PROFITABLE EGG FARMING. 
Some Advantages and Disadvantages of the 
Colony Plan. 
It could be stated roughly that the advantages 
are economy of house construction, complete 
isolation of each family, and free range, but we 
feel bound to saj r we believe the lessened cost of 
construction is more than counterbalanced by 
the enhanced cost of operation. The greater 
cost of construction of long houses and yards 
demands an immediate investment of money, 
requires more ready capital at the start, while 
the increased cost of operation is an annual tax, 
a year in and year out expenditure of time and 
muscle. True it is usually the muscle of a hired 
man and horse, but hired men’s wages eat into 
the income rapidly, and horses have to be fed; 
hence we feel bound to say frankly that the 
largest advantages are on the side of the long- 
house plan. 
We have visited several colony-plan farms, 
Mr. Hayward’s, Hancock, N. H., Mr. Wilbur’s, 
Little Compton, R, I., “Tanglewood,” East 
Greenwich, R. I. (now defunct), and others 
besides Mr. Hamblin’s and Mr. Howland’s. 
Mr. Hayward’s is farthest north, and being 
far back from the seashore, is much more effect¬ 
ed by snow and cold than the others mentioned, 
which are close upon tide water and practically 
free from the invasion of snow, which must 
mean considerable in the expense of operating. 
Mr. Hayward’s buildings are scattered over 
half a mile or more of rocky hillside, and the 
labor of “breaking roads” to them in such a 
snowy, blowy winter as we had last winter must 
be a heavy handicap. The houses are “ A ” 
shaped, eight feet square on the ground, and 
house a family of twelve birds each. As he has 
about three hundred of these houses set about 
one hundred feet apart, and told us they cost 
about $8.00 apiece, that means an investment 
of but $2,400 of cash to house three thousand 
six hundred head of fowls. It would be well 
to note here that Mr. Hayward claimed to clear 
only about one dollar apiece on each fowl. 
Mr. Hamblin’s houses are 8 x 12, and intended 
to house forty birds in each; while Mr. How¬ 
land’s houses are 11x14 (average, they vary a 
trifle), and he houses twenty birds in each. Mr. 
Wilbur’s houses average about 8 x 10, and he 
houses twenty-five to thirty head in each. We 
feel bound to say (as did Mr. Howland when we 
were discussing Mr. Hamblin’s plans), that we 
believe the better all-round results and better 
profit per hen can be obtained from twenty birds 
in a family than thirty or forty in the same house- 
room. Mr. Howland, a veteran of many year’s 
experience, was emphatic in saying that he could 
get fully as many eggs in a year from twenty 
birds in a house as he could from forty in the 
same house. In the one case he had bought 
the food for twenty birds, and in the other for 
forty; the egg yield being practically the same 
the net profit is the greater with twenty birds. 
This is a digression, perhaps a justifiable one, 
and we are prompted to make another to speak 
of open-front scratching sheds, which could be so 
easily and cheaply added to the Hamblin, 
Howland and Wilbur type of house. A simple 
lean-to roof, with a west wall (say) three feet 
high, and a north end would cost but very little, 
and would be of immense advantage for giving 
the birds fresh air and exercise in the open air. 
With such an open-front shed 8 x 8 or 8 x 10, 
these houses would easily carry twenty-five or 
thirty fowls; and we feel certain they would lay 
enough more eggs every year to pay for the 
shed. 
We stated at the outset that the apparent 
advantages of the colony plan were: 1st.—Econ¬ 
omy of housing; 2nd.—Complete isolation of 
each family; 3d.—Free range. The cheaper 
construction will be conceded without discus¬ 
sion ; the cheaply built (not permanent) houses, 
without yards, cost very much less per head of 
fowls housed than the substantially built long- 
houses and yards. But, as we said above, this 
apparent advantage is fully counterbalanced 
by the greater labor of feeding and caring for the 
fowls; the long-house plan requires more capital 
put into buildings at the outset, but minimizes 
the expenditure of labor; the colony-plan 
requires less capital at the outset, but exacts the 
maximum of labor. 
The complete isolation of each family is not 
so certain as some would think unless the houses 
are two hundred or more feet apart. A fowl 
will take a notion to “go visiting,” and enters 
another flock; or she may wander so far in 
search of insects, etc., that she doesn’t know 
which of the three or four houses nearest her 
(all alike) is hers, and goes to the wrong one. 
This is of little consequence if all are in good 
health; if biddy lays in house number one, or 
number two, or three, or four, ’tis all the same 
to the owner. 
In case of an outbreak of disease, however, if 
it can be confined to one house much is gained. 
Can this be done? Take roup, one of our worst 
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