Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1917-11-07

more cheaply and at a considerably
greater profit on the beef scrap RAJ
ton.
Fish meal at 81 a ton less than
beef scrap proved to be a good high
protein feed, which can be used to adj
vantage to replace beef scrap. The
fish meal did not in any way affect
the flavor or quality of the eggs.
General-purpose fowls allowed to
select their own mash constituents ate
a dry mash containing about GO per
cent corn meal, 10 per cent beef
scrap, 9 per cent bran, and 9 per
cent middlings. No better results
were obtained by this method of feed
ing than where the ground grains
were mixed together in a mash.
Good mashes, as indicated by these
experiments, may be made of sc per
cent corn meal, 26 per cent beef scrap
and per cent each of bran and MIDI
lings. No better results were obtain
ed by this method of feeding than
where the ground grains were mixed
together in a mash.
Good ,mashes, as indicated by these
experiments, may be made of sc per
cent corn meal, 26 per cent beef scrap
and a per cent each of bran and MIDI
lings, or two pounds of corn meal
and one pound each of bran, MIDI
lings, and beef scrap, with a scratch
feed in each ration of equal parts by
weight of cracked corn, wheat, and
oats, which is fed so that the hens
receive about equal parts of scratch
feed and of mash.
The Leghorns on free range gave
considerably greater egg yield than
those confined to a fair-sized yard.
This difference was less marked in
the general-purpose hens.
Sprouted oats fed as green feed to
hens confined to yards cost about 10
cents per hen a year and one cent per
dozen eggs, not including any charge
for labor and equipment. The hens
ate on an average in one year about
l.3 pounds of oyster shell and or of
a pound of grit, which together cost
about one cent per hen.
The Leghorns did not lay as we'll in
the winter as the general-purpos
breeds, especially during their second
year, but the Leghorns produced eggs
about three cents per dozen cheaper
during their first year, Ga cents
cheaper in their second year, and 9.8
cents cheaper in their third year than
general-purpose breeds. One pen of
Leghorn pullets produced eggs in
their first year at feed cost of 81
cents per dozen, while the value of
the eggs per hen for the year was
$3.4l over cost of feed.
The average weight of a dozen eggs
from the general-purpose fowls dur
ing their pullet year was 1.53 pounds,
1.60 during their second year, and
1.63 during their third laying year.
The eggs from the Leghorns averaged
1.45 pounds during their pullet year,
and 1.49 during their second and third
years.
The egg production of the general
purpose fowls decreased 80 per cent
in their second laying year. The de-
crease was considerably less in the
Leghorn, their two-year average egg
production exceeding that of the gem
eral purpose breeds by 10 eggs. The
decrease in production from the Sec
ond to the third year was only per
cent with the Leghorns, compared
with 13 per cent in the genera1-pur-
pose breeds.
The cheapest eggs are produced in
the spring-during April, May and
June-while the greatest cost occurs
in October, November, and December.
The lowest monthly feed cost of
dozen eggs in any Of these expert
ments was four cents, while in some
cases no eggs at all were produced
during the month.
IT. nj W.