How to Do It 
Giving Some Plain Facts and Telling How to 
Establish a Poultry Farm in Any Back Yard 
Dollars 
and Cents 
The Thing 
to Consider 
Although I can sympathize strongly with those that see in the chicken 
business a source of entertainment and refreshment, I know altogether 
too little about raising chickens for fun to discuss the subject seriously 
here or elsewhere. Besides, I am writing for the great majority to whom 
the problem of mere existence is becoming every day more tangled 
and involved. 
Closing the mind to everything but net returns, then, the reader will 
find the following facts enlightening and interesting. 
At times when eggs are plentiful and the price low, Rancocas receives 
24 cents a dozen for eggs. These same eggs are sold by retailers at from 
36 to 40 cents a dozen. At present—December, 1911— Rancocas eggs 
are bringing 65 cents a dozen in New York. Retailers are getting from 
85 to 90 cents a dozen for them. 
Now, Rancocas is not conducted along purely philanthropical lines. 
When our eggs sell for 65 cents a dozen, we make a clear profit of from 
35 to 40 cents a dozen on them. 
Maybe we’d ought to be ashamed of ourselves, but our stockholders 
don’t think so. Then, too, just so long as the supply of fresh eggs remains 
about 3 seasons behind the demand, just so long will the retail price con¬ 
tinue to hit the sky. 
The thing for you to consider is this: 
If it costs only from 25 to 30 cents a dozen to produce eggs during the 
season when you have to spoil a dollar bill every time you think of an 
omelet, wouldn’t it be to your advantage to produce? 
To this question there can be but one answer— 
“Yes, if I can produce at anything near the rock-bottom.” 
Let us see: 
The cost of your equipment will depend upon your resources. If 
you have $75 to invest, you can build an ideal poultry house such as is 
shown in the plans given in this book and begin with high-grade stock and 
a high-grade equipment throughout. 
If you have little or nothing to invest, you can make a poultry 
house out of second-hand lumber and on a less elaborate plan. Then 
you can get eggs from a farmer or reliable groceryman when the price 
is low, gain possession of a couple of broody old hens, and start the 
ball a-rolling. 
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