Evening star., 1919-09-21
CARING FOR THE HOME FLOCK
BY H. w. RICKEY,
Poultry Specialist. Marylaad state College.

What does it cost to raise young
chickens? is one of the questions
often asked. but which Is not easily
answered, because of the various con-
ditions under which the chickens are
grown
For example, those raised in con-
f1nement require more grain and grain
products at a correspondingly greater
cost than is required by those on
-ange. The cost also varies with the
chickens kept in confinement accord
ing to the type and vigor of the birds
and to the amounts of unmarketable
waste food materials available. 1t is
self-evident that it costs a large
family, with few chickens, having
considerable waste from the table
less money than a small family. with
the same number or more and having
less waste to feed.
AS to the chickens on range. the
character of the range determines to
an appreciable extent the amount of
food that must otherwise be fur
nished. One that supplies an abun-
dance of waste grain, seeds, bugs and
worms and succulent green feed re-
dLceS the cost of feeding. In many
cases after the wheat is harvested
there are quantities of shattered
grain scattered about in the fields
which. with the insect life present,
furnish about all the feed required by
the chickens on the farm for several
weeks.
For those, however, who are fortu-
nate enough to have such a supply of
waste feed, I would suggest the use
OF additional feeds of different kinds
IN small quantities for the sake of
variety 1t has been shown by eX-
pertinent that it is possible to feed
too much wheat to young stock and.
according to DR.. McCollum of Johns
Hopkins University, who has been
making the experiments. where wheat
made up an unusually large part of
the diet of matured females. the Off
spring OF such females were of low
notwithstanding the presence of GER
tain poisonous properties which have
not yet been isolated, but are known
10 De in the germ of the wheat The
tests. however, were not made on
Chickens, but on cows. pigs and rats.
The variation in the prices of food
stuns Is also one of the determining
factors to be considered in calculat-
ing the cost of feeding. If we know
the contents of the feed mixtures and
can keep track ofthe amounts of the
mixtures fed we can compute the cost
of feeding for any given period At
present the prices of poultry feeds
are nearly double those of FIVE years
ago. but this should not in any way
interfere with the raising of chickens
as their value has increased in pro-
portion.
During the vaa rS 1917 nd 1910 Drof
A. G. Phillips of Purdue University
experimental with several focks of
Plymouth Rock chickens in order to
determine the cost of raising them
when kept under natural conditions
on grass range. All the chicks 200
In the first test and ESQ in the second.
were brooded in a house ten feet long
by twelve feet deep until they were
ten weeks old. When the cockerels
were taken away and put in another
house the range for each flock con-
sisted of two yards $50 feet by $50
feet. well shaded by young fruit
trees. Oats and rye planted in the
yards furnished green pasture. Only
strong. vigorous c><ckena were used
IN the test. The cockerels and the
pullets were fed the same food mix
lures, which comprised a scratch mix
ture OF hard grains. consisting of
cracked corn, wheat and steel cut oats
corn
meal ground oats and meat scrap. In
addition to these mixtures a plenti-
1ui supply of succulent green food,
consisting of sprouted oats and clo-
yer SOD bone meal. charcoal and skim
mix, was used. During a growing
period of twenty-eight weeks it was
found that each pullet ate an average
of thirty pounds Of feed. including
about two parts of scratch feed to
one OF the mash. and drank thirty
seven pounds of skim milk Estimat-
ing the cost Of grain feed at cents
a pound and the cost Of skim milk at
] cent. we find the total cost of feed
i, Ing the growing pu1lets to be $1.57
Cockerels were raised to broiler size
weighing two pounds each, with a
food consumption of Sc pounds OF
grain and S-5 pounds of skim milk
the total cost of. which would at the
present time amount to 81 cents.
To produce nine-and -one half
pound capon it required during the
forty-one weeks feeding sixty-seven
pounds of grain and seventy-nYne
pounds OF skim milk; calculating as
above 1t costs to grow such a fowl
$3.47.
Another interesting fact deyeloped
IN connection with the test. 1t was
round that the cockerels and capons
maintained the same weights for the
first six weeks. both gaining more
rapidly in weight than the puIlets.
but the cockerels made somewhat
greater gains than the capons at less
cost per pound for feed.
We mus. bear in mind. however,
when discussing this subject. that
the feed cost is not the only cost to
: be considered. The cost of the eggs
for incubation. the cost Of fuel. de-
probation of incubator, interest on
investment, insurance and labor re-
quired for the care of the incubator
or the cost of day-old chicks, must
all be charged up against the grow
ing chickens. In 1917 it was esti-
mated that the cost of incubator per
egg was Is cents. 1t is now about
IL cents. Eggs suitable for hatch
ing could be purchased last spring
for cents during the early part of
the season, and, as it usually requires
two eggs to produce one strong,
healthy chick, the cost per chick was
IL cents, plus cents the cost of in
cubating two eggs, plus the cost or
value of the labor needed to care
for the chickens. which. by the way.
is an extremely difficult thing to esti-
mate as the work is usually done at
odd times and often in connection
with other duties. For a small flock
of forty chicks twenty minutes Is