line runs the water pump, egg incuba- 

 tors, range, vacuum sweeper, refrigera- 

 tor, radio, electric washer and iron, and 

 a lot of. other gadgets. 



But to get back to the new "chicken 

 apartment house." It was built in 1929 

 at a cost of $2500. It holds 900 hens. 

 The whole structure is 60 feet long by 

 24 feet deep. There are 6 pens 24 feet 

 square each of which will comfortably 

 house 150 laying biddies. There are other 

 chicken houses on the place too. The 

 big laying house built in 1921 for in- 

 stance is 48 feet deep by 60 feet long. 

 It cost $1500 to build. Others preced- 

 ing the last two buildings were put up in 

 1909 and 1905 respectively. 



The history of the chicken houses 

 alone would be sufficient to show the de- 

 velopment of Stoutenberg's chicken busi- 

 ness. "We just sort of grew into the 

 chicken business," Gene said. "Then we 

 began to study things pretty carefully 

 and that's the way it has been. We sell 

 chicks all over the country. The new all 

 electric incubator is a Jamesway. So are 

 the older ones. Our incubators hold 20,000 

 eggs. We usually set 3300 at a time 

 twice a week. The older incubator is 

 heated with oil and it works about as 

 well as the electric one. The electricity 

 is more convenient though. Our month- 

 ly electric bill runs up to $30 and more. 

 A large part of the juice is used for the 

 incubators, pumping water, refrigerator, 

 range, lighting, chicken houses, feed 

 grinder, etc." 



Gene does a lot of custom hatching and 

 finds that his reputation as a chicken 

 man is nationwide. He has gone on 

 four or five poultry tours conducted by 

 the Illinois Ag. extension department 

 that took in a number of states. In 1932, 

 he went to New York on one. 



It takes a lot of study and care to 

 raise chickens successfully. Gene says. 

 Disease is a big trouble maker. Just now 

 Stoutenberg reports many losses from 

 "pickouts." a situation in which a hen 

 that is laying is picked and injured at a 

 vital spot by the other hens. Chicken 

 pox used to be bothersome, too. but 

 Stoutenberg thinks he's getting that 

 licked. He's vaccinating. Says he can 

 do about 700 in three or four hours. He 

 usually vaccinates the chicken on the 

 thigh. A few feathers are pulled out 

 and the virus is swabbed on. 



"Let Merle (the Stoutenberg's strap- 

 ping handsome son) show you around," 

 said Gene. "He runs the show now. I'm 

 trying to rest up a bit. We just arrived 

 home from a trip to Wyoming." 



In the pens, straw and saw dust are 

 used for scratch litter. Ground com 

 cobs are good too, but not for young 

 chicks. Fresh litter is put in every 

 few weeks. The Stoutenbergs know the 

 value of sanitation. 



As for egg production. Gene thinks 



LETS LOOK AT THE RECORD 

 It's a simple thing to keep an »gg record 

 like this. 



his best record was 6-7 years ago. He 

 had 1200 White Leghorns and averaged 

 168 eggs per hen that year. Now he has 

 300 White Rocks in addition to the 900 

 or more Leghorns and expects to in- 

 crease in a short time. 



HERE'S WHERE IT STARTED 

 The Stoutenbergs grew into the chicken 

 business. 



But don't get the idea that the Stou- 

 tenbergs are poultry producers exclusive- 

 ly. High crop yields are always sought. 

 Corn, soy beans and wheat on a three 

 year crop rotation plan are relied on for 

 feed. There is a lot of sweet clover too, 

 that is sown with the wheat and plowed 



under in the Spring for corn. Merle 

 showed us a beautiful lot of white-faced 

 steers averaging better than a thousand 

 pounds. They'll bring a bunch of money 

 when they go to the P*roducers. 



And now let Stoutenberg tell you his 

 experience with a picket silo that should 

 interest tenant farmers. You buy the 

 material all ready for use. The pickets 

 come wired together in rolls. You can 

 make the silo as wide (or as narrow) 

 and as high as you like. There's a 

 knack to fastening them just right, but 

 it's not difficult. The inside of the picket 

 silo is lined with tarred building paper. 

 "For a 12 foot silo my investment wasn't 

 over $20," Gene said. "Our silo kept si- 

 lage as good as any I've ever seen, and 

 the pickets are as good as new at the end 

 of the season. All that's needed is some 

 more paper." 



The pickets he mentions are 4 feet 

 long. Gene doesn't build any higher than 

 4 or 5 tiers. When he was making it 

 he drew in each layer to mesh with the 

 one below it. 



Besides being good farmers and highly 

 successful poultry men, the Stoutenbergs 

 are co-operators. L. E. is a charter 

 member of the Clay County Farm Bu- 

 reau. He holds a charter policy in Coun- 

 try Life Insurance Company. His auto- 

 mobile and trucks are insured in the 

 Farm Bureau company. He use» 

 Service Company products and when 

 he ships livestock and grain, he 

 ships it co-operatively. There's co- 

 operation all along the line on the 

 Stoutenberg farm. Merle and his pretty 

 young wife, Thelma, have the big incuba- 

 tors in the basement of their modern 

 brick cottage which they recently moved 

 into. They're energetic young folks — 

 fond of each other and and you dont 

 blame them. Mrs. Gene Stoutenberg is 

 a fine motherly woman — a real tielp 

 mate. You feel that she has had a lot to 

 do with her husband's success. 



But more than likely, you'll remember 

 Gene Stoutenberg and his family more 

 for the game fight they made against 

 conditions that would have downed an- 

 other with less determination. When 

 he found his land run down among the 

 worst in the county, he set out to make 

 it better. When he went into the poul- 

 try end, he studied and experimented 

 and absorbed all the poultry knowledge 

 he could lay his hands on. So you see, 

 the story of the Stoutenbergs is notable 

 because it has all the elements that make 

 drama. They overcame handicaps to 

 reach the heights of their profession. 



PLENTY OF FRESH WATER 

 It's piped to all the pens and heated 



cold 



athe 



Ray Menning, of .\ppleton, Wis., for- 

 merly in charge of retail sales for Bell- 

 view Dairy, Philipsburg, N. J., is now 

 manager of the Jacksonville, (111.) Pro- 

 ducers Dairy. 



20 



I. A. A. RECORD 



