HOW TO BEGIN 49 
other. The March birds are almost certain to lay six wecks 
earlier. That in itself is a great consideration. If I were to 
reckon up the actual cost of the two lots of birds without taking 
into consideration time and labour, the chickens I bought at five 
weeks’ old were worth twice as much to me. In fact, it would 
have paid me to give twice as much for the five-week-olds as I 
paid for the day-old chickens. 
In dealings of this nature, however, one has to be careful. 
When chickens are a month old and over, it is comparatively easy 
to distinguish pullets from cockerels, and there are some dealers 
who would not hesitate to select a large proportion of the 
male birds. Personally I have not been the victim of this trick. 
It would then be a wise provision in buying chickens over a month 
old to stipulate that a fair proportion—about one-half—be pullets. 
If one knows and can trust the seller, such a course would be 
unnecessary, but in dealing for the first time with an unknown 
man it would be better to make equal numbers of pullets and 
cockerels a condition of sale. With the heavier breeds it would 
be most difficult to distinguish cockerels from pullets at a month 
old, and in that case one might take one’s chance, for even if the 
seller tried to keep back pullets he would as likely as not make 
mistakes. 
Another plan would be to buy, say, two-month-old pullets. 
It is simply a question of price. There are not many poultrymen 
who would be willing to sell two-month-old pullets at less than 
two shillings each, but even then they would not be too expensive 
as contrasted with the same bird at six months, when it would be 
worth anything from six to eight shillings. 
If there be a reliable poultryman in your district it would pay 
you better to give him a trifle more and see your fowls before you 
paid for them. In reckoning the price of fowls bought at a 
distance there is always the cost of carriage to take into account, 
while if you make your purchase locally that item disappears. 
If a beginner has a stock of twelve pullets at the laying stage 
it will be found profitable to dispose of half of them at the end 
of the first laying year, and to replace them with six-month-old 
D 
