May, 1932] 



Economic Study of Poultry Farms 



5 



With the exception of two young men under 30 who had been in 

 business only three years, the operators had become well established. 

 The average length of experience in commercial poultry keeping of the 

 twenty-three men was 11 years. One man had kept poultry on a com- 

 mercial scale for 33 years. The operators ranged in age from 27 to 76 

 years with an average of 43. Pour men were under 30, and three were 

 over 60. 



While the farms do not represent a random sample, it is thought that 

 in general the study of the individual farms and the analysis of the 

 group as a whole show a fairly accurate picture of the commercial poul- 

 try industry of the state. 



On many farms old dairy barns hare been remodeled into poultry 

 houses with three to four decks 



THE FINANCIAL SIDE 



Investment 



The average investment of the 23 farms was $13,424, or $10.40 per 

 layer, based on the number of layers housed in the fall of 1929. (See 

 Table 2.) Of this investment, real estate including land and buildings 

 represented about 55%, poultry stock 29%, equipment 13% and sup- 

 plies 2%. 



The smallest individual investment was $6,034, and the largest was 

 practically six times as much, or $36,707. Approximately 44% of the 

 real estate value was in special poultry buildings. 



When the farms were grouped according to size of flocks as in Table 

 3, the inventory per bird was over $19 in flocks below 800; $13 for 



