PRAIRIE FARMER'S POULTRY BOOK 



to 20 cents, in two months to 35 cents, and in three months to 

 50 cents. At three months it is well past the danger point 

 and has reached a marketable age. If you give the hen credit 

 for all she prodflpes, then you can know definitely whether 

 the industry is worth while. 



Expenses 



The first cost of buildings and permanent equipment should 

 not be entered in the expense account. It would hardly be fair 

 to charge against the income of any one year the cost price 

 of buildings, fences, incubators, brooders, an<i other major 

 equipment having a long life-period. This is charged off in 

 the annual inventory as depreciation, the percentage of de- 

 preciation being determined by the life-period of the equip- 

 ment. Minor equipment, such as water founts, feeders, crates 

 etc., which usually last only two or three years, should be 

 charged off as an expense at the time of purchase and therefore 

 no depreciation should be entered against them. Purchased 

 labor should be entered as an expense, but the operator's labor 

 may or may not be counted as an item of expense. If not. 

 his wage will be represented in the net income at the close 

 of the year. If desired, however, he can keep a labor record of 

 the number of hours actually expended on the poultry enter- 

 prise, and, charging a reasonable rate per hour, he can enter 

 this labor as an expense in the annual summary. 



Keeping Feed Costs 



In determining the amount of home-grown feed consumed 

 in a given period it is a good plan to weigh or measure the 

 daily ration of such feeds for several days and from these 

 data make an estimate of the average daily amount consumed. 

 Knowing this, the amount consumed for the month or quarter 

 is easily determined. This estimate will be sufficiently accu- 

 rate for all practical purposes. To be strictly accurate it will 

 be necessary to weigh or measure the home-grown feeds 

 every day, or they can be weighed in bulk and kept separate 

 from the feeds of other liyestock on the farm. In the Expense 

 Schedule, No. Ill, there is a line for totals. These totals are 

 determined by adding together all the expensfe items. When 

 the totals^are all brought to this line it is simply a matter of 

 addition to determine the. total expense for the quarter. The 

 same rule applies to the schedule for incomes. No. II. 



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