PROFITABLE EGG FARMING. 
Colony Houses for Laying Stock, Lakewood Farm. 
tended to,—and regular supplies of green food, 
animal food, etc., must be given. Where fowls 
are kept on the colony plan and allowed free 
range, they will supply themselves with green 
food; and, in summer time, when worms, in¬ 
sects, etc., are abundant, they will supply them¬ 
selves with considerable animal food. Most of 
the colony-house egg farms which we had the 
pleasure to visit, were established before the 
method of “dry-feeding” had received much 
consideration, and the decided success of the 
dry-feeding method may cause us to revise our 
estimates somewhat. With fowls cared for by 
the dry-feeding method, with food and beef 
scraps constantly accessible, they do not roam 
far and give better all-round results than when 
they are fed twice daily by the attendant, and 
are given a mash food in the morning and hard 
grain at night. This thought is suggested by 
some correspondence which the writer has re¬ 
cently had with some gentlemen of a Missouri 
corporation, relative to the establishing of an 
egg farm in connection with a 3.000 acre fruit 
ranch in that State. Obviously the colony- 
house plan would be the only plan for such a 
combination business, and equally obviously 
the dry-feeding method would decidedly facil¬ 
itate economy of operation, as well as give 
better returns. 
Some of the advantages of continuous-house 
egg farms are the housing and yarding of large 
numbers of birds in a comparatively small 
space—say 400 or 500 birds to the acre—and 
grouping the houses and yards about the farm- 
buildings, there is coupled with this method the 
disadvantages of decided increase in cost of con¬ 
struction,—the expense of building and main¬ 
taining fences, practically doubles the cost of 
construction. Opinions differ as to the economy 
of operating. The more constant attention re¬ 
quired by fowls confined in houses and yards, 
with an average round of six visits per day to 
each pen, (three for the morning, noon and night 
feeding, two for watering and one for collecting 
the eggs), is full)'- balanced if not outweighed, by 
the greater time consumed in going around to 
fifty or one hundred houses set 150 to 200 feet 
apart, two or three times a day by man and 
horse. 
It is important that a plan of operating be 
carefully considered, and the poultry plant con¬ 
structed to facilitate the operating. Many poul¬ 
try plants are just a “happen-so,” having been 
built from time to time as the circumstances and 
inclinations of the owner favored, and not in¬ 
frequently one is found that has become un¬ 
wieldy, has become so top-heavy it is impossible 
to carry it on advantageously. One does not 
need to have elaborate and expensive buildings, 
but the houses for the stock must be dry, free 
from draughts, and so situated that they can 
have the maximum of sunshine in the winter; 
and they should be so planned that the essential 
labor of caring for the flocks is favored as much 
as possible. The conditions that promote the 
best health of the birds must not be sacrificed 
to the “convenience” of the caretaker, how¬ 
ever. and those conditions are absolute dryness 
of the pens, sunshine and fresh air, fresh, clean 
water and an adequate supply of proper food. 
House plans and yard plans are fully treated of 
in Book No. 3 of this series of Practical Poultry 
Books, hence we do not need to consider house 
plans in this book; our interest is the basic 
principles of profitable egg farming. 
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