1 8 THE BEGINNER IN POULTRY 



develop, so that, if not hatched till May, you cannot 

 depend on them to give much yield of eggs before 

 November or December. 



I have purposely taken you through this maze of 

 figures and possibilities, in order that you may see how 

 many chances there are for you to make irreparable 

 errors during the first season, and how necessary it is 

 for you to study the chicks, the chances, the pitfalls, 

 etc. It is almost equal to Greek, but far more interest- 

 ing and profitable, provided only that you can be de- 

 pended on. 



The matter of beginning in a large way with incuba- 

 tors, which demand eggs in lots of fifty and upward, 

 I think best not to consider favorably at all. The chief 

 reason is that, if you are a genuine Beginner, you have 

 not been tested, and, until this is at least partially done, 

 it is decidedly better not to incur large risks. Opera- 

 tions on incubator scale, continued throughout the 

 spring and earlier summer seasons, demand a consider- 

 able investment; as there must be brooders, weaning 

 coops, feed for large numbers, and housing for the 

 winter stock. All of this investment must be made 

 within the first seven months. The chances are great 

 that, if you should begin in this way, you would meet 

 with so much discouragement and loss that your ma- 

 chines, coops, etc., would be for sale within a year or 

 two. You could not get half price for them even 

 though "little used," as there is very little call for 

 second-hand poultry supplies ; all but Beginners acraze 

 over poultry know better than to buy them. And most 

 Beginners will prefer to start on a smaller, safer basis. 

 Besides, everybody is suspicious of the enthusiast who 



