FANCIERS' JOURNAL AND POULTRY EXCHANGE. 



11 



verting one material of smaller value into another of greater 

 value. A man who expects a good return of flesh and eggs 

 from fowls insufficiently fed and cared for, is like a miller 

 expecting to get meal from a neglected mill, to which he 

 does not supply grain. 



The common plan amongst farmers and cottagers is to 

 keep fowls indiscriminately year after year, of various 

 breeds, sizes, and ages, feeding them irregularly, generally 

 insufficiently, sometimes not at all ; bestowing little or no 

 care upon them, their wants, or comforts ; chickens being 

 hatched at all times throughout the summer, late rather 

 than early. 



Now the pullet chickens so reared, with the exception of 

 the very few that may be hatched in March, or early in 

 April, are fed, and make no return whatever, until the fol- 

 lowing spring or summer, involving on an average tenmonths' 

 unprofitable keep, before they produce eggs ; and even then, 

 often owing to insufficiency of food, degeneracy of breed, and 

 want of proper care, produce less than one-half the eggs they 

 otherwise would, or are capable of doing ; and further, pro- 

 duce their eggs at a time when they only command the low- 

 est price, returning thereby often but little more than the 

 cost of the food they consume. 



So with the cockerel chickens (except those few hatched 

 early in the spring), they are not considered sufficiently 

 large and full-grown to kill before the following spring ; for 

 unless they are fit to dispose of about harvest-time, they are 

 not likely to improve in condition as the winter comes on ; 

 their age increases, and their appetites become voracious. 

 They are consequently kept until the following spring, when 

 they have attained the age of nine or ten months, or nearly 

 their full growth ; but by this time it will be found, on cal- 

 culation, that the cost of their food will have exceeded the 

 value of the fowl sold. 



With such management it may be truly said that " poultry 

 don't pay." 



I will now as briefly as possible explain a system whereby 

 fowls may be kept, and made to return a quick and certain 

 profit — larger profit, indeed, than any other farm stock pos- 

 sibly can — and with the greatest of all advantages, requiring 

 but the most trifling outlay. 



There is no family, rich or poor, living in the country or 

 town suburb, that may not with advantage keep poultry. It 

 must with ordinary care prove highly remunerative, and be 

 a means of consuming quantities of kitchen and table refuse, 

 which in suburban houses and cottages is often thrown away. 



The principles to he acted upon are these : 



1st. Good stock, size of frame, and delicacy of flesh, com- 

 bined, for producing cockerels; early and productive layers 

 for producing pullets. 



2d. Regularity and liberality of feeding, combined with 

 general care and attention. 



3d. Hatch pullet chickens only during the months of March 

 and April. 



4th. Encourage by proper feeding every pullet to lay as 

 soon as she attains the age of six months. 



5th. Always fatten and dispose of your hens at about 

 nineteen months old, just before their first (adult) moult. 



6th. Never allow a cockerel to exceed the age of fourteen 

 weeks before being fatted and disposed of. 



By such a system it will be found that every pullet reared 

 becomes a source of profit at the age of six months, and every 

 cockerel at the age of fourteen weeks. During these months 

 of chickenhood they cost but very little to keep. 



The return made for their food up to this time is enor- 

 mous ; but after this it will steadily decrease, and, before 

 the cockerels are full-grown, they will not pay for their 

 keep. 



Mr. Mechi also says that he cannot understand upon what 

 grounds farmers can say that poultry does not pay, when the 

 selling price of beef, mutton, and pork is only 4|d. per lb., 

 and fowl Is. " I am sure (he says) it costs no more to pro- 

 duce a pound of fowl than a pound of beef or mutton. The 

 whole question of producing more poultry is a national and 

 important one. Commend me to poultry as the farmers' 

 best friend." 



The cost of a chicken during the first two months of its 

 existence does not, certainly need not, exceed id. per week ; 

 the second two months |d., and afterwards Id. per week; 

 making the total cost of a pullet to the time she becomes 

 profitable, Is. 6d., and that of a cockerel only Is. 2d. Erom 

 the time a pullet commences to lay, she should, on an aver- 

 age, during the following twelve months, produce from 220 

 to 234 eggs ; one-half of which will be produced during 

 the dearest time (winter), making the average value of her 

 eggs, at Is. 3d. per dozen, a total of £1 4s. 6d. This average 

 price may be obtained in any of the large towns in Eng- 

 land. Indeed, although I live in the depths of Wales, I am 

 able to dispose of all my eggs by contract by the year at a 

 fixed price of Is. 3d. per dozen. 



It may be considered by some that 234 eggs is an exces- 

 sive estimate. No doubt it would be so under existing man- 

 agement, but quite the reverse under proper treatment. In 

 an egg-producing establishment near Paris, where no less 

 than 100,000 hens are kept, the average number of eggs pro- 

 duced annually by each fowl is 300. Horseflesh is here 

 largely used as a stimulating food, and without any ill 

 effects. (Stephens's Book of the Farm.) 131 days, or 4J 

 months, is ample allowance for non-productive days. The 

 average yield from the Hamburgh breed would be at least 

 250. Two authorities, writing lately to a poultry journal, 

 say, the one, " My Hamburghs, although kept in close con- 

 finement, average 220 eggs to each bird;" the other, "I can 

 thoroughly confirm Mr. E.'s statements ; my 70 hens on Id. 

 per week average over 220 eggs per bird." The eminent 

 authorities and writers, James Dickson and Captain Hornby, 

 place the average yield of Hamburghs at 240, and Spanish 

 at 210. 



After producing this quantity of eggs, and directly before 

 her moulting sets in, she must be cooped for a fortnight and 

 fatted, when she will be worth about 2s. 6d. to 3s., or 8d. 

 per lb., as she ought to weigh at least 4 lbs., and not exceed 

 19 months in age. A fat young fowl ought certainly every- 

 where to command per lb. the price of a neck or forequarter 

 of mutton. By now disposing of her, you save the expense 

 of an often protracted moulting season, and a winter of un- 

 profitable keep ; disposing of her carcase before age has de- 

 teriorated its value ; and you also make room for the next 

 succession of pullets, reared the past spring, and now about 

 to commence laying. 



Eowls are often from two to three months before they 

 thoroughly regain their feathers, and the later they moult 

 the longer and more severe it becomes, and in cold weather 

 they seldom commence again to lay for some months after 

 regaining them. After twelve months' prolific production 

 of eggs, followed by the severe ordeal of moulting, it is but 

 reasonable to expect that a fowl will require a certain amount 

 of rest. I have always found that 4 lbs. of barley or other 



