Vol. LXIII, No. 2835, 
NEW YORK, MAY 28, 1904. 
*1 PER YEAR. 
THE LARGEST EGG FARM IN THE WORLD. 
NOT A SINGLE CHICK ON THE PLACE. 
Not a Hen Runs Outdoors . 
HOW IT WAS STARTED.—An egg farm embrac¬ 
ing 800 acres with 8,400 hens housed in 601 houses is 
something unique in the hen business, and has some 
features so remarkable that an account of it cannot fail 
to be of interest to everyone engaged in egg production. 
Such a farm exists in Hancock, N. H., C. E. E. Hay¬ 
ward, proprietor. Mr. Hayward is a pioneer in the 
business and the fact that he was never more interested 
or enthusiastic than to-day is the strongest possible 
proof that it pays him in dollars and cents. He com¬ 
menced in the poultry business in 1865 by breeding a 
few pens of the Partridge Cochin, a bird then fast com¬ 
ing into favor. Succeeding with this he gradually in¬ 
troduced other varieties till before 10 years he became 
one of the largest dealers in fancy poultry in the world, 
having in his coops specimens of nearly every purebred 
strain that had been developed. He used annually to 
make a tour of the New England fairs with his immense 
exhibit and scooped in 
about all the premiums. 
He finally tired of this 
line, and in 1887 em¬ 
barked in the egg pro¬ 
ducing branch of the 
poultry business, in 
which he has been very 
successful. 
Summer and Winter; yet the proprietor claims he has 
no frosted combs, and that they afford ample protection. 
There is not a pane of glass in the whole 600 houses. 
The building is supplied with roosts placed low down 
at the back, two nest boxes, a box for food and another 
for grit and shells. A small iron drinking trough is 
placed outside at a back corner, into which water runs 
in a small gutter from one of the eaves when it rains. 
Into each one of these houses 14 hens are placed when 
received in the Fall, where they remain till shipped to 
market the next Fall. A little calculation will show 
that it takes 600 of these houses to accommodate 8,400 
hens. Eight men are constantly employed in caring for 
them. 
FEED.—It takes 2,140 pounds of feed for each day’s 
ration, which is often changed somewhat. At present 
the morning feed consists of 400 pounds beef scraps, 
200 pounds gluten, 200 pounds hominy feed and 500 
pounds mixed feed. A little salt and charcoal is added. 
This is prepared the night before, ready for the liquid. 
The feed in the afternoon consists of 800 pounds of whole 
grain,, wheat being fed at this writing. It might be 
THE OLD HOMESTEAD WITH A NEW ENGLAND PASTURE IN FRONT. Fig. 182. 
THE HENS.-That 
this is an egg farm pure 
and simple is shown 
from the fact that not 
a chick is hatched 
upon the farm, the pul¬ 
lets being bought each 
year from growers in 
Vermont and Canada 
who are engaged by 
Mr. Hayward to grow 
them for him, and are 
shipped to him in crates 
in October and Novem¬ 
ber. The yearling hens 
are all disposed of alive 
each Autumn, being 
shipped to the Boston 
markets. The entire 
farm, comprising 800 
acres, 100 of which is 
devoted to the poultry business, lies about a mile from 
Hancock village. It slopes mostly to the south and 
east and is well adapted to the business. 
HOUSES.—Many of the features of the plant arc 
original with Mr. Hayward, have been developed by 
his experience and are continued because found profit¬ 
able. Up to within 10 years Mr. Hayward continued the 
open run system, only confining his newly bought pul¬ 
lets in their coops till they became wonted, when they 
were permitted free range. His hens are now confined 
in their houses the year round. His houses are placed 
in rows, two rods apart, and four rods between the 
rows, all facing the south. They are eight feet square 
and the same in height; the building has a small stone 
under each corner, thus raising it for protection from 
moisture. It has a double floor with a square base 15 
inches high of two-inch plank, to which the roof boards 
are nailed, the upper ends of which are secured to the 
ridge pole. 1 he roof and back end are shingled. The 
front end is boarded down from the top and up from 
the bottom about 15 inches. Two uprights serve as 
attachments for the door, which is covered with inch 
mesh wire netting as well as the spaces each side, thus 
leaving nearly all the south end open to the weather 
added that this feed is principally wheat. Ground oyster 
shells and grit are kept constantly in the boxes. No 
green food is used. 
RESULTS.—An average egg production of 100 per 
hen is secured, which average in price 26 cents per 
dozen, making the gross receipts per hen $2.17. The 
cost of production per hen is about $1.17, leaving a net 
profit of about $1 per hen. A better showing could 
be made were the hens at their best when eggs were 
highest, in November, December and January, but Mr. 
Hayward thinks that the increased cost of production 
during these months would with him more than offset 
the greater receipts. He claims that under his system 
he gets more eggs than when the hens had free range, 
and that his losses (by death) are no greater. His pro¬ 
portionate losses are no greater, 10 to 20 per cent, 
than occurs in small flocks, but up in the big numbers 
it seems monstrous—800 to 900 hens, worth perhaps 
$500. The pullets average to cost him about 60 cents 
apiece, but as they are bought at live weight their in¬ 
creased weight at time of selling makes them bring 
about as much as they cost. The water problem is a 
simple one with Mr. Hayward, surrounded as he is by 
high land. A reservoir is built among Jjie hills, and 
from it the water is piped to all parts of his farm, to 
house, barn, engine room, cook room, etc. He has an 
engine and boiler of 15 horse power which cracks his 
corn, cuts up wheat for hens and poor hay for nests, 
and runs an elevator that carries the grains from the 
wagons to the bins above the cook room. These bins 
hold 5,000 bushels, and nearly every day his teams are 
bringing grain to them from the station three miles 
away. The money invested in the plant and the run¬ 
ning expenses are something enormous, but Mr. Hay¬ 
ward is a keen business man and if it did not pay he 
would soon find where the leak was. The droppings 
from the fowls form no inconsiderable income and are 
used extensively to fertilize his orchard of 7,000 trees, 
from which this year he expects to harvest 10,000 bar¬ 
rels of apples, mostly Baldwins. Besides being a shrewd 
business man, Mr. Hayward has a great love of the 
beautiful in nature and art and his grounds in their 
glory of tree, shrub and vine are worth an effort to see. 
H. F. ROBINSON. 
R. N.-Y.—The pictures show some views taken on 
this remarkable farm. Fig. 182 shows the homestead 
with a rocky pasture 
in the foreground, 
•which to many old 
New England boys will 
bring memories of other 
days. The writer was 
brought up in just such 
a pasture. Fig. 184 
shows a row of the 
houses, so that we may 
see just how they are 
built, and Fig. 185 gives 
.a view of the village 
of little houses as they 
stand in the snow. Fig. 
183 is a picture of Mr. 
Hayward. He looks 
like a man who would 
not be likely to get the 
worst end of a horse 
trade, and we will guar¬ 
antee that his hens do 
not fool him on the 
profit question. 
USE OF TILE IN 
INDIANA. 
In central Indiana 
horseshoe tile have 
been displaced by round 
tile. The main objection to the former was that the 
molds made the top a little shorter, and burning also 
shortened it until there would be a crack between two 
tiles at the top of a quarter to one-half inch. I have 
laid the horseshoe tile and would often lay them bottom 
up to make the joints fit. I understand the shortening 
mentioned has been partly remedied with improved 
molds and some horseshoe tile are being again used here. 
One other objection is that many tile are not quite 
straight. They get curved in heating and a little curve 
can often be corrected by turning the tile partly over. 
Also at long bends in the ditch one can often favor a 
gradual bend by turning these tile with slight variation 
to fit the curve. I have laid lots of tile on my own 
land. I usually stand on the bank outside the ditch and 
reach them down with a stick, like a light handspike 
with an L at the bottom. It should be a little larger 
near the bottom and not too light. After laying the tile 
in place one can turn it to fit and chuck it up tight by 
striking it with the stick. One will find in practice in 
laying round tile that he will turn most of them partly 
over before they fit to suit. If flat on one side they lie 
badly and the hole is often oblong instead of round. 
They make 3 . six-sided tile that lay§ well. 
