Starting a Flock 49 



be getting poultry-wise when the chicks come 

 along. 



Do not buy from peddlers, nor buy poultry from 

 men who go about with wagons and crates. The 

 chance of getting a healthy fowl from those coops 

 is very small. , Men who keep large flocks usually 

 inspect their birds, now and then, to pick out all 

 those that seem weak or ailing. They seldom 

 bother with cures, but put them in small coops 

 and sell them to these men who travel about. It is 

 clear that the crates on tlieir wagons must be in- 

 fested with every disease a fowl is heir to. 



After advising people against this for many 

 years, I took a chance one day, and bought some 

 bright looking pullets, that showed no signs of 

 illness. It cost me about fifty of my best birds, 

 some of them splendid specimens from high grade 

 breeds. 



Go to a reputable poultry man in your own 

 vicinity if possible, and buy the fowls he recom- 

 mends. It is not necessary nor advisable to pay 

 fancy prices, but it is wise to pay a fair price and 

 get good birds to start with. 



It frequently happens that exhibitors at poultry 

 shows sell their show-pens at the end of exhibitions, 



