68 Money in Broilers and Squabs. 



gj'ound every day. Of course no floor is used therein. These 

 houses will soon pay for themselves in fertilizing the ground. I 

 usually allow them to remain two nights before moving, so as to 

 give a heavier coating of droppings. The next crop from that field 

 will always, show just where the coops have stood. Always place 

 the coops in a grass field, and if possible, next to a wheat stubble. 



"It will be necessary to feed twice a day if we want rapid 

 growth. The morning feed is a soft mess of a general mixture with- 

 out meat. The night feed should be wheat, oats, barley or buck- 

 wheat, and in quantity about what they will eat up quickly. You 

 will soon find that they will not require heavy feeding as they will 

 gather nearly a crop full before night. 



"The object should not be to force the comb (early laying) 

 but growth. We cannot force both at the same time. After a pul- 

 let commences to lay her growth practically stops. I wish to lay 

 great stress on growth, as it is the peg on which future success with 

 broilers hang. We must have a large, strong, well developed frame. 

 These flocks of fifty chicks should be placed far apart and on new 

 ground, i. e., ground that has been tilled since last used for chicks. 

 I know, from my own experience, that those who can give the 

 method a trial will never go back in the old ruts. Chicks must have 

 ■freedom if the best results are desired. 



"Properly speaking, these pullets should be mated with two- 

 year-old roosters and yet the hen herself throws the largest in- 

 fluence in the chick, and while the rooster is of great importance 

 the hen is the "all and in-all" after all — please excuse the alls. The 

 strongest two-year-old rooster cannot insure strong chicks if the 

 pullets are immature or the hens are sickly. The trouble with hens 

 is that they will be in molt about the time we wish to commence 

 to set — November ist- — and they will lay but few eggs and the eggs 

 will not be at the best. I hang my faith — all, things considered — on 

 early hatched pullets if managed as above. We may loose a few 

 more chicks but we will also have more eggs. 



"If the cockerels are hatched in February and kept growing, 

 then we can use them, as they are more vigorous and far more cer- 

 tain than cocks. These are the first steps in broiler raising, and we 

 should, yea must, be successful here before taking up the other. 

 Where a large number of fowls are kept the only practical way is 

 to yard them in flocks of fifteen. Give plenty of house and yard 

 room. Keep them busy, and introduce a vigorous cock or cockerel 

 in each yard. Keep your eye on the cock. Number each pen and 

 as you gather the eggs at night, mark each tgg with the number of 

 the pen in which it is layed. All eggs from pen one should be 

 marked one and so on. As you test these eggs, after they have 

 been in the incubator five or seven days, note how they come out, 

 not only as to fertility, but also as to strength of germ. If they fail 

 to come up to a reasonable average remove the cock and try another, 

 as the fa.ult will usually be in him, but not always. 



