Keeping Hens in the Backyard Garden— By Roger w. Babson, 



[Editors' Note: — This is the fifth article in Mr. Babson' s scries, beginning in the April number, in which the economic value of 

 the backyard in relation to the "Cost of Living" problem is discussed. The final article will appear in the September number.] 



Massa- 

 chusetts 



AFTER giving much thought to this 

 whole question of reducing the cost 

 of livingithrough backyardgardens. 

 I am most strongly convinced 

 that the solution is largely an individual 

 one and in order to increase production, 

 it must be made both popular and profitable 

 for people who are now only consumers, 

 to become producers. For the family 

 in the city complaining of the continual 

 increasing cost of living, it becomes them 

 to go out into the suburbs, secure a place 

 with land sufficient to have their own garden 

 and supply their table with good vegetables, 

 fresh eggs and poultry from their own land 

 and hen house. No arguments are nec- 

 essary to convince the housewife that an 

 independent supply of fresh eggs and 

 poultry would be very desirable. There- 

 fore, I do not feel this series of articles on 

 the backyard will be complete without 

 one article on the hen house. 



With the many volumes which have 

 been published and the hundreds of 

 columns which the papers and magazines 

 have contributed in advocating the possi- 

 bilities open to the man or woman of 

 limited capital in the poultry business, one 

 would think that this line would be very 

 much "overworked." The facts of the 

 case show the very opposite, for however 

 rapidly the supply increases, the demand 

 seems to increase even more rapidly. So 

 long as this law of "supply and demand" 

 applies, there need be no apprehension as 

 to the continuance of high prices for eggs 

 and poultry. 



Regardless of the fact that thousands of 

 people have been attracted to the poultry 

 business in the past few years, the price 

 of fresh eggs continues to reach a new high 

 level each fall. For three months last 

 winter the retail price for fresh eggs in 

 New York City was quoted at seventy-five 

 cents per dozen. 



Few people realize the importance of 

 the poultry industry when considered in 

 connection with the total value of other 

 farm products. Our corn crop stands out 

 alone as the only crop larger in value than 

 the total poultry product in the entire 

 United States. We hear much about the 

 value of our wheat or cotton crops, but 

 they are really secondary in value to our 

 poultry product. The United States cen- 

 sus of 1900 reported the value of poultry 

 products for that year as $280,000,000; 

 while the report for June 30, 1910, shows 

 $850,000,000, a most remarkable increase. 



In 1 91 1, Secretary Wilson of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture, Washington, 

 D. C, in an address said, "We can hardly 

 employ ordinary arithmetic in keeping 

 track of the growth of the poultry industry. 

 It has developed more rapidly within the 

 last decade than any other of the big 



agricultural industries of this big and 

 wonderful country of ours." Neverthe- 

 less, the increase in consumption in our 

 cities has been even greater than this 

 marked growth of the industry, conse- 

 quently the present high prices. 



However, it is not my object here to 

 discuss the possibilities of the "hen busi- 

 ness " as an industry of promise, but rather 

 to show the "in-town-family," perplexed 

 with how to make the salary do the same 

 work it did five or ten years ago, that the 

 answer lies in finding a modest home with 

 a yard large enough to have their own 

 garden and hen house! In fact, the only 

 solution lies in partially changing their 

 station from the army of consumers to the 

 depleted army of producers, thereby per- 

 forming an economic benefit to their coun- 

 try as well as to their family for which 

 they will be duly rewarded. 



Unfortunately, I have not had personal 

 experience in keeping hens; but I have 

 observed the work of others along prac- 

 tical lines, and it should be of value to 

 city readers to have a description of a model 

 hen house, as constructed by one of my 

 salesmen (without the services of a car- 

 penter), in his backyard near my Wellesley 

 home, during the past spring. This house 

 in size and arrangement will fill all require- 

 ments to carry out the suggestions as given 

 in my title. 



The material in this house cost $35, but 

 it could be constructed for somewhat less, 

 if paper were used for the roof covering 

 instead of shingles. The outside dimen- 

 sions are 8x16 ft.; three full length 

 windows in the side facing south; full 

 size door in one end, with exit to yard for 

 hens in opposite end of house. The sills 

 and upright posts were constructed of 

 4x4 and joists and rafters 2x3 stock. 

 It was boarded in with matched boards, 

 and ij-inch battery strips were nailed 

 over the joints of these boards to make 

 the house warmer in winter. 



In this house, a space was partitioned off 

 just inside the door 4x8 and a board floor 

 laid, making this space serve as a small 

 grain room and a convenient place to keep 

 garden tools, etc. I noticed that he also 

 ran his roosts and drop boards around the 

 side opposite the windows and along the 

 inside partition, giving a space under the 

 latter section for nests. A board on 

 hinges enables him to reach the nests 

 from this grain room without the necessity 

 of going into the space given to the hens, 

 a convenience very much appreciated by 

 the women folks, who are always interested 

 at least, in gathering up the eggs! 



A good way to begin "keeping hens" 



in a small way is to buy the chicks in the 



spring from the large dealers who have 



stores in all our cities. These incubator 



16 



chicks (about one week old), sell for $15 

 to $20 per hundred, according to the breed 

 and the time of the season. If one desires 

 to "winter" twenty-five pullets, it would 

 be safe to start with fifty of these chicks 

 to allow for accident and the goodly num- 

 ber of roosters which are appreciated about 

 Thanksgiving, if not in the early morning 

 hours! The last of April or the first of 

 May is about as early as chickens (without 

 a hen) can be put out-of-doors in New 

 England without some kind of a brooder. 

 However, these chicks should begin to lay 

 the last of October or first of November. 



The mother of one of my stenographers 

 has not only been very successful in poultry 

 raising, but has been enabled to enjoy a 

 very profitable garden on account of the 

 hens. An honest and careful record of 

 receipts and expenditures has been kept 

 by her and the period covered for this 

 report was from October, 191 1, to October, 

 191 2. The largest number of hens kept 

 at any one time was 350, consisting of 200 

 hens and 150 pullets. From this number, 

 they have received in one year 20,516 

 eggs, which sold at a total of $749.87. 

 Adding to this the money received for 

 fowls and broilers sold, the total receipts 

 were $888.80. Out of this the expenditures 

 for grain and food was only $433.97. which 

 would indicate a profit of $454.83. 



By analyzing this on a per-hen basis, I 

 find the following figures: 



$2.54 total income per hen. 

 $1.23 cost to feed per hen. 

 $1.31 net profit per hen. 



This is probably below the actual re- 

 sults as this is assuming that they kept 

 350 hens the entire year when as a matter 

 of fact, they did not keep as many as that. 

 At the time this report was submitted, the 

 stock had been reduced to 264. However, 

 this interesting report from a woman whom 

 I know, is only half told in the above figures, 

 for she has reported to me with some detail 

 how the valuable fertilizer obtained from 

 these hens has enabled her husband to 

 cultivate in his spare moments, a formerly 

 barren field adjoining their yard and from 

 which garden they have supplied their table 

 all summer with fresh vegetables, as well as 

 being able to sell a considerable amount. 



In this particular case, it might seem that 

 this was developed on a sufficient scale 

 to be considered a "business" rather than 

 a mere "economy;" but I know that the 

 husband has regular work away from home 

 each day; while the daughter is in my em- 

 ploy at Wellesley. In reality, these hens 

 are a "side line" largely conducted by the 

 woman, in her own yard, in a suburb of 

 Boston noted for the beautiful streets, 

 spacious lawns, and imposing mansions. 



In observing the monthly record of 



