244
Proteins for Egg Production.
very similar for each period. The egg produc-
tion figures for Groups III and IV were fairly
comparable in all periods, except period 3 when
the production in Group IV fell on account of
moulting. Group III laid consistently better
than Groups I and II. Group IV also laid
better than Groups I and II in each period,
except period 3. The average egg production
figures for the 40 weeks were 74.4, 80.5, 117.7
and 105.2 for Groups I, II, III and IV respec-
tively.
Egg size. Table II gives the average egg size
of each Group for each period and the average
egg size for the whole experiment.
TABLE II
Average egg size (oz.)
Period
1. 10-7-42—6-8-42 .
2. 7-8-42—3-9-42 . .
3. 4-9-42—1-10-42
4. 2-10-42—29-10-42
5. 30-10-42—26-11-42 .
6. 27-11-42—24-12-42 .
7. 25-12-42—21-1-43 .
8. 22-1-43—18-2-43 .
9. 19-2-43—18-3-43 .
10. 19-3-43—15-4-43 .
Average—10-7-42—15-4-43
Group
I
1.68
1.81
1.88
1.94
2.00
2.06
2.13
2.15
2.09
2.02
2.00
II
1.72
1.81
1.84
1.95
1.98
2.04
2.12
2.12
2.10
2.05
1.98
III
1.79
1.90
1.91
2.02
2.10
2.14
2.17
2.19
2.19
2.18
2.06
IV
1.75
1.87
1.89
1.98
2.05
2.10
2.15
2.17
2.15
2.09
2.04
The average egg size increased steadily in all
groups during the first eight periods. There-
after the egg size in Group I, II and IV dec-
reased considerably until the end of the experi-
ment. Group III maintained its egg size better,
and there was only a slight reduction in period
10. The average egg size for Groups I and II
was consistently lower than in Groups III and
IV. The egg size in Group III was also con-
sistently slightly higher than in Group IV.
Food consumption. Table III gives details
of the average daily consumptions of mash,
grain, milk and meat offal, the total food con-
sumption per bird per day and the amount of
food consumed per pound of egg produced.
The average percentage of protein consumed by
each group over the whole period is also re-
corded.
TABLE III
Food consumption and utilization
Av. daily consumption of
mash per bird (oz.).
Av. daily consumption of
grain per bird (oz.)
Av. daily consumption of
milk per bird (oz.)
Av. daily consumption of
meat offal per bird (oz.)
Av. daily food consumption
per bird (oz.)*
Percentage protein .
Lb. food consumption per
lb. egg produced
Group
I
1.99
1.96
. .
. .
3.95
10.0
7.14
II
2.01
1.92
. .
. .
3.93
10.0
6.90
III
2.02
1.94
5.10
. .
4.45
12.90
5.14
IV
2.03
1. 9
. .
1.2
4.17
13.0
5.44
* Milk and meat offal included on a dry matter basis.
Over the whole period the average food con-
sumption per bird in Group III was appreciably
greater than that in the other groups. The
food consumption in Group IV was also greater
than that in Groups I and II. In Groups I and
II the average percentage of protein in the food
consumed was 10.0, whereas the corresponding
figures for Groups III and IV were 12.9 and
13.0. For every pound of food produced the
food consumption in pounds in Groups I-IV
were 7.14, 6.90, 5.14 and 5.44 respectively.
TABLE IV
Hatchability results
No. of eggs set . .
Percentage infertile .
Percentage dead germs to
fertile eggs
Percentage dead-in-shell to
fertile eggs
Percentage hatchability of
fertile eggs
Groups
I
525
12.0
12.6
8.6
78.8
II
445
13.3
8.0
9.3
82.7
III
715
14.7
7.5
7.6
84.9
IV
640
9.5
17.1
8.4
74.5