Two of them had perfectly
bare backs, and so ravenous were they for flesh and blood that they
began eating one another.
The inability of the chickens fed on a carbonaceous diet to throw out
new feathers and the ability of the chickens fed on a nitrogenous diet
to grow an enormous coat of feathers is a splendid illustration of the
effect of the composition of the food in supplying certain
requirements of animal growth. It was plain to see that maize, even
when assisted by a small amount of wheat and green clover, could not
supply sufficient nitrogen for the growth of feathers.
It will thus be seen that while both lots of hens lost weight during
the experiment, the loss was slightly greater with those fed
nitrogenous food, but these produced by far the most eggs.
The chickens fed on nitrogenous food just about doubled in weight,
while those fed carbonaceous food only added about one-third to their
weight.
PRODUCTION OF EGGS.
During the first week the carbonaceous fed hens laid three eggs while
the others laid two. The two groups were, therefore, practically
evenly divided at the start as to the condition of the laying stage.
At the end of the first period the nitrogenous fed hens had laid
forty-three eggs and the carbonaceous fed hens had laid twenty. During
the next twenty-five days the former laid thirty and the latter six;
during the third period the former laid six and the latter not any.
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