54 SCIENTIFIC SURVEY OF BLACKPOOL AND DISTRICT 



Clydesdales may be seen, but the Shire holds pride of place. There are some 

 well-known studs of Shire horses in this district, and many farmers run one 

 or more brood mares, and sell the offspring off for heavy town work at five 

 and six years old. 



Poultry-Keeping. 



Reference has already been made to the great importance of poultry-keeping 

 in Lancashire, and the Fylde area may well be regarded as the most important 

 centre of this industry. On the general farm, poultry- keeping is no longer 

 regarded as a side-line providing pin-money for the farmer's wife, but as 

 occupying an important place in the economy of the farm, and there are few 

 farms in the Fylde where poultry do not make a substantial contribution to the 

 farmer's income. There are also a large number of holdings devoted entirely 

 to poultry-keeping. On the general farm, poultry flocks range from 500 to 

 1 ,000 birds, and there are many specialised poultry farms with a stock of from 

 2,000 to 5,000 birds. The main object of the poultry keeper is egg-production, 

 and only as a by-product the breeding and feeding of table birds. 



Up to recent years the usual practice has been for the egg-producer to raise 

 his own stock for replacements, but latterly there has been a tendency towards 

 specialisation, the stock being obtained from sources which specialise in the 

 production and distribution of eggs for incubation, day-old chicks or young 

 pullet stock. The popular breeds are White Wyandottes, White Leghorns and 

 Rhode Island Reds, and these breeds comprise 90 per cent, of the poultry stock. 



Birds are usually housed in a type of house known as the " Lancashire 

 Cabin," a type which is now becoming generally used in other parts of the 

 country. The standard size is 24 feet by 12 feet, capable of holding 100 adult 

 laying stock, a unit which is accepted as being most economical both from the 

 point of view of egg-production and the saving of labour. Although this is the 

 main type of house, there has been a tendency in the last few years to house 

 birds in smaller, less costly and more portable houses. In these smaller units 

 it is easier to prevent soil contamination and to control disease. 



A more recent development is the laying battery system of housing adult 

 stock. On one holding of the Fylde 2,000 birds are housed on this system, 

 which is spreading rapidly throughout the area. 



The poultry-farmer finds excellent markets for his produce not only in the 

 adjacent towns of Blackpool and Preston, but in the manufacturing towns of 

 south and east Lancashire. 



Stocking of Farms. 



The farms are heavily stocked and a few typical examples are given below : — 



Farm A. 



Area : 80 acres, all grass. 

 60 cows in milk. 

 6 dry cows. 

 15 ewes. 

 200 pigs. 

 1,000 hens. 



