PROFITABLE LATE HATCHES 



ADVANTAGES OF LATE OVER EARLY HATCHES— OLD HENS AS BREED- 

 ERS—SHOULD CAPONIZE THE SURPLUS COCKERELS— HIGH PRICES 

 PAID FOR FEATHERS TO BE USED FOR THE DECORATION OF "MY LADY" 



S. T. CAMPBELL 



MID-SUMMER of the season of 1906 found the writer 

 without a sufficient number of chicks, the early 

 hatches not having been as successful as in previous 

 years. We determined to try to obtain more chicks, late 

 as it was, so we started our incubators and placed choice 

 eggs under a few faithful hens, during July, August and Sep- 

 tember. The eggs proved to be more fertile than in the 

 earlier part of the season and the chicks hatched were vigor- 

 ous. This crop of youngsters was kept apart from the 

 earlier ones and with the abundance of insects at this season, 

 together with seeds and grains from the harvest field, these 

 young chicks grew like weeds. At the age of three months 

 the males and females were separated. Those not showing 

 promise of maturing into good specimens quickly were sold 

 on the market, though many of the cockerels were capon- 

 ized. With good feed through the early winter, the pullets 

 were brought into laying condition in January and by the 

 middle of February ninety per cent were shelling out the 

 eggs. 



The following June these birds began to moult and this 

 early moulting makes these late-hatched chicks profitable. 

 By the last of August most of them were through moulting 

 having put on their new dress without materially decreasing 

 the egg production as they continued to lay while moulting. 

 With their new plumage they were in readiness for the fall 

 fairs and early shows. It is a well-known fact that there 

 are but few fowls in good feather for the fairs. These late- 



average of 3i eggs each per week or an egg every other day. 

 Eighty-five per cent of the eggs were fertile and every fertile 

 egg produced a strong, vigorous chick. These hens had 



General view of a row of open- front, fresh-air houses Twentieth Cen- 

 tury Fresh-Air Poultry Plant, Joseph Tolman, Proprietor. 



hatched birds resembled cockejrels and pullets, though they 

 were over twelve months old. 



The following season this lot of fowls, then coming into 

 the second adult year, again moulted in mid-summer and 

 were again in readiness for exhibition. I have continued 

 this process of hatching and maturing my stock with success 

 never attained with the early hatches. 



Breeding From Old Hens 



Let me say a few words about breeding from old hens' 

 This season I had a few choice hens that were five and six 

 years old. In my opinion, they had outlived their usefulness 

 and were placed on the pension roll, being cared for for the 

 good they had done earlier in life. Desiring to make a test, 

 I mated four hens, five and six years old, with a cockerel. 

 They proved the wisdom of this venture by furnishing an 



AURORA LEGHORN FARM FRESH-AIR HOUSE 

 Mr. R. P. Ellis, proprietor, states that he has never failed to get a 

 forty per cent winter egg yield from the birds kept in these 14 x 14 lay- 

 ing and breeding houses. Note that the house is raised from the ground. 

 Mr. Ellis thinlcs this is a decided advantage. 



been tested for egg production in their pullet year and as 

 hens had won many prizes in the show room. This proved 

 conclusively to me that it is well to hold on to the tested 

 hens and breed from them until they are at least six years 

 old, in fact an extra good hen should not be disposed of, 

 regardless of age. 



Caponize the Cockerels 



It is surprising that more breeders do not caponize their 

 extra cockerels. There are so many advantages to be gained 

 by adopting this method to make surplus males profitable 

 that breeders generally should investigate the matter thor- 

 oughly. Capons are profitable. They can be made to 

 weigh a third more than cockerels and they bring three and 

 four times the price of the ordinary male bird for table use. 

 Furthermore, there have never been capons enough to supply 

 the demand. 



A Profitable By-Product 



One of the by-products of poultry that is receiving but 

 a limited amount of attention is feathers. Few people 

 realize that feathers when properly cured are a source of 

 considerable profit. They bring as much as a dollar and a 

 quarter a pound. The tail feathers of a male bird will fre- 

 quently sell for $1.50. These feathers are used by milliners 

 in decorating hats and by manufacturers of feather boas for 

 ladies; as much as twenty cents an ounce has been paid for 

 choice feathers. Right here is where the Minorca fowl 

 scores one hundred, for where in all poultrydom can be 

 found plumage so attractive? The beautiful green sheen 

 on the black feather requires no coloring to produce the 

 desired result. Many times the feathers will bring double 

 the price obtained for the fowl in the ordinary way. When 

 the plumage is properly cured and sold to the proper parties, 

 the meat of the bird furnishes a small part of the revenue 

 from a flock of fowls. 



