228 



'Ihe Country Gentlemaii s Magazine 



morning meal, which consists of a mess of 

 meal mixed to the consistency of a stiff 

 dough, \y^ ounces being allowed to each 

 bird. This meal is continually varied, one 

 time oatmeal, another barley meal or Indian 

 Corn meal, or brank or buckweat meal, and a 

 small quantity of bran being mixed through 

 it ; this is thrown to them on some clean 

 spot, each fowl being allowed as much as it 

 will peck up greedily. Mid-day they get a 

 small allowance of boiled potatoes, parsnips, 

 carrots, or mangolds hot, with a little bran and 

 chandlers' graves or other stimulating sub- 

 stance mixed through it ; and at 4 o'clock, 

 beforn retiring to roost, they are supplied 

 with whole grain at the rate of i^ ounces 

 to each bird, a change in the variety given 

 being made twice-a-week. The cost of the 

 feeding I have des^.ribed throughout the year 

 averages \%^. to i^d. per week per bird, 

 taking the price of grain at id. per lb. — a 

 fair average price — and this feeding is found 

 to keep the stock in the highest possible state 

 of health and profit. Five or six broods of 

 chickens are hatched every March to replace 

 the hens killed off each autumn, and so a suc- 

 cession of young and profitable birds is being 

 continually kept up. A little dry mould or 

 earth is sprinkled twice a-week over the 

 droppings of the fowls in the hen-house, to 

 deodorise their excrement, fix the ammonia, 

 and keep the house sweet, and so render the 

 manure as valuable as possible, and obviate 

 the necessity of continually cleaning the 

 house. Two or three broods of chickens are 

 reared for market purposes during the 

 months of March, April, May, and June, 

 of either the -Houdan or Brahma 

 Dorking breed. The chickens are forced 

 on by liberal feeding and continual change 

 of food, so as to get them ready for market 

 as soon as possible. The chickens are 

 usually fit to kill at the age of eleven or 

 twelve weeks. During this three months 

 they are estimated to consume food to the 

 value of about is. 5d., besides what they 

 gather for themselves, at which age they weigh 

 from 4^ lb. to 5 lb., and realize 3s. 6d. each, 

 leaving a profit of about 2s. on each chicken. 

 The casualties that arise from the death of 



chickens are found to be very trifling. To 

 sum up the total receipts and expenditure of 

 this lot of fowls it will be found as 

 follows. On the debtor side we have — 



Dr. s. d. 



Cost of rearing and feeding 90 laying hens to 

 the age of nineteen months, at the rate of 

 l^d. per week for grown birds, and half 

 amount during chickenhood each 6 S 



Well, on the credit side we have— 



Cr. 



15 dozen eggs at an average price of is. per 

 dozen, i.e., Qd. in summer and i5d. in win- 

 ter, will realize 15 o 



Value of fowl when killed in the autumn at 

 4d. per lb — say ... 2 o 



17 o 



Now deduct the above cost for reaving and 

 keep during the nineteen months (6s. 8d.) 

 from the 17s., and we have a balance of los. 

 4d., a clear annual profit from each laying 

 hen, and as I shewed before a profit of 2s. in 

 three months from each chicken reared for 

 market, will thus give : — 



60 hens at los. 4d 



60 chickens reared for market. 



600 



£n o o 



POULTRY AS FARM STOCK. 



It will be asked upon what grounds fowls can 

 be supposed to realize a larger profit than 

 other anima,ls? The answer is a simple one. 

 In the first place fowls obtain at least one- 

 half their living at no cost whatever to their 

 owner upon what may be called waste food, 

 such as worms, slugs, flies, beetles, grubs, 

 grass seeds, waste corn, and vegetable food, 

 all of which they gather for themselves, at no 

 cost to their owner ; whereas cattle, sheep, 

 pigs, &c., depend wholly upon food purchased 

 or raised specially for their use. Again, the 

 average price realized in the carcase of beef 

 and mutton is only 4d. or 5d. per lb., whereas 

 the price of fowl meat is at least 9d. or lod., 

 although produced at a much less cost ; and, 

 again the profit realized by the eggs produced 

 in propoition to the food consumed is far 

 greater than that realized by producing meat. 



