Ii8 The Essentials of Poultry Raising 



can be sold at more than food prices as breeders, the culls being 

 used on the family table. 



341. Relation of Profit and Investment. There is no branch 

 of live stock that gives such quick returns as poultry. Pullets 

 hatched in the spring, if properly cared for and fed, will be in 

 full laying condition in six or seven months and, if properly 

 housed and fed, will lay all winter when eggs are high-priced. 

 Poultry raising is a branch of live stock production that can be 

 adapted both to men and women or to boys and girls. Modern 

 facilities make marketing easy. According to the 1910 census, 

 the average income from poultry from each farm in the United 

 States was $92.39. It is no doubt much more now. There is 

 no reason why several hundred dollars cannot be made on every 

 farm each year from poultry, in addition to the supply of a 

 part of the meat food for the table and clothing and groceries 

 for the family, since eggs and poultry are traded at the country 

 store for these commodities. The New Jersey Experiment 

 Station has shown that the farm income from poultry for capital 

 invested and labor given was greater than for dairy, truck, or 

 general farming. 



342. Requirements for Success. The requirements for success 

 may be summed up in a few words, as follows : the culling of 

 the flock each year ; the keeping of profitable hens only ; the 

 keeping of vigorous males with good capacity ; proper houses, 

 care, feed, and range ; the hatching of pullets at the right time 

 of the year for winter laying. 



343. Utilization and Distribution of Labor on the Farm. Small 

 flocks can be kept with very little extra labor by so arranging 

 the poultry work as to have it come in the list of chores, ^^''here 

 small flocks are kept, hatching can be done with the hen by 

 using the combination sitting and brooding coop, so that the 

 hen needs attention but once a day while hatching and three 

 times a day while brooding. The chicks, after they are weaned 

 and turned on range, should be given dry mash in an outdoor 



