10 



HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARMERS' MONTHLY 



WHO'S WHO WITH POULTRY 



Twentyone Hampshire County Flocks 

 above 100 eggs standard 



Twenty-one of the forty-two Hamp- 

 shire County poultry flocks in the egg 

 laying contest have exceeded the 160 egg 

 per year standard set up when the con- 

 test began in November. This produc- 

 tion standard calls for the following 

 number of eggs per bird each month: 

 November 8; December 10; January 10; 

 February 12; a total of 40 eggs per bird 

 in these four months. 



The table below gives a list of all of 

 the poultrymen in the contest who's flocks 

 have exceeded this standard of produc- 

 tion. 



^ x 

 ^ 3 



F 

 F 

 S 

 P 



s 

 p 



./,D5 



H3^ 



66.0 

 64.7 

 60.7 

 59.a 

 55.0 

 54.2 

 53.5 

 53.1 

 53.0 

 50.1 

 49.9 

 46.9 

 46.6 

 46.2 

 46.2 

 43.9 

 43.9 

 42.8 

 42.6 

 42.5 

 41.4 



1. S. F. Thomas, Amherst 



2. Mrs. J. R. Gould, Bel'town 



3. Mis.s M. Moody, Amherst 



4. H. C. Booth, Bel'town 



5. A. H. Ballou, Ware 



6. F. D. Steele, Cummington 



7. E. S. Schoonmaker, Amher.st F 



8. G. E. Scott, Belchertown P 



9. C. P. Otis, Williamsburg F 



10. Hillside School, Greenwich P 



11. H. T. Newhall, Amherst F 



12. S. G. Waite, Southampton F 



13. P. L. Wheelock, Amherst S 



14. W. H. Nietsche, Will'burg S 



15. Ellis Clark, William.sburg F 



16. A. J. Baker, Amherst P 



17. John Bloom, Ware P 



18. H. I. Bean & Sons, Florence F 



19. Miss M. H. Miller, So. Hadley S 



20. Mrs. E. H. Alderman, M'fteld F 



21. E. S. Howlett, Southampton P 



*S=less than 80 birds; F=80-290 

 birds; P=over 290 birds. 



There are 5 small flocks, 9 farm flocks 

 and 7 poultry farm flocks in this list. 

 These flocks have put into practice the 

 five cardinal requirements for egg pro- 

 duction: I. Birds Bred to Lay; II. Healthy 

 Stock; III. Early Hatched; IV. Comfort- 

 ably Housed ; V. Well Fed and Cared For. 

 To be on the above list, a poultryman 

 must be better than the average on all 

 five points. Failure on any one of these 

 points is reflected in decreased egg pro- 

 duction. 



Every one of the flocks in the above 

 list has been bred for high egg produc- 

 tion. Seven of the Rhode Island Red 

 flocks carry a large percentage of M. A. 

 C. blood. The majority of the other Reds 

 have been bred along similar lines; i. e., 

 for early maturity and non-broodiness. 

 White Leghorns for years have been bred 

 for high production. The above records 

 show that much good breeding has been 

 done to get early maturity. The records 

 for the last four months of the year will 

 really tell the story of how well breed- 

 ing has been carried on. 



Last year over 150 poultrymen carried 

 out the Disease Control Program. This 

 is nothing more than common-sense 

 poultry plant sanitation. That it pays 

 is shown by the fact that nineteen of 

 those listed above carried on this work. 

 Some of these plants could not have made 

 such creditable records a few years ago. 

 The Disease Control Program assures 

 healthy birds if carefully carried out. | 

 Early Hatching has played an im- 

 portant pai-t in these fine records. 

 Hatching time has varied among the 

 breeds and with the different strains of 

 the same breed. Some of the leaders who 

 have early maturing Reds hatched early ' 

 in April. Some of the men with slower 

 maturing Reds hatched in February and 

 March. Leghorns have been hatched in 

 April. All of the men have shown good 

 judgment in hatching early enough so 

 that they got eggs when prices were high. 

 Some men have been disappointed this 

 year by shifting from early maturing to 

 late maturing stock and by getting the 

 latter too late in the season. To get 

 satisfactory results, one must know the 

 limitations of the stock and plan accord- 

 ingly. 



More poultrymen than ever have come 

 to realize that they cannot build poultry 

 houses to suit themselves rather than the ^ 

 hens that are to live in them. Good 

 houses need not be expensive. They must 

 have proper ventilation, floor space, feed- 

 ing space at hoppers, etc. The shape and 

 style of the houses varies but the princi- 

 ples of good housing remain the same. 



"Well fed and Cared For" is a rather 

 all-inclusive phrase. When it comes to 

 "well fed" we embark on a .sea which has 

 been too largely charted by opinion rath- 

 er than actual knowledge of the hen's 

 needs. Most poultrymen are afi-aid of 

 getting pullets too fat while as an actual 

 fact the reason that most poultrymen do 

 not get high egg production in the winter 

 is that the birds are not fat enough. In 

 spite of opinion to the contrary, whole 

 corn is the best feed for pullets at night 

 during the winter months. The Wiscon- 

 sin Experiment Station Bulletin No. 37J, 

 "New Chick Feeding Facts," gives an in- 

 dication of the trend of real feeding 

 knowledge as regards poultry. The 

 Wisconsin ration is 80 parts yellow corn 

 meal, 20 parts wheat middlings, 5 parts 

 raw bone (or bone meal), 5 parts pearl 

 grits (ground limestone), 1 part common 

 salt and skimmed milk used freely. This 

 bulletin says, "The simple principles of 

 nutiition applicable to baby chicks are 

 equally applicable to the mature fowl. 

 Egg laying calls for the same factors. 

 The only possible distinction in food de- 

 mands between growth and' production is 

 a quantatitie one." 



This statement contains food for 

 thought. H. C. Booth of Belchertown 

 deserves special mention in this regard. 

 He made his record on a flock of about 



1,000 white leghorn pullets. He uses 

 lights and was feeding from 18 to 21 

 pounds of scratch feed to 100 birds per 

 day. The scratch feed was composed 

 largely of whole corn. This and other 

 experiences of poultrymen bears out the 

 fact that birds can and must handle 

 large amounts of feed if they are to lay 

 in winter. 



The above records blast one popular 

 delusion regarding egg production. Often 

 we hear poultrymen tell of getting 60% 

 or more production all winter. There are 

 120 days in the four months recorded 

 above. The following is the percentage 

 production for the entire period by the 

 first five flocks : Thomas 557r ; Gould 

 53.9; Moody 50.8; Booth 49.4; Ballou 

 45.8. What people really mean is that 

 they get better than 60% for a few days 

 or for a month or .so during this period. 

 There are very few pens in egg laying 

 contests that reach 60% for the entire 

 winter period. These pens ai'e selected 

 with great care and represent the best 

 in the entire flock. When we consider 

 that the list given above represents the 

 production of the entire pullet flock rath- 

 er than the production of a few selected 

 birds, the results are indeed excellent. 



Another popular fallacy which needs 

 ; to be corrected is that eggs from birds 

 that are laying heavily will not hatch 

 well. Mr. Thomas is selling hatching 

 eggs to C. A. Cook of South Amherst. 

 The first hatch gave over 70% on the 

 total eggs set. Similar experience has 

 been obtained by Messrs Schoonmaker, 

 Steele and Otis. One of the troubles 

 with hatching seems to be that some of 

 the essentials of proper feeding are 

 overlooked, especially the vitamin con- 

 tent of the feeds. 



This year 42 flocks are reporting pro- 

 duction and feed costs each month. 

 Every poultryman in the county was 

 given an opportunity to enter. Most 

 were like the unwise virgins at the wed- 

 ding feast. In November 1925, another 

 contest starts. Get your flock in shape 

 to come in. It gives you a chance to 

 compare your results with those obtained 

 by some of the best poultrymen in the 

 county. They say a man is known by the 

 company he keeps. Be among the best! 



Orowing Coop Plans 



Every year poultrymen ruin 

 pullets on the range by having the 

 brooder houses too crowded. This 

 trouble can be eliminated by using 

 the Tolman Open Air Coops. These 

 coops are easily and cheaply built. 

 They are light and easily moved. 

 Luther Banta of Amherst has used 

 them the last two years. They are 

 the best range houses we have ever 

 seen. Complete working plans will 

 be published next month. 



