MAKING A START 55 



year-old hens must be bought. These birds 

 will hardly pay for their feed during the 

 winter. The benefit will be derived in the 

 spring, as eggs laid on the farm will hatch 

 better than eggs that are shipped in. The 

 eggs from these birds after the hatching sea- 

 son can be sold commercially and will show 

 a profit over the cost of feeding. The birds 

 can be used another season in the same way 

 and then sold in the autumn. The first year's 

 pullets will then in the following (third) 

 spring be old enough to breed from. 



Other ways to start are to buy eggs for 

 hatching in the spring, or to buy day-old 

 chicks. The latter way is more expensive 

 though it saves incubating labor and, tem- 

 porarily, the cost of incubators. If the farm 

 is to be run economically the latter expense 

 must be faced sooner or later. In my judg- 

 ment day-old chicks should be bought only 

 if it is impossible for one reason or another 

 to do the incubating. 



A proper incubating room must be ready 

 by February 15th, and incubators installed by 

 March 1st, so as to allow time for running 

 the machines empty, before filling them with 



