June, 1908 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



227 



Duck Breeding House, with Flock of Ducklings in the Foreground 



weeks are ample time to keep 

 them in the warm brooder house, 

 when they are placed in cold 

 brooders in the colony houses. 

 Care is taken, however, not to 

 transfer them to the colony 

 houses until the nights in the 

 spring become fairly warm, as 

 artificial heat is seldom provided 

 in connection with the colonies. 



The dimensions of the colony houses differ 

 considerably, but in many of the larger es- 

 tablishments buildings are erected each of 

 which will accommodate at least one hun- 

 dred chickens. 



The modern poultry raisers appreciate 

 the profit in sending eggs to winter mar- 

 kets, and this feature of the industry has 

 greatly expanded in recent years. A layer 

 house on one of the large poultry farms 

 may contain five hundred pullets in a space 

 two hundred and fifty feet long and sixteen 

 feet wide. The layer houses are usually 

 divided into pens, in each of which about 

 twenty-five fowls are placed. Each pen 

 contains a gate, which opens upon an alley 

 along the side of the building, and oppo- 

 site each pen is an opening by which the 

 pullets can go into the yard or "park" 

 provided for them. The parks are fenced 

 off from each' other by means of wire net- 

 ting, and are well surfaced with sand or 

 dry earth where vegetation is not provided 

 for food. Apparently pullets which aver- 

 age six months old are the best layers for 

 the winter market. If care is taken to 

 hatch them out in the spring so that they 

 will reach this age by November 1 they will 

 lay with remarkable regularity provided 

 they are properly sheltered and fed. 



In addition to suitable houses for fowls 



Weighing Fowls for Market 



Section of the Nursery Brooder House for Hatching Ducks, 



Showing an Arrangement for Maintaining 



an Even Temperature 



of different ages, care is taken to see that they are 

 provided with pure water and food that improves 

 their condition. 



Some of the poultry farms which are operated 

 by scientific methods yield a remarkably large profit 

 considering the investment. A farm in northern 

 New York, on which thirty thousand dollars was 

 expended for land, buildings and stock, pays its 

 owners a profit of from twelve to fifteen per cent. 

 on the investment annually, after deducting all 



