14 THE BEGINNER IN POULTRY 



The production of day-old chicks has become tre- 

 mendous, and you who are new to the work are almost 

 sure to argue that in buying chicks you know exactly 

 what you are to get, while with eggs you buy only a 

 " chance." It is quite true that baby chicks can be 

 shipped safely for some hundreds of miles. But, as 

 long as white diarrhoea has the upper hand, they may 

 be looked upon as pretty much of a. gamble, if incuba- 

 tor-hatched. One firm said, in a letter in March, 1911, 

 " We expect to sell 50,000 this coming season" ; another 

 returned $4000 received for orders which it could not 

 fill. One seller says, concerning this method of getting 

 stock: "The buyer receives his chicks and sees what he 

 gets, and does not have to watch the old hen and can- 

 not come back on the seller and say eggs were infertile. 

 In this one way alone the chicks business is best." As 

 a discerning Beginner, however, you may notice that 

 here is no argument whatever for you ; that is, no argu- 

 ment for the actual value of the chicks. If they die 

 after receipt, well, you are a Beginner. Of course, it 

 is all your fault, and you " cannot come back at the 

 seller!" 



On the whole, though it is easiest, and requires less 

 initial investment, possibly, to buy chicks, it may be 

 safest and cheapest for you, in the end, to start with the 

 six hens, or ten, if you prefer. You may not get chicks 

 so early, by this method, nor can you have them all of 

 the same age, unless you can buy additional sitters and 

 set them all at once. But I do not know but you will be 

 more certain of reaching the autumn with a decent flock 

 of pullets to repay you for your trouble and expense. 

 Ten common hens will cost you $7.50 (if you are very 



