this country will never become a paying proposition 

 unless the breeder can realise fair prices for his pure 

 bred stock. Say Rs. lo/- upwards for pullets, 15/- 

 up wards for cocks, 7/50 to 10/- for sittings, and 1/25 

 a dozen for eating eggs on contract, or 1/50 to 2/- 

 a dozen on small orders. 



The demand for "shenzi" (native) fowls and 

 eggs by the military authorities should make a 

 decided scarcity of native birds. This should do 

 something towards improving the trade in English 

 table birds, a branch of poultr}^ farming which up to 

 the present shows a very small margin of profit to 

 the dealer. 



AS A COM- Poultry farming as a commercial proposition, with 



MERCIAL foodstuffs procurable at a comparatively low figure, 



PROPOSITION, should show satisfactory returns, but unfortunately, 

 it is an industry which is going through a very pro- 

 longed infancy. As a side branch to general farm- 

 ing it can be made to show a very decent profit, but 

 as a single venture, I very much doubt that a living 

 could be made at the present time. We are still so 

 much at the mercy of the dreaded Cholera and 

 Kikuyu Fowl Disease. These diseases have been 

 responsible for considerable losses in the past, but the 

 Pathological Department has done a certain amount 

 of research in them and can now, I believe, inoculate 

 the birds to make them immune for a year. 



THE RIGHT The B.E.A. poultry farmer has to buy his experi- 



WAY TO START, ence very dearly, and it is decidedly unwise for one, 

 if lacking experience, to lay out a large sum of money 

 at the start. The novice who will go slowly, start 

 in a small way, and gradually build up his flock, will 

 score every time. For, having only a small number 

 of birds to consider, he will be able to give each bird 

 individual attention, thus greatly minimizing the risk 

 of losing the whole flock by an epidemic. With ex- 

 perience comes the ability to rapidly overlook a large 

 flock and immediately detect the first sign of sick- 

 ness. With poultry diseases in this country time is 

 everything, and the immediate removal of one sick 

 bird from a flock may prevent a serious epidemic. In 

 any serious illness it is absolutely waste of time and 

 money to doctor a sick bird. The only safe course 

 is to kill the bird (without drawing blood) and burn 

 the carcase, thus minimizing the risk of the disease 

 spreading to the rest of the flock. 



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