ai. Y Glass AFHRZS vi | Be Book ____ AV 4 3 Copyright No. COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT: X : THE AMERICAN HEN The Poor Man’s Friend W. T. McCONNELL ‘li Copyrighted 1910 FOREWORD. The chief merit of this little book is “that it is true. I have been prompted to write it that | might point out the way to a certain class of people where- by they might add a few dollars in spare time to their all too meager income in these days of high prices. I am go- ing to tell my story in a simple straight- forward manner so that you may see when you have finished reading it, just how simple a thing it is to make a sin- gle hen produce $20 or more in the course of one-year. I have read a good many books on poultry raising which told how to se- cure handsome profits, but they have all dealt with the business on such a large scale that it wasn’t feasible for a person with small means or one who did not desire to devote all their time to the industry. Some poultry men who have told of their success have been able to show almost incredible earnings after several years of experience and securing a long list of prize winnings, and others be- cause they were located near a market which afforded them from 40 to 60 cents a dozen for eggs the year round. This is the faithful account of how a beginner, inexperienced in the poul- try business, located in a village far from city markets, made $20 per hen with a small flock the first year, and it is an experience which can be dupli- cated by anybody, anywhere. I wish I was able to distribute this bit of information free, but I am a poor man and it costs money to print this little book, advertise it extensively and mail it to interested people. Hence I am compelled to make a small. charge. - —-..—— Ee —— How | Began. My imagination was fired by reading certain poultry books and journals and I began planning to make an experi- ment. [ had raised a mongrel lot of chickens for many vears for supplying my table with meat and eggs, but | now began to study the different breeds with aviewof selecting someonevariety. And with all the attractive free liter- ature that is offered vou setting forth fic merits ef each particular breed: it is nO easy matter to make a selection. After much study and investigation iesclected’ the Single . Comb: - Crystal White Orpington of the Kellerstrass Strain, and for reasons that I will de- tail in a later chapter. As a beginning I purchased 15 eggs for $3. From these eggs I raised four fine birds, one male and three females. This did not give me as large a pen as I wanted and I began looking about for some pullets. I experienced some dif- ficulty in getting what I wanted, but the party from whom I had secured my eggs in the spring had a few August hatched pullets that she was offering Aeees2.00 cach at < eieht. weeks of age. f imally traded “a. 5.00 Cvele Hatcher, which had ~ been used one year, for two choice pullets. Then I found a man who had three Pen of Chickens This was my original pen of White Orpingtors consisting of Eight Pullets and a Cockerel. @ They represent an outlay of about $12.00, and gave me a return of almost $200.00 the first year. July hatched pullets from the same pen -as mine and these I bought for $5. Fig- uring my incubator at $4, I now had a pen of eight fine pullets and one cock- erel at an outiay of $12. It is easy to see that had I invested my $12 in eggs in the spring I would have had two or three times as many chickens for the Fame money. Or, had [ been an ex; perienced and careful poultryman, I might easily have had as many chick- ens from my first investment of $3 for eggs as I now had for $12. But they all grew well and developed into fine birds and i was highly pleased with my investment. My Poultry Plant. @ This is a cut showing my Poultry Plant which is fully described in the following chap- ter. @ The material in this Coop and Yard cost between $3.00 and $4.00. @ This Coop and accompanying Yard, which was 12x24 feet, accommodated 9 birds. How I Cared For My Chickens. Now that I had my chickens the next thing was how to care for them. [| built a simpie little coop, the material in which cost about $2. In making this coop I used strips of lumber two inches wide. For the back I made a frame six feet long and thirty inches high. For the front, one frame six feet iong and eighteen inches high and one six feet long and twelve inches high. For the ends I made two frames, each three feet long and twenty-eight inches high, These frames were then covered with paroid roofing except the small one for the front, which was filed with glass and placed above the ciemmecn ich arame. Ihe sides, and erds were put together with screws. The roof was made in a similar manner execpt: that it was. made six feet and one inch long to extend over the ends of the coops a trifle. The roof was hinged to the back frame of the coop, and a strip of wood about one-half inch thick, one and one-half inches wide and three feet long with holes bored certain distances apart in it, was used to hold the.roof in any desired position. A light frame was made to fit the top of the coop and slide easily between the front and back of the coop from end to end. ‘This frame is covered with a wire netting to keep the chickens frony flying out when the lid is up, and in winter is also covered with muslin to keep out the cold drafts. The space made by the ends being lower than the sides of the coop admits plenty of fresh air for the fowls when the lid is down. A floor was placed in one end of the coop and raised about two inches from the ground. This provides a dry place in which straw can be scattered. Some paroid roofing over the floor is an ad- vantage as it keeps dampness from the ground out of the straw. This floor covered about one-half of the bottom of the coop. In the other end and against the back of the coop was placed the roost board. The roost board was made in the following manner; A frame was made out of seven-eights inch by one and one-half inch strips. It was fifteen inches wide and two feet, ten inches long, and the bottom was made by nailing paroid roofing to the frame. Two small blocks were nailed to the ends of the frame on which to rest the ends of the perch and raise the perch three or four inches from the bot- tom of the roost board. In the center of the coop to separate the floor end from the dirt was placed an eight-inch board edgewise, and held in place by cleats on the front and back sides of the coop. This keeps the chick- | ens from scratching the straw out upon the dirt-floor end of the coop. - The roost board is supported by cleats nailed upon this center board and the end of the coop. In the morning the roost is removed and this allows more space for the fowls during the day. Galvanized hoppers for feed and water are fastened to the sides of the -COOp. In this coop I kept my fowls con- ‘fined during the winter. I believe, how- ever, that for this number of chickens the coop should have been a little larg- er. In spite of the fact that last winter was one of the severest in this section oi the country for many years, my chickens were comfortable and happy. 1 did not have even a frozen comb. When the warm weather came I ar- ranged a little run in connection with tue coop. In order to make this por- tau.e | made my fence in panels. Each panel was made in the following man- uer: ‘lwo six inch boards twelve feet long were laid horizontal on the ground four feet apart and joined at their ends with six-inch boards five feet long. The panel was then covered with wire net- ting five feet in width. I made the paneis- with one board next to the ground and the upper board dropped cne foot from the top of the wire or end board and on the inside of the wire. The object of this was that in the event the chickens undertook to fly out, they would attempt to alight on the board and be forced back by the wire extending above the board. \ Make as many panels as you want, piace them end to end and wire togeth- er. I made three, using two for one side of my pen and one for an end. My barn served for the opposite end and a garden fence for the other side. This enclosed a parcel of ground 12x24 feet. Placing one end of tie coop against the fence and making an opening in both the panel and the end of the coop, al- lowed the chickens to pass from the coop to the run. Now for the feeding, This is not a treatise on fancy or scientific feeding. Had I fully understood this my results might have been much better. My prin- cipal feed was a mixture of grain, grit and oyster shell, such as is found im most grocery and feed stores and sold as Scratching Food. In addition to this, [ kept beef scrap, bran and char- coal before my chickens, and for green stuif, in the spring and summer I threw them lawn clippings each day. In the winter [ gave them sprouted oats, and I have fed some shor: cut alfalfa. Sprouted oats is a very cheap feed and easy to provide. J had a shallow box four feet long, two feet wide and two inches deep. I[t was made by tak- ing light material two inches wide and making a frame and nailing laths cross- wise for a bottom. I put my oats box ‘in the basement of my house, covered the bottom with oats to the depth of an inch; sprinkled the oats thoroughly with tepid water morning and evening” aiid in a very few days I had a luxur- iant patch of green oats. Each day I took out a smal! quantity, roots and all, tore it to pieces and threw it to my flock. In feeding alfalfa it is well to soak it over night in water and in the morning, or at whatever time you want to feed it, mix it with a mash of meal and bran and pour hot water over it. When it has cooled sufficiently feed in a hopper. Don’t put in too much at first for generally the chickens have to learn to hke it. Table scraps and milk both make most excellent poultry feed, bu with no cow, a small family, frugal wife and several cats, I had but very little of thes choice morsels. Occasionally in the winter I would cook the potato peelings or a mess of small potatoes and feed while warm to my fowls. My conclusion cf the whole matter in caring for chickens is to keep them warm in winter, and cool in summer. Furnish them a good variety of. feed and keep plenty of fresh water before them, and milk if you can. Keep the quarters clean and free from lice aiid mites, ~ How | Found a Market. ‘Two of my pullets began laying when barely five months old and in January they all got down to business. I was anxious to get a more definite idea of the laying qualities of each hen. I sent for four trap nests which came in two sections, two nests in each section. I placed these nests in the floor end of my coop, one section sitting on the oth- er. | put a leg band. with a-number on each hen. In another chapter I will give you some of my results. In February [ began advertising in the poultry journals. I inserted this little classified advertisement in two poultry journals: “Crystal White Orpingtcns, lKeller- strass Strain. Selected .eggs froin a pen of beauties at reasonable prices. W. T. McConnell, Deland, .Illinvis.” I kept this advertisement running for three or four months. In oie paper it cost me 60 cents and in the cther 8o cents an issue. They brought me scores and scores of inquiries from many different states. To these inquiries I replied as promptly as possible tell:ng just what I had and offering 15 eggs for $3 and 30 eggs for $5. At these prices I sold $70 worth of eggs, and was compelled to return some money for the reason that I could not supply the eggs at the time they were wanted. Also I had many inquir- ies for eggs ir quantities of 50 and 100 - eggs ata time. To these I always replied that I was not prepared to handle or- ders of that size. You can readily see that the only reason I did not make more money was because [| did not have more hens. | And this I did without being able to advertise a single prize winning bird. Not but what my flock contained some birds that were fit to be shown, but be- ing late hatched, none of them were finished at the time of the early shows, and as they were laying at the time of the later shows, since I had so few i did not want to disturb them. The de- mand for eggs was so great thai unab.e to save many for my own use, but occasionally I placed a few under a hen or in the incubator with otier eggs. In this way I hatched several and after losing a good many I find myself this fall with 27 fine young birds. Of this number there are four fine cock- eres, three of which will sell readily for $5. each and one: for $3.24) hetenaee nine early hatched pullets that I can sell any day for $5 each, and 14 later hatched that are worth today from $2 to $3 each, or an average of $2.50 each. Here is the statement: Egos for hatchitie jo... eee $70.00 peeaeenrels at G5: 2 ..ct cee. Ss 15.00 MRCOCCK Cl o-oo cea 3.00 @epilcts atu Gs 6205. we Sue eee 4500 14 pullets and cockerels at $2.50. 35.00 total Se. Peer Che ae. $168.00 Dividing this result by 8 we have an average of $21 per hen, and by the end of the year when the younger birds shall have more nearly matured we can add $25 or more to their value. So you can see I have made my claim far under the truth rather than above it, Not only so, but one of my hens was a drone or else not exactly right. She never laid more than a dozen or fifteen eggs and died early in the hot ceasene in) reality, theretore, \e) wile ese) se) ses Within a week from the receipt of the above letter I had a letter from an- cther customer who had eggs from the same hens and whom I had tried as carefully to please: WT. McConriell, Dekand aie Dear Sir: Being so disappointed in the hatching of thcse eggs we got of von, theucht it best te writel, Oramiese 30 eggs we have only 8 little chickens, there being 4 ezgs that the hens broke and the other eggs, which are 18 in number, being in the nest; there are a few of them that had little chickens in them, but having died before they were matured, and some of them were simply formen, mo lite whatever. 1 ami very much disappointed as I took the best of care of them. I think it is too bad. From Of course such a letter makes you feel badly, especially from the evident purpose of the customer to place all the blame upon you, when you know you have exercised the same care that has enabled another customer to have the most gratifying success. Fortunately, that was the only letter cf the kind I received. Not all my cus- tomers reported such good success as the first letter printed, but many re- ported good hatches, ranging from 23 to. 25 chicks from 30 eggs. A few thought their hatches wnsatisfactory and wrote me very nice letters about it, and I replaced their eggs, as I did also to the one whose letter I have given you >\ Why I Selected The Kellerstrass Strain of Single Comb Crystal White ~ Orpingtons. _I have congratulated myself many times that I selected the Crystal White Orpington, Kellerstrass strain of chick- ens. While I feel sure 1 could: have done handscmeiy with any good breed of chickens, | doubt if I could have done as well as I did with any ‘other breed. : : Por there is ‘no breed that is attract- ing so much attention and for whicu there is so great a demand at hand- some prices as the White~ Orpington, and there is a reason. The White Orpingtons are of splen- did size, averaging Trem! A half pound to a pound heavier: than the "Plymouth Rocks and Wyandottes. They are low set, deep breasted, with broad backs and large thighs. They are the finest type of fowl for table use and market. As layers they have established’. a record ‘that has never been. excelled. They have won nearly all the egg lay- ing contests in which they have been entered. 2 The combination for which people have been searching for years is found in the Crystal White Orpington. The best layers have been too small for ta- ble use or profitable for market. The large chickens suitable for table and market have been poor layers. The Or- pington is the happiest combination. In point of beauty they are without a peer. Their beautiful pure white plum- age and large well-rounded bodies ap- peal to every one with an eye for the beautiful. They are hardy and mature rapidly. ‘they lay almost without ceasing. After securing my trap nests, | kept a careful record of my hens for 30 days. 1 in- stalled the nests March 5th and the rec- ord is for the 30 days fol.owing: No. 49 laid 27 eggs; No. 50, 275 sNe@suees 28; No. 16, 26; No. 14;-20; Nojveaiauee No. 44, 18; No: 47,-8. As No. 47 died early in the season and seemed never to have been exactly right, I have left her out of the eve calculation. We have an average from the seven hens of 23 4-7 eggs in 30 days. From four of the hens we have an average of 27 eggs in 30 days. It would have been interesting to have kept this record for the entire year, but in order to do it, especially when the weather is warm, one must be c.ese at hand to release the hens from the trap nests. lor this reason I could not con- tinue the test, but from the total num- ber of eggs I received I am satished that four of my hens at least are easily in the 200 class. In conclusion I want to say that this work has been done with an average of about 30 minutes each day, and with- out in the least interfering with my other duties. ‘To me it has been a very pleasant as well as profitable diversion, and I hope that my story may be help- ful to you in the way of enabling you to utilize in a profitable manner your spare moments each day. “One copy del. to Cat. Div. 10 oa i lp A a ‘ : \ - < . ‘ rs ns \¢ “ e P F d ‘ 4 i g j ~ i J ~ 4 + ~ i \ ve « . ‘ ’ } ~ . “ | ’ . ‘ k eae = CONGRESS \ \\H\ | \\h\ \ \ \H}\ \\}\