14 New Hampshire Experiment Station [Bulletin 234 



broilers came in March or April each early live broiler season. 



There is also a noticeable increase in prices of live broilers from 

 November to December. Price quotations for a number of years show 

 an upward trend during these months that is particularly noticeable 

 during the period between Christmas and New Years. 



While it is natural that demand and receipts should be considerably 

 higher in March and April than in preceding months because of the 

 large number of Jewish and other religious festivals durmg this period, 

 it is somewhat surprising that ])rices should also increase. Apparently 

 broiler jiroducers are not supi)lying the market demand during these 

 months as well as during January and February. Of course some of 

 this difference in price maj^ be due to higher quality of broilers in March 

 and April, but this docs not seem very likely considering the fact that 

 most of the broilers during all four months come from New Hampshire. 



These monthly trends of receipts and prices simply emphasize the 

 fact that the broiler market must be to a large extent studied by months 

 or weeks. For example, an increase of 17,959 pounds from January, 

 1926, to January, 1927, resulted in an average decrease of 9 cents, while 

 an increase in receipts of 29,740 pounds from January. 1926 to Februaiy 

 of the same year was accompanied by an increase of 8 cents. Re- 

 ceipts and prices during March show much the same relationship. 



x4.ll of these monthly trends during the early live broiler season, how- 

 ever, may be summarized by the fact that an increase of 403,419 

 l)0unds or 148 percent, in total live broiler receipts from January to 

 April, inclusive, brought an average of 8 cents less per pound in 1926 

 than in 1925, and that a further increase of 318,964 pounds or 109 per 

 cent over 1925 for the same months in 1927 was accompanied by an- 

 other decrease in average i)rice received for New Hampshire broilers 

 of 7 cents per ]~)ound. These figures indicate in a rough way the ex- 

 isting relationship between receipts and price on the New York market. 



In pointing out these changes in broiler receipts and prices, it is not 

 the purpose of this bulletin to encourage or discourage the production 

 of broilers in New Hampshire. It is intended, however, to furnish in- 

 telligent poultrymen with market information that will make it possi- 

 ble for them to judge the future trend more accurately. 



Effect of Jewish and Other Holidays on Demand for Live Broilers 



Religious festivals during the early months of each year have a 

 marked effect on the weekly demand for live broilers as shown in Fig- 

 ure 7. The Passover, Last Passover and Easter usually come within a 

 week each year during the last of March or first of April. In 1925 re- 

 ceipts increased 36,000 pounds during the week preceding Easter over 

 the second preceding week and were 25,000 pounds larger than the fol- 

 lowing week. In 1926 the market days for these festivals showed a 

 marked increase over a two weeks' period. The average weekly re- 

 ceipts of live broilers for this period, however, were 37,000 pounds 

 above the preceding week and 10,000 pounds above the following week. 

 In 1927, receipts during the first week preceding Easter were 90,000 

 pounds larger than the second preceding week. Market days for the 

 last Passover in 1927 came during the following week, and receipts 

 showed a decline of only 11,000 pounds. 



