April, 1914 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



5l7 



cut up — on the ^rnuuKl so thai Uu- 

 l)ir<ls can peck all the flesh out of 

 them. The latter course is, how- 

 ever, only adopted when tlie jirccu 

 food is short in the yards. l-'ish 

 or meat in a suitable form i.s al- 

 ways provided, to the extent of at 

 least lo per cent, by weight, in the 

 dry mash, as a stibstitute for 

 grubs, worms, and similar natural 

 food. Ground raw bones are also 

 sometimes fed, but not regadarly, 

 for the supply of these is intermit- 

 tent, and an engine would be re- 

 quired to grind them at home, 

 which woidd involve a further out- 

 lay of capital. 



The following statement indi- 

 cates the general s}'Stem of feeding 

 as practised on this egg farm (a) 

 from the time of hatching until 

 egg-laying commences, and (b) 

 during egg production : — 



(a) Chick food is given for one 

 week, then chick food and dry 

 mash. At three weeks a little 

 wheat is introduced into the ra- 

 tion, and at five weeks all the birds 

 are on w^heat. The chicks have 

 food before them continuoiisly. 



(b) During the period of egg pro- 

 duction the birds are fed on a ra- 

 tion consisting of two-thirds of 

 wheat and one-third of cracked 

 maize. This is fed in 6 inches of 

 litter in the morning, and dry 

 m.ash food is always at hand for 

 the birds. The latter are also pro. 

 ^'ided with as much green food as 

 the}' will eat, especially in the win- 

 ter, as well as grit, shell, and char- 

 coal. 



The cost of feeding during the 

 period from the time of hatching 

 until egg-laying commences is 

 roughly estimated at 2/- per bird ; 

 in the second case the cost of 

 feeding during egg.production is a 

 variable quantity to a certain ex- 

 tent, according to market fluctua- 

 tions, but it is reckoned that from 

 6/3 to 6/6 per bird per annum is a 

 fairly representative cost. 



A good supply of clean, purej 

 water is available, and in the pre- 

 sent instance the proprietor is for- 

 tunate in having a continuons sup- 

 ply from the borough main, and 

 if that fails he has at least 1,000 

 gallons always in reserve for his 

 birds. Pipes are laid on to each 

 house from the main, and short 

 lengths of piping are also fixed 

 under each house, with taps easily 

 available at both sides. The taps 

 are underground, and there is a 

 length of piping screwed on and 

 projecting above groimd ; the lat- 

 ter can be easily imscrewed, and, 

 as the water runs out of the tap, 



which is below ground, it does not 

 freeze. A little permanganate of 

 potash is put into every drinking 

 dish that is placed before the 

 birds. 



— Precautions Against Disease. — 



One of the outstanding features 

 to be noticed on this farm is the 

 entire absence of disease in the 

 poultry pens. The birds are all 

 bred from perfectly healthy stock, 

 and the houses and yards are kept 

 in a scrupulously clean and tho- 

 roughly sanitary condition. No 

 outvside stock are..piirchased, and 

 all weakly and puny birds are 

 killed at once, so that there shall 

 not be the slightest risk of dis- 

 ease. In order to aid in the 

 maintenance of cleanliness and san- 

 itation, the perches are creosoted 

 monthly, the laying-houses are dis- 

 infected at similar intervals with 

 a spray pump, and the floors and 

 dropping-boards are tarred annual- 



ly- 



— Labour and Marketing. — 



The following particulars furnish- 

 ed by the proprietor are connected 

 with the economic side of commer- 

 cial egg-production, and the cost of 

 labour and marketing of the pro- 

 duce. The amount of attention 

 required by a flock of 400 birds is 

 reckoned as follows : — 



o 35 p !^ 



Water, twice daily (30 m). 3% 182 



Grain once daily (30 m.) 3/^ 182 



Dry feed twice weekly 4 182 



Cleaning house once weekly i 52 



Spra^-ing once monthly — 12 



Creosoting perches — 12 



Annual clean — 12 



Providing grit and shell — 12 



Col. eggs (15 mins. daily j r;'4 100 



chased froim anothi r farm. The old 

 hens are disposed of as follows ; 

 the best are kept for breeding, 

 either for the home farna or for 

 sale for the same purpose, and the 

 others are sent to London and 

 sold at Smithfield. Some are sold 

 at twenty months, and others at 

 thirt}' months, after their breeding 

 season. The average ])rices real- 

 ised may vary from 2/- to 2/6. 

 When sold for breeding, they are 

 usually expected to realise from 

 5/ to 7/6 each. 



— The Market for Bggs. — 



The business is entirely a whole- 

 sale one, and the proprietor has 

 been very successful in establish- 

 ing a first-class connection with 

 big London dealers. Further, the 

 is able to secure good wholesale 

 prices for them, as the following 

 record shows : — 



per doz. 

 8. d. 



March, April and May ... i o 

 June, .Tuly, Aug., Sept. ... i 3 

 Oct., Nov., Dec, Jan. ... i 9 

 February i 5 



Complete records are kept of the 

 number of eggs produced at all 

 times of the year, and the totals 

 for the best winter" months were 

 as follows : — 



Eggs. 



•■• 7.616 



7,310 



8,606 



23,532 



January 



February 



March 



Total 



Total number of hours for 

 one man per year 



8t,2 



As only one breed is kept on 

 this farm, and the system of dry 

 mash feeding is practised, two men 

 are able to look after four houses 

 and 1,600 hens, water and feed the 

 latter, collect, pack and despatch 

 the eggs, attend to a pony, do all 

 the gardening, and clean a motor. 



As regards the cost of market- 

 ing the eggs, the railway charges 

 from the nearest station to Lon- 

 don, a journey of 47 miles, amount 

 to 1/8 per 30 dozen eggs, or a 

 little letes if i'2o dozen eggs are 

 sent to one address. Particular 

 care is taken to sell only infertile 

 eggs, and not a single egg is pur- 



The figures given above represent 

 the total number of eggs produced 

 by a flock of 402 pullets during a 

 period of 90 days. Two hundred 

 of the birds had been hatched in 

 .Tune, and some as late as June 

 26th. A poultry farmer expects 

 about a gross of eggs per bird, 

 but often the average of the ordin- 

 ary farm flock falls as low as 70. 

 The Records kept on had teen kept. 

 The records kept shows results, 

 per bird. On the average, each 

 egg weighs 2 ounces or a little 

 over. — Journal of the Board of 

 Agriculture. 



XliC OiUKSL O i something about 

 yonr methods of breeding, rearing^ 

 a,nd maaaging Live Stock ? Let 

 ns have it if it will only fill the 

 bMk mt a Pm* oavd. 



