POULTRY FOR PROFIT 17 
as high as $50 per sitting. It is not advisable 
for the beginner to pay either of these ex¬ 
tremes, hut to plan to buy eggs not over $5 
per setting. Then as you progress in the busi¬ 
ness, you can purchase males to mate with 
your females to gradually improve your flock. 
This method necessitates the use of an incu¬ 
bator, unless you can arrange with some friend 
who will loan you the use of his incubator. 
Of course, if you already have some mature 
birds, even of a different breed, you can set 
these eggs under these birds, when they be¬ 
come broody in the spring, and secure even a 
larger hatch than you can from the use of an 
incubator. Generally, a mature bird can set 
on about fifteen eggs, and hatch every fertile 
egg in the sitting. A more detailed discussion 
on incubation will be given in the next chapter. 
The third way that one can secure a start 
in the poultry business, is by buying day-old 
chicks. This is an industry that has grown by 
leaps and bounds in the last few years. The 
price generally charged for these day-old chicks 
is twice as much as is charged for the hatching 
eggs. A fair price for 100 day-old chicks is 
from $15 to $20. Of course, the quality of these 
