Mat, 1932] Economic Study of Poultry Farms 39 



The Effect of Date of Hatch on Value of Total Yearly Output 



Applying' the production curves and the egg-size figures* to the price 

 quotations, the comparative market-egg value of the yearly product 

 for the three hatching dates is shown in Table 17. In arriving at these 

 estimates, mortality and culling were assumed to take place at the 

 same rate for all three groups, leaving the same number of birds at the 

 end of the 52nd week of laying. The estimates were worked out on the 

 hasis of 1000 birds housed in the fall. 



Table 17 — Date of hutch and value of annual product of 1,000 birds assuming 

 average mortality and culUng rate, and per cent production curves 



as in Figure 19 



Total Total Value 



Date of hatch production value eggs per dozen 



Early (Jan. ] ) 



Medium ( Mar. 7 ) 



Late (May 7) 



The gross income from early hatched pullets was thus found to be 

 43.7 cents per dozen; from medium hatched, 42.2 cents per dozen, and 

 from late hatched 39.4 cents per dozen. f In production the early 

 hatched birds have an advantage of over 4 cents per dozen, or approxi- 

 mately 50 cents per hen, over late hatched pullets. While it may re- 

 quire more skill to handle the early hatched pullets, the limited data 

 available indicate that early hatched birds produce a greater gross 

 value than do late hatched pullets. There are no data available to indi- 

 cate any significant difference in cost of producing the pullets at dif- 

 ferent dates. 



Evening Up Production 



The poultryman, in his decision as to the time of hatching chickens, 

 must, of course, consider the probable production curves of these birds. 

 If he desires heavy spring production for hatching egg purposes, he 

 may do well to hatch rather late — in April or May. If, on the other 

 hand, market eggs are the sole interest, early hatching should be con- 

 sidered. 



In many cases, it is very desirable that production be evened up, par- 

 ticularly where a steady supply of market eggs is required. The poul- 

 tryman may then wish to spread his hatching dates over a considerable 



* The average distribution of eggs into grades as shown for 22 flocks in Fig- 

 ure 13 was assumed as the expected distribution for any given age regardless 

 ■of date of hatch. 



t Tn comparing gross income from the year's production of pullets of differ- 

 ent dates of hatch from the limited data available, emphasis is to be placed on 

 the gross returns per dozen eggs rather than total gross value. Comparison on 

 . the latter basis involves differences in total dozens produced, while compari- 

 sons per dozen is more a comparison of the shape of the production curve, 

 ignoring to a large extent differences in total production. 



