No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 297 



four weeks and should be able to liulcJi five to (>0() chickens pei- 

 month. If jou continue three months you ought to have at least 

 1,500 chicks to take care of. Then the question arises, ''How am I 

 to raise them." You can purchase what are called brooders and with 

 ;ni outlay of $50 to $75 you can erect a brooder plant, not including 

 the cost of the building, which can be governed by your own means. 



As to the make or style of incubator, all I can say is that the 

 market is full of them. All kinds and makes. We have what are 

 called the hot-air system and the hot-water system. Speaking 

 from experience I would advise the use of the hot-air system, be- 

 cause wdiere you have water to contend with you are always liable to 

 have a leak in your water tank. A man cannot expect to get large 

 returns from his poultry unless he prepares himself to raise and keep 

 them on a fairly large plan. If you have your poultry hatched then 

 look for a market and you will find that the dressed poultry in the 

 fall of the year commands you the best prices, providing you havb 

 first class stock. Your dressed poultry is all shipped dry picked 

 and in barrels or boxes. Of course you can ship alive if 3'ou care 

 to, but where a man has a family of young ladies and men, there is 

 no reason why he can't dress his own stock and gain what the other 

 fellow does who buys them alive. If your stock has been hatched 

 from February to May, you will have pullets that will make you 

 money when eggs are selling at an advanced price. Your male 

 stock can all be disposed of at the best season of the year, namely, 

 September and October, and you will find, if this plan is carried out, 

 that your poultry will make you a better return for the capital in- 

 vested than any industry on your farm. 



Two things to be remembered. First — Saise a breed that is in 

 demand, and that every one does not raise. Secondl}^ — Have your 

 pullets hatched so that they will be producing eggs w'hen the ma- 

 jority of the hens are standing around trying to keep from freezing 

 to death, and thinking to themselves, how they will lay the eggs after 

 Jack Frost has disappeared. Y^'our feeding must be such that will 

 produce the eggs. Give them plenty of green food, both vegetable 

 and animal matter, oyster shells, sand and grit, plenty of good grain 

 and fresh water and they will surprise you with their egg produc 

 tion. 



I must close, but before I do, I want to say a few words to you 

 as to the enemy of our fowls — King Disease. Keep your poultry 

 houses clean and fresh, w^ell limed and disinfected with any good 

 germicide; be not afraid of getting them too clean. Be sure there 

 are no cracks or dampness. Watch your flock and if you notice one 

 tkat does not want to eat, catch her and examine her and see if you 

 can discover the trouble. Often times it is lice and not disease that 

 is wrong. If you can't ascertain her trouble keep her by herself for 

 a week and wait for future developments, and if you finally give the 

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