POULTRY PROFITS 87 



An increase of one Unit* Was accompanied by an increase 



of Variation in: in labor return per bird of: 



1926 1927 



cents cents 



Egg production 85 82 



Price of Eggs 20 37 



Index of change in flock size 54 51 



Other credits than market eggs 80 101 



* The Unit of A'ariation used for each factor is the statistical measure known as 

 the standard deviation. 



This table indicates that, in general, differences in poultry profits in 

 both years can be attributed more to differences in egg production and 

 in other credits than to differences in price of eggs and in index of change 

 in flock size. On the other hand it also shows that all four factors were 

 responsible for important variations in labor returns per bird. In many 

 individual cases the differences in price received for eggs and in loss from 

 flock reduction were more important than egg production and diversity. 



Conclusions 



The results of this study show the average dollar and cents differences 

 in labor return which accompanied differences in egg production per bird, 

 price received for eggs, diversity in the enterprise, index of change in 

 flock size, and fall egg production. In other years, the relationships would 

 be changed depending on the economic situation, tlie technical status cf the 

 industry, and other factors. 



Differences in egg production and in other credits were found to be 

 more closely related to labor return ]ier bird than differences in price re- 

 ceived for eggs and in index of change in flock size. However, the wide 

 variation in each factor showed that there was a considerable range of 

 opportunity for profitable changes in all four factors. 



This study emphasizes the value of keeping poultry records. Only 

 by keeping some sort of simple flock records will the poultryman be able 

 to compare the performance of his flock with the results from this and 

 other studies and thus definitely pick out the weak places in his business. 



