40 X. II. Age. Experiment Station [Bulletin 265 



period, including some early as well as sunn' late birds. Good produc- 

 tion during July, August and September, which are usually low 

 months, can be secured by having early hatched birds. 



Efficiency in Use of Equipment 



Economy and efficiency in the use of equipment and brooding facili- 

 ties demand in many cases the raising of two or more lots of chickens, 

 '■specially where any considerable number of birds are brooded. For 

 instance, the man requiring 2000 chicks might have half of them 

 hatched during January or February, and the remainder during April 

 or May. The early chicks could be put on range by the time the brood- 

 ing equipment was required for the later ones. In this manner a con- 

 siderable number of chicks may be raised with limited equipment, 



In some cases the very early hatched pullets have been carried on 

 range during the first three or four months of their production period. 

 Whether this can be done by all poultrymen without disturbing the 

 production curve as assumed for birds of that date of hatch is a ques- 

 tion. But for the men who are able to do it, the flock can be carried as 

 layers for 16 months with housing capacity for 12 months, and the 

 doubling up would come at a season of relatively high prices, — July, 

 August, September and October. 



The determination of proper date of hatch is largely a problem for 

 the individual poultryman. Differences in markets, skill and experi- 

 ence, and in equipment and buildings will bring men to different con- 

 clusions. 



COST OF PRODUCING EGGS 



Eggs a Joint Product 



The feed, labor and other expenses entering into the poultry enter- 

 prise result in eggs, fowl, broilers, etc.; thus, eggs are a joint product 

 with poultry meat. While it may be possible to assign certain costs to 

 the whole enterprise, the separation of the cost of producing eggs in- 

 volves much arbitrary allocation. Whenever the joint products or 

 by-products are unimportant and have little value, a rough separation 

 can be made by crediting the value of the minor product to the cost of 

 the major product. But whenever the joint products are equal or 

 nearly equal in value, Hie costs of any one product cannot be satisfac- 

 torily separated from the costs of the other. Estimates on the cost of 

 producing eggs, therefore, must of necessity be subject to wide fluctu- 

 ations, depending on changes in price of poultry meat as well as in cost 

 of grain. 



A Formula 



In a rough way, as an average of the farms studied, 17 lbs. of feed, 

 0.6 hours of labor, 4^ of supplies and 18. 1(- in overhead, produced 0.4 

 pounds broiler, 0.7 pounds fowl. 0.3 day-old chick and one dozen eggs. 

 And since the price of broilers, fowl and feed fluctuate greatly in value, 

 perhaps this is as useful a method of studying cost of producing eggs 

 as any other. By substituting the market prices of fowl, broilers and 

 Iced, the poultryman may have a guide as to how he is likely to come 

 out under assumed conditions. Since these are average figures, the in- 



