Introdudlory 



^ HE poultry man's 

 ^ profit depends in a 

 great measure upon his 

 succes sin rearing the chicks. 

 Success is attained only by 

 intelligent use of correct 

 methods. If the incuba- 

 tion, growth and develop- 

 ment of the chick are not 

 attended by such condi- 

 tions as produce and main- 

 tain the good health neces- 

 sary for building a vigorous 

 body and strong constitu- 

 tion, the grown bird does 

 not have the power to pro- 

 duce, or earn, more than a 

 nominal profit for its owner, 

 however well it . is housed 

 and cared for. Nor does 

 the negative effect stop at 

 the profit of the first year; 

 the progeny of such birds 

 is not only weak and unremunerative, but if raised under 

 like conditions will be less valuable than the parents and 

 such rapid deterioration will render the flock absolutely un- 

 profitable in two generations. On the other hand, chicks 

 well hatched, from good eggs, if given intelligent care and 

 surrounded with the essentials required for proper growth 

 and robust development, will mature into fowls which are 

 capable of returning to their owner the last cent in payment 

 for the food and accommodations provided. Such methods 

 increase the productive efficiency of succeeding generations 

 and the road to a competence is auspiciously opened. 



If the chicks in hand are to be marketed as squab 

 broilers, broilers or roasters, the problem of improving them 

 for stock purposes is eliminated; but the necessity for pain- 

 staking effort is not lessened, if indeed it is not increased. 

 The chickj destined for the market must make a, very 

 rapid growth; not so much of bone and muscle, as of flesh 

 and fat, and to do this in the least time assures the greatest 

 profit. Conditions, too, at the time when such chicks must 

 be grown to command the top price must be largely artificial. 

 Natural conditions must be approximated as closely as may 

 be, or the young birds cannot stand the heavy feeding neces- 

 sary to produce the results that count. To one whose heart 

 is in the work, it is as interesting as it is important and offers 

 opportunity for the full exercise of both his mental and phy- 

 sical faculties.. 



That a large per cent of all strong chicks hatched can 

 be raised to the age for marketing, or to maturity, is not 

 disputed. The present-day appliances greatly facilitate the 

 work, and prepared foods, selling at reasonable prices, sim- 

 ^ plify the problems of feeding. ' Establishments properly 

 equipped and handled are raising chicks in numbers that 

 were scarcely dreamed of two decades ago, and by placing 

 them on the market in good condition at a time when the 

 majority of producers have nothing to offer, they obtain ex- 

 treme prices. Later in the season when the market is filled 

 with chickens from farmers and less energetic and less 

 up-to-date poultrymen, the large iraisers, with their better 



equipment and thorough knowledge of the business, are able 

 to place their goods on sale in more attractive condition and 

 at a lower cost of production than their competitors, secur- 

 ing a better price and larger profit. 



This is not intended to indicate that large plants are 

 the only ones, that can and do accomplish satisfactory re- 

 sults. Small plants are doing good and remunerative work 

 on. a smaller scale; some are growing chicks for market, and 

 others for stock purposes; some are doing the work by 

 artificial methods, while not a few hold to the motherly hen 

 of thirteen eggs capacity. 



After giving due credit to the appliances and improved 

 foods, for the part they play in producing good chickens, 

 the major share is left to be distributed between hard, con- 

 scientious work and well grounded knowledge of the busi- 

 ness. Of all these factors knowledge is the greatest and the 

 one most difficult to secure. When it is found it commands 

 its own price. 



How Knowledge is Obtained 



There are two ways of acquiring this .knowledge.: By 

 years of costly experience and by careful study of the best 

 poultry literature, supplemented and verified by practical 

 experience. The former, although good, and enduring as 

 the hills, places a man, too near the far end of life's journey 

 when it graduates him and burns up money which ought to 

 be saved and invested in the business. The latter is the 

 shorter road and enables one, by taking advantage of the 

 experience of others and avoiding their mistakes, to cut 

 cross lots to success with money in his pocket. 



The printed wisdom of poultry culture is as far ahead 

 of that of ten years ago as can be imagined. In gathering 

 the material for this book the same sources of information 

 have been drawn upon that furnished the matter for the 

 other popular books published by this company; that is, the 

 poultrymen and women who have made a substantial suc- 

 cess in the business and who are specially fitted to write upon 

 the subjects assigned them. 



Such information, though difficult and expensive to ob- 

 tain, is valuable almost beyond estimating. It consists not 

 in dry rules and dogmatically expressed theories, but in the 

 live experience of men in the field, with the whys and where- 

 fores for every step and dependable guidance at every turn. 

 It is information that can be trusted to the letter. By fol- 

 lowing it the mistakes of the novice can be avoided and the 

 methods of the more experienced may be improved. 



This is not a one-man book, but a broad-gauge one, 

 holding out to the reader several courses which have proved 

 successful so that he may choose from them whatever seems 

 best adapted to his requirements. 



Condition of the Breeding Stock 



Securing good condition in breeding birds is not diffi- 

 cult. Any poultryman worthy the name selects each sea- 

 son birds having the development and style that denote 

 vigor and constitution while selecting the shape required for 

 the variety at hand. It is a fact that birds of standard size 

 and shape are not produced year after year by any but 

 healthy, vigorous stock. Constitutional vigor is the source 

 of strong procreative power and is built up only by careful 

 breeding for a term of years. 



