54 COMMERCIAL EGG FARMING 



dollars per bird capital is quite apart from 

 the other charges which I have mentioned, 

 and the poultry farmer must , see that he 

 has a balance in hand in the proportions 

 mentioned above, after paying for his resi- 

 dence, land, and outbuildings. 



The cheapest way to start is to build a 

 laying house by October, and buy sufficient 

 good birds to fill it. The number of birds 

 (and consequently the size of the house) must 

 correspond with the number of eggs which 

 will be required for hatching in the follow- 

 ing spring. Thus, if 2500 eggs are to be 

 incubated in two hatches of 1250 eggs each, 

 and the oldest of the eggs are not to be miore 

 than seven days old at the date of starting 

 the incubator, it will be necessary to have 

 as many hens as will lay 1250 eggs in seven 

 days. Seven into 1250 goes 180 times. 

 Allowing for a margin of eggs which are not 

 suitable for incubating purposes, 200 eggs a 

 day will be needed. Supposing that March 

 21st is the day to start the incubator, the 

 two-year-old hens should be laying at the 

 rate of 66 per cent per diem at that time of 

 the year. So to get 200 eggs a day 300 two- 



