iro6 
C'/jc RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
September 1.5, 1917 
WOMAN AND home 
The Story of “Tilly” 
By Mrs. R. W. Sfevens 
rOur readers will remember “Tilly,” 
one of the “Favoi’ite Hens” entered at the 
pgg-layiug contest two years ago. There 
have been requests for the story of how 
Mrs. Stevens started in the hen businesg 
and how “Tilly” was produced. Here is 
the story.] 
The White Wya.ndottes. —When the 
request for a history of our White Wyan¬ 
dotte Hock came we had just sold 5!) hens 
alive at the market, which brought us 
$84.50, or .$1.44 each, after having paid 
us a good profit all Winter. Is it any 
wonder we prefer the White Wyaudottes? 
Farmers as well as poultryinen are real¬ 
izing more than ever during the high 
price of grain now prevailing that they 
must keep heavy birds as well as a heavy 
laying strain to make good all around. 
A Gihl’s Hens. —My first experience 
with the W. Wyandotte was about 20 
years ago, on my father's farm. I raised 
incubator chicks on shares for a poultry 
fancier. T w»*ll iHuncmbci’ the first lot 
of 05 Hrown Leghorns; they were two 
week.s (tld when brought out to the farm, 
and when snow came I had lost only two. 
Next year he brought both Leghorns and 
W. Wyandott<>s. The following Winter 
we had eggs, an unusual thing at our 
farm. Previous to this iny father had 
very little use for a hen. T have found 
many farmers think the same as he did, 
and usually where one sees a flock of 
nice hens and chicks on tlie ordinary farm 
it is the wife or daughter who has been 
the care-taker. Where there is only one 
Avoman in the farmhouse it is hard work 
to raise many, keei) the house in order, 
cook and do the thousand and one other 
things that fall to the farmer's wife, yet 
we need fresh air and sunshine, and the 
chicks call us out in it where otherAvise 
Ave would not go. I can remember my 
mother as a perfect housekeeper, seldom 
going outside, but always ailing. When 
32 years old I was left without a mother, 
and Avith four brothers younger than my¬ 
self. Naturally I Avas deprived of an ed¬ 
ucation ; for 17 years, or until my father's 
death, I Avas the only woman who did a 
day’s Avork in our family, Avith Avashing 
and soAving throAvn in, so a bit of extra 
Avork doesn’t count with me, but to try 
to Avrite even a hi.story of our W. Wyau¬ 
dottes is out of my line of busine.ss, and 
had not Tilly made good at college it is 
doubtful if any of her sisters or daugh¬ 
ters would have been sent to college or 
been recognized as 2(X)-egg hens. 
hatching egg.ss from a poultryman Avho 
kept heavy layer.s, packed our furniture 
and bid farcAvell to the city. 
Making a Staut.—W e arrived late in 
the afternoon on April 2nd at our hired 
farm, Avhich Ave supposed Avas miles 
from toAvn, but found it to be four miles. 
The buildings Avere certainly a sad sight; 
the house roof leaked, the doors were 
capacity, and until late in the Summer 
did our best Avith the eggs we had bought 
from scA’cral different poultrymen, but 
hatched and raised A'cry fcAv. lOggs Avere 
not alAA-ays fertile, the weather was too 
Avarm for safe shipping, and there was 
the foui'-mile tote from the express office. 
Tii.ey’s Ancestors. —Out of Avhat Ave 
I'aised from the .several lots of eggs we 
picked out only 11 pullets to keep for 
breeders. This was the beginning of 
Tilly’s ancestry. At last Ave had made 
our start in AV. Wyaudottes. These 11 
pullets proved to be fine layers during 
their pullet year. The folloAving Spring 
Ave raised every chick possible from them, 
Tilly Mother of Utility White Wyandottes 
off, and part of the AvindoAvs gone; two 
calves Avore using the house instead of the 
barn, but they did not belong to the 
farm. We Avere to pay .$100 rent for the 
farm for a year. I could Avrite several 
pages on this iuA’estment and our experi¬ 
ence ; the cleaning, repairing, bad roads, 
no fences, location, etc., but T started to 
t»dl about hens. 
The Fikst Searo.n. —Our first year 
and picked out .'lO of the very best i)ullets 
for breeders. We also kept about the 
same number of W. Orpingtons and F. 
I. K('ds. This year our W. AVyandottes 
did so much better than either the Or¬ 
pingtons or Reds that Ave decided to raise 
only W. Wyandottes. as they sold bet¬ 
ter for table foAAds, and i)roduced more 
eggs for us; chicks \A'ere easy to I’aise, 
matured early, brought highest price in 
One of Tilly’s Performing Daughters 
Looking to the Future. —My hus¬ 
band Avas raised on a farm in Maine, but 
had drifted to New York City, Avhere we 
lived for five years after our marriage. 
During all this time we AA'ere planning 
our poultry farm and trying new Avays of 
economy, for Ave Avere to save, and pay 
cash for the farm. We kept hoping that 
Avith good luck “next year” the required 
capital Avould be on hand, but a fire, sick¬ 
ness, etc., caused us to I’emain in the 
city. We visited the poultry shoAvs at 
^ladlson Square and the Palace, and oc¬ 
casionally took a trip to .Tohn’s poultry 
farm in the Bronx. .Tohn Avas a felloAV 
Avorkman Avith my husband, Avho also Avas 
planning to moA'e to the country. I had 
never operat<‘d an incubator at that time, 
neither had .lohn’s Avife, and I felt about 
as capable as .Tohu’s mother thought 
.Tohn’s wife Avas Avhen she said “John 
might be able to run an incubator, but 
I knoAv Hattie never could.” But Hattie 
did; she not only ran one, she ran one 
successfully, and .Tohn and Hattie moved 
out of the city on a farm years ago. 
Finally the doctor told my husband that 
he must get out of the office or he Avould 
not live tAvo years. Our purse Avas flat. 
AVe hired a farm by letter to saA'e car¬ 
fare, ordered an incubator of 14()-egg ca¬ 
pacity, bought 125 White AVyandotte 
Avas very discouraging. We bought sev¬ 
eral hundred hatching eggs; most of them 
Avere almost a complete failure. The 125 
W. MViindotte eggs that Ave ordered be¬ 
fore AA’e left the city Avere receiAU'd by my 
brother before Ave arrived, but on account 
of the condition of the house they Avere 
not placed in the incubator tuitil the 
third Aveek in April. We hatched 42 
good chicks, and considering all things aa’o 
A vere satisfied. Of these Ave raised fll. 
We bought anotlier incubator. .'lOO-egg 
the market, and are uusurj)ass(‘d for table 
foAvl at any age. 
Sei.kcitng Breeders.—E very Fall in 
picking out our breeders Ave ch<)se the 
pullets that had matured early and that 
Avere strong and vigorous. In picking 
out the year-old or older hens to keep 
over Ave have folloAved the methods advo¬ 
cated to tell the best layers; late moult¬ 
ing, Avhite shanks, etc., and the egg re¬ 
sults each year seemed to prove the Avis- 
dom of our selection. Then again, avc be¬ 
lieve feeding the baby chicks right is half 
the battle, but you cannot stop Avhen the 
chick is matured; just continue feeding 
and caring for them as long as you Avant 
egg.s. and you certainly will get the de¬ 
sired results. It’s a job that knoAvs 
neither holidays or Sundays. You can’t 
feed a AVhite Wyandotte too much 
of the right kind of feed, for all she eats 
over a certain amount goes into eggs, so 
don’t spare the feed. 
The Faa'orite He.n Cgntest.—A ll 
R. N.-Y. readers knoAV that 1014-1015 
was the “Favorite lien Contest” year, and 
that only a farm Avoman Avas to fui-nish 
a hen. I Avas delighted when notified 
that one of my W. Wyandotte pullets 
would be accepted. Then came the Avon- 
derful time of selecting the pullet that 
Avas to go to college. First we picked 
out five oi' six and put them in .a coop; 
from these aa’c picked a fine-looking one, 
but discarded her later on account of the 
color of her eyes, so this gave Tilly her 
great chance, as she aa'rs the next selec¬ 
tion. 
As you all knoAA', Tilly AAms rather young 
to enter college, but as soon as possible .she 
shoAved herself to be a very apt and in¬ 
dustrious pupil. Her record of 2.54 eggs 
in 1014 montlus Avon a blue ribbon, also 
she won a second blue ribbon for being 
champion W. Wyandotte at Storrs that 
year. 
Tr.vp-NESTI.ng. —The year Tilly av.is .at 
college Ave commenced using the Stores 
trap-nest, and Avould not' be Avithout 
them. By iising them AA'e knoAv just Avhat 
hen is mother of many of our groAA’ing 
chicks. In this Av.ay Ave Avere able to 
.send a daughter of Tilly to Stores last 
Fall; al.sf) one to Mountain (JroA'e. Mo. 
Tilly’s daughter noAv at Stores has a rec¬ 
ord of 173 eggs to July 31st. 1017. The 
one at the Missouri contest has 187 eggs 
to .Tuly .31st. and scored 03 points. We 
expect both these pullets to huAm a recoial 
of 250 eggs. We also have the best W. 
Wyandotte pullet at Stores this ye.ir. 
with , 0 . record of 201 eggs to .Tuly 31st. 
We expect to score 03 points or over. 
The year Tilly was at college she had 
only 18G eggs to July .31st. Last year 
at Stores contest one of our pullets 
scored 02% points and laid 227 eggs. 
Getting a Record.—T he egg-laying 
contest has done Avonders for us. Rec¬ 
ords of high producing hens are of little 
value unle.ss made at some public egg- 
laying contest run under State supervis¬ 
ion. Tilly’s daughters and other pedi¬ 
gree pullets have proved to our satisfac¬ 
tion that heavy layers produce heavy lay¬ 
ers and that a good egg-producing strain 
is the only kind that pays. Our hens at 
home have ahvays done as well as, or bet¬ 
ter than those AA-e sent to the contest, our 
pen at the Missouri contest have aver¬ 
aged over 10.3 eggs for the first six 
months; they ought to average 200 eggs 
])er hen for the year. The first feAV years 
Ave bought neAV cockerels each year, but 
since using the trap-nests we use cock¬ 
erels from our pedigreed hens that have 
laid over 210 eggs. This year nearly 
half of our groAving stock is from pedi¬ 
greed hens with records over 200 mated 
to cocks or cockerels from dams Avith 
records of 210 or over. By this method 
it giA'es us cockerels to mate Avith un¬ 
related hens or pullets. 
Re.sui.ts Secured.—A s to our method 
of feeding, I do not think it would be of 
interest to many. This year Ave haAm 
against over 1,000 la.st year about GOO 
chicks, but the quality is 25 per cent, bet¬ 
ter; in fact, they are the best lot of 
chicks we have eA’^er rai,sed. This year 
we shinped about 7.000 hatching eggs 
and 1.500 day-old chicks. We have tried 
to deal square and give satisfaction. We 
are not getting rich, but we are doing 
much better than we did in the city. 
My health is better, and I believe that 
most Avomen AA'ould like the AA-ork, and to 
those who are anxious to earn money at 
home and Avill stick by the business I 
Avould say, get a start in your favorite 
breed and if you love the groAving chicks 
as I . do they will not be neglected. I 
believe starting with a few hens is better 
than trying to start Avith eggs. I also 
believe in a beginner starting on a small 
scale. 
Groaving into Profit.—W e have al- 
Avays done fairly Avell since the first 
year; at first Ave sold eggs at the local 
stores and broilers at the Lake hotels. 
We never advertised or tried to s<'ll 
breeding stock until after Tilly mad*' 
good at college. Four years ago Ave Avere 
able to buy this farm, which is an island 
in the Hudson River, and makes a splen¬ 
did poultry farm, as Ave have no neigh¬ 
bors’ chickens' to mix Avith ours. We 
can give foAvls unlimited run, and no 
stray dogs or cats come to molest oui- 
chicks; neither do we have line fence 
troubles. We have made a success of 
the poultry business through the help of 
The R. N.-Y. 
