244 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



than 30 to 40 per cent of them, brood and grow the chicks 

 with artificial heat with the usual accompanying losses, means 

 high-priced meat. The man who undertakes this work should 

 be well equipped in every sense of the word. Poultry men who 

 have a special trade for broilers and can secure hatchable eggs 

 the entire year may do well if they understand the business. 



Market Egg Farming. 



Eggs, Fruit and Hay. 



There are very few poultry'' keepers in the State who do not 

 at some time during the year produce marketable eggs, but 

 under this heading we have reference to that class of poultry- 

 men who make a specialty of this line. These could be divided 

 and subdivided into a large number of classes on account of the 

 great variations and combinations under which their work is 

 carried on. Only a few, however, will be mentioned. There are 

 many who run what might be termed an egg factory. They 

 buy pullets in the fall, keep them until the following summer 

 and dispose of them for meat, clean and disinfect their houses 

 and begin again with new stock; no breeders are kept or stock 

 raised. On farms of this kind some other line of agricultural 

 work is usually combined with that of poultry. Poultry and 

 hay, or poultry and fruit, make a good combination. One man 

 with the former combination who keeps about 1,000 hens states 

 that with very little additional fertilizer he is able to sell about 

 $1,000 worth of hay annually, and one with the latter combina- 

 tion markets about $4,000 worth of poultry and eggs. Most 

 of the people, however, have more complete poultry equipment. 

 Some buy baby chicks, brood and grow them to maturity, 

 while others who feel they can profitably do so buy eggs, do 

 their own hatching as well as rearing, and still others keep their 

 own breeding stock. The last system is much more com- 

 plicated,, as the production of good, hatchable eggs year after 

 year requires considerable skill. The production of market eggs 

 is the major line in poultry farming. The plan or system that 

 one adopts should depend first upon himself, second upon his 

 knowledge, skill and experience, and third, his facilities. 



