BRANCHES OF THE POULTRY BUSINESS 1/ 



be more than offset by the cost of grain fed, to say 

 nothing of the amount of food picked up, nor 

 of the time and care the flock requires. In 

 many such cases it would be even cheaper to buy 

 eggs than to produce them. Of course, the other 

 fellow might be losing, but that would be his 

 lookout. 



This matter of home consumption of eggs and 

 poultry should be put on a business basis. Every 

 pound of food fed to the flock should be charged 

 against the flock, and every egg used by the family 

 should be credited to the hens at current market 

 prices. This is the only way the farmer can be 

 fair to himself and to the hens and can know 

 whether or not he should keep fowls to supply the 

 home needs. Of course, when he aims to supply 

 a market the eggs consumed at home should be 

 credited to the flock so that the full value may 

 appear. 



EGGS FOR MARKET 



There is an unlimited demand for fresh-laid eggs. 

 This has been shown in Chapter I. The market 

 has never yet been fully supplied, nor is it likely 

 to be for a very long time to come. The fact that 

 some specially favored small towns may have all 

 the fresh eggs they can consume, must not be 

 thought to overthrow this statement. The great 

 consuming centers are always in need of genuinely 

 fresh eggs, and are likely to be even more clamor- 

 ous in their demands as they learn how much 

 superior such eggs are to those ordinarily procur- 

 able at grocery stores. On this account egg pro- 



