398 AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION 



CHAPTER II. 



A BACK YARD FLOCK. 



There are interesting possibilities connected with keeping 

 a breeding pen in the back yard, or, if the back yard is big 

 enough, keeping two breeding pens or perhaps more. Limited 

 room is no bar to success if the poultry keeper does his part. 

 The smaller the area to be devoted to a flock of fowls, the 

 more care that flock needs, for the things that the fowls 

 could do for themselves if they had a wide range must be 

 done for them by the owner when they are confined within 

 narrow limits. Naturally, none but standard-bred flocks 

 should be kept, for these not only can be made profitable 

 for eggs and meat, but there may be an added profit from 

 the sale of eggs for hatching and stock for breeding and exhi- 

 bition, if the breeder has the inclination and ability to breed 

 high class stock. Some of the winners in our largest shows 

 are from flocks that are kept in back yards, where there is 

 room for only a small house and a small yard. If it happens 

 that an owner can place his chicks on a farm where they will 

 receive good care and where they can have the advantage of 

 free range during their growth, he can raise more chicks, and 

 in many cases better chicks, than if obliged to do all the rearing 

 in his small back yard. 



Advantages Poultry Keeping Brings Health. Back yard 

 poultry keeping is not only capable of making good profits, 

 but it offers recreation of the most healthful kind. Many a 

 man or woman has found improved health by spending, every 

 day, the time needed to care for one of these small flocks, be- 

 cause in doing so that man or woman was compelled to take 

 outdoor exercise. 



The boys and girls can frequently be interested in the back 

 yard flock and thereby be induced to spend more time at home 

 in a useful pursuit than they otherwise would. Instances are 

 known where boys and girls have made the profit from a small 

 flock the nucleus of a splendid bank account, which afforded 

 them the means of obtaining an advanced education or a start 

 in business life. 



Feeding. The back yard poultry breeder has one decided 

 advantage. He has enough table and kitchen waste to make up 

 perhaps half the ration for his flock, which reduces the cost of 

 feeding his fowls and adds to his profits. These table and 



