156 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



coming on, it will be known that the others are 

 likely to follow, with other flocks according to 

 age ; and arrangements can then be made in 

 good time for slaughter or sale if necessary. 



But anyone who can run a poultry-farm of 

 any kind ought certainly to aim at getting 

 products of some kind which shall find pur- 

 chasers at more than market rates, and in addi- 

 tion to these. Eggs or stock from really proved 

 layers always find more or less demand, and 

 can be sold with advertising and management ; 

 and if the birds are true to points, they will be 

 worth still more, even though no attempt be 

 made at exhibition standard. During recent 

 years quite a demand has grown 

 up for newly hatched chickens, sent 

 off within twenty-four or thirt_\--six 

 hours of being hatched in incubators, at which 

 age they travel better as a rule than later, when 



Special 

 Products. 



" There is no doubt that the business of 

 selling newly hatched chickens is greatly on 

 the increase in this country, and it is likely to 

 develop farther each year. The selling of set- 

 tings of eggs is so often unsatisfactory both to 

 the vendor and the purchaser. If a brood of 

 healthy chickens arrives safely at its destina- 

 tion, the purchaser sees at a glance that he has 

 what he ordered. 



" The chickens should be despatched as soon 

 as dry and strong enough to stand. Any not 

 strong on the leg are likely to be crushed by 

 the others, so it is necessary to pack in the 

 order in which they are hatched, as a few hours 

 makes a great difference in the strength of the 

 chick and its ability to stand and walk. The 

 number which will travel best together is 

 twelve ; fewer are not enough to keep each other 

 warm, and if more are packed together, some 



Fig. 71. 



-Shed and Wall SheUers at Sowerby Grange, Northallerton. Since this photograph was taken all pens have been 

 boarded round and the wall shelters dispensed with. {See Fig. 73, p. 159.) 



they have become dependent upon feeding. 

 The prices of such birds range from gs. to 42s. 

 per dozen, according to quality and date when 

 hatched, and as they are turned into money 

 with no further risk, when the stock is strong 

 and fertile they pay well. Experience shows 

 that a very large number of people are anxious 

 to purchase stock of this kind, partly as stock, 

 and partly, to all appearance, for the pleasure 

 of rearing them. The following remarks on 

 the despatch and management of such infant 

 chicks are supplied by Miss N. Edwards, of 

 Coaley Farm, near Dursley, who has worked 

 up a connection of this kind amounting to many 

 hundreds of chicks weekly in the spring, and 

 also in eggs and stock, at moderate prices, as 

 well as a limited number from exhibition stock. 



are likely to suffer. A box gi inches long, 

 6 inches wide, and 5 inches deep is the best size 

 for the dozen. Below the lid, at back and 

 front, half an inch of the wood should be taken 

 off, or a number of half-inch holes pierced, thus 

 allowing plenty of ventilation. 



" In packing, a warm round nest of ha}- is 

 made in the box, and a nice thick piece of 

 flannel is caught with tin-tacks at the four 

 corners of the box, low enough down to rest on 

 the backs of the chicks, and beneath the open- 

 ing made for ventilation. This covering 

 answers two purposes, (i) the chicks are more 

 comfortable with something resting on their 

 backs, and (2) should the box get overturned 

 in transit, the chicks do not come in contact 

 with the hard wood, as the covering is some 



