldy. Any further
birds giving evidence of lack of thrift should be isolated,
and if they continue to lose strength should be killed and
burned on the assumption that they have contracted the
disease.

Blackhead.—F or a discussion of this disease see page 425.

Bumble Foot.—This name is given to an abscess in the ball
of the foot or between the toes. It may be the result of a
bruise or the penetration of a thorn, or even a piece of straw.
It will usually be first noticed through the lameness of the
bird. Recovery frequently takes place without treatment,
but it is best to catch the affected individual and pull out
the one or more pus cores that are generally present. These
cores are each covered with a scab, and may usually be

DIARRHEA 505

almost entirely removed without the aid of a knife. If it is
not possible to accomplish this, a string should be tied
about the leg above the foot to prevent excessive bleeding,
and the abscess opened with a knife, and thoroughly cleaned
out. The foot should then be wrapped in cloth to prevent
its being picked by other birds. If the infection has not
become generalized recovery is usually prompt and complete,
though a second opening of the abscess may be necessary
if the work of removing the pus core is not careful and
complete in the first instance.

Chicken Pox.—This disease, frequently referred to as sore
head, is usually recognized by the warty excrescences which
appear on the face and head gear. These protrusions
later become scabby. Investigators are uncertain whether
this is simply one form of roup or an entirely different
disease. Uncertainty also exists as to the cause, whether
it be one or more organisms or a virus. As a usual thing
if the scabs are removed promptly upon their appearance,
and creoline or any standard stock dip applied, full strength,
the trouble will disappear. As in the case of all infectious
diseases, the bird should be promptly isolated and not
returned to the flock until the trouble has entirely disappeared.

Constipation.—Constipation may occur from a variety of
causes. It is far more common among young stock than
among the older birds. It may be caused through irritation
of the mucous membranes of the intestine or through such
obstruction as may result from the eating of a feather,
or the accumulation of gravel, or even the accumulation
of intestinal worms. Birds usually stand or crouch with
ruffled feathers, or move about with more or less difficulty,
and make frequent and apparently painful attempts to
pass the excrement. Where such cases appear in the flock
the whole flock should immediately be purged by means of
Epsom salts in the mash at the rate of a teaspoonful per
adult bird. With young stock the doses should be modified
to suit the age of the stock.

Diarrhea.—The careful husbandman always watches the
consistency of the droppings of whatever sort of animals
he may be keeping. The normal consistency of chicken

506 POULTRY DISEASES AND PARASITES

droppings is such that they hold their shape upon evacuation
and do not soil or stick to the dropping board. A variation
of feed will usually cause more or less looseness which is not
at all alarming. The condition is not referred to as diar-
rhetic until the consistency of the evacuations is such as to
soil the feathers. If no other symptoms appear beyond
the diarrhea, and the color is not such as to suspect diseases
described elsewhere in this chapter, it may usually be
assumed that something is wrong with the feed. The birds
should be given salts in a wet mash, at the rate of a
teaspoonful per bird and the cause sought out and removed.

Cropbound.—Cropbound or the impaction of the crop is
a condition usually brought about through improper feeding.
It may occur where birds that have been starved consume
a large amount of dry grain, thereby distending the walls
of the crop and apparently bringing about a partial para-
lysis. More frequently it is brought about by the con-
sumption of indigestible material which clogs the opening
from the crop into the lower portion of the alimentar y tract.
This is likely to occur in the spring with stock that has
not been supplied with green feed during the winter. When
the first green shoots appear, fowls consume considerable
dead grass in their eagerness to get the tender green shoots.
This grass may become worked into a ball, which is too
large to pass through the lower opening of the crop. Not
infrequently birds that are changed suddenly to a ration
containing oats suffer from this difficulty. A single oat
lodged across the ventral opening of the crop may at first
act as a mechanical obstruction, later causing irritation and
swelling that completely closes the opening.

Where cropbound appears in any considerable number of
a given flock the first consideration should be the protection
of the unaffected members of the flock through the removal
of the cause. If on inspection of the affected birds it is
found that oats have caused the difficulty they should be
taken from the ration and re-introduced only very gradually.
If dead grass picked up in an effort to secure green feed is
the cause, a generous supply of succulence should be
provided.

EGG BOUND 507

There is no general method of treating the affected birds.
Each must have individual attention. In case the condition
is brought about through the overeating of dried grains it
may be overcome by injecting sweet oil into the crop through
the mouth and manipulating the material in the crop until
it can be softened and worked out through the mouth.
Usually it will save time to give the condition surgical
attention. The feathers should be plucked from one side
of the neck near the crop until an area of sufficient size is
made to allow the making of an incision an inch and a half
in length. The skin should then be pulled around so that an
incision in the crop itself may be made on the side away
from the incision in the outer skin. This incision having
been made the contents of the crop should be removed,
particular care being taken to see that the lower opening of
the crop is entirely free. The interior of the crop should
then be washed out with warm water. The edges of the
incision in the crop should then be drawn together with
stitches of white silk or white cotton thread, each stitch made
separately and tied. The outside skin should be drawn
together in the same way, and the bird fed on milk for a
couple of days. This may be gradually changed to soft
feeds, and in a week or ten days the bird will be ready for
the regular ration.

Egg Bound.—The condition referred to as “egg bound”
in poultry is quite analogous to cases of difficult parturition
in larger animals. It may arise from several causes, such
as the inflammation of the oviduct, a partial paralysis of the
oviduct or the production of an egg so large that it is
mechanically impossible for the bird to lay it.

The trouble may be observed by the hens continuing on
the nest without clucking, and straining in an effort to
exclude the egg. Sometimes this straining will take place
off the nest, the bird not infrequently appearing lame or in
pain. It is usually possible to insert the fingers, anointed
with carbolized vaseline, into the oviduct, ard by manipula-
tion with the other hand force the egg out. It Is sometimes
necessary, however, to insert a wire or awl, and carefully
break the shell of the egg, and remove it in parts.

508 POULTRY DISEASES AND PARASITES

Eversion of the Oviduct.—Hens or pullets are sometimes
discovered on the nest or about the yard with a red or
purplish mass protruding from the vent. This condition
may be caused by inflammation of the oviduct, followed by
straining in an effort to lay an egg. If the bird is discovered
before its flock mates begin to pick at the everted oviduct,
the bird will usually make a good recovery, if the mass is
gently pushed back into place, the finger having been
covered with carbolized vaseline. If there is dirt of any
kind upon the oviduct, it should be washed off with warm
water. The birds should then be put in a dark, cool place for
twelve hours or more, preferably with the feet fastened in a
loop in such a way that the rear part of the body will be
slightly elevated. As a usual thing the trouble will not
occur again, and the bird may start laying within a day or
two. If the difficulty appears more than twice it should be
considered chronic, and disposition made of the bird.

Fowl Cholera.—Cholera is a disease caused by a minute
organism which finds its way into a healthy flock in numer-
ous ways. Possibly the most frequent is the purchase of an
infected bird. The disease is highly contagious, and once it
gains entrance to a flock is likely to spread very rapidly. It
may be brought in by wild birds of which several species
appear susceptible. It may even be introduced by means of
dogs, cats, or other animals that have been over areas
occupied by infected flocks.

Fowl cholera is not as common in this country as is popu-
larly supposed. It is frequently confused with fowl typhoid,
or even acute cases of diarrhea. The most noticeable symp-
toms are a marked diarrhea, in which the excreta from the
kidneys (urates) which usually appear as the white pasty
material of the feces, are yellow. While such a symptom
does not absolutely prove that cholera is present, it should
be considered as a highly suspicious one, and steps should
at once be taken to control the disease. Later the color
of the urates may change from yellow to bright green.
Along with these symptoms the crop is frequently distended
and a postmortem examination reveals the fact that the
digestive organs are congested and inflamed. Though there

FROZEN HEADGEAR 509

are numerous cholera “cures” on the market, it is probable
that no cure for this disease has yet been discovered.

When an outbreak of cholera is suspected the sick birds
should at once be killed, care being taken that none of the
blood is spattered about or allowed to drip on the ground, as
the blood contains the organisms causing the trouble, and
will be a means of spreading the disease. Bodies of the birds
should then be burned. Burying is dangerous unless it is very
deep and the carcass surrounded with quick lime before
being covered. This is due to the fact that skunks or dogs
are likely to dig up the carcasses and spread parts of them
about the premises, and even insects working about the
carcass are likely to spread the disease. Unaffected birds
should be removed at once to new quarters that have been
thoroughly disinfected with a solution of 1 pound of carbolic
acid to 12 quarts of water. This disinfection of the new
premises should be repeated frequently and the birds care-
fully watched for further outbreaks. Any birds showing
the least sign of the disease should at once be killed and
burned. The litter and droppings from the house where
the original outbreak occurred should be carefully burned, the
premises about the house sowed with hydrated lime, at the
rate of 500 pounds to the acre, plowed, and sowed to a crop.
When the difficulty has been brought under control and
there are no further outbreaks, it is the part of wisdom to
market all birds that were not affected and wait at least one
year before attempting to engage further in poultry raising.
This is particularly true on the general farm where the
birds have the run of the farm, or where the disease is
likely to have become widely distributed through the
droppings, by the time it is discovered. In such a case
it is, of course, impractical to disinfect the whole range,
and it will be necessary to depend upon such natural dis-
infectants as cold, sunlight, and dryness to accomplish the
task.

Frozen Headgear.—During extreme weather the comb and
wattles on fowls are very likely to be frost bitten. Generally
it is not profitable to try to avoid this further than provid-
ing proper housing conditions. Such freezing undoubtedly
interferes seriously with production for the time being, but

510 POULTRY DISEASES AND PARASITES

if the birds are properly housed the birds frozen will be so
few that it will not pay to take special pains to prevent
freezing. In the case of large wattled males it is sometimes
advisable to grease the wattles with vaseline, which offers
some protection against their being frozen through dipping
in freezing water when the bird drinks. After freezing
occurs there is little that can be done beyond anointing
the frozen parts with a mixture of vaseline and glycerine, in
which there are a few drops of turpentine, and manipulating
to restore the circulation.

Gapes.—Gapes are usually noticed through a characteristic
gapping accompanied by coughing and the discharge from
the mouth of more or less mucus. The trouble is caused
by the presence in the air passages of very small parasitic
worms. These worms attach themselves to the mucous
membranes of the air passages, thereby causing an irritation,
and not infrequently an inflammation. They sometimes
gather in sufficient quantities to cause suffocation. Where
this condition is suspected as a cause of death, the correct-
ness of the diagnosis can be determined by opening the
windpipe where the small, thread-like apparently forked
worms may be observed. In live birds the presence of the
worms may be determined by inserting a loop of horse
hair into the windpipe and twisting it to loosen some of
the worms and then withdrawing it. If the worms are
present, some of them are very likely to be drawn out. The
forked or double-headed appearance of the worm. arises
from the fact that the male and female are permanently
joined.

The treatment is to isolate the affected birds and move
those not affected at once onto fresh sodded ground. It is
sometimes possible to affect a cure of diseased individuals
by means of a so-called worm extractor, which may be a
looped horse hair, as suggested above, a very fine looped
wire, or even a feather that has been stripped of the web
except at the extreme end. This treatment is likely to be
tedious, and there is no assurance that all the worms are
withdrawn. <A better practice is to kill and burn affected
birds, and move the balance of the flock to fresh ground
from time to time until no more cases appear.

LEG WEAKNESS 511

Indigestion.—Indigestion refers to the condition frequently
referred to by practical poultrymen as “off feed.” The
fowls lose interest in their feed and are dull and listless.
The most frequent causes are over-feeding, feeding too
great a proportion of mash in the ration, or too much con-
centrates without sufficient green feed. The remedy is
largely in finding and removing the cause. Pearl, Surface,
and Curtis! suggest the advisability of furnishing such birds
with a tonic made up as follows:

Pulverized gentian 1 pound
Pulverized ginger ee
Pulverized saltpeter
Pulverized iron sulphate

“

ers)

These substances can be procured from any drug store and
mixed by the poultryman. Use 2 to 3 tablespoonfuls of the
tonic to 10 quarts of dry mash.

Recovery from indigestion may also be hastened by the
following treatment: For the first week after the trouble
has been discovered add one teaspoonful of Epsom salts
to each quart of drinking water. Follow this for two
weeks with ¢ grain of strychnine to each quart of drinking
water.

Leg Weakness.—Leg weakness which is largely limited
to growing stock is attributed to too much heat in the
brooder and to improper feeding. As would be supposed
from the name, it affects the legs and at first the hock
joints particularly, which apparently become so loosened
that they will bend in any direction. As the trouble pro-
gresses, the limbs frequently become spread out, the birds
losing control of them to such an extent that they can only
scramble about with the body resting on the ground. The
appetite remains good, and good recovery is made if the
cause of the trouble is removed. The trouble seems really
to be that the birds grow in weight faster than they grow
in strength.

Where artificial brooding is practiced the temperature
should be reduced as low as possible without making the

1 Diseases of Poultry.

512 POULTRY DISEASES AND PARASITES

birds uncomfortable. At the same time a dose of Epsom
salts should be administered, and particular pains taken
to see that a considerable amount of granulated bone is
consumed. If the birds are being forced, the amount of
protein in the ration should be reduced and exercise induced
in every way possible. An abundant supply of green feed
is frequently very helpful in overcoming this difficulty.

Hart, Halpin and Steenbock! have recently reported
experiments in feeding which suggest that a large per cent of
crude fiber in the ration is a preventative of leg-weakness in
chicks reared in confinement and fed a synthetic diet. The
fact that the malady was accompanied by loss of appetite
and usually terminated fatally in the stock they worked with,
suggests the possibility that they were dealing with a different
form of leg-weakness than that met with in practical work,
where the chicks appear literally to be grown off their feet
but maintain their appetite and activity and eventually
make a good recovery.

Lice.—There are several species of Jice which infest poultry,
and between which, from the practical stand-point, it is not
necessary to distinguish. Whenever birds begin to show
lack of thrift it is always well to suspect lice, and to make
an examination in an effort to discover them. While they
infest all parts of the body, they are usually particularly
numerous about the vent and under the wings. Masses of
eggs or nits may frequently be found attached to the base
of the feathers about the vent.

Lice multiply very rapidly, and unless steps are taken to
control them, are likely to interfere with both the birds’
health and production. With any except the most heavily
feathered breeds lice may be kept in control by simply
furnishing dusting facilities. Common road dust is very
satisfactory, as are also sifted coal ashes. Wood ashes
should not be used. Where the dust bath does not control
the situation, individual treatment must be resorted to.
Sodium fluoride, which may be secured at any drug store will
be found satisfactory when thoroughly dusted into the
feathers of the infested fowl.

1 Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. xliii, No. 2.

MITES ols

Dipping is even more effective. “In using the dipping
method all that is necessary is a supply of tepid water and a
wash tub. If two persons are to dip at the same time it is
advisable to use a large tub. The water should be measured
into the tub and three-fourths to one ounce of commercial
sodium fluoride added to each gallon of water. It is readily
dissolved by stirring. In dipping, it is best to hold the
wings over the back with the left hand and quickly submerge
the fowl in the solution, leaving the head out while the feathers
are thoroughly ruffled with the other hand so as to allow the
solution to penetrate to the skin. The head is then ducked
once or twice, the bird lifted out and allowed to drain a few
seconds and then released. The total time required for an
individual fowl is thirty to forty-five seconds.’”!

When the dipping is done on a warm, still day so that the
birds dry out quickly no ill effects seem to follow.

Blue ointment (mercurial) has been found satisfactory
when worked into the feathers about the vent. The
mercurial ointment may be made by thoroughly mixing the
following:

Mercury 9; = « a «& he Tens «6, Clpound
Lard Panny Cie Ecol sn HOE SEE aA eral
Vaseline ee or P et

Liver Enlargement.—This condition is sometimes some-
what difficult for the ordinary producer to diagnose in the
live bird. It is usually accompanied by an increase in the
fowl’s weight and frequent evacuations of dark yellow semi-
liquid feces. It is sometimes accompanied by excessive
thirst. With postmortem examination, however, the liver
will be found enlarged, mottled in color, easily torn apart,
and greasy. This disease is most likely to occur toward the
end of winter when the supply of green feed has been deficient.

The treatment consists of feeding the whole flock liberally
of succulent feed of some kind, first giving the birds a wet
mash containing a teaspoonful of Epsom salts for each
bird in the flock.

Mites.—There are more species of mites than lice, but, as
in the case of lice, it is not necessary for the practical poultry-

1 Farmers’ Bulletin, No. 801, U. 8. Dept. of Agric.

ive)
(oe)

514 POULTRY DISEASES AND PARASITES

man to distinguish between the different species, aside from
the scaly-leg mite mentioned elsewhere. The mite is a tiny,
spider-like parasite with piercing mouth parts. It does not
live on the body of the fowl as does the louse, but goes upon
it from the nest or perch to gorge itself with blood. Mites
are most frequently discovered about the perches or nests
where they live and breed in the filth accumulating in the
cracks and crevices. These tiny parasites multiply rapidly,
once the quarters have become infested, and one should be
constantly on the lookout for them. When discovered,
the roosts and nests should be at once thoroughly sprayed
with kerosene containing enough crude carbolic acid to
give it a very decided odor. This treatment should be
repeated again in nine or ten days if the weather is cool,
or in five or six days if it is very hot. The reason for
the second spraying is that it is usually impossible to
reach with a spray, eggs that have been laid far back in
the cracks. It is necessary to spray the second time and
sometimes even a third time in order to destroy the mites
that hatch out from these eggs. The interval between
spraying depends upon temperature, because the eggs
hatch more quickly in warm weather than in cool. Mites
are found more often in dark houses than in light ones,
and cutting windows in a dark house not infrequently
proves a means of preventing further infestations.
Poisons.—There are numerous ways in which poultry
pick up sufficient poison about the farm to throw them out
of condition or even cause death to considerable numbers.
Among those most frequently reported are common salt that
has been put out for live stock; lead and zine poisoning,
which result from the birds eating paint skins which form
on old paint buckets; arsenic, which is the basis of many
rat poisons; and copper, which appears in many mixtures for
spraying fruit trees. Nitrate of soda used as a fertilizer
may be picked up in sufficient quantities to cause difficulty.
The symptoms of the various poisons differ somewhat, but
usually include loss of appetite, unsteadiness of gait, or
extreme nervousness followed by convulsions and death.
The treatment is to first seek out and remove the cause.
In the case of poisons from fertilizers it will probably be

1
Ot

ROUP ole

necessary to confine the birds to a grassy pasture where
the fertilizer has not been used. The whole flock, including
the affected birds, should be given a heavy dose of Epsom
salts, which may be followed, in the case of the affected
birds, by mucilaginous drinks or strong coffee. A drink
suitable for this purpose may be made by boiling flax seed
or diluting the whites of eggs with water.

Ptomain Poisoning.— This trouble is usually caused through
feeding spoiled or decayed feed. Not infrequently on the
general farm a rabbit or squirrel is wounded, but escapes
only to die ater where the chickens can get at it. It fre-
quently becomes putrid before the birds have finished it,
and ptomain poisoning results. It also occurs in warm
weather through the feeding of milk where the containers
in which it is placed before the fowls are not properly and
frequently cleaned and scalded. Enough of the milk dries
on the sides of the pan to putrify and cause this difficulty.
Its symptoms are usually the partial paralysis of muscles
in different parts of the body.

The first evidence of the trouble is an unsteadiness of
gait followed by inability to walk, and sometimes later in the
form of the so-called “limberneck” with which the bird
loses control, more or less completely, of the head and neck.

The treatment consists in removing the cause, giving
the entire flock a purgative dose of Epsom salts, and the
affected bird a teaspoonful of castor oil, followed by a half
grain of strychnine.

Roup.—Roup is the most wide-spread of any disease attack-
ing adult chickens, and is probably second only to white
diarrhea in the seriousness of the resulting economic loss.
Technically, roup refers to one and possibly two specific
diseases, namely, catarrhal roup and diphtheritic roup.
Practically, it refers to that group of diseases effecting the
mouth, larynx, bronchial tubes, nasal cavities, and the
membranes surrounding the eye. These diseases may be
technically divided into common cold, bronchitis, influenza,
and canker, but practically such a differentiation is
unnecessary from the stand-point of flock treatment, and
indeed is impossible for the ordinary producer.

Investigators are not agreed as to whether catarrhal roup

516 POULTRY DISEASES AND PARASITES

and diphtheritic roup are in reality separate and distinct
diseases, each caused by a specifie organism, or whether they
are simply two stages of the same disease. Either one or
both of these forms is probably caused by an organism, but
investigators are not agreed as to whether it is a bacterium
or a protozoan in the first place, and those who are sure
that it is caused by a bacterium are divided as to which one
of several is really specific. Indeed, it appears from the
information at hand that roup may be caused by any one
of several organisms, just as in the case of pneumonia in
the human family. From the practical stand-point, aside
from the introduction of a virulent form of disease through
the purchase of an infected bird and by other similar means,
the causes of the appearance of roup are largely predisposing
ones, such as bad housing conditions, consisting of dampness,
inadequate ventilation, and crowded quarters, while if any-
thing, more important still is the lack of vitality in the
breeding stock.

The symptoms of this general group of diseases designated
as roup are well known. It may manifest itself through
sneezing or by a watery discharge from the nostrils or eyes,
or the first symptom noticed may be a rattling in the throat
as the bird breathes. Later on all of these symptoms may
put in an appearance, accompanied by a progressive thicken-
ing of the nasal discharge, until it entirely closes the nostrils.
The discharge from the eye may also thicken to a cheesy
consistency, accumulating in sufficient mass to entirely close
the eye and have the appearance of atumor. In the so-called
diphtheritic roup, clearly defined patches, commonly called
cankers, put in their appearance on the inside of the mouth
and on the tongue.

While most of the treatises on poultry diseases recom-
mend certain treatments for birds showing the different
manifestations of roup, and almost without exception
emphasize the desirability of disinfecting the poultry house
whenever roup appears among the birds, practically, it is
impossible for the general farm producer to carry out such
a program. When roup is discovered in his flock, he should
always isolate, kill, and burn the affected individual. This
should be done for two reasons. One is that the bird may be

SCALY LEG 517

a source of danger to the remainder of the flock, and second,
the very fact that one individual succumbs to infection,
while others do not, indicate that it is weaker in some
respects than others, and not desirable for breeding purposes.

While the author has made no critical study of roup and
kindred affections, a considerable experience with the disease
in its various forms leads him to the firm belief that the one
or several organisms causing roup are omnipresent, and
that any flock of birds is likely to harbor the organisms, and,
in fact, most of them do. The matter of an outbreak
usually depends upon predisposing causes, and, if at all
general, indicates that something in the breeding or the
management is radically wrong. Occasionally, no doubt,
there may be ultravirulent strains of the organisms intro-
duced, which will be followed by epidemics even under the
best breeding and management, but such conditions are rare.
The fundamental treatment for this class of diseases is to
bred for constitutional vigor, and then be continually alert
for its conservation. It is frequently the case that fowls
in a single house are affected, when birds of the same breed-
ing in other houses, fed the same ration and cared for in the
same way in every particular, are not affected. Under such
circumstances, one would be justified in presuming that
something was wrong with the house. The only way to
overcome such a: situation is, of course, to find the pre-
disposing cause, such as dampness or inadequate ventilation,
and remedy it.

In certain states where poultry keeping has developed into
a specialized industry, notably California, roup vaccines have
been developed which afford quite efficient protection against
epidemics but which do not impart a permanent immunity.

Scaly Leg. —This is a condition of the shanks and_ toes
caused by the burrowing under the scales of a tiny mite.
This burrowing causes an irritation which results in the secre-
tion of material, which, as it accumulates, raises the scales.
In extreme cases the scales become covered or disappear,
and the secretion so abundant as to appear in large gran-
ular lumps on the shanks. The latter condition may be
accompanied by lameness.

Unfortunately, individual treatment must be given. The

518 POULTRY DISEASES AND PARASITES

legs should be anointed with some penetrating oil, such as
the oil of caraway, or with lard, or vaseline, in which there
are a few drops of kerosene. Pure kerosene should not be
used, because it is almost impossible to keep it from working
up into the feathers and scalding the skin. The anointing
of the legs should be repeated once or twice a week until the
trouble disappears.

Sunstroke.—Although the original habitat of at least a
part of the ancestors of our domestic poultry was a very hot
country, poultry, and particularly chickens, do not seem very
well equipped to stand extreme heat, and heat prostrations
are quite frequent. If the birds are discovered soon after
the prostration occurs they may sometimes be saved by
putting them in a cool place and tying the head in cold wet
clothes. It is well to give them as a purgative two teaspoon-
fuls of castor oil or Epsom salts.

In order to guard against numerous prostrations shade
should be provided, and during hot weather it is well to give
a wet mash at noon, as this tends to cool the digestive
tract and keep the birds quiet during the heat of the
day.

Tuberculosis.—This disease is caused by a minute organism
which in many respects is quite similar to the one causing
tuberculosis in man and other mammals. It seldom appears
in anything but adult or very nearly adult stock. It is highly
contagious, and may be introduced by means of birds, the
English sparrow being particularly susceptible. This disease
is serious, not only from the stand-point of economic loss,
but because tubercular fowls in all probability form a
serious menace to the poultryman and his family. It is
popularly understood that a tubercular hen is not likely to
lay, but this 1s not in accordance with the facts. Avian
tubercular bacilli have been found alive in eggs that have
been poached, and the avian form of the organism has
been found along with the form common to the human
family in persons suffering from tuberculosis.

In a somewhat exhaustive discussion of tuberculosis,
Pearl, Surface, and Curtis! make the following statement:

1 Diseases of Poultry.

WHITE DIARRHEA 519

“It appears that while fowls are not very likely to contract
tuberculosis from domestic animals or from man, yet fowls
that have the disease are a serious menace to other animals
on the farm as well as to the poultryman and his family.”
Avian tuberculosis is exceedingly difficult to recognize in
its early stages. As the disease advances, however, pro-
gressive emaciation may be noticed, accompanied by a
feverishly bright eye. This is likely to be accompanied by
general weakness and a ravenous appetite. It not infre-
quently happens that there are tumors, ulcers, ete., and if
the disease is localized in the joint there will be lameness.
Where tuberculosis is suspected it is always well to kill a
suspected case and examine the liver and spleen. In a great
majority of cases these will be covered by numerous raised
nodules. With many forms of sickness the liver is affected,
and may be blotched, but these blotches are usually depressed
or raised very slightly. There is a tuberculin test now being
used with poultry which is somewhat similar to the tuberculin
test used with mammals. <A supply of the tuberculin is
not likely to be at hand, however, and it is usually advisable
as soon as tuberculosis is suspected to ship two or three of
the live suspects to the bacteriology laboratory of the State
Agricultural College, where the disease can be definitely
diagnosed. If the difficulty is pronounced as tuberculosis
it is the part of wisdom to dispose of the whole flock, as up to
the present time there is no cure for this disease when it
has advanced to a point where any of the symptoms noted
above have put in their appearance. In case the disease has
appeared in valuable breeding stock which it is highly desir-
able to maintain, specific directions for handling the situation
should be secured from the State Bacteriological Laboratory.

White Diarrhea.—This is a disease attacking chicks soon
after hatching, usually appearing by the time they are a week
or ten days old. It is probably the most serious scourge,
from an economic stand-point, with which the poultry
raiser has to deal. It corresponds in its seriousness as a
menace topoultry production with that of hog cholera in
pork production, or contagious abortion with dairy cattle.
It appears that this difficulty is caused by a bacterium which
finds its way into the digestive tract of the chick in various

520 POULTRY DISEASES AND PARASITES

ways. The possibility of the infection being transmitted
from a mother to her offspring by means of the yolk material
in the egg has already been discussed in its relation to the
inheritance of disease (see page 94).

The danger of bringing the disease onto the farm and
causing a serious epidemic through purchasing eggs from a
breeder whose stock has previously been infected cannot be
too strongly emphasized. The same danger presents itself
in buying breeding females from a flock where infection
has previously occurred.

The symptoms of this disease usually appear between a
week and ten days after hatching. The chicks become
dumpish and sleepy, tend to stand around, lose their appe-
tites, and not infrequently give a characteristic plaintive
cry asifin pain. At the same time there is usually a marked
diarrhea, the discharge appearing white and somewhat
mucilaginous in consistency. There appears to be no
characteristic symptom that can be depended upon as a
means to an accurate diagnosis of this disease. Chicks
that are suffering from scours as the result of eating grains
that have musted or molded in the bin, present symptoms
that are very similar. The same is true of another form
of contagious diarrhea that is referred to as intestinal
coccidiosis.

The loss from white diarrhea is usually heaviest when the
chicks are from one to three weeks of age. So far as is known,
there is no definite cure. One’s whole attention should be
directed to preventing its spread to uninfected stock, both
young and old, by means of which a similar outbreak may
occur during a later season. It is stated by investigators
at the Storrs Station where the most important work on this
disease has been carried on that infection in baby chicks
seldom takes place after they are four days old. That is to
say, the birds seldom contract the disease after this age, so
that they are themselves inconvenienced. This does not
mean, however, that they may not transmit the disease to
older fowls. In fact, this forms one of the great difficulties
in ridding one’s farm of the scourge.

If chicks suffering from this disease are allowed any
considerable range, the organisms are likely to be picked up

WORMS 521

by adult females, which in turn become bacillus carriers,
likely to transmit the disease to their offspring the following
season, as indicated in the discussion on page 94. All
eggs purchased from flocks where it is not definitely known
that no outbreak of anything similar to white diarrhea has
occurred for several years should be hatched in a separate
incubator away from eggs that are known to be from unin-
fected stock. Upon hatching these chicks should be brooded
by themselves, confined to a run that can be easily disin-
fected should the trouble put in an appearance, and so
isolated that other stock cannot come in contact with them.

One reason why incubator chicks appear to be more
susceptible to white diarrhea than hen-hatched chicks is
probably found in the fact that they are hatched in much
larger numbers in incubators than under a hen, and a single
chick hatched from an infected egg may be the means of
infecting a large number of its flock mates, the organisms
being distributed about through the incubator by means
of the droppings from this chick. If the interior of the
incubator is not darkened, the chicks are very likely to pick
at the droppings as they begin to get hungry. For this
reason, it is usually good practice to keep the incubator
darkened until the chicks are taken to the brooder. They
should be kept isolated for a period of at least three weeks,
after which time one may be reasonably sure that no infection
has occurred.

Where the chicks do show symptoms similar to those
described above, every chick in the flock should be promptly
burned and the entire equipment and run where they were
kept, carefully and thoroughly disinfected. The litter, all
droppings, and the fringe on the hover should be burned.
One should also be careful to disinfect the hands and shoes
after having handled the chicks, or been on the ground where
infected birds have been.

In disinfecting the run it should be sowed with hydrated
lime at the rate of 500 pounds to the acre, plowed and sowed
to some crop. The corners that the plow does not reach
should be carefully spaded by hand.

Worms.—l'rom the practical stand-point it is hardly
necessary to distinguish between the different kinds of

522 POULTRY PRODUCTION

worms. Generally speaking, they are divided into flat
segmented worms known as tape worms, and round worms.
Few birds are entirely free from worms of some kind. Where
the stock is vigorous they usually cause very little incon-
venience. It is usually only in birds that are somewhat
lacking in vigor that the worms reproduce with sufficient
rapidity to constitute a menace to the host.

‘Yhe symptoms of worms are so general that it is usually
impossible to diagnose their presence unless they are observed
in the intestine upon a postmortem examination, or are
noticed in the droppings. When worms are observed, it may
usually be assumed that the difficulty has permeated the
flock fairly completely. Ackert! recommends the following
for flock treatment: “To a gallon of a mixture of wheat
and oats, add a small teaspoonful of concentrated lye, with
sufficient water to prevent scorching. Cook slowly for two
hours and cool. Fast the birds to be treated for fifteen
hours, then give them all of this mixture that they will eat,
providing an abundance of water for them to drink. After
twelve to twenty hours give a second dose in the same
manner.”

During the time of treatment the birds should be confined
so that all of the droppings may be collected and burned.
About forty-eight hours after the second dose has been
given the quarters should be thoroughly disinfected, and, if
possible, the birds allowed a grassy run where chickens
have not been previously kept. The desirability for this
later precaution arises from the fact that with some of the
worms the earth worm appears to be a host at one stage
in the life-history. It is, therefore, desirable after ridding
the fowls of the parasites, by the method suggested above,
to have them run on ground where the likelihood of the
earth worms being infested is slight. On the general farms
where the fowls have free range, as they should have, it is,
of course, impossible to accomplish this, and permanent
relief from worm infestations can only arise from the breeding
of stock of sufficient vigor to prevent any great multiplication
of the parasites.

1 Parasitologist, Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station

r
4a a ropered DAG

Taste L.—THe Averace ANNUAL Farm IncomE rrom PouLtry

State.

Alabama .
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado .
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia

Idaho

Illinois
Indiana

Iowa .

Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana.
Nebraska
Nevada

New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico.
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas

Utah

Vermont .
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming es

Average for all the States

1 Compiled from the United States Census Report for 1920.

PRODUCTS SOLD DURING

Eges
sold

4.648
167.231
7.3038
3.792
82.406
191.039
168 014
118.567

Ro 997

> mod
3.113
2.008
0.465
2.067
3.468
) 080
7.046
7.826
134 093
125.477

251.115

1919+

Chickens
sold

>. 599
5.729

953

O72

005

033
823
816

797

| Total

609
657
517
558
» 618
928
719
9.026
929
019
B20
000
905
3.928
.235
O75
671

252

987

(523 )

APPENDIX

524

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POULTRY PRODUCTIO

SPAOCBAKNMDROGOOAHAS
Oreatrovontoonna
oR oR om oMare Mer ian! HoHr~oo
on . Mm1n9o OOM FH
ocd OrANDNAND 19
exh AANDAMON
ie) Art AN
dro bond
YreounrhretaA
HOH LO oH 09 69 00 00 LD OH
oo ooo000°0o
lormae)
mar)
tH oD
or
to
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oS
a
DAONMOHADErAMMINODW
SOnNnHAROKHHRSG
COR Ate tANaDASO
a DAAOuorAr TAOS
ite) ANANWM AAN HOI Da
j=) DAAHAONMNtnNnRDoon
re HODIDAN Mm AHO OOD
uae ~N uw CaN ie)
ArMrFONDAMHAS OD
NOAANrHO ADA DOO
Stren ngnancged
FOroOmMAONrAr Hao
HAS HASMAMINDODO O19
DAMAOMIIDAOAM~MAMm AIO
Hodis tidgn con wag oO
ANON aoe ar)
a
wo oO
aoa oc
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0,011

14,047,006

,440,7

(

3 8
ES av. 8
3 te eiraio
Ou das
Ha & S2Ha 9
2

CA £ _=AOAR gs aS

ia) .
adi aogaS3aaty 34
prosmd PEAS A
es | ondSaBAH aH e
OOgM EGE S550 OY 04
ZAZQ0O0OMRRANREHD ES

Washington

West Virginia
Wisconsin .

77,53
593,416

5,8

(

3,420,9

4,006,74

Wyoming

4
a]

4,044,932 1,010,

ict

19
us
S
=
=|
w
fo}
bw)
Bak

473,301,959

Total

10,699,704

0.40

,256,3

20,628,842

33,756,019

Average

526 APPENDIX

Tabie LII.—SHowine tHe Number and VaLug oF Pouttry Kepr
IN Hach Strate!

State. Number of fowls Value
Alabama 6,266,756 $5,098,288
Arizona 517,312 640,595
Arkansas 7,395,654 6,145,635
California 10,811,183 15,293,570
Colorado . 2,994,347 2,924,006
Connecticut 1,153,667 1,979,099
Delaware 1,000,287 1,215,586
District of Columbin 11,066 16,013
Florida 1,62 1,769,265
Georgia 7,65
Idaho 1,711,8
Illinois 25,864,-

Indiana . 17,147,576

Iowa 28,352,515

Kansas 17,298,041 15,453,540
Kentucky 11,020,231 9,256,715
Louisana . F 4,010,782 3,738,583
Maine 1,418,342 2,219,332
Maryland. 3,65 6 4,216,105
Massachusetts 1,517,477 1,001
Michigan 11,183,064 7,814
Minnesota 13,663,443 11,405,427
Mississippi ; 6,698,846 6,465,450
Missouri 25,470,023
Montana 1,994,289
Nebraska 9

Nevada ‘ 163,984

New Hampshire 782,775

New Jersey 2,665,662

New Mexico :

New York

North Carolina 7,827,935 7,324,880
North Dakota 4,608,449 3,667,531
Ohio . 20,604,103 20,693,940
Oklahoma 11,614,851 10,836,525
Oregon 2,573,536 3,058,515
Pennsylvania 15,226,961 18,639,535

Rhode Island 266,009

South Carolina 2 4,240,009

South Dakota 6,968,088 6;126;33!
Tennessee 11,835,303 10,591,690
Texas 2. 16,674,947
Utah 980,097 $14,566
Vermont 815,085 1,167,717
Virginia 8,909,808
Washington 4,389,759
West Virginia 4,230,975
Wisconsin 10,726,721
Wyoming 634,793

1 Compiled from the United States Census Reports of 1920

POULTRY PRODUCTION

527

Taste LIII.—Tue Amounts or DicestTipLeE Orcanic Nurrients,
ToraL AsH AND CrupE Fisre, In ONE Hunprep Pounpbs oF
THE ComMON Pou.ttTry FEeEpsturrs.!

ae Nitrocen= | Total crude

paeeNe Protein. Fat. | free | Ash. Nevery Bena

extract. | digested).

Tasie LIV.—Tue TotaLt AMouUNTS OF THE NUTRIENTS FOUND IN
One Hunprep Pounps or Poutrry FEEDSTUFFS, OF WHICH THE
DIGESTIBILITY FOR CHICKENS HAS NOT BEEN D®&TERMINED.?

Pounds of carbo-

. 1 hydrates
Pounds Pounds Eich bet Pounds
of water — of ash. protein oren es: Grudé of fat
extract fibre
Alfalfa meal 8.8 9.0 35.8 30 1 2.0
Brewers’ grains Lie Sao 26.5 41 0 14.6 6.9
Buckwheat = mid-
dlings 12.0 4.8 28.3 AEE: 458 7.4
Cottonseed meal | 7.5 | 6.2 | 44.1 25.0. hide ty
Fishscrap IZES: [RB226< |) <b Qe 0.0 0.0 22
Gluten feed 82% ee | 25.4 52.9 oa 3.8
Hominy feed TO. 2.6 10.6 64.3 4.4 S.0
Kafir 11.8 Lee pene GOW D355 30
Milk (butter) 90 6 0.7 3.6 5 0 0.0 Oo]
Milk (skim) 90.1 0.7 a.8 5.2 0.0 0.2
Oil meal (N. P ) 9.6 | 5.6 36.9 36.3 8.7 2.9
Oil meal (O. P.) 9.1 5.4 33.9 ao.7 8.4 1.8
Rice 12.3 0.5 7.4 79.0 0.4 0.4
Silage (corn) Woe ike) 21 15.4 6.3 0.8
Silage (sorgham) vith? 1.6 Tso. 11.9 69 0.9
Sunflower seed 8.6 2.6 1623 21.4 29.9 PN
Wheat middlings 10.7 | 3.7 17.8 | 58.1 4.7 5.0
Wheat shorts TOMS Nl has 17.4 | 56.8 6.0 4.9

1 Adapted from Bartlett, Maine Bulletin No. 184.
2? Henry and Morrison, Feeds and Feeding, by their kind permission.

528 APPENDIX

HONDOOx4H
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$s FROM THE UNITED STATES, BY COUNTRIES, FOR FiscaL YEARS ENDING June 20.1

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POULTRY PRODUCTION

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530 APPENDIX

Taste LVIL.—Exports or Driep AND FRozEN acs ror Fiscan
Yrars EnpInG JUNE 30.

Year. Value.
1910 ni ‘ $3,585
1911 5,353
192° “4s 29,541
1913 67,854
1914 47,968
1915 Sve 88,865
1916 : : 210,265
1917 72,491
1918 525,880
1919 341,504
1920 282,198

Tasip LVIII.—Imports or Driep AND Frozen Eaas ror Fiscat YEARS
Ewnpine June 30.

Year. Pounds Value.

LILO, ae. 3 869,925 $56,121
1911 433,405 30,798
1912. 43,822 4,430
1913 228,305 86,892
1914 3,420,412 504,619
1915 3,420,412 504,619
1914 3,420,412 504,619
1915 8,571,758 798,129
1916 6,021,672 921,502
1917 10,317,744 1,732,948
1918 14,597,503 4,057,417
1919 9,085,449 3,143,190
1920 24,091,098 8,783,258

Taste LIX.—Torau Exports or Pouttry AND GAME FROM THE UNITED
Spates ror l'iscan YEARS, ENpING JUNE 30.

Years. Value.

1906 : : 5 $1,397,004
1907 : : 1,086,618
1908 ‘ 881,792
1909 ; 848,644
1910 re 599,548
1911 3 981,805
1912 cae 697,955
1913 : 1,308,399
1914 913,632
1915 1,187,771
1916 1,561,398
TOT? : : 1,327,348
1918 : or © 1,241,144
1919 3,799,348
1920 1,627,633

INDEX.

A Ash content of egg, 301
of fowl’s body, 301

ABSORPTION in intestine, 316 in feeds, 301, 527

of yolk, 186 use of, 301
Age of breeding stock, 161, 165 Asiatic class, breeds of, origin and
Aim in breeding, 109 history of, 63
Air cell in egg, 177, 178, 214 Aspergillosis, 504

drainage, 255 Aylesbury ducks, 66, 429

Albumen, 176
formation of, 177

kinds of, 177 B
Alfalfa, green, 349
meal, 336 Bantams, 65, 66
Alimentary tract, 311 Barley, 336
Allantois, 184 ground, 337
Alternating yards, 292 Barred Plymouth Rock, 78, 145
American class, breeds of, 75 Barrels for caponizing, 97, 99
origin and history of, 76 packing for, 475
slaughter tests of, 80 Beets, 350
Poultry Association, 56 Bench picking, 461, 462
standard of perfection, 57, 59 Bile, 315
Amnion, 183 Birchen games, 65
Amylolytic ferment, 314 Blackhead, 420, 425
Analysis of egg, 304 Blastoderm, 177, 180
of feeds, 527 ‘Bleeding, necessity of thorough,
of fowl, 304 458
Anatomy of the fowl, 311 Blood, dried, 341
Ancestry of domestic fowl, 49 rings, 226, 499
Anconas, 70 | Blue Andalusian, 74
Andalusians, 74 Bone, dry, granulated, 353
Animal feeds, 322 green cut, 354
Annual production, individual vari- Booted Bantams, 66
ation in, 164 Bourbon turkeys, 67
Appendix, 523 Boxes for dressed poultry, 475
Appliances, feeding, 377 ff Brahma, 67 ff
Area opaca, 180 Bran, wheat, 348
pellucida, 180 Bread crumbs, 382
of yards, 291 Breed, choosing a, 82
Artificial brooding, 232, 233 defined, 54
heating of houses, 260 standards, 60
incubation, 197, 200 ff Breeder, fancier, 30

(531)

532

Breeder, production, 30
Breeders, cocks versus cockerels as,
161
hens versus pullets as, 161
management of, 168 ff
problem of, 30
Breeding chart, 110, 121
cross-, 109, 132
kinds of, 132
purpose of, 132
definition of, 84
flock, farm, 172
selection of, 173
for production, 142 ff
grading, 109 ff
line, 118 ff
chart for, 110, 121
definition of, 118
purpose of, 119
use of new blood, 121
maternal impressions on, 109
methods of, 109 ff
official tests for, 167
pedigreeing methods of, 123 ff
records, 126, 129
tests of eficient, 158
Breeds, classification of, 54, 61
ornamental, 61
productive, 61
progenitors, 49
purpose of, 56
standard for, 56, 60
Brewers’ grains, dried and wet, 338
Broilers, classification of, 473
feeding of, 363, 390
season for, 451
standard pack for, 475
Bronze turkeys, 67, 419
Brooder, cool-air compartment of,
241

crowding of chicks in, 245
daily management of, 244
farm types, 230 ff
heater for, 234, 236
hover, 235, 240
number of chicks to a, 243
place of operation, 243
preparation for chicks, 244
proper temperature of, 233
ventilation, 241
Brooding, artificial, 232
natural, 230
principles of,
Broody coops, 283

999
£50

INDEX

Buckeyes, 63, 75
Buckwheat, 330

bran and middlings, 3
Bumblefoot, 504
Buttermilk, 357
Buyers, classes of, 35, 37

CaBBAGE as a feed, 350
Campines, 65
Canadian geese, 67
Candling, object of, 491, 492
Canker, 515
Cannibalism in chicks, 248
Capacity, 133
Caponizing, advantages of, 96
age for, 97
details of operation, 96 ff
instruments needed, 98
Capons, classification of, 493, 477
making of, 96
method of dressing, 467
as mothers, 232
standard pack, 477
Carbohydrates, definition of, 304
uses of, 304
Catarrh, 515
Ceca, structure and function of,
312, 316
Cell division, 180
Cement floor, construction of, 266
Chalaze, location of, 177
Charcoal, use of, 855
Checked eggs, loss as, 491, 4
Chick-feeding appliances, 38
Chicken, cholera, 508
pox, 505
Chickens, digestive powers of, 320
efficiency of, as compared with
other animals, 318, 320
grades of dressed, 473
market classification of, 473
number of, 17 ff

98
2 ff

Chicks, approaches for, 247

baby, 34

care of, in incubator, 228

comparative mortality of incu-
bator and hen hatched, 197

condition of feeds for, 384

day old, 34

depraved appetite of, 248

direction for feeding, 384 ff

INDEX

Chicks, drinking fountains for, 412,
414

early versus late hatched, 217
effect of chilling on, 240
first feed for, 23 i 382

growing, standard for, 363
methods of marking, 124, 161

pedigreeing, 123 ff
sour milk for, 357, 384 ff
vices of, 248
winginess in, 241
Chinese geese, 67
Cholera, chicken, 508
Class, 54
American, 75
Asiatic, 63
English, 80
Mediterranean, 70
Clay block floor, construction of
268
Cloaca, 316
Clover, cut, 341
uses of, 541
Coal-heated brooders, 235,
Cochins, 67 ff
Cold storage, cost of eges for, 25
Colony brooders, 234 ff
house, description of, 237 ff
Combs, frozen, 509
Concrete floors, 267
Condiments, use of, 339
Constipation, 505
Constitutional vigor, 133
characteristics of, 136
of dam, effect on offspring
135
hatching power
fected by, 141
importance of, 133
influence upon the off-
spring, 135
Continental class, 65
Continuous house, description of,
283
Cooling dressed poultry, 464
Codperative marketing associa-
tions, 37, 39
Corn, 330
meal, 389
Cornish, 64
Cottonseed meal, 339
Cow peas, 332
Cramming machines, 417
Creaminess, 109, 331

236

as: -af=

533

Creve cocur, 65
Crop, bound, 506

location and use of, 313
Cross-breeding, 109, 132
Crude fiber, 304
Culling, 154
Curtain front, 268 ff
Custom hatching, 34
Cuticle of egg, 177, 194

DamMPNESs, in poultry
house, 256
Dealer, baby chick, 34
Defects, 58
Diarrhea, 94, 519
Digestibility, causes of variation
in, 321
Dige ‘stible nutrients explained, 300,
318
Digestion, age, species,
viduality in, 325
coefficients, 318
definition of, 311

evil of,

and indi-

| Digestive juices, 313 ff

tract, diagram of, 312
parts of, 311
Diphtheritic roup, 515
Dirt floor, construction of, 266
Dirty eggs, causes of, 293, 491

| Disease, inheritance of, O4

eases of poultry, 46, O94 ff
Disinfectants, use of, 196, 291,
Disqualifications, 58, 59
Distributer, definition of, 38
Distribution of poultry, 37, 38
Divisions of poultry industry, 2
Domestic fowl, origin of, 49

293

| Domestication, effeets of, 53

| Dominiques, 75
Dorkings, 80
Double mating, purpose of, 171
Drainage, importance of, 253, 255
Drake, characteristics of, ee
number of ducks per, 431
Drawing and trussing, oper marion of,
479, 485
Dressed poultry, average price paid
for, 24
Dressing, loss of weight in,
special styles of, 467
Drink, 329, 357

467

584

Drinkine vessels, 383, 385, 410,
413, 414
Dropping boards, 283
Dry bone, 353
mash, 336, 380
picking, advantages of, 460 ff
methods of, 460
Dryness, importance of, in house,
256
Duck farming, advantages of, 47 |
429 |
Ducklings, feeding of, 435
Ducks, Aylesbury, 66, 429
breeds of, 66, 429
care and management of,
431 ff
feeding of, 433 ff
growing, standard for, 433
housing and yarding of, 432
Muscovy, origin of, 429
number of, in United States,
18
Pekin, for market, 429 ff
tunner as egg producers, 429
standard style of pack, 476
Duodenum, 312, 315
Dust wallow, need of, 283

Earuy maturity, 138, 165
relation of, to high pro-
duction, 165
Keonomie value of fancy points, 61
Ketoderm, description of, 182
Knee, analysis of the, 303, 304
appearance of fertile, 225
bound, 507
effect of feed on flavor of, 373
formation and fertilization of
86, 90
freak, 90 |
incubation, development of |
parts of, ISO
periods, 197
lime contents of, 302
packages, 486
position of during incubation,
215
production, 82
average, 147
forcing of, 398.
Lights.

)

INDEX

Egg, production, indications of,
148

structure of, 175
tester, 226

IXges, absorption of odors, 490
average price paid for, 22 ff
bacterial content of, 374, 489
candling of, 491
causes of dirty, 293, 491
demand for, 21 ff
as food, 21, 23
hatching, care of, 191

cooling, 208

disinfecting purchased,
196

resting after shipment,
195

selection of eggs for,
188

temperature for holding,
193

time of holding, 193
turning of, 194
during hatching
riod, 216
warming of, 195
washing of, 194
home preservation of, 501
imports of, 24
infertile, production of, 89
market, dececioration of, 487,

pe-

grades of, 491 ff
loss in, 487
where it occurs, 487
precautions which will
effect. improvement of,
486
preparation of, 463-479
moisture, loss of, during incu-
bation, 210
shrunken, cause of, 488
size of, 190
storage packed, 25, 492
weak or heated, 493
weight of, 190
embryo of chick, 180 ff
Iendoderm, 182
english class, origin and_ history
of, 80
Equipment of poultry house, 277
Kvaporation during incubation,
210
Eversion of the oviduct, 508

Exercise, importance of, in feeding,

378
Peal parasites, 512, 513

INDEX 535
Feeding, wet mash versus dry,
380 tt
Feeds, animal, 322, 341, 348, 347
3OL
classification of, 329 ff
digestibility of, 318 ff

TFancrpr, definition of a, 30
Fancy points, economic value,
Farm brooders, types of, 233 ff
poultry house, 237 ff
income, 20
keeping, x, advantages
39, 2: 9
Fasting before killing, 456
Fats, composition of, 305
uses of, 307
Fattening, 400 ff
crates for, 415, 416
pens, advantages of, 400
rations for, 403 ff
results of milk, 401 ff
use of tallow in, 404
Faverolles, 65
Feathers, e of, for market, 470
quotations on, 470
Fecundity, 142 ff
as affected by comfort, 157
inheritance of, 144 ff
object of breeding, 142
Feed, amount of, 366, 375, 379
combinations of, 322, 370 tf
concentrated, 323
consumed by different classes
of stock, 375, 379 ff
Teeding, amount and dupes: y of,
322, 366, 37 by,
apphances for, ai ff
basis of, 377
chicks, principles of, 382
ducklings, 433
exercise, necessity of, 378
for fattening, 299, 400 ff
hoppers, dry mash, 406 ff
objects of, 297
practice of, 377 ff
problem of, 378
production of growth, 298
of heat, 297
purpose of, 207, 372
regularity in, 378
shelf for, 282, 284, 407
trouchs for, 412
wet mash, 324, 374, 380 ff

of,

effects of cooking on, 324
on product, 373
mash const ‘tuents, « or 36
mineral, 353
palatability of, 324, 368
succulent, 348 ff
stimulating, 339
wetting of, 34 ff, 374, 38'
Peedstufts, curing of, effect on, 211,
325
effect of age on, 325
Felch’s Breeding System, 120
Fences, 291
Fertile egg, appearance of, 225, 493
Fertility, cessation of, 107
time required after
106
Finishing table poultry,
Fish scrap, 341
Iixtures for poultry house, 277 ff
Floor space in poultry house, 243,
263 ff
Floors, construction of, 266
Flour, low grade, 346
Follicle, 8
Forcing for egg production,
398
owl, cholera, 508
classification of, 474
composition of, 304
origin of domestic, 49
temperature of, 297
Frame picking, 461
Fresh air, importance of, :
Frosted wattles and combs,
Future, limiting factors of, 42

mating,

391, 400 ff

392 ff

ALL-BLADDER, 312
Gallus bankiva, 50
Gapes, 510

Gastric juice, use of,
Geese, advantages of,
Embde on, 435
feeding of, 439 ff
live, plucking of, 438

315,
455

536 INDEX

Geese, market demand for, 436 Hens, kind to set, 198
noodled, 440 management of setting, 199
number of, 18 physiological efficiency of lay-
selection of breeding, 438 ing, 318
‘Toulouse, 435 standard for feeding laying,
value of, 436 364
General farm versus intensive con- Hominy feed, 342
ditions, 41 Hopper, feed, 406
purpose breeds, classification grit, 411
of, 62 | supply, 405
Generalized production, 26 ff, 39 | Hot-air incubators, 204
reasons for, 39 Hot-water incubators, 204
Generative organs, 84 ff Houdans, 65
Geographical distribution of poul- House, care of, 293
try, 26 drafts in, 260
Germ, temperature of development ease of disinfection, 263
of, 181 ff essentials of good poultry,
Gizzard, location and function of, | 249 ff
314 evils of moisture in, 256
Gluten feed, 342 exposure of, 254
Glycogen, 305, 315 fixtures for, 277
Goose eggs, incubation of, 438 foundation for, 266
Goslings, feeding of, 440 lights in, 261
Grades of dressed poultry, 473 ff location of, 251
of market eggs, 491 ff size of, 263
Green cut bone, 354 types of, 283
feed, 348 ff ventilation of, 258
Grit, 355 walls and partitions of, 270
Growth, feeding for, 363, 382 ff warm versus fresh air in, 260
Guinea, 449 Housing ducks, 482
appearance of maleand female, effect of, on fertility of eggs,
450 260
breeding of, 450 necessity of, 249
feeding of, 450 pigeons, 446
incubation of eggs of, 450 unnatural conditions of, 249
number of females per male, Hover, description of, 233 ff
450 disinfecting of, 243
Gullet, location and use of, 313 portable, 233 ff
Hygrometer, 224
ine I
Hampunras, 62, 65 Iupaction of the crop, 244, 506
Hardening the chicks, 228 Impregnation, artificial, 171
Hatch, taking off the, 228 | influence of previous, 107
Hatcher, customs, 34 Improvement by selection, 133 ff
Hatching, pedigree, 124 Inbreeding, 11S ff
power, 139 ff Incubation, 175 ff
Hen as a food manufacturer, 45 Chinese and Heyptian method
versus Jersey Cow, efficiency of, 201
of, 318 cooling of eggs, 208
Hens, breaking up broody, 200 comparative reliability of nat-
feeding of breeding, 399 ural and artificial, 197

hatching with, 197 ff date of hatching, 217

INDEX 537
Incubation, history of, 200 J
natural, 198
normal moisture loss in, 210 Javas, 63

periods, 197
testing of eggs, 225
turning and cooling of ¢
194, 208, 216, 224
Incubators, 175 ff
best means of supplying mois-
ture, 210
crowding eggs into, 215
disinfection of, 221
efficiency of hens as, 197
first American, 203
hot-air, 204
hot-water, 204
humidity in, 210-224
insurance restrictions on, 229
kinds of, 204
leveling of, 221
mammoth, 204
management of, 220
moisture in, 210, 224
artificial, 211-224
place of operation, 205
position of thermometer in,

2008
ges,

208

preparation of, 220 ff

principles of operation of,
205

routine of management of,
220

size of, 204

starting of, 220 ff

taking off the hatch in, 228

temperature of, 205

value of, 203

ventilating of, 214
Indications of laying, 148 ff
Indigestion, 511

Indoor brooders, requirements of, |

233
Infectious entero-hepatitis, 425
Infertile eggs, advantages of, 94,
493, 501
Ingredients, size of, 368
Inheritance, 84 ff
of constitutional vigor, 135
of disease, 94
of high egg production, 142
Insecticides, 512, 513
Insemination, artificial, 171
Intensive conditions, 41, 46
Intestine, parts of, 315

| Junglefowl, description of, 50

IKKAFIR, 332
| Isillmg, knife for, 458
methods of, 57

| La Fuecue, 65
Langshan, 68
Layers, routine in feeding of, 392 ff
| Leg weakness, 511
Leghorns, 71 ff
history of, 71
Lettuce, 350
Lice, 512
Lights, 261, 357, 379, 393
Limberneck, 515
Line breeding, 118 ff
Linseed-oil meal, 346
Liquids, 357
Litter in poultry house, 293
Live poultry, average price of, 24
classification of, 473
Liver, enlargement of, 513
location and function of, 315
Longevity, 158
| Low-grade flour, 346

MatnTeNANcge Of health, 503
of life, 297 ff
Males, alternating, 170
eare of, 169
developing of breeding, 392
disposition of surplus, 172
number of females to, 169
Mammillary layer, 179
Mangel wurtzel, 350
Manure, preservation of, 295
value of, 295
Market eggs, classification of, 491 ff
infection in, 489
liquefaction, 488
preparation of, 486

538 INDEX

Market eggs, shrinkage in, 488 oO
Mash constituents, 336 ff ; :
Mating, time required for fertility Oars, 333

in egg, 106 sprouted, 351
Meat breeds, classification of, 61 ff Oil meal, linseed, 346
fresh, 343 Onions, 350
scrap, 343 Open front poultry house, 270

type, characteristics of, 139 Organic nutrients, 300
Mediterranean class, origin of, Organs, female reproductive, 84

70 male generative, 95
slaughter tests of, SO Orpingtons, 64, 80

Mesoderm, 182 Ovary, function of, 84 ff, 91 ff
Middlings, wheat, 345 location of, $4
Milk, butter, 357 number of ova, 85

skim, 357 | parts of, 86

whey, 359 Overcrowding, evils of, 248, 265
Millet, 333 Oviduct, description of, 85
Mineral constituents in feeding, location of, 85

353 ff Oyster shells, 356

Minorcas, 64, 71
Mites, 513

Moisture in incubation, 210-224 P
pan, 224
Molasses, 345 Packer defined, 36
Molt, 152 function and methods of, 36
feeding during, 398 Packing, methods of, 455 ff, 475
Mouth parts, use of, 311 | stencilling the box for, 477
Muscovy ducks, 66, 429 | Pancreas, location and function of,
| @14

Pancreatic juice, 314
Parasites, external, 512, 513
N Pasture of poultry, 349, 351
Pate de foi gras, 442
Pedigrecing, 123 ff

NestinG material, 198 Pekin ducks, 66, 429
Nests, care of, 198 ff Pen, size of, 265
construction and location of, Perches, construction and location
198, 270 of, 281
for hatching, 198 Periods of incubation, 197
trap, 123 Physiological efficiency of fowl, 318
Nutrients, 297 ff of reproduction, 84 ff
defined, 300 Piano-box house, 250
digestible, required per day, Picking, methods of, 460
362 ff Pigeon, best age for breeders, 443 ff
digestion and, 320 breeding of, 443 ff
from animal sources, 322 breeds of, 443
function of, 300 ff classes of, 443
mutual relation of, 306 feeding of, 447
Nature’s supply of, 306 houses for, 446
relation of, to production, 300 mating of, 443 ff
of vegetable source, 322 number of, 18
Nutrition of poultry, 297 ff squab breeding, 443 ff
Nutritive effect of a feed, 369 value of, 18

ratio defined, 326 _ Plans for houses, 271 ff

INDEX

Plymouth Rocks, 63, 75
breeding of barred vari-
ety, 114 ff
history of, 75 ff
Poisoning, 514, 515
Portable, colony house, 285
hover, 233
and soil fertility, 46
Poultry, average value of, 18

classification of, determining |

market, 473, 478
cooling and shipping dressed,
464
decomposition of drawn and
undrawn, 471
definition of, 17
early American,
farm consumption of, 21
farms, special, 32, 34
faults in dressed, 465
geographical distribution
26

27, 52

grading of, 109, 473
home consumption of, 21
income of ten best states,
21
incubation period of, 197
industry, 17 ff
magnitude of, 19
organization of, 28
limits of production of, 42
manufacturing efficiency of,

number of farms reporting on,
18
operations incident to dress-
ing, 456
origin of, 49
preparation of products for
market, 451 ff
preparing of, for market, 456
rank of states as to fowls kept,
27
singeing of, for market, 464, 479
statistics, 17, 18, 19, 21, 523 ff
tendency of the industry, 39 ff
in United States, 27
value of farm production, 27
Poults, care and feeding of, 425
Predetermining fertility and sex
190
Prepotency, mark of, 117
Preservation of eggs, 36, 501
Primitive streak, 180

539

Producer to consumer, route of
poultry products, 37
defined, 32
| Products, purpose of preparation,
455
seasonal distribution, 451 ff
| Protein defined, 302
function of, 302
Ptomain poisoning, 515
Pullets, developing of, 391
spaying of, 105
Pumpkins, 351
Pure bred defined, 57
sires, 109

Racks for cooling, 465
Range, advantages of, 41, 291
Rape, 351
Ration, balanced, 360
chick, 384 ff
composition of, 370
computing of, 365
cost of, 374
definition of, 360
digestibility of, 371
maintenance, 361
nutritive effect, 369
palatability of a, 368
requirements of a, 360 ff
typical laying, 396
tecord of eighteen farm flocks,
_ Rectum, location of, 316
Red Caps, 64
dog flour, 346
tegularity, importance of, in feed-
ing, 378
Reproduction, 84 ff, 175
physical basis of, 84
teproductive organs, S84 ff
female, 84
male, 91 ff
Respiratory system, 256
Rhode Island Reds, history and
origin of, 80
Rice, 334
Xoaster, definition of, 473 ff
styles of packing of, 476
Roofing materials, 275
| Roosters, classification of, 473
' Roosts, 281
| Rots, 499, 500

540

Rouen ducks, 66, 429
Roup, 515
Rye, 334

pasture, 351

SALT, 355
Scald picking, 460
Sealy leg, 517
Seratch feed, 396
Screenings, wheat, 336
Selection, purpose of, 133
Sex glands, 84 ff
description of, 8
function of, ot
Shade and shelter, necessity of, 251
Shanks, removing of, 8
Shed roof poultry house, 283 ff
Shell, formation of, 89, 175 ff
layers of, 176
membrane, 88, 176
construction of, 177
oyster, 356
Shorts, wheat, 346
Shrubbery, use of, 253
Skim mili, 357
Sick birds, care of, 503
Silage, 351
Singeing, method of, 479
Slips, classification of, 473, 474
Soil, 253
conservation of fertility of, 46
Spleen, 312
Spot eges, 499
Springs, classification of, 473
Sprouted oats, 351
Stags, classification of, 473,
Stained eges, 491
Standard bred defined, 59
pack, 470
of perfection, 57
Stencils, use of, 477
Sticking knife, 458
Stomach, glandular, location and
function of, 312, 315
Stove brooders, 234 ff
Straw loft, 275
String picking, 461
Stud breeding, 71
Succulent, feeds, ; 348
Sugar, 347
Sunflower seeds, 334

, 95

474

INDEX

Sunlight, importance of, 243, 260
Sunstroke, 518

Sussex, 64

TaPEWORMS, 521
Temperature for brooding, 233 ff
for incubation, 181, 205, 224
Tendons, pulling of, 481 ff
Testers, egg, 225
Toe picking, 248
punching for
161
Tolman house, 289
Tom, number of hens to one, 423
Transportation, facilities for, 45
Troughs, 406
Trussing, 485
Tuberculosis, 518
Turkeys, 67, 418 ff
blackhead, 425
Bronze, 67, 419
decline of raising, 18, 419
domestication of, 418
farm production of, 420
feeding of market, 428
infectious entero-hepatitis of,
425
nesting of, 424
number of, 18
of hens to tom, 423
round-up of, 421
selection of breeding, 422
White Holland, 67, 419
Turning eggs during incubation,
194, 216, 224
‘Turnips, 3
Type, breed, 54
egg, 158
of houses, 2 283
meat, 139
vigorous, 136

identification,

VARIETIES, pees 54 ff

Variety defined, {

Vegetable fee ds’ 322

Ventilating sy stem of a hover, 241

Ventilation in incubators, 214, 225
necessity of, 215, 258

INDEX 541

Ventilation systems, 217 Weight of eggs, 190, 491

Vigor, cause of lack of, 47, 135 ff Wet mash, 324, 380
importance of, 133 Wheat, 335

Vitality, importance of, 133 screenings, 336

Vitamins, 308 ff | Whey, 359

Vitelline membrane, 176, 177 White diarrhea, 94, 519

Windows, 268
Wishbone, taking out of, 480, 483
WwW Worms, 521
Wyandottes, 63, 75
Watts and partitions of poultry
house, 270
Warmth in poultry house construc- Y
tion, 260
Water glass for preserving eggs, Yarpina ducks, 452
Yards and fences, 291

heaters, 414 Yolk, formation of, 84 ff, 176
use of, in nutrition, 301 structure of, 175 ff :
Watering devices, 410 Young stock, growing of, 363,

Watery eggs, 495 382 ff

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