1 
L ' 1 
.A 1 
Vol 
. LXVIII. 
1 * u hi is l * < ■ <! Weekly by' The Rural Publishing Co., 
\\ ::mii St.T Neiv Yorl;. - * Price One Dollar a-Year. 
NEW ViiKK. .1 A X FA R Y IS. lillfl 
Entered as Second-Class Matter .Tune 20. 1870, at the Post 
Office at New York. N. Y.. umlir the Act of March 187 '. 
' / V • ) * J ** 
A Balanced Hatching Season 
i 
Get Part of the Chicks Out Early ’ 
UIiAX\I\(; AtfEAD.— Probably very few poul- 
I ryiiit'ii realize 11 1 «» iicivniiiugc or necessity ’ of 
l>l.iiiiiinyr ;i season s 'hatching work so ms to procure 
(lip him,\ inniin ollioiencv <">l laluir.-au increased return 
in dollars a i irI routs, a slight relief froui theA’usli bf 
Spring work, and a general balancing*of tlie activi- 
f ies on llu‘ farm as a whole . r A few Suggestions may 
f’how (lu* poultry-keeper how lie can balance "the 
A\ork on his whole plant, to some extent A by phui- 
oing to balance his’hatching "season carefully? b-'-i 
SI Alt I rXG *FA IH.Y.—Ey Moiiig from one-quarter 
to one-third of his entire hatching iii late January 
or February a poultryman can plan to have one- 
third of his flock come inti) laying condition at a 
different time from the rest of his flock. The birds 
that arc hatched this early will start to lay in July 
than t<> keep over.yearling or old hens for breeding. 
He based ids opinion on the fact that it is cheaper 
?o raise January-or February hatciied • pullets to 
maturity, get sonic eggs, from them in the late Sum¬ 
mer or early Fall when eggs are starting to rise in 
value, allow tliyin to molt, and begin laying again 
iii (lie Spriiig-^-at which time they may he used for 
;breediiVg^?tl mn", to keep over, yearlings that will not 
•Fay so inaTij-feggs>is the pullets. and will molt longer 
(than will, the "pullets ^besides*..- I he yearlings, if sold 
for meat in the FijH will net adiandsiune little profit 
on the side; In addition to the pullets which may be 
used as breeders there are the cockerels, which will 
•have developed into excellent male birds for the 
breeding pens the following Spring; these may be 
utilized on the home jflant or may be sold as 
breeders. 
"W Fr,r,-( 1 1 tf)W N AOl X(» STOCK.—Ail advantage 
of early hatching cau be seen in the fact that by the 
FA It LA EROILFKS.—A very noticeable source of 
revenue may be found in the cull cockerels and pul¬ 
lets of tile early hatches- as early broilers. Just 
about the time that the market is beginning to want; 
broilers, the male birds of the January or February 
hatched chicks—and in some instances the females—■ 
are developed to such mil extent, that they are prime 
ior broilers. The poultryman can easily sell his 
surplus cockerels for tills purpose, realizing the top- 
notch price for them. A year ago, broilers brought 
SO and S5 cents a pound, and men who had early- 
batched stock at that time cleaned up quite a little 
from their surplus stock.- 
EFLIEA INC STRAIN.—As the general farmer is 
usually pretty busy with his planting and other 
.Spring work at the season when most of the hatching 
is usually done (March. April or May), hatching a 
quarter or a third of his flock early will get that 
much off his bauds and prevent a great part of his 
The Fowls at Work on a yen' Jersey Poultry It an eh. Vifl. JG 
or August, and will lay during the late Summer and 
early Fall. They will then go into a molt of about 
fix or seven weeks' duration, coming into laying 
again in the late Winter or Spring. The advantage 
of having them lay at this time may be easily seen, 
as it is in late Summer and early Fall that egg 
prices start to rise. This, then, serves to maintain 
an e\eu production, thus balancing tin* drop in pro¬ 
duction which is bound to occur with yearling or old 
hens. The length of time they will lay before they 
go into the slight Fall molt will depend a lot upon 
the season: in a particularly open or pleasant Fall 
they will lay a longer time than in a severe Fall 
before molting. 
FAR 1,V-1 1 ATCITFD ERFFDERS.—Farly-hatched 
pullets may also be used as breeders the following 
Spring, for they are more developed and are safer 
to breed from than are pullets hatched in March, 
April or May. Indeed, 1 recently heard an exper¬ 
ienced poultryman express the opinion that it would 
bo cheaper to use early-hatched pullets for breeding 
each year, and to dispose of all his old stock, rather 
time I lie hot dry weather of late Spring or Summer 
arrives, the young stock will have attained their 
growth to some extent, and will not be subject to the 
stunting influence which hot weather has ur>on 
glowing stock, lo bo sure, there are one or two 
disadvantages in hatching and brooding chicks early, 
such as the special care which may be necessary in 
severe cold weather, and the fact that there is no 
large supply of green food available at that season 
of the year. However, as to the severe cold, chicks 
can generally survive this kind of weather better 
than they can severe hot weather. With ordinary 
careful attention to the fires in the brooder stoves, 
there ought to be no difficulty in brooding chicks 
this early In the season. The rearing period will be 
comparatively free from any danger from the 
weather, for the reason mentioned above, namely, 
that they will be pretty well along before the hot 
days couie. As to succulence, this may be provided 
in the form of thinly sliced mangel beets, sprouted 
out tops, or grain which has been planted in the 
Fall. 
poultry work from conflicting with his other duties. 
Not only will the plan of hatching a certain propor¬ 
tion of his flock early relieve the farmer from much 
of the strain of the busy season, but the farmer will 
be able, before the rush comes on. to give the chicks 
lx'ttei attention and possibly raise a greater propor- 
tion of the hatch than he would if all his birds were 
hatched at the same time somewhat later. The farm 
flock, as a rule, does not receive a great deal of care, 
largely because the farmer does not think there is 
un\ thing in chickens." He keeps chickens because 
be has to; his folks before him kept them, so he 
keeps them. I sincerely believe if the farm flocks of 
the country were run on a business basis, as the 
dairy herd generally is. the farmer would take more 
interest in them and they would pay him a profit. 
A big step would be taken in this direction by be¬ 
ginning at this one point, namely, the hatching. 
Hatch (tic proportion recommended above in January 
or February and the test later in the season, March, 
April or May. This plan helps to balance the poultry 
work for the rest of the year and at the same time 
