The Utilization of the Proteins of Corn by Hens

Brown1 in 1904 tabulated the existing data on digestion trials with poultry and pointed out the difficulties to be encountered in arriving at digestion coefficients with fowls. Chief among these difficulties is that the urine and feces are excreted together. Various means have been employed to overcome this obstacle to a direct determination. Brown1, and Bartlett2, used a collection bag, while Fields and Ford3 collected the excrement in removable trays in the bottom of wire cages. Kalugin4 used large wooden cages lined with oil cloth in his work. On the other hand Lebmann5, Paraschtschuk6, Kossa7, Völtz and Yakuwa8 and Szalagyl and Kriwuscha9, established a preternatural anus to permit the separate collection of the urine and feces. More recently Katayama10 subjected the above method to a critical study. He concluded that the digestibility of feeds can be obtained from the excrement of normal hens by applying factors to the various fractions . . .