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Sour-Skim Milk Experiment with Baby Chicks
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of North Dakota on May 20, 2015
unlearn than an active farmer or poultry- ialty of poultry, but we must look to the man. Therefore, it seems to me that younger generation for most of the success money and energy spent in encouraging and in this branch of farming, and most busiteaching the younger farm boys would ness men's associations can well afford to bring a richer harvest in ten years than the respond liberally to an appeal for co-operation in this type of work. same amount spent with any other class. The Poultry Department of the New Boys and girls, winning the eggs, were York State College of Agriculture has been asked to make reports as soon as they were endeavoring to encourage the growing of hatched, also when the chickens were four, poultry by boys and girls in New York eight and twelve weeks old, and they were State, and especially in the counties of also encouraged to write letters to the ColChemung and Tompkins, and plans are be- lege or the Farm Bureau. Then, at the ing made to extend the work to other coun- Fall Fairs, the Fair Associations have arties next year. ranged to give them a large number of Realizing that the larger the number of prizes, amounting to several hundred dolpersons and organizations interested, the lars. The enthusiasm and results shown by greater the success of such an enterprise, the boys and girls are far beyond our exwe have been able to secure the co-opera- pectations, although some failed to hatch tion of the city Business Men's Associa- any and a few did not send in their retions, County School Superintendents, ports ; yet over eighty per cent, of those reGranges, County Fair Associations, County porting hatched from eight to thirteen Farm Bureaus, and many prominent breed- chicks, and we feel that the many small ers. Two of our extension men spent sev- flocks of thoroughbred poultry, that are eral weeks last spring with portable lan- producing uniform, high-grade products, terns, giving illustrated lectures in the which are owned personally by bright farm schools, arrangements having been made to boys and girls, will do more toward driving bring several schools together. The teach- the mongrel hen from the farms than will ers were then furnished with a list of sim- the same amount of effort aimed directly at ple questions for examination and those the mature farmer or poultryman himself, passing were each given a setting of choice and will go a long way toward encouraging eggs. These were furnished free by local boys and girls to "stick to the farm." W. G. KRUM. breeders, Business Men's Associations, and the College. In Tompkins County two hundred and sixty settings were furnished, the Business Men's Association donating one SOUR-SKIM MILK EXPERIMENT hundred and forty dollars; while in Chemung County, four hundred and twenty WITH BABY CHICKS. settings were supplied, the Elmira Business Up until the last few years on many Men's Association raising four hundred farms the skim-milk which has accumudollars to purchase eggs for hatching and lated after the separation of the cream has to pay one-half of all the expenses of the been more or less wasted, as its great value campaign, the balance of the expense being for the purpose of feeding poultry and paid from extension funds. farm animals was not realized. Within the The question naturally arises, Why should last two years the question has been raised a city business men's association donate by poultry raisers as to its value for the hundreds of dollars to an enterprise of this feeding of growing chicks. In order to denature, and how can they expect any re- termine what effect the feeding of sour turns? It is the custom of nearly all busi- skim-milk as a supplementary food might ness men's associations to donate funds to have on baby chicks, a series of experipurchase, or help to purchase, lands for the ments were performed last spring. The erection of new manufacturing industries, chicks used were the Single Comb White which is a good business policy, as a large Leghorns, as this particular breed is one of part of the money paid in wages to the em- greatest economic importance in the State ployees will eventually pass through the of New Jersey, and one which is raised i a hands of the local merchants. There are, larger numbers than any other in this secaround every small city, hundreds of indus- tion where eggs are produced primarily for tries already established, producing the the_ New York market. The chicks were food stuffs for the people, and a large part divided into ten flocks of forty-two birds of the business of merchants is dependent each. All flocks were fed the same grain upon the prosperity of the rural districts, and mash rations, and in every way were which prosperity can only come by the abil- managed and cared for in similar manner. ity of the farmers to produce crops that _ Four flocks of chicks received, in addiwill give them sufficient profits to live in tion to those rations, free access to skimcomfort and be able to "stick to the farm." milk soured in the natural way, that is, Many farms now run at a loss or producing by keeping the milk in a warm place and only a small profit, could be made to sup- allowing the natural souring organisms in port a family in plenty by making a spec- it to sour it. Four other pens in addition. 39
3. The chicks receiving the sour skimmilk consumed a larger amount of mash, and on the average more grain. Accurate record was kept of the dry mash consumption of each flock as well as the total amount _ of grain fed daily to each flock. Comparison of tables indicated that the above statement was true. 4. The access to sour skim-milk apparently increased their appetite and consequently their consumption of other food, together with the power to use greater amounts of other foods. This increased consumption of dry mash and grain was the cause, very probably, of the increased weight; such would be naturally expected. 5. The chicks that did not receive any sour skim-milk did not make as uniform gains as those receiving i t The unevenness and lack of uniformity in size and quality of the two pens not receiving the milk was very pronounced at the close of the nine weeks' period. 6. The sour skim-milk fed chicks appeared brighter and healthier than the others throughout the period. The milk seemed to give the chicks a good start durmg the first two or three days out of the incubator, which was undoubtedly the reason why those flocks continued to make very satisfactory growths over the others. The rate of growth is usually measured by the kind of start that the chicks get during the first few days. 7. There was little if any apparent difference between the chicks having the naturally sour skim-milk and those having skim-milk soured by the Bulgalactine tablets. The weights and conditions of these eight flocks check almost exactly throughout the period. 8. The Bulgalactine skim-milk seemed to form a very solid curd which was a little more difficult for the chicks to get at. 9. The boiling and preparation of the latter took considerable time for which there seemed to be no advantage. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS. 10. There was lower mortality in the After watching the several pens very milk fed pens. Some of the chicks in these closely day by day, and after considering pens did not appear t.o be very strong when the weights and all data taken throughout taken from the incubator. They seemed to the experiment, several conclusions were pick up and grow along with the rest of made which are very interesting. the chicks, whereas some of the weak chicks 1. Sour skim-milk appeared to be a in the other pen did not survive. very palatable food for baby chicks. The A.s will be realized on consideration of chicks in each pen receiving either kind of this report the above statements have sour skim-milk ate considerable of it, and been reached upon the consideration of appeared to be very fond of it, as they one spring's work only. This work then flocked about the milk fountain after it was can be considered a nreliminary report. filled in the morning. Further experimental work along the same 2. The sour skim-milk formed a com- line has been planned for the future. No paratively cheap source of easily available attempt was made to determine the effect protein. The increased rate of growth of the acid of the milk upon the disease made by the milk fed chicks over the non- germs, particularly white diarrhoea. The milk f ed_ chicks would indicate that they whole object of the experiment was to conhad received a larger amount of protein sider sour skim-milk from the nutritive food. standpoint. WILLARD C. THOMPSON.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of North Dakota on May 20, 2015
to the regular rations were allowed access to skim-milk soured by the use of Bulgalactine tablets, such as are put on the market in the commercial form. These are from a preparation prepared by Metchnikoff. They contain the Bulgaricus organisms which produce an acid in milk of from 3 to 4 percent. The remaining two flocks were not .given any supplemental milk of any kind. This, in a nut shell, is the outline of the experiment as carried on. It will be noticed that several flocks were fed alike in order to get checks on the effects of each system of feeding. From the nutritive standpoint the sourmilk is much easier to digest particularly by the baby chick. Its digestive system is probably not fully developed during the first few weeks of its life. The very nature of the milk being protein also would indicate that it might be a valuable form of food for the chick. The preparation of the skim-milk soured by the Bulgalactine tablets required considerable work, as the skim-milk had to be boiled and cooled to 103 degrees F before the tablets could be introduced. Then it was necessary to keep the milk at approximately the same temperature for 36 hours at least, before it curdled. Both kinds of sour milk were fed in common vaccum water_ fountains, which were kept in good, running condition, and perfectly clean at all times. In this way all flocks were supplied with unlimited amount of this milk. The chicks were weighed at the end of each week up until the close of the ninth week. At the end of the ninth week the cockerels weighing over one pound were marketed as broilers, and the pullets were placed upon the range for the remainder of the summer. No particular attention was paid to the feeding of sour skim-milk to birds beyond the ninth week, as the whole object of the experiment was to test the value of skim-milk during the baby chick period.
unlearn than an active farmer or poultry- ialty of poultry, but we must look to the man. Therefore, it seems to me that younger generation for most of the success money and energy spent in encouraging and in this branch of farming, and most busiteaching the younger farm boys would ness men's associations can well afford to bring a richer harvest in ten years than the respond liberally to an appeal for co-operation in this type of work. same amount spent with any other class. The Poultry Department of the New Boys and girls, winning the eggs, were York State College of Agriculture has been asked to make reports as soon as they were endeavoring to encourage the growing of hatched, also when the chickens were four, poultry by boys and girls in New York eight and twelve weeks old, and they were State, and especially in the counties of also encouraged to write letters to the ColChemung and Tompkins, and plans are be- lege or the Farm Bureau. Then, at the ing made to extend the work to other coun- Fall Fairs, the Fair Associations have arties next year. ranged to give them a large number of Realizing that the larger the number of prizes, amounting to several hundred dolpersons and organizations interested, the lars. The enthusiasm and results shown by greater the success of such an enterprise, the boys and girls are far beyond our exwe have been able to secure the co-opera- pectations, although some failed to hatch tion of the city Business Men's Associa- any and a few did not send in their retions, County School Superintendents, ports ; yet over eighty per cent, of those reGranges, County Fair Associations, County porting hatched from eight to thirteen Farm Bureaus, and many prominent breed- chicks, and we feel that the many small ers. Two of our extension men spent sev- flocks of thoroughbred poultry, that are eral weeks last spring with portable lan- producing uniform, high-grade products, terns, giving illustrated lectures in the which are owned personally by bright farm schools, arrangements having been made to boys and girls, will do more toward driving bring several schools together. The teach- the mongrel hen from the farms than will ers were then furnished with a list of sim- the same amount of effort aimed directly at ple questions for examination and those the mature farmer or poultryman himself, passing were each given a setting of choice and will go a long way toward encouraging eggs. These were furnished free by local boys and girls to "stick to the farm." W. G. KRUM. breeders, Business Men's Associations, and the College. In Tompkins County two hundred and sixty settings were furnished, the Business Men's Association donating one SOUR-SKIM MILK EXPERIMENT hundred and forty dollars; while in Chemung County, four hundred and twenty WITH BABY CHICKS. settings were supplied, the Elmira Business Up until the last few years on many Men's Association raising four hundred farms the skim-milk which has accumudollars to purchase eggs for hatching and lated after the separation of the cream has to pay one-half of all the expenses of the been more or less wasted, as its great value campaign, the balance of the expense being for the purpose of feeding poultry and paid from extension funds. farm animals was not realized. Within the The question naturally arises, Why should last two years the question has been raised a city business men's association donate by poultry raisers as to its value for the hundreds of dollars to an enterprise of this feeding of growing chicks. In order to denature, and how can they expect any re- termine what effect the feeding of sour turns? It is the custom of nearly all busi- skim-milk as a supplementary food might ness men's associations to donate funds to have on baby chicks, a series of experipurchase, or help to purchase, lands for the ments were performed last spring. The erection of new manufacturing industries, chicks used were the Single Comb White which is a good business policy, as a large Leghorns, as this particular breed is one of part of the money paid in wages to the em- greatest economic importance in the State ployees will eventually pass through the of New Jersey, and one which is raised i a hands of the local merchants. There are, larger numbers than any other in this secaround every small city, hundreds of indus- tion where eggs are produced primarily for tries already established, producing the the_ New York market. The chicks were food stuffs for the people, and a large part divided into ten flocks of forty-two birds of the business of merchants is dependent each. All flocks were fed the same grain upon the prosperity of the rural districts, and mash rations, and in every way were which prosperity can only come by the abil- managed and cared for in similar manner. ity of the farmers to produce crops that _ Four flocks of chicks received, in addiwill give them sufficient profits to live in tion to those rations, free access to skimcomfort and be able to "stick to the farm." milk soured in the natural way, that is, Many farms now run at a loss or producing by keeping the milk in a warm place and only a small profit, could be made to sup- allowing the natural souring organisms in port a family in plenty by making a spec- it to sour it. Four other pens in addition. 39
3. The chicks receiving the sour skimmilk consumed a larger amount of mash, and on the average more grain. Accurate record was kept of the dry mash consumption of each flock as well as the total amount _ of grain fed daily to each flock. Comparison of tables indicated that the above statement was true. 4. The access to sour skim-milk apparently increased their appetite and consequently their consumption of other food, together with the power to use greater amounts of other foods. This increased consumption of dry mash and grain was the cause, very probably, of the increased weight; such would be naturally expected. 5. The chicks that did not receive any sour skim-milk did not make as uniform gains as those receiving i t The unevenness and lack of uniformity in size and quality of the two pens not receiving the milk was very pronounced at the close of the nine weeks' period. 6. The sour skim-milk fed chicks appeared brighter and healthier than the others throughout the period. The milk seemed to give the chicks a good start durmg the first two or three days out of the incubator, which was undoubtedly the reason why those flocks continued to make very satisfactory growths over the others. The rate of growth is usually measured by the kind of start that the chicks get during the first few days. 7. There was little if any apparent difference between the chicks having the naturally sour skim-milk and those having skim-milk soured by the Bulgalactine tablets. The weights and conditions of these eight flocks check almost exactly throughout the period. 8. The Bulgalactine skim-milk seemed to form a very solid curd which was a little more difficult for the chicks to get at. 9. The boiling and preparation of the latter took considerable time for which there seemed to be no advantage. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS. 10. There was lower mortality in the After watching the several pens very milk fed pens. Some of the chicks in these closely day by day, and after considering pens did not appear t.o be very strong when the weights and all data taken throughout taken from the incubator. They seemed to the experiment, several conclusions were pick up and grow along with the rest of made which are very interesting. the chicks, whereas some of the weak chicks 1. Sour skim-milk appeared to be a in the other pen did not survive. very palatable food for baby chicks. The A.s will be realized on consideration of chicks in each pen receiving either kind of this report the above statements have sour skim-milk ate considerable of it, and been reached upon the consideration of appeared to be very fond of it, as they one spring's work only. This work then flocked about the milk fountain after it was can be considered a nreliminary report. filled in the morning. Further experimental work along the same 2. The sour skim-milk formed a com- line has been planned for the future. No paratively cheap source of easily available attempt was made to determine the effect protein. The increased rate of growth of the acid of the milk upon the disease made by the milk fed chicks over the non- germs, particularly white diarrhoea. The milk f ed_ chicks would indicate that they whole object of the experiment was to conhad received a larger amount of protein sider sour skim-milk from the nutritive food. standpoint. WILLARD C. THOMPSON.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of North Dakota on May 20, 2015
to the regular rations were allowed access to skim-milk soured by the use of Bulgalactine tablets, such as are put on the market in the commercial form. These are from a preparation prepared by Metchnikoff. They contain the Bulgaricus organisms which produce an acid in milk of from 3 to 4 percent. The remaining two flocks were not .given any supplemental milk of any kind. This, in a nut shell, is the outline of the experiment as carried on. It will be noticed that several flocks were fed alike in order to get checks on the effects of each system of feeding. From the nutritive standpoint the sourmilk is much easier to digest particularly by the baby chick. Its digestive system is probably not fully developed during the first few weeks of its life. The very nature of the milk being protein also would indicate that it might be a valuable form of food for the chick. The preparation of the skim-milk soured by the Bulgalactine tablets required considerable work, as the skim-milk had to be boiled and cooled to 103 degrees F before the tablets could be introduced. Then it was necessary to keep the milk at approximately the same temperature for 36 hours at least, before it curdled. Both kinds of sour milk were fed in common vaccum water_ fountains, which were kept in good, running condition, and perfectly clean at all times. In this way all flocks were supplied with unlimited amount of this milk. The chicks were weighed at the end of each week up until the close of the ninth week. At the end of the ninth week the cockerels weighing over one pound were marketed as broilers, and the pullets were placed upon the range for the remainder of the summer. No particular attention was paid to the feeding of sour skim-milk to birds beyond the ninth week, as the whole object of the experiment was to test the value of skim-milk during the baby chick period.