Cornell University Library OF THE Hew Work State College of Agriculture “Tamia Cornell University The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924003059130 Bi \ q ooee = es EEF 7 NIM /-yy . Re IV ate Haein, gues = ee EZ. PY = ey A % = : iy y Z C Uy» A i by, af, “y a a y i \ 0 > aa UN eal ue cared nie ty r yaey — > > os : ; NN Wie, Rete EN Lh f & Y 7p) My, eg tee /. “2. “PUBLISHING Co. 4 “ e es a7) 1 ee Ku, A QUINCYILLVSA 1 4a Mm Gale \ GB pnd PAG og By ve ¢ CALI CAIU haar? 45 is : Pec eiepe te 7) Wee, lf fs Some 7 Se a 4, < ‘ PNGavr a “iy ae fe Die a a1, ie a Nye Whe ay ? ; nf Uses ,, ye Vue abe tis ) Y up LAr Teeny NaNanea ata a y “ed sSajjopuedéAA PNG pur 1dAlIS ‘MYA pues syoy YINowA,T YNg pue airy A, ‘paeg jo Japaeiq Ayeioads ‘ssey ‘19}seoue] SALLOGNVAM JLIHM daa “a9 ‘suq adAjowoiy5-oj0yg ‘sulymEH ‘Oo ‘VY Aq palqiyxa pue pou GHYVGNVLS MO S fe} 61 ‘uoysog 1e uad azrd ys11g SUCCESSFUL POULTRY KEEPING A TEXT BOOK FOR THE BEGINNER AND FOR ALL PERSONS INTERESTED IN BETTER POULTRY AND MORE OF IT—CONTAINS THE “SECRETS OF SUCCESS” BOTH FOR PLEASURE AND PROFIT—NEW AND VALUABLE INFORMA- TION ON ALL BRANCHES OF THE POULTRY BUSINESS * ONE DOLLAR 1907 _ RELIABLE POULTRY JOURNAL PUBLISHING CO. si QUINCY, ILLINOIS COPYRIGHT, 1907 i BY RELIABLE POULTRY JOURNAL PUBLISHING CO. QUINCY. ILLINOIS INTRODUCTORY UCCESSFUL POULTRY KEEPING means more to us than the mere words used as a title for this book. It means to us that we want you, valued reader, to be successful, not only in a financial way but also in deriving satisfaction and enjoy- ment from your venture in poultry keeping. We want you to learn to know the business, for poultry keeping is now one of our most important industries, to have a liking for it and in learning the business to attain success in such measure as your individual efforts entitle you. This book is essentially a compilation of the writings and experiences of many practical, observing business men who are poultrymen first, then fanciers or purveyors to the poultry markets as their several interests dictate. We have endeavored to collect the latest and best reliable information for the beginner with poultry, telling him how to start, what others are doing and have done, the best houses to build, how to manage his flock, in fact we try to show him, in so far as we may, how to become a successful poultry keeper. Successful poultry keeping depends upon much the same things that success does in any undertaking or business enter- prise. To be successful in any line of work slothful, careless, extravagant habits must give way to thrifty, painstaking and economical methods. Thought must be put into your work. Cause and effect must be studied; all the details must be looked after with intelligent care, and the hand that receives the income must constantly watch the hand that pays out. There is money—‘good money”’, as the saying goes—to be made out of poultry, but this business like any other, must be learned before great things can be accomplished. Like other human enterprises, poultry-raising pays better and better accordingly as you put more and more thought into the business. In the poultry business, above all others, ordinary common sense is the thing most needful. It is not within the scope of this book to coyer every case, but no matter where we go, certain things are true about poultry and poultry keeping, among the number being these: That poultry and eggs at all times of the year meet with a ready sale for cash; that the price of poultry and eggs does not fall below the cost of production, where intelligent methods are employed; that extra or gilt-edged prices can everywhere be obtained for first quality stock,—i. e., for extra choice, uniform and neatly dressed fowls and strictly fresh eggs; that it costs practically no more when one is rightly equipped for the work to produce a first quality article than an inferior one; that by the proper use of artificial means the highest market price can be obtained at all seasons of the year; that by adopting up-to-date methods, hundreds of dozens of eggs can be produced during the season of the year when they will command the higher prices, and that hundreds, yes, thousands of chickens or ducklings can now be raised with success and profit on a comparatively small plat of ground. A surprising amount of poultry and eggs can be produced on an acre of ground, while a full-fledged farm can be conducted on a five acre piece, where knowledge and good sense go hand in hand. Not all men are qualified to succeed to the same extent, but we claim it is fair to cite exceptional cases of success in the poultry business, where the methods employed and the man or woman who employs them is not a wonder-worker in any way, except that he or she has put heart and brains into the work. There are several branches of the poultry business that are sepa- rate and distinct from each other, although a number of success- ful men and women whom we know combine two or more branches of the business with success. What one man or woman has done, or is doing, others can do; hence, when we cite actual cases of success that have come under our personal observation, we feel that we are simply pointing out what others can do. It is no doubt true that where one person succeeds with poultry several fail. If this were not true there would be no excuse for publishing this book, the chief object of which is to describe success as it exists, and to explain fully how it was achieved. It is not the object of this book to induce thought- less, heedless persons to rush -pell-mell into poultry raising. All such persons will do well to give poultry raising a wide berth. Their habits will not win in this business. We do not mean to convey the idea that it takes a specially high order of intelli- gence to succeed with poultry, for it does not, but we are frank enough to warn the reckless, the shiftless and the indolent that they will make a flat failure with poultry. ORIGIN OF DOMESTIC POULTRY No one can say positively where, when or how the ances- tors of our present domestic poultry came into being. Some tell us that all our fowls are descended from a common ancestry whose present-day direct descendant is the Jungle Fowl of the benighted Eastern countries. While this may be true the fact remains that this descent or ascent or evolution, whatever you please to call it, must have occupied many, many centuries and today no one has thus far been able to prove his case beyond the shadow of a doubt. Ancient coins struck by ancient coiners 500, 600 and even more years before Christ bear the image of a cock bird on them, and these representations would some of them do credit to our poultry artists of today and portray birds that certainly must have had careful breeding at the hands of men. Undoubtedly as long as man has lived in a semi-civilized or civilized state, having some semblance of a home more or less permanent, just so long has poultry been domesticated and bred by man. The bones of domestic poultry are frequently un- earthed in all of the excavations of ancient cities, in the Orient, and evidence is abundant that many ancient philosophers and writers had a decided leaning toward poultry keeping. Who shall say what breeds they may or may not have had in that long past age? Consider our own short experience, the poultry business is young in this country even now, for some forty years or more ago the art of breeding thoroughbreds, as we now know them, was having its beginning. In this short time new breeds have sprung up, flourished for a time, even boomed, and then have apparently vanished in-so-far as general publicity is concern- ed. Judging from what takes place in other life channels may not this have been going on for centuries? Many breeds may have lived and died in those ancient times, the history of which is even now most uncertain. It may be that in the beginning the small, black, brown and red jungle fowl, itself of uncertain origin, was the original source from which our modern fowls have sprung, but inspection of the present day representative of this root of the domestic poultry family tree, makes it appear quite as far a cry as the evolution of mankind from a long-tailed ape. Still, wonders INTRODUCTORY may be accomplished by domestication and careful breeding, and man undoubtedly did wonderfully develop and improve by domesticating and breeding such wild fowl as came his way and took his fancy. That this is probably substantially true we have evidence in our present day standard varieties. More than half the varieties of fowls now illustrated and described in the American Standard of Perfection have been' developed, or come into being, during the past half century and even within the past thirty years more than a dozen varieties have “arrived.” Thirty years ago there were no Silver Laced Wyandottes, White Wyandottes, Buff Wyandottes, White Plymouth Rocks, Buff Plymouth Rocks nor Buff Leghorns in this country. During the last dozen years more new breeds have come into existence, and we now have Partridge Wyandottes and Plymouth Rocks, Columbian Wyan- dottes and still others, many of which are now described in the latest edition of American Standard of Perfection. The majority of these did not exist in the world twenty-five or thirty years ago. ESSENTIALS OF SUCCESS New varities are being created from time to time, some claim too numerously, others think not. Regardless of which is right, the constant aim may be said to be improvement either in utility or beauty, or both, and the goal sought at all times in the breeding of every variety is greater excellence, and the man or woman who is able to “mix the paints” and use ‘‘an eye for outline” to the best advantage is certain to win a golden reward, . C. AND R. C. WHITE AND BROWN LEGHORNS, WHITE WYANDOTTES, PEKIN DUCKS, TOULOUSE GEESE AND BRONZE TURKEYS A, 33. Place 50 birds in a house and set it on a grass range. A. 34. As soon as the cockerels begin to crow or show signs of breeding. A. 35. We separate the males from the females only in breeding season. females do better not to be annoyed by males. 137 SUCCESSFUL POULTRY KEEPING W. W. 'KULP, Pottstown, Pa. BREEDER OF SINGLE AND ROSE-COMB WHITE AND BROWN LEG- HORNS, WHITE WYANDOTTES, BUFF AND BARRED ROCKS, AND PEKIN DUCKS A. 33. Twenty-five. A. 34, When well grown. I raise Leghorns and they cannot be separated unless they are put in a covered pen and this should not be done until they are grown. | A. 37. Same as the chicks, as they are both growing stock. F. C. SHEPARD, Toledo, Ohio SPECIALTY BREEDER OF BUFF PLYMOUTH ROCKS A. 33. I house from 15 to 30 together. They have the range of five acres. A, 34. At about when the cockerels begin to crow. A. 35. Sometimes late in the season J find it advisable to put the more vigorous ones by themselves A. 386. Place them in small pens built for that purpose. A. 37 and 38. Same as for breeding and adult stock. AUG. D. ARNOLD, Dillsburg, Pa. COLUMBIAN WYANDOTTES EXCLUSIVELY A. 33, From 50 to 150. A. 34, When males begin to get active. A. 35. As soon as they get to fighting I separate them; as long as they agree I keep them in lots of ten to fifteen. A, 36. I have individual coops 3 feet wide and 4 feet long; here they stay until sold or used for breeding A. 37. Coarse cracked corn and wheat mixed with hulled oats every few days. Also twice a week plenty of green bone. A. 38. Expect to try dry hopper feeding the coming season. GARDNER & DUNNING, Auburn, N. Y. BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK SPECIALIST A. 33. About 25. A. 34. At about four or five months. A, 35. Only the most valuable ones. flocks of 20 or 25 till sold. A. 36. Those intended for exhibition are put in small pens before they are old enough to fight and injure themselves or be injured by other cockerels. A. 37. Cracked corn, wheat and beef scrap. They have free range with clover and insects. Also running water. A, 38. All they will eat up clean three times per day dry. Others run in A. OBERNDORF, Centralia, Kansas BREEDER OF SINGLE-COMB WHITE LEGHORNS ANDIBARRED PLYMOUTH ROCKS A. 33. Not over 30. A. 34, From six to eight weeks"old. A, 35. Yes. A. 36. Sort them and place the smaller ones in separate yards, as some always mature faster than others. A. 37. Mixed rations of corn, wheat, millet, kaffir corn, ground oats, beef scraps, grit and charcoal. A. 38. Scatter the feed on the ground and in troughs, twice daily. E. B. THOMPSON, Amenia, N. Y. BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK SPECIALIST A. 33. About 30 growing chicks to a house. unlimited range. A, 34, Four to six months. A, 35. Yes. A. 37. Cracked corn and wheat, also a mash every day including ground oats. The ground oats is a great bone making food for growing stock. A. 38. The dry food is fed from hoppers, the mash on boards. : They have WM. BYWATERS, Camden Point, Mo. BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK SPECIALIST A. 38. Free range mostly for young stock. A. 34. Usually about 5 months or just as they begin to take on their adult plumage. A. 35. Yes, if they are top-notch show birds, but usually quite a number will do well together if no pullets are close by. A. 36. If I have very valuable show birds that I am pre- paring to show or send to customers for that purpose, I scatter them out in my breeding yards. A. 88. On free range they do very well on two feeds daily. : J. C. MACOMBER, Reading, Mass. BREEDER OF PARTRIDGE WYANDOTTES AND BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCKS A. 33. About 75. A. 34. From two to three months. A, 35. Ido. A. 36. If there are a few that grow much faster and are larger than the others, I take them out and put them in with those of their size. If there are a few that are not growing so well as the others, I take them out, and put them with smaller ones or ones of their size, A. 387. As soon as we get them off the mash and they will eat the grain nicely, we give them as explained for chicks, a feed of one part cracked corn, one part hulled oats and one part wheat. Beef scrap is fed in hoppers all they want, also charcoal and grit until they go into the colony houses. A. 38. As they are now on range and in colony houses, we feed them the same grain rations as above, all they will eat twice a day, at sunrise in the morning and about six o’clock at night, or before sunset. Beef scrap is then taken away from them, as being on range they find all the bugs, etc., that are necessary and which takes the place of the beef scrap. We feed them in this manner until October, when we put them in the laying houses. 138 SUCCESSFUL CHICK GROWING F. J. WEHRMEYER, Benton Harbor, Mich. WHITE WYANDOTTE SPECIALIST A. 33. We aim to never keep more than 25 in one yard, and when out in colonies never more than 25. - A. 34. At about three months. The reason being that the little cockerels gobble up too much feed and the little pullet chicks get the worst of it. A. 35. Yes, for the same reason as above, also annoy- ing pullets, and cockerels we notice ought to be fed more libera- ally. If, however, you mean separate cockerels (one to a pen) no. We allow them to run together, as many as possible, usu- ally 25. A. 37. Practically the same as breeding stock, making sure of plenty and variety. A. 38. When indoors, in clean litter with occasional A SILVER WYANDOT mashes in pans. When outdoors, we aim to throw a handful of grain under and around most every tree (fruit trees), and they benefit the trees by their scratching, etc., having ‘plenty range. Always feeding liberally, besides mashes in troughs. All feeding usually being but three times daily. DR. O. P. BENNETT, Mazon, III. BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK SPECIALIST 33. Not over 60 to 75. 34. As soon as cockerels begin to bother pullets. 35. When they commence to bother pullets. 36. Place them in different runs. 37. Principally wheat and ground mash. al ee lt ate A. 38. Make them scratch for all they get except the mash which is fed in troughs. ARTHUR G. DUSTON, So. Framingham, Mass. WHITE WYANDOTTE SPECIALIST A, 33. Fifty. A. 34. As cockerels mature and begin to notice the females. A. 35. Yes, to make as small lots of them as possible. They will fight less and do better. A. 36. Iuse the small colony coors that I grew the chicks in, as I find that they do better than in the big houses. A. 37. Dry mash, corn, wheat, oats, barley, buckwheat and skimmed milk. Grain three times a day. TE MOTHER AND BROOD C. BRICAULT, M. D. V., Andover, Mass. WHITE WYANDOTTE SPECIALIST A, 33. From 40 to 60. A. 34. When three months old. A. 35. No. A. 37. Whole wheat, cracked corn, beef scraps in hoppers, then once a day a prepared growing food. A. 38. Whole grain in hoppers and growing food once per day Clean water, and always green grass in unlimited quantities. ARTHUR G. BOUCK, Frankfort, N. Y. BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCKS A, 33. From 30 to 50 in each colony house, but give them free range, the colony houses being placed in orchard. 139 SUCCESSFUL POULTRY KEEPING A. 35. I separate sexes when placing the young stock in winter quarters. A. 36. I grade each sex as to size, etc., and place those of about the same size in each pen. A. 87. I feed growing stock three times daily. Mash in the morning and cracked corn, oats and barley at noon and night, giving them all they will eat. Beef scraps, grit and charcoal are hopper fed. S. J. McQUILLIANDE, Metuchen, N. J. WHITE PLYMOUTH ROCK SPECIALIST A. 87. Mostly corn, wheat and oats. A. 38. I feed all growing stock with hoppers and use the best grain that money will buy. C. H. WYCKOFF, Aurora, N. Y. S. C. WHITE LEGHORN SPECIALIST A. 33. Seventy-five to 100. A. 34. At about 12 weeks of age. A. 35. No, if kept away from the females they are fairly. peaceable. A. 37 and 38. After chicks are removed to colony houses their feed contains less fine cracked and more whole grain; and those that have a wide range have the feed where they can go to it at any time. IRVING F. RICE, Courtland, N. Y. 8. C. WHITE LEGHORN SPECIALIST A, 33. One hundred in each colony house. A. 34, About three months:old, or when the cockerels begin to annoy the pullets. A. 35. The most promising exhibition cockerels are sep- arated from large flock and are kept in small flocks. A PRIZE WINNING BUCKEYE HEN AND CHICKS A. 37. Wheat, corn and oats, and a dry mash where they can help themselves at all times; in this dry mash meat is mixed. a A... 38. Only three times a day, scattered in the litter except’ ‘the dry mash which is placed in troughs. J. T. THOMPSON, Hope, Ind. WHITE PLYMOUTH ROCKS AND MAMMOTH BRONZE TURKEYS A. 33. I never house over 50 birds in one building. A. 34. I separate the sexes when they are about three months old. A. 37. I feed my growing stock, that is, after they get to be a couple of months old, the same that I feed my breeding stock, with the exception that I feed them more corn than my breeders, as I consider corn about the best food for growing stock. 140 SECRET OF SUCCESS IN POULTRY CULTURE A VENERABLE POULTRYMAN GIVES RESULTS OF FIFTY YEARS’ EXPERIENCE IN POULTRY CUL- TURE—BELIEVES SECRET LIES IN FEEDING—COMPARES POULTRY, MEAT AND EGGS WITH FOODS WHICH PRODUCE THEM—SELLING EGGS BY WEIGHT—ACCEPTS DR. DECHMANN’S THEORY I. K. FELCH, Natick, Mass. [A lecture delivered apes 1906 ye Sage of Natick before the poultry class at the Rhode Island State eriment Station and reproduc- ed here from copy furnished us by Mr. Felch}. ADMITTING that the feeding of hens is not all there is to poultry culture, yet you, my reader, can spend your lifetime studying the subject and still leave beneficial discoveries for others to make. ‘ Fowls and eggs are a manufactured pro- duct—a pound of flesh or a pound of eggs will be found to cost practically the same, no matter what breed we use to produce them, when we have found under what conditions each separate breed does its best. The Brahma pullets at seven to eight pounds and the White Wyandottes at five to five and one-half pounds, fed and cared for under like circum- stances, will cost the same per pound to produce and the same for care and food during the months of their usefulness. The breed that lays the greatest number of pounds in eggs will cost the most to feed. At the end of their usefulness, say at two years, they sell each at the same per pound. It matters not that it takes seven months to mature the Brahma and six months to mature the Wyandotte, ‘at the grand windup we find things evened up. SELLING EGGS BY WEIGHT Today all eggs are sold by the dozen, but we find 150 Brah- ma eggs, 168 Plymouth Rock, 213 Wyandotte and Rhode Island Red eggs, as these breeds as flocks lay them, all will weigh the same. Now as all are sold at the same price per dozen we find that the Brahmas are suffering under a custom that is protect- ing the smaller breeds, and that the Rocks are receiving 114 per cent and the Wyandottes 13 per cent per pound more than do the Brahmas. The only advantage the Brahmas have is in the private trade they sometimes enjoy where they receive 50 cents per dozen from the wealthy, who often appreciate the difference in the size of eggs. eggs and you would hear little about differences between the cost of keeping of the larger varieties. The present practice of selling by number instead of weight.takes away all the desire or pride of the fancier to produce eggs that are strictly first-class. CONSTITUENTS OF POULTRY PRODUCTS AND FOODS But these conditions can be improved by man. In a single lecture we can give only the most generally used rules for feed- ing, which have thus far given satisfactory results. It is our object to feed that which in its composition is like the elements we find in the desired product, to-wit, poultry meat and eggs, so that it will produce them in abundance and besides give us a fresh, glossy plumage when we are preparing them for ex- hibition. How to do this is the live question of the hour, and to pre- sent the subject so that the young and inexperienced may profit by our words is our endeavor at this time. Our colleges are doing wonderful work in this direction and one does well to study the results of their experiments. But thousands do not do this, even those who are employed as Make 14 pounds (24 ounces) a dozen of helpers and caretakers in poultry raising. Yet they will read and profit by an essay couched in simple language, and to give them this is our object today. All analyses show that poultry meat and fresh-laid eggs are so nearly alike in their constituent parts that both are produced in their greatest abundance by the use of foods of the same character, this food being secured by the proper mixing of the different grains with vegetable and animal matter. The feed- ing of such a balanced food is wise. Discarding small fractions, we find that a fowl is composed of water, 51 per cent; ash (bone forming), 34 per cent; protein, 24 per cent; fat (or heat), 23 per cent. In the new-laid eggs we find water, 66 per cent; ash (the shell), 12 per cent; protein, 114 per ‘cent; fat, 9 per cent. To feed to produce these essentials is our work. We must. sq mix the grain and meat that we shall secure the exact pro- portion, and furnish carbohydrates for the warmth and comfort of our living factories—for such are our flocks. In following out this theory we find by analysis that corn has water, 11 per cent; ash (or bone), 14 per cent; protein, 8 per cent; carbohydrates, 67 per cent; fat, better than 4 per cent. In peas we have water, 10 per cent; ash, 24 per cent; pro- tein, 17 per cent; carbohydrates and fat combined, 53 per cent. Mangel wurzels have 87 per cent water; ash, 1} per cent; protein, 1} per cent; carbohydrates and fat, 6} per cent. Clover and hay has 15 per cent water; ash, 6 per cent; protein, 7 per cent; carbohydrates and fat, 38 per cent. Sunflowers have water, 84 per cent; ash, 24 per cent; pro- tein, 12 per cent; carbohydrates, 21 per cent; fat, 29 per cent. (Too much carbohydrates and fat for an exclusive food). Beef scraps have water, 11 per cent; ash, 6 per cent; protein, 66 per cent; less than 4 per cent of carbohydrates, but 14 per cent of fat. : In these we find all that we found in poultry meat and-eggs, besides starch, sugar and gum in the carbohydrates, which with the fat gives the necessary heat. The sunflower with its 21 per cent of carbohydrates and 29 per cent of fat, lacks albumen in proportion, which makes them desirable as a food for only a short time to secure gloss upon the plumage and to fill their skin with fat in our high colored specimens, for exhibition purposes. Another list is expressed in a different manner: Corn, 11 per cent water; 11 per cent muscle growing properties; 14 per cent bone forming properties; balance, heat and fat. Oats, 22 per cent muscle growing; 3 per cent bone forming; balance, heat and fat. Wheat, 17 per cent muscle growing; hardly one per cent bone forming; balance, heat and fat. Barley, 20 per cent muscle growing; 2 per cent bone form- ing; balance, heat and fat. Beans, 32 per cent muscle forming; hardly 1 per cent bone forming; balance, heat and fat. When we combine 15 pounds of corn, 10 pounds of oats, 15 pounds of barley and 15 pounds of wheat bran we have a mixed meal that contains 17 per cent of muscle growing properties, 1} per cent of bone forming properties and the balance is heat and fat. When we add to this composition meal, enough beef scrap and ground clover, so that the mash represents in bulk 141 SUCCESSFUL POULTRY KEEFiING 15 per cent of meat, 25 per cent of vegetable matter and 60 per cent of this composition meal we have made a balanced ration, which will give the flock no excuse if it fails to produce flesh, eggs or a fine plumage. But here is an item worth knowing: While we can obtain protein from grain, protein derived from milk and meat is much more productive of muscle and early fecundity, and well repaid will be the feeder who is generous in the use of meat and fish bi-products, such as beef scraps, desiccated flsh and beef blood. Of course fresh raw meat and bone must be considered best. Any bi-product that is not clean and wholesome is a questionable commodity. Clean feeding is as essential for fowls as for the human family. ACCEPTS DR. DECHMANN’'S THEORY There is something besides the question of muscle growing and egg production which is of vital interest to us. Recently it has been claimed that glass, granite, sea shells, charcoal and even gravel stones are all digestible and are really food as well as helps to digestion and that they complete the A BUNCH OF THRIFTY BARRED ROCKS work of the food in perfecting the plumage and giving it a rich gloss. We see a healthy, brilliant plumage only upon a healthy body and prolific egg producer. The fact that sea shells, charcoal and pounded glass are eagerly eaten led me to accept the theory that the grit and gravel likewise are digested and have a work to perform in pro- ducing a healthy condition in our flocks. Dr. Dechmann, is right. If the feathers contain glass, do we not have a motive for the fowls eating the glass? Here is a case in point: I had a flock of cockerels cooped for killing. They had everything to eat but charcoal and gravel. I commenced to feed these and was astonished at the amount they ate and the gain in flesh they made in ten days, after this addition to their rations. Fowls when molting should never be without food rich in protein (milk and meat), gravel, grit, char- coal and pounded glass. A PROPERLY BALANCED RATION You can see why corn and mangels are a failure in egg pro- duction as compared with cereals rich in protein. Excessive fat is a foe to vital vigor, and this is why very fat hens lay eggs that hatch poorly. A long continued fat condition becomes a disease. A healthy diet is one that has 17 to 20 per cent muscle growing power (such a diet is likewise egg productive) and 13 to 2 per cent of bone forming power so that the chick may be well boned and strong, and that the eggs may be covered in a firm, smooth shell. No one can hatch healthy chicks out of fat, thin-shelled eggs. A The foregoing is the result of my past 50 years’ experience in poultry culture. While it has served me, it will not keep you, my reader, to the front in these days of extensive research, intense application and keen study of the business. Today in almost all businesses we are looking among the bi-products for a large portion of our profits. Thus must we be constant in the outlook for new forms of foods, new rations and methods of care (even to the saving of the feathers) that we may secure the very last cent of profit, getting the greatest growth at the lowest cost for food consumed. The entire nation’s increase in wealth is but 3 per cent each year where labor secures a fair living. This increase gets into so few hands we are slow to believe that it is true. But true enough it is, that careless manage- ment brings failure to any calling. This warning means that we are to give our best efforts in ability, zeal and study, making our calling a second nature, so to speak. A competency comes only by a strenuous life among our fowls. PURE AIR A NECESSITY Pure air is just as much a food for our flocks as the grain we feed. A hun- dred times have I told you that a fowl’s heart beats 150 times each minute of its life. Why? Because it never sweats. Respiration is the channel through which they expel the waste and impurities that perspiration accomplishes for the human family. They need seven times the air in proportion to weight that does the horse or man. Think of this: A ten pound hen demands the same amount that a child of seventy pounds does. Furnish this and the rations I have and will describe, with housing that will se- cure the temperature of May and September, and you will see a corresponding eggproduct. It will be folly to furnish excessive heat and expect a pro- duct that is largely albumen. For one may as well overfeed the furnace that drives the looms and fail to furnish the wool or cotton out of which to weave the cloth. The hens are as much a factory for the production of eggs as the cotton mills are for the production of cloth. Each day they must have their exact needs supplied if they are to give us the best product of their labor. Her food must be such that she can glean from it the 3 8-10 bone forming material, the 214 per cent of protein and suficient carbohydrates to produce health. , How to do this is the question in poultry culture. Poultry culture is no longer a problem of thoroughbreds alone. Even those who reed primarily for exhibition purposes have to be- come poulterers for fully 50 per cent of their yearly product TO PRODUCE DESIRABLE EGGS Why do hens lay soft-shell eggs? Why do soft-shell eggs hatch poorly? You say the fowls are too fat. The fowls are 142 SUCCESSFUL CHICK GROWING all right enough. The fault is with you. You are feeding too fat-producing food. In factory language, you are feeding the furnace and neglecting to furnish material for the looms—in this case the necessary elements for an egg product. You are not feeding protein enough—meat, barley, oats and clover— if the birds are confined so that they cannot glean from the fields the insects, worms and vegetables they need to manufacture meat and plumage and eggs. A healthy plumage is as essen- tial for perfect chicks as any part of the body. When those overfat hens have had a chance at green cut clover, meat, oats, wheat, sea gravel, shells and charcoal at their discretion and are made to exercise in open scratching sheds, then the eggs will come smooth and firm in shell and hatch you the strong, healthy chickens you desire. WHAT AND WHEN TO FEED Wheat is probably the most perfect food found in a single grain. As it is desirabl to feed the meat in the mashes, the bi- product of wheat from our best flour mills is probably better and cheaper than whole wheat. Damaged wheat or grain is poor stuff to buy; good sound , heat screenings are far better. Only heavy, first-class oats are profitable. None other should be bought. They are per- fect bone food, but no single grain can be fed constantly and satisfactory. results be secured. The old saying that a barrel of oats and barrel of buckwheat will make a barrel of eggs has, I fear, given a fictitious value to buckwheat as a food for fowls. As the original saying came from a farmer whose flock had a pan of clabbered milk to which to repair at will, and the run of a barn stored with clover and millet, I am of the opinion that the buckwheat ran away with the reputation that should have been given to the milk and clover as the balancers of the ration that gave the barrel of eggs. The fowls surely had no excuse not to lay. Few will advise the buying of buckwheat when the mid- dlings and bran from good sound wheat can be procured. Corn and clover are all we can feed in winter to secure an egg whose yolk will produce for us a golden sponge cake and custard. And many families for this reason will pay 50 cents per dozen for Brahma, eggs the year round when the fowls are thus fed. Oats, ‘buckwheat and wheat, without clover, produce eggs that make this cake and custard white. It is even well to know the cause and effect of color in eggs. The vegetables to be fed are cabbage, green clover (steamed when dry), mangels and lettuce. Those that are to be cooked for mashes are potatoes, beets, onions, turnips, squashes or pumpkins, steamed clover meal, beef scraps and corn meal—a good combination for high colored eggs in winter. Corn meal and wheat should be mixed with boiled potatoes and turnips. These many mashes should only be fed in suffi- cient quantities so that they will be eaten up clean in the morn- ing. If overdosed the flocks become cloyed and lazy. Give the mash as a light breakfast and it will send the fowls to nest where its stimulating influence hastens egg delivery. The last meal at night should be of mixed grains, and pure water must be given morning and evening, for to drink is the last thing a fowl does before going to roost. There is no saving in feeding what is called cob meal as the cob will not digest. Shell your corn before grinding. When a breeder is constantly with his flocks, it is probably best to feed at four times during the day the quantity which one naturally would feed morning and evening. Fowls soon learn to come at your call to feed them. I had one feeder whose call was a regular war whoop, another used a dinner bell, another a small school bell; but each brought all of the flock within hearing. Fowls have brains and know how to use them. I have no use for a small head, diminutive comb, ear lobes or wattles. These head embellishments when generously developed are sure signs of procreative vigor in a male. FORMULA No. 1 To return to feeding, I present in Formula No. 1 a meal made up of 50 pounds of oats; 1 bushel of corn; 1 bushel of barley; 2 bushels of wheat bran; 1 bushel of charcoal. These are to be well mixed and ground into a fine meal. For a light breakfast use as much of this as necessary, add 20 per cent as much ground beef scraps and scald thoroughly, leaving it stand over night. If too moist in the morning add wheat bran to secure a crumbly mass. If in winter, or if the fowls be yarded away from green food, add clover:meal to the mixture. Feed dry mixed grains at night. FORMULA No, 2 When feeding potatoes or turnips mash them and add equal parts of corn meal, wheat bran and beef scraps until it is a crumb- ly mass, letting the scraps or desiccated fish, whichever you use, be 15 per cent of the bulk. Avoid all wet, soggy mashes. Feed dry grains in the scratching shed for balance of the day. If you have cabbage or mangels, make the morning mash without vegetables and give these raw vegetables for the flock to employ themselves with through the day, concluding the day’s feeding with oats and barley. FORMULA No. 3 In the morning mix hot steamed clover meal 20 per cent, meat scrap or desiccated fish, 20 per cent, composite meal (as in No. 1), 60 per cent, with sufficient skimmed milk or milk whey to make a crumbly mass. Feed mixed grains balance of the day in the litter of their shed. FORMULA No. 4 You may live near a creamery, or run a butter farm, so that you can secure or have quantities of skimmed milk and butter- milk. Heat it to curds, using the whey to mix formula 3. For the second day give a light breakfast of mixed grains. Then at noon take equal parts of beef scraps and cheese curds well mixed, using enough wheat middlings and corn meal to ab- sorb the moisture. For vegetables use cabbage and mangel wurzels and feed oats and wheat at night. FORMULA No. 5 Cow peas, oats and wheat bran, equal parts, are to be made into a meal. Mix equal parts of this compound with clover meal and meat meal. Scald into a hot mash for the morning feed. Changing these mashes from day to day will supply every possible want for egg production. When beans can be purchased at one dollar per bushel, they are a cheap ingredient to mix with these mashes instead of barley. If you were to feed any one of these formulas every day and all day, good as they are, your fowls will reject them. Then change is the best policy. There is a false idea that salt is injurious to fowls. On the other hand, these mashes should be reasonably seasoned with pepper and salt to make them palatable to yourself. Don’t overdose them. In all formulas we take it for granted none but first-class ‘heavy oats or hulled oats are to be used. It is folly to buy damaged or musty grain for fowls. I would not take such as a gift. With reference to oats for young chicks, I would use only hulled or crushed oats. 143 SUCCESSFUL POULTRY KEEfiiis The advocates of feeding dry grain to chicks have much to commend them, provided the chicks have perfect liberty to roam and the numbers are limited to such a degree that they secure sufficient worms and insects for the meat supply and the fields furnish the new grass as their vegetable diet. When the chickens are raised in large numbers and in limited quarters it is folly to use only dry grain if we are to secure the best results. CARE OF HENS AND CHICKS Many persons tell you not to feed chicks for 24 to 48 hours after hatching. This may be good advice for those who hatch with incubators and rear the chicks in brooders, but with hens, especially the earlier broods, the chicks often are two days in hatching. It is well to place before them a saucer of crushed crackers and scalded milk over which pulverized shell is scattered, so that the hen and the early chicks may satisfy their hunger. This will cause the hen to remain 12 to 24 hours longer on the nest and may result in one or more doubtful eggs hatching, and a strong lot when she leaves the nest. The hen with her brood should be removed to a large box, the bottom of which has been overlaid with a gravel sand and fine ground grit covered with hay chaff, there to remain a couple of days before being taken to the lawn or a field. The first meal in this large box should be a bread made from the meal mentioned in Formula No. 1. The bread should be prepared just as our wives make a corn cake, and baked thor- oughly. Crumble it into scalded skimmed milk, squeeze the milk out well and give the milk as drink for the first day or two, after that in the forenoons for two weeks, giving them pure water in the afternoon. This bread and milk is the forenoon feed. In the afternoon give them mixed dry feed like the standard, or prepare one for yourself of 20 pounds of corn, 15 pounds of hulled oats, 10 pounds of wheat and 2 quarts of charcoal. Crack all as fine as canary sand. Sift out the flour and add two quarts of canary and millet seed and you will have the best dry food for chicks you can possibly buy. Give the chicks a free run so they can secure worms and young grass blades. When the chicks are two weeks old they can be fed as we feed our general flocks. Let the little fellows scratch in the hay seed for this dry grain. If they are being reared in confined quarters they must have a meat ration. Do not forget that the protein from milk and meat hastens them to maturity quicker than if they have to depend on the protein from grain. Fine gravel grit, sea gravel and charcoal in boxes, to take at their option, must be provided. Early, before the grass blades have started, sow oats in frames and leave them for the chicks to harvest for grain food. This is essential to perfect development. If chicks have field liberty, I do not believe in meat rations for them till weaned, for it is apt to cause too great muscle development in proportion to the bone structure. The bone must be strong and well grown, then put on muscle and fat. If you look out for the bone structure, you will have no weak, tottering chicks. I believe in getting the chicks upon the ground at the earliest moment after frost is out of the ground and before the brood s ten days old. Before the frost is out the floor of the quarters would better be covered three inches deep with a gravel loam, and furnish all flocks with outside runs that they may have a part of each day in open air. A damp, chilly atmosphere must be guarded against. Dry, cold quarters are far better than quarters that are damp and very much warmer. A lack of bone-forming food with an excess of protein and fat-forming grains causes the tottering weakness we too often see in flocks and gives us the grown chicks with weak knock- knees and weak hips, which we see rising above the back as they crouch upon the ground. Hulled oats, wheat with nutritive salts and bone meal given when these symptoms appear, will soon correct the matter. When green clover is not to be had, steam the dry clover and feed it until you can get them out on the ground. : DO NOT FORCE THE CHICKS Men tell you they can raise good chickens on cracked corn alone. I tell you I can raise better ones on the mixed feed and I know these latter will lay earlier in life and produce more eggs during life and a larger number annually. It will take some- thing more than a dam that has laid 200 eggs a year to make sure the second generation will make a like record. These fowls that are noted for their personal records have in most cases made them by extensive forcing processes. This forcing process should never be indulged in when their eggs are being used for incubation. They should be kept under normal conditions, and then the chances are that their chickens when forced may repeat or excel their ancestors. The hen in the best physical condition during the breeding season gives us the phenomenal chickens both in the exhibition and in the breeding pen. Of what we eat are we made. It is a well-known fact that when all else fails to agree with an invald, a raw, fresh egg can be taken and assimilated as a food by the most sensitive stomach. The chronic invalid, the child and the hospital inmate are and should be large consumers of eggs. If we can demonstrate that by feeding a special ration we can produce eggs highly charged with beneficial salts, it will give such eggs a great, vital value for the use of such persons and any price almost will be cheerfully paid, even 50 cents to one dollar a dozen. I believe if we can feed to our mated stock 10 grains of Dr. Dechmann’s nutritive salt to each fowl, together with the feed that I have recommended, nearly or quite all the eggs will hatch and nearly all chicks can be raised into healthy, strong and very prolific stock. If we can show this vital force in the egg, surely we should be led to follow up the theory in the feeding and rearing of the young stock up to mature age, thus giving to the purchaser a better, more prolific lot of fowls. This is the course the thinking poultryman of the future will adopt. What matters it that it adds 10 cents per dozen to the cost of the eggs or 30 cents each to the chickens? The purchasing public will cheerfully pay a dollar more to secure its benefits. I will not detain you longer. If I have aroused you so you will think of these things, and induced you to enter a strenuous life in poultry culture, my mission has been accomplished. We often hear jibes at the expense of writers who try to tell the novice how to set a hen and how to manage the young brood. These “criticisers were once novices themselves and needed like instructions. Old writers are too prone to forget that the world is ever new, that it is only they who are growing old. Too many of them think they have nothing to learn. The young-old writer is the salvation of the rising genera- tion—admitting there is little that is “new under the sun.” We should remember that all things are new to the young poultrymen just starting in the business and they form the audiences that should listen attentively to the things that have carried the old fanciers successfully through life. MAKING NESTS So small (?) a thing as care in making a suitable nest many times saves a valuable sitting of eggs. It is the little cares that secure success. In the early season if a sod of earth six inches .thick be fitted into a fifteen-inch square box and a place seven by ten inches be hollowed out but left flat at the bottom, and the whole warmed to 100 degrees, the eggs also warmed to the same degree before the hen has been taken to her new sitting coop, in nineteen cases:out of twenty she will take kindly to the nest 144 SUCCESSFUL CHICK GROWING and eggs and not leave it for forty-eight hours. Nor should she be disturbed for that length of time, that the germs may get a good start, for during the first forty-eight hours more germs are killed than during any other period of incubation under hens. After two days I should gently remove each hen each day for fifteen to twenty minutes, until she would come off by her- self when her nest was opened for her each morning. If they are taught to come off daily they will stay off but a short time and if properly fed their bowels seldom become deranged. They even take on flesh while incubating. When it can be so arrang- ed that the place or room where they are nesting can be at a temperature of 45 degrees, then we can hatch in winter as well as in spring—if the eggs are gathered before the germs are chilled. Oftentimes the eggs are declared infertile when the trouble is that they have not been gathered often enough through the wintry day to save the germs from chilling. The woman who had the best success raising chickens for me never allowed the hens to come off the nests by themselves. She took them off each day and returned them in fifteen minutes. Almost invariably all the eggs had chickens in them and nearly all the eggs hatched. She it was who raised for me twenty-two Brahmas, in two broods which weighed 53 10-16ths pounds in aixty-one days and at 100 days old weighed 107 pounds. INDIVIDUAL COOPS In any latitude after the middle of April, or at any time after the frost is out of the ground, the very best plan is to arrange a little coop and yard that is to be occupied by the days or that continues the work to the twenty-third or twenty- fourth day, which often oceurs with sitters of low temperature. It is folly to set a hen of low temperature in winter or one of high temperature in summer, for both will rot the eggs and give you no chicks. In selecting a hen in winter one used to it can tell by feeling the lower body if she should be set. If it feels bare and hot she is the one you want but put no more eggs under he than will touch her bare skin. If more eggs are set the chances are that in her turning them several will get beyond her body, a cold night will freeze the germs and before the three weeks are up half the germs will be killed. If care is not taken to secure a hen with this proper heat, bad results are often the case. How often we hear mensay: ‘I set three hens on eggs from the same breeders; two gave me good broods, the other not a chick.” It is often the case that a hen sticks to th: nest and apparently bids fair to be a good hatcher, yet she has not heat enough even to start the germs. Now suppose you set her with several others in similar nests. During the three weeks she changes nests with one or more, thus spoiling not only the hatch of her own nestful of eggs, but one or more of the others. Or she retards the hatch to 24 or 25 days, and several cripples come out, with more or less chicks that do not grow up to be average specimens of the breed. All this one worthless hen and careless owner can accomplish and such poultry keepers are the ones loudest in favor of incubator raised chicks. Now, my reader, you can save all this trouble by care and forethought, by attending to the little things. One may care for a dozen incubating hens as easily and in the same time as he can for one or two. He may give up a room to ten or twenty sitters and arrange a tier of nests like the accompanying cut. TIER OF NESTS FOR SITTING HENS ARRANGEMENT OF NESTS FOR SITTING HENS By the use of the arrangement of nests illustrated above one is enabled to readily care for ten sitting hens. Fully described by Mr. Felch. brood when hatched, and form the nest upon the ground. Fill the ground with boiling water, make the nest of chaff and hay not over ah inch deep and set your hen. The moisture in the earth will help to secure a good hatch. If during incubation the weather has been very dry, pour water around the nest the 17th or 18th day—it may save one or more chicks from stick- ing in the shell. In case you use this kind of nest, see that the hen comes off daily for two or three days after the second day and she will form the habit of coming off at a regular time—if you are regular in giving her fresh water and feed. FOOD FOR SITTING HENS Let her food while incubating be principally wheat, with a little corn and oats. If set inside « house furnish her a grass sod or have the coop so slatted that she can reach through and get the grass. I repeat, be sure she has vegetable growth, grit, wheat, oats and a little corn while incubating, and see to it that she leaves the nest daily for at least fifteen days. TEMPERATURE OF BROODING HENS The hen that hatches the eggs in twenty-one days will have a healthier, hardier brood than the one that hatches in nineteen These nests are fifteen inches square, fitted with sods the. under sides of which are scooped out two inches deep for a space 9 by 7 inches near the center of the sod. The bottom of the scoop should be flat. Place the sod, grass side up in the nest and press down the portion above the excavation. Cover the bottom of the nest with tobacco dust and carbolic lime and build the nest not over one inch thick with soft hay and chaff. To do the work most satisfactorily, wait till you have ten hens that wish to sit. Warm a few dozen china eggs and place the hens upon them. If they settle down you are safe to put the warm eggs under them. You can care for those hens in fifteen minutes each day by gently removing them, closing the door for fifteen minutes, then dropping the door which becomes an inclined plane for them to walk up into their nests. Those that do not, you can forcibly return, and then close the door until the next day. You can care for twenty hens in a few minutes. While the hens are off you have time to cleanse the nests that have been fouled and to remove any hens that have sickened from any cause, but when removed daily few will be- come sick. When these ten birds have hatched their eggs give to each eleven chicks until the number of chicks is exhausted and reset the hens thus relieved from raising a brood. In the foregoing pages I have given the feeding formulas for feeding young chicks. As fast as you have eleven well dried chicks remove a hen with them to larger boxes that have ample hay and chaff in the bottom and feed her with cake made from our formula, No. 1. It must be baked hard and then crumbled into scalded milk, with the pulverized egg shells. She will settle down to her box for twelve hours or more. * 145 SUCCESSFUL POULTRY KEEPING By following this plan you will have gathered all the re- tarded eggs under the last hen to hatch, which is usually the one with the lowest temperature. Let her be one of the hens to take eleven of the chicks to raise for she will be the one least liable to set the second time. When the nests have been ren- ovated and rebuilt, your quarters will be ready for another set of hens. PLAN OF YARDING HENS AND CHICKS If you have the land, take your horse and plow and upon a grass plot strike your parks or yards, 50 by 100 feet in size. Along the flat side of the furrow string eight inch wide boards and drive stakes (five feet or more in length) so they will come six inches above, four feet wide, inch-mesh, wire fencing. Tack the lower edge of the wire fencing to the board and the top edge to the stakes. When the boards are strung turn the fur- rows back. String a strong wire from the tops of the stakes to lace the fence to between the stakes; this will save half the number of stakes. You now have an enclosure proof against night prowling vermin that in many places decimate our flocks. On the north end it young chicks will appropriate a low board border to a walk. It teaches them to roost on an elevated perch, and such chicks learn to roost without setting their keel bone flat upon the perch. All this will prevent huddling and the vitiating effect that comes from it. If these chicks are to be confined in these yards, at sixteen weeks take all males to new quarters, that is, all such as are to be retained for breeding stock and exhibition purposes, kill- ing all that are to be sacrificed to the broiler market, leaving the twenty-five to thirty pullets to enjoy each yard alone. Now for the next two months feed these pullets heavily with formula No. 1, with a large proportion of meat. The yards will furnish ample growing grass as vegetahle for them. As they approach fecundity or when the two year old hens have been marketed, remove these pullets to their winter quarters, made vacant by the killing of the hens. The males sold on the market will have paid the expenses of rearing the whole flock to the age when the pullets commence to lay. j Thoroughly rake these vacated yards and top them with horse manure after having sowed them down with clover and is a good plan to build an open shed facing the yards; the back two feet high and the shed roof five feet high in front, the toof being large enough to cover four feet of grass. Place your chicken coops, five in number, ten feet apart. The chick coops should be 30 by 30 inches with 12 inch sides and double roofs, and they should be slatted in front, the palings : being 3 inches apart. I say full three inches apart just so the hen may be re- tained. It is a fact that nine-tenths of all crooked backs come from coops being too closely slatted. In squeezing through the chicks slip their hips—crooked backs and wry tails are the results. After the chicks are ten days old the doors can be fastened open and the hens have their liberty with the chicks in all fair weather. WHEN CHICKS GROW OLDER When one of the five hens shows a disposition to wean her chicks, take all the hens away. When they are six weeks old remove all the small coops, leaving the chicks to go to roost upon the perch that should run along the rear wall of the shed, eighteen inches from the ground: This perch should be put in when the shed is made, for the chicks will form the habit of roosting there by perching upon it in the day time before they are forced to abandon their coops. It is not a bad plan to arrange poles along the open yards. Did you ever notice how QUARTERS FOR HENS AND CHICKS Partial ground plan of out-door quarters for the accommodation of 20 hens and 220 chicks, as described in detail in the accompanying article by Mr. Felch. red-top grass. In the early spring clean up the coarse manure. The young grass will come with the original sod and you are ready by the middle of April for another year’s business. During all the life of these chicks keep their boxes filled with finely cracked oyster shell and charcoal. Of coarse after eight weeks of age they can be fed without cracking the corn; the oats, wheat and barley can be fed whole and mixed in the proportion of an equal part of each. For this dry feed for chicks under six weeks old crack all grain to the size of canary seed, adding canary and millet seed to the compound as directed in the previous pages. We have many breeds and are constantly adding new breeds and varieties to the list. The Almighty has given us brains to govern circumstances, and so we may make our flock most productive and profitable, adding alike to our pleasure and material welfare. 146 CHAPTER NINE ROASTERS, BROILERS AND CAPONS SOUTH SHORE SOFT ROASTERS FAMOUS SOFT MEATED WINTER CHICKENS GROWN ALONG THE SOUTH SHORE OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY—FAVORITE VARIETIES—HOW BIRDS ARE GROWN—ONE DEALER MARKETS OVER 250 TONS A YEAR IN BOSTON—LIVE POULTRY AT 30 CENTS A POUND SOLD AT GROWERS DOOR—A PROFITABLE INDUSTRY. HERE is probably no more profitable branch of the poultry industry than that of growing “soft roasters” as practiced in the famous “South Mass. For the most part the chief producing section for this toothsome and expensive poultry product is confined mainly to the upper portion of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, and includes a radius of nearly twenty miles round about the quaint New England towns of Hingham, Norwell, Rockland and Hanover. This business of soft roaster growing was a comparatively new thing less than ten years ago, and to-day is stjll largely confined to a rather limited area on the ‘South Shore” of Mas- sachusetts bay, so that the product is known to marketmen as the “South Shore Soft Roaster.” Boston market is an exceptionally good one for all kinds of first quality poultry products and to this fact is due, in part, the extraordinary demand for South Shore chickens at prices that will seem most remarkable to those readers who are fa- miliar with the selling prices of ordinary chickens in this and other sections of the country. Practically all of the entire output of the “‘soft roaster” section of the South Shore is sold in the Boston market and it is extremely doubtful if any of this exceedingly dainty and luxurious poultry meat finds its way outside the confines of the “Old Bay State.” The producers seldom sell direct to the marketmen, the majority of the soft roasters being bought alive by a dealer who makes a contract with the grower to raise birds to be sold to him when ready for market. $2.50 TO $3.50 EACH FOR LIVE ROASTING CHICKENS AT WHOLESALE These dealers make regular trips throughout the section covering twenty or more miles in a day, collecting such birds as are in marketable condition, paying the producers in cash for their product according to the live weight and the prevailing prices. The demand for South Shore chickens is so great that they are seldom quoted in the market reports, the marketmen usually engaging the product of the dealer well in advance of shipments and the goods have usually a customer waiting for them on arrival. High priced private trade, the leading swell clubs and the. more prominent hotels take the bulk of the out- put. The well grown soft roasters frequently net the producer $2.50 to $3.50 each at the door of his home when the season is at its height. The dealer takes all birds to his home place to be killed, dressed and shipped to Boston marketmen, appor- tioned according to the orders which he has received for im- mediate delivery. The dealer makes all arrangements with the Shore” district but a few miles south of Boston, i ' marketmen and the producer is saved all the bother and worry | of killing, dressing, packing, marketing and collecting, and has the advantage of disposing of his birds alive for cash, at a hand- some profit without even the trouble of catching the birds in. their pens. It is scarcely any wonder that in the soft roaster. district nearly every family having poultry is engaged in ‘this profitable branch of the poultry business. ONE DEALER MARKETS, 250 TONS OF ROASTERS A YEAR To give the reader some idea of the magnitude of the soft roaster business we cite the fact that one dealer alone ships. to Boston upwards of 250 tons of this prime grade of dressed poultry annually. The writer had the pleasure of assuring, himself of the truth of this statement by examination of the records of shipments, the precise items of which obviously are not for publication, “since very few business men care to have their books opened wide in print for the benefit of the public. : The Light. Brahma is the most, propular. variety with soft, roaster. growers and undoubtedly two-thirds of the. roasting’ chickens produced along the South Shoré ‘are either Light Brahmas or Brahma crosses. The White Plymouth Rock is’ however becoming very popular and promises. to be heard from later. To a limited extent the Barred Rocks aré also used. The Rocks possess the advantage of rather quicker growth and can be made to develop into a finished market bird at top weight in a little less time than the Brahma. In hard- iness this American variety seems to be the equal of its Asiatic: relative and the near future will unquestionably find greater numbers of the White Rocks on soft roaster farms. The Brah- ma has however proved its worth and will be likely to be, for. many ‘years to come, the leading soft roaster breed. UP-TO-DATE INCUBATORS USED FOR HATCHING Many roaster growers do not keep any breeding stock and buy all their eggs for hatching. Practically all eggs are hatched in modern, up-to-date incubators and the chicks are mainly reared under hot-water pipes, the “open hover” pipe brooder house system or some modification of it being the most popular. Where breeding birds are kept the method of housing and caring for them varies with the owner, colony breeding houses- and dry feeding are probably the most in favor, though on some plants long laying houses will be found and some feed moist mashes. There are a number of breeders who make a regular busi- ness of producing hatching eggs to sell to roaster growers and this has developed into quite an extensive branch of the poul- try business in this section. Such egg men regularly get 50 cents a dozen for hatching eggs the year round. 147 SUCCESSFUL POULTRY KEerinu COLONY PLAN OF HOUSING BREEDERS—HOW THEY ARE FED It will suffice to detail the colony plan of housing breeders. The fresh air house promises to become a popular colony house, but at present closed colony houses are the rule. In a house having about 90 to 100 square feet of floor space are kept from 30 to 35 females and usually three males. These birds are fed a dry grain mixture consisting mainly of cracked corn, oats and wheat in varying proportions, but averaging about equal parts. Beef scrap, pure water and grit are kept before the birds.all the time and green food is fed often in winter; chiefly turnips or beets split and nailed up for the fowls to pick at. Cabbages are also used as well.as cut clover SOUTH SHORE SOFT ROASTER and cut alfalfa. In the warm weather the birds have liberal runs on grass land. The houses are run practically wide open in mild weather and open by day in cold weather. The fresh air house is run wide open the year round. Good egg yields are obtained and the fertility is much better than the average. For hatching the eggs modern hot air incubators are chiefly used. THE HATCHING SEASON : For the Christmas trade the grower of roasting chickens begins hatching in April and runs well into the summer. Many growers hatch chicks the year round, disposing of some as broilers, but the quantity of broilers produced is not large in comparison to the roaster business. Hatching for the regular soft roaster trade begins in earnest about the first of August and continues well into cold weather. y HANDSOME PRICES OBTAINABLE The period of best prices for soft roasting chickens is from June 1st to July 15th, at which time the “top notch” roaster will bring the producer 30 cents, and sometimes more, per pound live weight. And consider just one moment that at this price the dealer goes to the home of the producer, in most cases goes into the coops, catches the birds, weighs them and pays cash. The producer’s only trouble is to raise the birds and put them in market condition. The lowest prices prevail between October 1st and Novem- ber Ist, when the dealer usually pays from 14 to 17 cents per pound live weight. At this time much of the product is ‘“far- mer raised,” so that the prices for roasters that are not of first quality will sometimes fall to 12 to 13 cents per pound alive. A good deal of western poultry reaches the Boston market at this season and helps keep the prices down. TIME OF HEAVY SHIPMENTS The time of heaviest shipments of soft roasters to Boston market is usually between March 1st and August 15th, and begins again September 1st. During June and July, when soft roasters are netting the producers 30 cents per pound alive, the consumer has to pay from 45 to 50 cents per pound at re- tail. Out of the difference the dealer and the marketmen have to take their profits. METHODS OF FEEDING GROWING ROASTERS There are nearly as many methods of feeding the growing chicks as there are soft roaster growers. Some use moist mashes, some combine moist mashes and dry grain food and many feed dry grain food exclusively. Almost every grower you meet thinks he alone has the only food ration that will grow chicks successfully (and perhaps he has—for him). It is the same old story we find everywhere in other branches of the poultry business,—there are many good rations which may all be adapted to suit the needs of the one who uses them; the chief essentials being wholesome food, fed in reasonable variety. In every case, whether the grower feeds as does his neighbor or not, the objective point is the same; all are seeking to produce a large, plump, soft meated, yellow fleshed chicken grown in the quickest possible time. Some of the most successful roaster growers start their chicks on dry grain chick food, obtaining the best, ready-mixed food of this kind that the market affords. The chick food is fed freely and kept always before the chicks. Incentive to ex- ercise is supplied by scattering a part of the food in a litter of cut clover, mow sweepings or cut alfalfa. Pure water is kept always before the chicks. The brooders are kept comfortably warm and well aired. Beef scrap or other meat food is fed as early as the fourth day and is usually kept before the chicks from then on to the time when they are ready for the dealer to take to market. Hopper feeding of dry grain is extensively practiced. NEWLY HATCHED CHICKS ARE CAREFULLY WATCHED The first few days the chicks are in the brooders they are kept moving by the attendant and prevented from “bunching” or huddling in little groups. This is to prevent them from find- ing out that they can get warm by so bunching, and to teach 148 ~ ROASTERS, BROILERS AND CAPONS them that they can only get warm underneath the hovers. This plan means a little extra work when the brood is first taken from the incubator, but it pays, as the chicks are much less likely to huddle outside the hover and become chilled. CRACKED YELLOW CORN AND BEEF SCRAPS THE COMMON GROWING FOOD When the little chicks are three or four weeks old it is com- mon practice to begin to wean them from the chick food by gradually adding a little cracked yellow corn and small wheat to their food, or feeding a mash of yellow corn meal, wheat bran, middlings and beef scrap. This is increased gradually and the proportion of chick food fed reduced until the chick food is stopped altogether. In the same manner less and less wheat is fed until the birds get very little but cracked corn and beef scrap. Some flocks are grown altogether on cracked yellow corn and beef scrap fed from a hopper. The amount of freedom given the birds differs with the individual breeders. Some allow practically free range, while others grow their birds in very cramped and limited quarters. It is no uncommon sight to see from 50 to 80 half-grown to full-grown birds occupying a yard not over forty, feet square with a small house about 6 by 9 feet. In such crowded quarters the birds apparently do well, but undoubtedly require more attention and more careful feeding than those allowed more liberal accommodations. ALL COCKERELS ARE CAPONIZED Both the pullets and cockerels are sold as soft roasters. It is customary to caponize all the cockerels as soon as they are big enough. Plymouth Rocks are usually ready to caponize when they reach from two to three pounds. live: weight, while from three to four pounds is about the right weight for Brahmas. Like all fancy market poultry, soft roasters must be grown quickly and should be sold as soon as they are “ripe.” They should be plump and soft meated, with breasts well rounded. Slips and pullets are sold off first since they are the first to go by the ripe age. This is usually when the pullets are from four to six months old. Much depends on the birds themselves and any evidences of maturity are considered indications for marketing. If pullets are permitted to come to laying or other- wise “go by” they make a less desirable dressed product and lose much of the ‘‘soft meatedness” desired. An experienced dealer or marketman can tell birds which have “gone by” al- most at a glance. For capons the best selling age is usually from six to nine months. The best selling weights are from eight to ten pounds per bird when prices are highest, while at moderate prices the larger the roaster the better it will sell, as a rule. OVER $4,000 FOR ONE MAN’S OUTPUT ONE SEASON As an example of the prices paid to growers by the dealers who collect the birds, the following will prove interesting, al- though the names are withheld by request. A certain dealer has been regularly drawing on a carpenter who lives near the town of Rockland, Mass., and who makes a business of grow- ing soft roasters. For several weeks in 1905 this dealer paid him over $200 a week in cash at the door of his home for live soft roasting chickens, and one day in May the dealer took on a load of about 150 roasters, for which the carpenter received $375 in cold cash. Allowing that the birds averaged ten pounds each, and that the live weight price was 25 cents per pound, this was an average of $2.50 per bird. Many fanciers who advertise extensively would be glad to sell as large an order for the same money, particularly as in such a sale there are no culls for off color eyes, faulty markings or other fancy points. The only essential points are a prime, plump, well rounded, yellow skinned carcass; quickly grown, soft meated and of good market weight. The dealer assured us that this man had at that time over $1500 worth of stock visible that was nearly ready to market, and said further that by the close of the season beginning Feb- ruary 1st and ending July 1st, he would have paid this grower between $4,000 and $4,500 for live chickens. How much of this was profit to the grower he could not say, but believed that it would be fair to say one-half could be considered profit to pay the grower for his labor. This is only one of many cases, too numerous to mention in this article. HOW THEY ARE DRESSED All soft roasters are dry picked. The method of killing is to bleed the bird by severing the blood vessels in the throat and then sticking it in the brain to paralyze the bird and thus loosen the feathers. As shown in the illustration, the picker sits while working. All feathers except the stiff quills are saved and sorted by the picker while at work dressing the birds. The picker has two tubs close at hand and places the white feathers in one and the colored ones in another. The feathers are sold to bedding manufacturers in the city and net, the dealer several hundred dollars annually. All South Shore soft roasters, whether slips, capons or pullets, are dressed clean; all the feathers except the small ones on the tips of the wings are removed. Where the birds are to be marketed as capons the Philadelphia style of dressing is sometimes practiced as shown in the illustration showing South Shore capons dressed Philadelphia style. These three pairs of capons were most attractive specimens of the Plymouth Rock- Brahma cross. The center pair weighed 18} pounds, the pair on the right 16 pounds and that on the left 16 pounds. After the roasters have been stripped of their feathers, which is quick- ly done, they are thrown into a tank of cold water to cool them thoroughly and get rid of all animal heat. At the close of the day the pickers take the chickens from, the tank and hang them in carefully sorted pairs from wooden racks, where they are left to dry over night. In the morning before the expressman arrives for the day’s shipment the birds are packed in boxes having lids which fasten on strong bolts. Clean burlap is the only packing used. The weights are carefully ascertained and a record kept of the gross, net and tare weights. A copy of this record with a bill for the goods accompanies each shipment inside of the box. Certainly this branch of the poultry business pays and is worthy of careful development in other sections of the country. Boston surely has no monopoly on the buyer who will pay high prices for fancy chicken meat. There must be others in our, many large cities who are simply waiting to be educated up to what the prime soft roaster really is as a table delicacy so that the clamor of their palates will result in a loosening of purse strings. Something has been done to develop this trade in the neighborhood of our large cities other than Boston, but up to date there are plenty of opportunities for building up a business in new territory and creating a demand. Enterprising poultrymien are sure to recognize a good thing and help to push it along, and it is to be hoped that there soon will be many more soft roaster centers that will rival the famous “South Shore” in the production of this desirable table delicacy. 149 SUCCESSFUL POULTRY KEEPING SUCCESSFUL BROILER RAISING CHOOSING THE BREED—HOW TO FEED AND FORCE BROILERS FOR MARKET—EXPERT AD- VICE GIVEN IN DETAIL—TWO POUND BROILERS AT EIGHT WEEKS OLD—PRACTICAL AD- VICE FROM THE SCHOOL OF EXPERIENCE ARTHUR G. DUSTON, South Framingham, Mass. I believe that many lose courage in raising broilers by not obtaining the right stock at the start. At the request of the editor I am going to present to the readers some hints on broiler- raising as exemplified by me on my farm. Many try Brahmas. They might do far worse. Let us take the Brahma from the egg and follow it. Mr. Felch says Brahmas are superior for this purpose. Yet, in an argument with an incubator manufacturer his first and best-proved claim is, that they do not hatch as well artificially as eggs from the American or Mediterranean classes. Does it pay to put eggs in machines that will make the chick cost, on coming into the brooder house, 25 to 50 per cent more than others? Once in the brooder, Brahmas prove very strong as little chicks, but look out for leg-weaknesses, their heavy bodies proving too much for small legs. Again, anyone watching chicks raised artificially knows that they will attain their height earlier than those raised with hens. So a Brahma chick has that against it as a broiler, for long legs with feathers on them hurt a broiler in the market. But properly taken care of, Light Brahmas will prove fairly satisfactory as broilers. As roasters, which subject cannot be even touched on in this article, they are choice. While the Brahma is under consideration it seems well to take up two of the more popular crosses made with them, viz: Leghorn on Brahma and Wyandotte on Brahma. Leghorn on Brahma have some very good points which are: Yellow skin and legs, fairly plump bodies, and they also feather early, but a large proportion of the early cockerels will be so near full blood Leghorn that they would easily be taken for them by a casual observer, and to force them, giving a liberal quantity of meat or ground bone, together with the heat, will develop extremely large combs, which gives the appearance in a dressed bird of its being old—a point against us. Furthermore, the nervous temperament of this cross (taken from the Leghorn) keeps them from making flesh, where other varieties would take on fat. I have run this cross where at fifteen weeks I could not force at least twenty-five per cent of them to weigh more than from one and one-half to one and three-quarters pounds. The Wyandotte-Brahma cross is almost ideal, being hardy, low-combed and not getting “stagy” at an early age, as with the Leghorn cross; but there is something to the feathered leg that is not inviting to the buyer. To see, a neat, yellow breasted broiler with feathers on the legs and feet will detract from its appearance more than one would think unless he has had the very fastidious market of Boston to cater to. The carcass of this cross is plump and yellow, only a small proportion coming so dark as to have black pin-feathers enough to injure the looks. To leave the Asiatics, we will touch on the Barred and White Plymouth Rocks. The rich yellow legs and bodies of these justly popular fowls, the quick growth, with not enough comb to hurt, gives us a broiler hard to beat—one of the worst faults being dark pin-feathers in the Barred, which are always somewhat objectionable in a broiler, for the reason that they are put on the market at an age when it is impossible to get them all out. I can not go through all the breeds, but will only take up 150 those I have honestly tried. This brings me to the last, the White Wyandottes. To be frank, I will state that I once thought of discarding this breed as not fitted for my business purposes, but after “summering and wintering” them I now feel that I would drop all other breeds before I would the reliable White Wyandottes. Let us note their faults. The first is that in some birds, more especially those bred for extreme whiteness, you will find they are not yellow-meated. At the same time I have seen the whitest plumage birds have rich, yellow skin, beak and legs. In buying stock look for yellow beak, and as yellow a leg as you could naturally expect at the time of year you are buying; that is, make allowance for a bird hived up in a yard, with sand to dust in, as it will surely bleach the legs to a flesh color. Another trouble you may have with the Wyandotte, as perhaps you would have with no other breed, is, when confining a large number in a small pen they easily take up feather-pulling. I think this is due to the peculiar way in which they feather. Some will grow to weigh one and one-half pounds before they have any but neck and wing feathers. Then the pin-feathers start all at once, making the habit easily formed by the “chicken act” of striking one another, or picking off any soft food that may adhere to the feathers. But plenty of green food will obviate that to a great extent, especially should that food be freshly cut clover. Of course it can not be obtained in winter, but well-cured clover rowen can. With care after this warning you need have no trouble in this direction. : ‘Regarding white skin, I will tell you how to overcome that by the use of the right kind of food, making it yellow enough to suit anyone. Now that we have seen the faults of the White Wyandottes in their worst light, let me extol their virtues as broilers, for they have many. The eggs being reasonably thin shelled hatch as well as any you can get. They mature as laying pullets a full month earlier than Plymouth Rocks, thus giving you eggs for early hatching. Their clean, yellow legs, low combs, white pin-feathers, and quick growing qualities, render them the best broilers I can put out. I have sold hundreds to dress eight ounces (one-half pound) and they were as round as a “butter ball,”’ this being one of their most important merits, that when properly fed they are at all times ready for market. They will stand all the forcing any chick can. If you try to raise Rocks and Wyandottes in the same pen, the experiment will prove to you this fact. Your Rocks will go “‘off their legs,’” while the deep-breasted, plump-bodied, smooth-skinned, active little Wyandottes will take their medicine five times a day and stand as straight as matches. Remember, it is generally the bird that can stand the greatest amount of food that makes the quickest grown broiler, and must be the bird you should adopt, as every additional day means additional cost from labor, coal! and feed. I have written this article from the market point of view, that is, the sales-counter, as that is where our returns for broilers come from. Now, for one moment let us look at the matter as epicures. Take any one of the varieties mentioned above, and the Wyandotte, besides having the extra flesh om breast, as I stated before, caused by the great depth of breast- bone, is as juicy and delicious as any, and, in the opinion of “our folks,’’ more so, a dish luscious enough for a king. This is just my experience briefly set before you. If I have written anything that will in any way aid my brother poultry- men, I am satisfied. Do not be in hurry to cross your stock, as no one can make me believe again that there is anything gained by crossing, for there is no place that a thoroughbred of some variety will not fill the bill, and once you start to cross. where can you stop? The labor and skill of years come to naught when you destroy the integrity of a breed or strain by crossing ROASTERS, BROILERS AND CAPONS STARTING THE CHICKS We will say that we have decided on the variety that we will run; our eggs are as fresh as possible and of uniform size; we have put them into a well made incubator and with proper care have gotten out a good hatch, which came along promptly, so that the morning of the twenty-second day we find the chicks nicely dried off. We now get our warmed, cloth-lined basket, with a heavy cover or shawl to prevent them getting chilled. Right here I want to say, I believe more chicks “‘pass out,” to the land whence no wanderer returns, from getting chilled in moving them from a warm, moist incubator on a cold day into the brooder than most folks are aware of, and those little fel- lows you had such fond hopes of, but lost last winter with what you called bowel trouble or diarrhoea, were really chilled in being changed from their birthplace to their temporary home. Well, we have got them safely, we hope, into the brooder, which has been brought wp to the temperature of the incubator. Of course we have placed our board in slides about a foot away from and in front of the hover, so that the babies ean not get out in the long pen and not be able to find the way back and thus get chilled. Just bear in mind for the first week that to keep them warm is more essential than the kind of food. The first day of their lives in a brooder has almost passed and they have not eaten anything. Night has begun to come on and it is time to feed the hens, but let us first scatter down for the chicks a liberal supply of rolled oats, the white flakes of which will instantly attract them, and they are left to themselves. In the evening, as we fix the fire preparatory to locking up for the night, we look at them and are pleased to find them scattered all over the hover bottom, and their contented little “peep” is the last sound to fill our ears as we go out, and our mind is already filled with visions of juicy broilers and big breasted roasters and the perquisites thereunto attached. The next morning as we turn out at daylight to’ see our orphans we find them calling for breakfast. We touch up the fire and then a feed of rolled oats is given them with a dish of warmed skimmed milk. We use an old fruit can for this pur- pose with a notch cut in the edge. Partially filled with the milk and inverted into a saucer, this makes an elegant fountain for small chicks. A saucer not much larger than the can is best, then the chicks will not get “stuck up.” The milk on the down will stick them together as bad as paste would. Some of the little fellows that would not eat will drink, so you save them along until they will eat. That you will save more chicks by giving them warmed skimmed milk than by any system of feeding grain, is my way of thinking. We next powder some charcoal in a dry bone or shell mill, and this is put into a dish and set in for the chicks to eat. We have found this an excellent regulator for very young chicks, as well as older birds. We are now going to feed every two hours until our young charges are turned over to the butcher. Let it be done by the clock; you will then be more regular and can more easily even up the day. THE FIRST WEEK For the first week you are limited to rolled oats, millet seed (which is a semi-green food) and cracked corn, run through a mill to make it fine enough, then sifted to save the meal, which, of course, is wasted by throwing it on the ground. We have kept our milk before them all the time, and have carefully washed the dishes twice a day, noon and night, as nothing gets any more filthy than do these dishes if left uncleaned, the fat of the milk, dirt and droppings all adding their mite to make it so, more especially as the chicks get older. Some think skimmed milk expensive to feed, but after trying it you-will be convinced that the increased growth that comes from feeding it gives you a good profit on it, and this is what we should always think of when weighing the cost of food. The real question is, can I get enough quicker growth by using it and give me a profit on it? For feeding choice “fancy” chicks I have heard it contended that whole milk was cheap to feed. I have been able to buy all the skimmed milk I want for five cents a can, eight and one- half quarts to a can, and have used as high as twenty-six cans a day for broilers and roasters. As we have put into each hover not over fifty chicks, we must see that the sand is carefully scraped off the top as often as necessary, probably twice the first week, which will be in- creased each week until about the third, then we begin to clean them regularly every morning. We run the wheelbarrow into the walk and lift the hover, which is hinged against the parti- tion so it is easy to get at. We take a small dust pan, or, if you prefer, make a scraper, by driving nails through a stick, something like a rake only closer together. Then scrape or rake the top off, going quickly from one to another. THE SECOND WEEK For the first week we keep the board in the slides just forward of the hover, as stated before. Now the second week we will remove it and keep an eye on the chicks to see that they do not get lost or get chilled by staying away from the heat too long. For this. week we will feed about the same, only perhaps it will be well to try them on a little mash made up of one-third corn meal and two-thirds wheat bran, seasoned with salt and pepper, just the same as though we were to eat it ourselves. Mix well and add boiling water. Don’t put in enough to make it sloppy. Allow it to stand a short time, then feed. Not much will be eaten, but they will get so before the end of the week they will look for it, as you feed your soft and hard grains al- ternately. During the second week we have cracked some wheat in our mill, so have had that for an extra dish and a change, giving corn as a last feed generally. A good many feed cut or pinhead oat meal to little chicks. This we have found to be a trifle pasty or gummy, and have dropped it, as more will get stuck up around the vent when this is fed than when not. There is one thing that is absolutely imperative—that is, to get your chicks out on the ground. If it is bright and warm put them out for a few minutes when a week old. Do not let them stand “humped” up and shiver, but make them hustle around, by driving or by feeding a handful of millet seed. + After the second week they must go out every day unless it storms, no matter if it is zero weather. After you have tried it you will see how essential it is, for you can not keep them on their legs under such high feed in any other way. THE THIRD WEEK The third week we always settle down to our regular routine, to be continued until about ready to market. As we enter upor the duties of the third week we will now get our routine started and will see the chicks push along for the next five weeks, at which time we hope to see two-pound birds ready for the market, and get sight of the returns for our labor. The first thing in the morning is a feed of hard grain; then comes a feed of chopped raw potatoes. As the chopping knife and tray were too slow, we got a mince meat chopper, had a new disc made with larger holes, about three-eighths of an inch in diameter, and ran the potatoes through that, catching in a pan the first and last to. come out as it is nothing but water. The other is the pulp. Now take their feed dish and give each pen all they will eat. A little later we throw in a little cabbage, cut in strips, which they will seize and chase each other around for until it is all eaten. 151 SUCCESSFUL POULTRY KEEPING This constitutes all the green food they have, except-once in a while we may substitute onions in place of cabbage. We have gotten our mash made for the day, and as 9 o’clock has come we will feed our first feed of it for the day, only feeding what they will eat quickly. We feed on tin plates, about fourteen inches in diameter and a quarter of an inch deep with a wide fold at the top. These can be readly cleaned preparatory to another feed by scraping with the feeding shovel, which is a small shovel about four inches across, made of heavy sheet iron and a white iron handle. We have a pan to put the leavings in, if any. They go into the swill for the pigs. At 11 o’clock another mash, then the dishes are picked up, taken into the kitchen or cook room and washed. Again at 1 and 3 o’clock we feed the mash and if we have used good judgment we have had a hungry mob each feeding. If we have been liberal, we find they have left something each time and are not ready for their feed. When this is so just scant them until they clean up each time and do it quickly, taking care you have enough for all. You will find the number of plates will have to be increased, as the.chicks increase in size, in order that each may have a chance. At 5 o’clock or before dark throw down a liberal feed of cracked corn. We follow this bill of fare for about four weeks. As we have crowded thé chicks pretty well, by putting one hundred ina pen we must take éxtra precautions against filth. At about four weeks of age a day’s droppings is considerable on the floor of the pen so the floor is now raked over each day and the collections wheeled-out. For this we must use a:loop toothed rake. We have by this time found our fountains small and easily tipped over by the chicks, so we have adopted new ones hold- ing nearly two quarts, made of galvanized iron and cone shaped | on top, to keep the youngsters from roosting on them, and in- stead of the saucer we use a small deep agate pan, only a trifle larger than the fount. This we find to be very satisfactory as the chicks can not put their feet in it. ) FINISHING OFF THE CHICKS To come back to the six to eight weeks old chicks. We must now think of finishing them off. We examine them, weigh a few, calculate how much flesh can be made on them in about ten days, for as broilers Boston has no: use for anything | over four pounds to a pair. We have fed so much bran that as we lay back the feathers on the breast we say, ‘“They ought to have more color.’”’’ How can we get it? We cast about for a way to get this. We know corn will do it, but we lose time if we drop off from soft feed to hard. The chicks won’t grow as fast and we must turn them off as soon as possible to get the most profit from them. So we put into the mash all the cotton seed meal we can stir in and not make it “salvy” or “‘puddingy,” as we call it. With a little treacle added we have accomplished the result. We now have a fine yellow skin if we have not foolishly chosen a blue blooded carcass, but any yellow-legged variety will respond to the treatment. I would caution you against trying to feed this for too long a time, say more than two weeks, as the chicks will get cloyed by it, and you cannot hold their flesh, to say nothing of making any unless you keep their appe- tites ‘‘up to the clip.” This being such a high feed, it seems to become nauseous to them. One would find it difficult to keep them on their legs if it were fed from the first. We have now “forced” the birds for eight weeks and have obtained what we set out for, viz: Two-pound broilers at eight weeks. This has been successfully accomplished on our farm with White Wyandottes. We have not done quite as well with any other variety. They will stand on their legs where Plymouth Rocks would be rolling on their sides with the same feed. We put up two pens of 110 each, and at eight weeks they weighed two pounds each, and a portion two and one-quarter pounds each under this system of feeding and almost the same treatment. By continuing the regular feed we have made five and five-eighths pound roasters at fifteen weeks old. SHIPPING LIVE CHICKS TO MARKET One thing more before closing: If you ship poultry to market alive, and it travels twenty to thirty miles on the rail- road, feed the night before, not too heavy but some, as the birds will empty themselves in the night and on the journey. Give them all the water they will drink before they start on their funeral ride. You will thus save a portion of your shrinkage to nobody’s injury, but to their gain, I believe, as you help retain the juiciness of the flesh. Some of these hints have been gained in the expensive school of experience, but if any earnest, honest poultryman can get anything of assistance from them he is welcome. As one word of caution, do not attempt to raise your breeding females under suclr hot-house methods, because you will sacrifice your size through early maturity, as after a period of forcing as given above it is no uncommon thing for pullets to lay at sixteen weeks, and we all know that is enough to stop growth. You may start your breeders in the brooder, holding off forcing foods, but get them out as quickly as possible. The summing up of the discussion is, breed, feed and care. Let us not disdain to use the breed because it may be bred to “faney points,” as the fancy bas given us our best and most practical varieties, and the nearer a typical bird he have, of almost any breed, the better carcass we have. THE ECONOMY OF CAPONS AN ENGLISH POULTRY FARM WITHOUT FENCES WHERE ALL THE COCKERELS ARE CAPONIZ- ED—THE CAPONS BEING A GOOD _ PROFIT WITH THE SMALLEST AMOUNT OF OUTLAY FRANKLANE L. SEWELL, Artist Aside from the small runs connected with the long brood- ing house and a few yards for the favorite breeding birds, fences were quite needless, as all the cockerels for market stock were caponized, thus doing away with the need of separating the sexes. This is immediately recognized as a great economy. The farm was a large one mostly worked for hay and grain. The land not the richest, would hardly pay the 80 pounds (nearly $400) per year rent from the product of its hay and grain. The poultry added considerably to the income of the tenant who had made poultry quite a study in America as well as in England, having been a student at Kingston, Rhode Island. : THE MOVABLE BREEDING PENS The farm being devoted to hay and grain gave ample room for portable houses. Our visit was in haying time and the long swaths stretched out over the wide meadows on which quite a number of movable breeding pens were arranged. Those in the picture at the lower left hand are the shape favored on the place. They are of five-eighth inch tongued-and-grooved boards. Three by 6 feet on ground measurement and 4 feet high to the peak; three feet at sides with sliding door at center of long side. They are very simple but answer the purpose well. A small door at the end assists in gathering the eggs and the handles at each corner makes frequent moving about quite a simple 152 ROASTERS, BROILERS AND CAPONS matter. The yard 6 by 12 feet and 3 feet high is a light wooden frame. On top of each yard we noticed a large fork full of hay had been spread for shade and to the north side was attached burlap to shelter the fowls from the wind, which we were told is quite severe in cold seasons. As soon as the hay lands are raked clean of their crop, these houses will be used for young stock in the autumn and moved every day or two. The con- stant changing to new ground and forage benefits the birds and greatly adds to the productiveness of the ground, and we can safely assert from our own and others’ experience, that with good as should be, but it was found that when chalk was placed in the water fountains, the water was sweetend, and they were sure the fowls kept in better condition. We have seen a small proportion of slaked lime also used with beneficial results, especially in the summer weather when the fowls are apt to have bowel trouble. : The poultry kept here was chiefly for market, and the White Plymouth Rocks and White Wyandottes used as breed- ing stock. An experimental cross that was expected to prove quite satisfactory, was that from a white Old English White AN ENGLISH FARM WHICH MAKES A SPECIALTY OF CAPONS The position of the fowl on the caponizing easel The small movable breeding pens that are ‘‘favored on the place” extensive poultry growing over these fields, they would double their yield of hay. One ton of hay to the acre was considered a fair crop a few years ago at this farm, upon Goring Heath over the chalk- hills, but we were assured that the land had been much improved by allowing the poultry to range on it. This is the same experi- ence that a New England Poultry Farm reported, only their hay crocs have more than doubled in the last ten years of ex- tensive poultry keeping on the land. The wells on this farm were not as deep, nor the water as 153 A few of the flock of 200 ducks The operation of caponizing The long brooder house Legged Game cock with White Wyandotte females. They will make medium sized birds—the kind wanted on the London market—that will bring what will amount to about one shilling per pound, and they will have white skin, white feathers, and white flesh. In the early season the higglers, (or butchers) will give about the same price for a bird of three or four pounds weight as for one larger that would take longer and more ex- pense to rear, so of course the one cheapest to rear to that size is the best for the grower. In this neighborhood they tell the tenderness of young fowls by the suppleness of their wings. SUCCESSFUL POULTRY KEEPING The breast bone test is considered the best. In Leadenhall you will hear the poultryman say “its breast bone is as soft as glue.” During the summer the young stock is being sold principally to the butcher in the nearby town and he is giving quite as much or more than could be obtained by sending them to London. We were surprised at the thin walls of the incubator houses, but were assured that the modern American type of incubators used were giving satisfactory results in these simple structures. The 300 feet long brooder house was furnished with sec- tional brooders. These were fairly satisfactory, but a change in the piping was in prospect ‘to make the circulation more perfect. After using the continuous house system a sentiment was expressed in favor of the separate outdoor brooder plan with brooders placed under cover of a small house in the early season when the weather is bleak or the ground apt to be slushy —then the small house would be ready for the well-grown chicks after they no longer require its protection, and it can be removed and used for younger broods. The chicks were kept in this long brooder house until some of them were old enough to market. They will do better now since the hay fields are swept of their product, and the young stock can occupy a greater part of the movable houses—can range over new ground, fill- ing up on insects and tender grass, for the frequent rains keep the hay fields green here. We noticed in the long brooder house an American made bucket spray pump which we were told was used for spraying the houses and small coops with coal oil. A box for destroying gapes was shown us in which the fowls sat upon slats above the fumes of carbolic acid heated to steam by two lamps. The upper story of the box could be made quite tight or opened at the side and the birds were watched through a couple of glass- lights at the sides to see that all was going well. It was claimed to be effective in destroying the gapes. We would want to ex- periment with this fumigator cautiously, however, at first. THE CAPONIZING TABLE OR EASEL We illustrate the style of caponizing table used on this place. It is really an “easel.” It holds the bird on the opera- ting board in the mcst convenient position of any we have seen, and the operator’s claim for it is that in this position the intes- tines of the bird fall away so that the parts worked upon are easily exposed when operating. The wings are held together above the bird’s back by a bent iron, rod or hook, and the legs placed together ‘through a loop in a strap.as ‘geen in the illustration, and both the iron rod ° and strap each ‘have a separate weight sufficient to hold the bird securely without bruising it. This easel has somewhat the ap- pearance of the table used at the South Shore Roaster Plant described in the Ret1aBLe Pouttry Journat, its chief difference being in the more upright tilt, which this expert operator claims he has found to facilitate his work. The illustration to the left shows quite plainly the position in which the bird is placed on the ‘‘easel.”” The feathers have just been plucked from the side of the bird through which the operator intended to work. The second photograph with the operator just starting to work, shows the convenience with which the work is done—a box or a table at the right of the . operator holding the few simple instruments used (which were of American make). The bowl was used to hold water with carbolic acid added to it. In this carbolized water the instru- ments were frequently washed and the knife dipped before each ncision was made. The time spent upon caponizing was con- dered a very small item compared to the labor of making and keeping up fences. The young males handled as capons are quiet and require-less feed to bring them to the marketable size. The capons do not fight and worry each other and no fences 154 being required to separate them from the pullets, they bring a good profit with the smallest amount of outlay. The young bird on the caponizing easel is one of the crosses from the White Old English Game Cock and a White Wyan- dotte female; the reversion resulting in this case showed some red plumage on the shoulders of the wings. THE FEEDS USED The principal foods we found at this place were, for soft feeds, barley meal and middlings with 12 per cent of meat meal or blood and bone, with some small grit mixed in. This was being fed to the growing stock, and in the evening, wheat and dari to the younger chicks and considerable maize to the older chickens. Maize (corn) was being also fed freely as an evening feed to the old stock at the time of our visit, as they explained— “We are glad to get them into good flesh, or even quite fat be- fore molting—after they commence to drop their feathers well we will hold up on the fattening foods and feed a better diet for laying condition. This would consist mostly of good sound oats.” CAPONIZING—HOW TO DO IT FULL AND EXPLICIT DIRECTIONS FOR CAPONIZING Every poultry raiser has each year a large number of sur- plus cockerels. These he finds it hard to dispose of at a profit. In the market he can seldom get for them (in their natural state) more than one-half or two-thirds of what he can readily obtain for pullets and hens. It is a fact, however, that when properly caponized and brought to a marketable size, he can obtain for these same cockerels, now developed into capons, twice as much as he can get for his pullets and hens. A Chicago commission merchant, with whom the writer had a talk in June, reported capons selling at twelve to eighteen cents per pound in that city during the season, and the demand strong. He was then handling capons bought from Illinois, Ohio and Indiana that weighed ten, eleven and twelve pounds. They were killed when from ten months to a year old. DIRECTIONS FOR CAPONIZING From twenty-four to thirty hours before performing the operation, select such cockerels as you intend to caponize (these should be from two to four months old), confining them in a clean and airy coop or room without either food or water. The best time to confine them is at early morning, as their long fast will then end about noon of the following day, at which time the operation is best performed. Should the day be cloudy or wet do not caponize them, but let the opera- tion go until you have a bright and fair day. It is necessary that you have all the light pos- sible in the matter. If it be a cloudy day and you decide not to caponize, the birds may be given a little water and food if necessary, but ~ it is much better to avoid this if possible, as it is very desirable to have their intestines quite empty, thus allowing their testicles to be more readily seen, besides giving the operator much more room in which to perform his work. Lay the bird on the operating table (this table is fully described elsewhere in this article) on its left side. Wrap the cord (Fig. 1) twice around the birds legs, above the knees. In making one wrap only, there is danger of the birds kicking themselves out of the loop. Fig. 1—Cord for Holding Fowl ROASTERS, BROILERS AND CAPONS Hook the other cord once around both his wings close to the body. To the opposite end of these cords attach a half brick, or some other weight, letting them hang over the sides of the table. This holds the bird securely. Have all your instru- Le FIG. 2-KNIFE FOR MAKING CUT ments in readiness, that you may work quickly. Thread the canula (Fig. 5) with a strong and long horse-hair or fine steel wire (we think wire the better), letting the wire form a loop at the curved end, and extend well out at the other end. Now, after slightly wetting the spot, proceed to pluck the feathers from the upper part of the last two ribs and just in front of the thigh joint. Pull the flesh on the side down toward the hip, and when the operation is finished the cut between the ribs will be entirely closed by the skin going back to its place. While holding the flesh back with the left hand, with the right hand take the knife (Fig. 2) and insert it (cutting edge away from you) between the last two ribs, cutting first down, and then up a little way, following the direction of the ribs, making the cut not over one inch long. Cut deep enough to go through. skin and flesh, being very careful not to go so deep as to cut the intestines. There is little danger of doing this, however, if they are empty, as they will be from the bird’s long fast. The danger of cutting the intestines is when they are full, as in this state they press against the ribs. ‘ Should the cut bleed, stop a moment, let the blood clot on the thin skin covering the bowels, and then remove it with the spoon forceps. Next take the Spring Spreader (Fig. 3), press it between the thumb and finger until the ends come together, insert- ing the ends in the incision, with the spring end toward the bird’s feet (see operating table). Upon looking into the cut a thin tissue-like skin will be seen just under the ribs and enclosing the bowels. Take a sharp hook (Fig. 4) and pick the tissue open, so that you may get in- to the bird with the instruments. The breaking of this skin does not cause the least pain to the bird. One of the testicles will now be brought plainly to view, lying close up to the back of the fowl. Sometimes both testicles are in sight, but this is not generally the case, as the other one lies beyond and more on the other side of the bird, the intestines prevent- ing it from being seen from this opening. The testicle brought to view is enveloped in a film. This should be brought away with the testicle. Some people, in caponizing, tear the skin open and then take the testicle out. The danger in so doing is, that if this skin is left, there is danger of causing a ‘‘slip.” Now comes the only dangerous part of the whole operation, getting hold of and removing the testicles; but with a steady hand and plenty of light not one bird in fifty should be lost. Fig. 3—Spring Spreader ——————eee FIG. 4-SHARP HOOK TO OPEN FILM-LIKE SKIN Attached to the testicle and lying back of it is one of the prin- cipal arteries of the fowl, and this, if ruptured, is sure to cause death. It is here that the canula (Fig. 5) proves of great ad- vantage. The hair (or wire) being small and very fine, is easily slipped between the testicle and artery without injury to either, and a clear, clean cut made. Take the canula in the right hand and adjust the hair (or wire) in it so that a loop about one-half inch long will extend from small end of tube, leaving the two ends of wire extending far enough out of the open end to secure a good hold. Insert the end of the tube that has the loop on it very carefully and slip the loop over both ends of the testicle and entirely around it, hold end of tube close down to the tes- ticle. When the testicle is entirely encircled by the loop, take both ends of the wire (or horsehair) which comes out of the other end of the tube with thumb and first finger, holding it FIG. 5-CAPONIZING CANULA tight, and draw up on it carefully but firmly, being particularly careful to have the loop around testicle. Keep the end of the tube very close to testicle all the time. If drawing up on the wire does not at once cut testicle, slightly turn from one side to the other (but not entirely around), then the testicle will come off. After removing it, carefully examine inside of bird to see that no piece is left in, and also to see that no foreign substance, such as feathers, etc., has gotten in. If any have, it is necessary to remove them, for if allowed to remain, they are liable to cause inflammation. Sometimes a feather or part of the testicle may drop among the bowels; if this occurs move bowels around with probe (Fig. 6) until the object is found, then remove with spoon forceps. When the operation is per- formed, remove the spreader at once and the skin will very soon slip back over the cut and heal in a short time. Never sew the cut as it will heal just the same as any other small flesh wound. The bird can now be turned over on its right side, cut made and testicle removed in exactly the same manner as just des- cribed for the left side. Both testicles may be taken out with the one incision, but to the learner we would say this is attended with more difficulty than the two incisions. The other testicle being situated so far over on the other side, there is more diffi- culty in reaching it, besides danger in piercing artery running back of first testicle. To an experienced person there is no danger in removing both testicles from one incision, but to those FIG. 6—CAPONIZING PROBE who have not that degree of confidence given by practice we would recomménd the two cuts. The bird recovers just as quickly as though one cut were made, and the operation is performed equally as quick, if not quicker. If both testicles are removed from one cut, the lower must always be taken out first, for if the top is first removed, the small amount of blood that may follow will cover the lower one, keeping it from view. A “slip” is neither capon nor cockerel. He is much in- ferior to the former and a great deal worse than the latter. The “slip” is caused by not entirely removing the testicles. The smallest fraction left in the bird will grow again with no benefit to the fowl. 155 SUCCESSFUL POULTRY KEEPING THE BEST TIME TO CAPONIZE Fowls hatched early in the spring make the finest capons. They can be cut before hot weather comes, which is a great ad- vantage although no ill results follow the operation at any time in the year. The bird should be from two to three months old (not over six months,) and weigh not less than a pound to a pound and a half. The size is equally as important as the age. June, July, August, September and October are the months gener- ally taken for caponizing, for the reason that spring chickens arrive at proper age and weight for market during the months of January, Febru- ary, March, April and May, at which times there is the greatest demand for them in the cities, and the highest prices secured. That capons are in our markets at certain seasons only, is because the demand is far in’ excess of the supply. The time will be when capons may be obtained the year around. Fig.7—The above Photograph was Engrav- ed from Life, Illustrates the Method of Holding Fowl Ready for Caponizing. OPERATING TABLE The top of an ordinary barrel (see illustration) meets all requirements of a table, admits of the birds being easily secured, brings the birds to the proper height with the operator; in brief, makes as good a table as can be desired. It costs nothing, as there is always an empty barrel lying around, or one that can be easily emptied. ; Our first advice would be, ‘“‘Keep cool and make haste slowly.” If you are rather tender-hearted, read the directions over carefully and then try your hand on a dead fowl. All surgeons do this in the first place, and probably it would be as well for you to follow their example. Have plenty of light. It is impossible to perform the operation unless you have this. After your first performance of caponizing you will be sur- prised at its simplicity. Always keep your instruments in per- fect order. Before using the knife see that the edge is sharp, and that the other tools are as they should be. After beginning the operation of caponizing there should be nothing to hinder you from going right ahead. FEEDING CAPONS The question is often asked ‘‘How are capons to be fed?” After caponizing give the bird all he will eat of soft food, and let him have plenty of water. Caponized fowls begin to eat almost immediately after the operation is performed, and no one would think for a moment that a radical change had been made in their nature. Now leave the bird to himself, as for the time being he is his own doctor. It is well to look him over two or three days after the operation, as in breathing, the air sometimes gets under the skin causing “wind puff” or a sight swelling, in other words. Simply prick through the skin at the sides with a sharp needle, gently pressing at the same time, when the air will be expelled and the capon relieved. Within ten. days from the operation the wounds will be healed over. A day or so after caponizing the bird should be allowed to run at large, treating him just the same as any growing poultry would be treated. 156 KILLING AND DRESSING CAPONS FOR MARKET The capons should be allowed to grow at least one year old. By this time they will have attained an imposing size. Some keep them even longer than a year. While this is optional with the raiser, yet we should not advocate killing them under one year old if they. are being raised for market. There is a great difference between the dressing of capons and an ordinary fowl. When the capons are ready for market, select such as you propose killing, and confine them. Keep them without food or water for about twenty-four hours before killing, that their crops may be entirely emptied. Now get ready your place for killing and dressing the fowls (if you have conveniences in the chicken house this will do quite well, or the woodshed, or any cool outhouse), and drive two heavy nails or wooden pins about one foot or less apart in an overhead beam. Make two nooses of strong string, each noose long enough to hold one each of the legs, and have the capons hang low enough to pluck with ease. Have a weight of two or two and one-half pounds attached toa hook, and when the bird is killed, fasten this hook in his lower bill after you hang him up for plucking. The weight holds the bird in position while picking and renders the operation much easier. Next procure a table to dress the fowl upon, and make a frame on the same principle as a small box without the ends and cover. In this you lay the capon, back down, to remove the intestines. When everything is in readiness take your capon and sus- pend him by the two legs from the nooses. Catch hold. of his head, and with your poultry killing knife cut vein at back of throat, through the mouth. Never cut this from the out- side. Immediately upon cutting’ vein, run point of knife through roof of the mouth clear into the brain. This operation causes what is termed “dropping the feathers,’ making them come off more easily. As soon as the knife enters the brain the bird loses all sense of feeling. Begin plucking at once. As to the style of dressing, the feathers are left on the wings up to second joint, the head and hackle feathers, also on legs half way up to the drumsticks, all the tail feathers, includ- ing those a little way up the back and the long feathers on hips close to tail. These feathers add greatly to appearance of the bird when dressed, and are also a ready marker from other fowls in markets. Never cut the head off, as this is a disting- uishing feature of the bird. A capon may readily be identified among a thousand cockerels, as the comb and wattles cease to grow immediately after caponizing is performed. Wash head and mouth well with cold water, being careful to remove all blood. A capon should not be torn in plucking. There is no danger of this happening if proper care is taken. Place the plucked fowl back downwards in the box frame already deseribed. Cut carefully around the vent and pull out the intestines. These will be found covered with fat, which, as they are pulled out, should be pushed back. When the end of the intestines is reached, insert your finger and break this off, leaving every- thing else in. As may be expected the fat will be found very heavy around the opening, and if slightly turned outward will soon become hard, which will give a rich appearance in this portion of the bird. Let the birds hang in a clean, cool place until thoroughly cold. For packing use a new box of the re- quired size, lined with white paper (any good, clean paper will do). Pack the birds in solid, back up, being careful not to bruise them. Your birds are then ready for market. With a bird not torn and the feathers left on, you have a fowl which for inviting and “taking” appearance it is impossible to equal. FIG. 8-POULTRY KILLING _KNIFE TABLE POULTRY AT THE DAIRY SHOW, LONDON, ENGLAND 1—The successful fitter of five pairs of First Prize Table Fowls at the-Dairy Show (114 pairs competing) and his first prize specimens. 2—Right, First Prize Winning Goose. 3—Table Ducks and Geese. The nearest pair of Ducks winners of First Prize. 4—The central pair winners of Special for Best Pair of Table Fowls and winners of the Gold and Silver Medal. CHAPTER TEN MARKET POULTRY AND EGGS HOW TO PREPARE POULTRY FOR MARKET SELLING STOCK ALIVE AND DRESSED—METHODS OF DRESSING—SHIPPING CRATES AND BOXES—HIGH PRICES OBTAINABLE FOR FANCY HIGH GRADE POULTRY AND EGGS—FEATHERS ARE VALUABLE FRED HAXTON HE sure road to success in raising poultry for market purposes is quality. It is immensely more profitable to produce a small number of birds and sell them at high prices than it would be to raise a large number’and sell them at ¢ the ordinary market rate. From five to fifteen | cents a pound premium is paid for strictly fancy dressed poultry—in fact, the best goods command almost their own price, and are seldom to be found in the open market, generally being sold by the poultryman to fine hotels and clubs and markets in exclusive neighborhoods, without allowing a middleman a share in the profits. To illustrate the adage that “fancy goods bring fancy prices,” it may be stated that a club in Chicago pays 50 cents a dozen the year around for its eggs, and takes all the capons a large poultryman can raise at 40 cents a pound. After making his name on a box of poultry a synonym for quality, the market poultryman will find no difficulty in dispos- ing of all the stock he can raise at a good premium. Private trade pays best, if a regular supply can be given. In nearly all markets, however, the best dealers will agree to pay a certain bonus on every pound of fancy poultry. The requirements of practically all the markets for poultry are similar. SHIPPING LIVE POULTRY A standard poultry crate is used in all the large markets, and to secure highest prices the birds should be shipped only in these. The fowls look much better in crates of uniform size, and are more easily packed in freight or express cars and handled in the markets. These coops may be bought at a low price in any large poultry market, or may be easily constructed by the shipper. The crates should be 4 feet long, 30 inches wide, 12 inches high for chickens and ducks, and 18 inches high for tur- keys and geese. The corner posts are of 2 by 2 inch stuff and two of these also are used in the middle of the coop. Six pieces of 2 inch stuff 12 inches long and six pieces 30 inches long are cut and nailed into three rectangles, one for each end and one for the middle of the crate. Ten-penny nails are used. Half- inch boards are nailed on the bottom, which is made tight. Strips 4 inch thick and 2 inches wide are nailed on the sides and top, about 1} inches apart. Two strips are left loose on the top for putting in or removing poultry, or a hinged door is applied. Laths are nailed around the coops at the ends and in the middle to keep the strips from coming off. The coop for broilers should be 10 inches high and 2 feet wide. These crates are both light and strong and being open prevent the smothering of the birds if they are not crowded too tightly in the crates Care should be taken to ship birds of about the same size and color together. A crate of fowls of uniform color and size will bring two or three cents a pound more than would a case of black, white, speckled and large and small chickens mixed in- discriminately. Young fowls should not be shipped with old ones, for then the chances are that the whole shipment will be sold as old stock. Most of the loss in shipping live poultry is due to suffoca- tion, some crates arriving on the hottest days containing three to a half dozen dead birds. In hot weather do not put more than 100 pounds of adult birds in a coop, but in cold weather 120 pounds may be shipped. Of spring chickens when small, 50 to 60 pounds may be sent in the regulation coop’ and when large, 70 to 90 pounds. It is best to ship the hens, pullets, cockerels and cocks in separate crates, but when a shipper has not suffi- cient birds, mixed lots may be sent. It is seldom profitable to send to market live spring chickens weighing less than a pound, as the supply is immense and the market is often glutted. It is better to send these dressed as broilers. Chickens weighing a pound and a half to two pounds sell best early in the season; late in the spring two-pound weights are preferred. In the early spring when young birds first come in, some small ones will sell well, but as soon as the stock begins to be plentiful the small chickens are not wanted. Along in June and July, when chickens are bought to place in cold storage, two pounders are preferred. As a general thing, two-pound stock sells best the year around. Live poultry should be shipped so as to reach the market from Tuesday to Friday. As receipts increase toward the end of the week, enough stock is left over to supply the trade on Monday, and late in the week dealers prefer to sell the fowls at a sacrifice rather than carry them over Sunday and have the trouble and expense of feeding them. Monday, is usually a poor day to sell poultry. Just before shipping, the birds should be fed and watered liberally, whole corn and wheat being the most sustaining foods. If the trip is to be a long one it is a good plan to provide a few handfuls of grain in a corner of the crate. Some shippers tack half a cabbage to the top of the coop. The large dealers have special cars for shipping live poultry. The coops are built right into the coaches, the sides of which are covered with wire netting. A car will hold 5,000 birds, and an attendant travels with the shipment, sometimes as far as from California to New York, to feed and water the stock. These cars are rented to the dealers who pay a certain rate in advance of the regular freight charges for the use of them. The rental for a thousand mile trip is $42, and at the end of the journey the birds weigh more than they did when they started. Five hundred of these cars are in use on the leading railroads and more are being constructed. , Express and freight rates on live poultry are low. The coop weighs about forty pounds, and is returned when empty for 10 cents, nearly all the railroads making this special rate. Shipments of around 400 miles generally cost about $1.25 a 158 MARKET POULTRY AND EGGS hundred pounds, by express, and considerably less by fast freight. Tags with the name of the consignee and the shipper should be attached to both ends of each coop so that if one is torn off the other will remain. It is also advisable for the shipper to stencil his name and address on each crate, to insure its return. Most of the live poultry is shipped from April to November, the bulk of the supply in the winter months being sent dressed. This is because of the fact that during hot weather poultry will spoil unless carefully packed in ice, and many shippers find it difficult to obtain clean ice at reasonable prices. In fact, the poultry market generally is comparatively dull in the summer months, the first touch of cold weather adding several cents a pound to the prices. DRESSING CHICKENS Dealers everywhere give notice that all poultry should ‘be well fed and watered and then kept from 18 to 24 hours without food before killing. Stock dresses out better when it is well watered and appears much brighter. Full crops injure the appearance of the bird and the contents are liable to sour. When this happens only low prices will be paid. CAR LOADED WITH POULTRY One of the special poultry cars loaded with live fowls destined for the large city markets. Kill chickens by bleeding in the mouth or opening the veins of the neck, and hang by the feet until properly bled. Leave head and feet on and do not remove the intestines or crop. For scalding chickens the water should be near the boiling point but not boiling (160 to 175 degrees Fahrenheit). Pick the legs dry before scalding; hold by the head and legs and immerse and lift up and down five or six times; if the head is immersed it turns the color of the comb and gives the eyes a shrunken ap- pearance, which leads buyers to think the fowl has been sick. The feathers and pin feathers should then be removed immedi- ately while the body is warm, very cleanly and without break- ing the skin. Next “plump” by dipping ten seconds in water nearly or quite boiling hot, and then immediately into cold water. Hang in a cool place (or better place on shelves in the shape you wish them to appear when cooled—hanging draws the breast muscles and makes them look thinner when cool and harder to pack) until the animal heat is entirely out of the body. To dry pick chickens properly, the work should be done while the chickens are bleeding; do not wait and let the bodies get cold. Dry picking is much more easily done while the bodies are warm. Be careful and do not break and tear the skin. The plumping is very essential. Do not singe the bodies for the purpose of removing any hair or down, as the heat from the flame will give an oily and unsightly appearance. Remove pin feathers thoroughly, but if it is impossible to take them out without tearing the skin cut them off with a sharp knife. Dry picked poultry generally commands a higher price than scalded stock, and is safer for shipment in warm or doubtful weather. Scalded birds are less attractive than those dry picked, because unless the scalding is done with great care and by an expert the skin usually is discolored in places and becomes puffy after a day or two. Chicago accepts both scalded and dry picked stock, generally, however, paying a premium for the latter. Boston insists on dry picked, and the better trade in New York and other large cities will have nothing else. “Shaping” the birds is an essential to securing fancy prices. This is done by placing them in a trough 10 inches wide, with an angle of the opening about 70 degrees. The chickens are put in the trough back down, and the flesh is forced forward onto the breast'and the whole body made compact. This will make even a scrawny bird look plump and a fine one will undergo a. great transformation. On top of the trough a thin board is placed and on this a weight. After the fowls have been in the shaper a few hours and all the animal heat has disappeared they are ready for packing. It is important that the bird be thoroughly cooled before shipment, and if ice is placed on the chickens in cooling them—which is inadvisable but sometimes necessary in hot weather,—all the moisture should disappear. before they are removed for shipment, unless the birds are to’ be shipped in ice. Do not cool the fowls too rapidly. DRESSING TURKEYS Kill in the same manner as chickens, but drypick while the turkey is bleeding. Do not wait until the body gets cold. Be careful not to break the skin and do not remove the head. Markets differ as to whether the neck and wing feathers should be left on, but most require that they be untouched. The tail feathers come off with a twist; a straight pull will ‘‘set”’ them. All old and heavy gobblers should be marketed before January 1st, the demand after the holidays being for small, fat hen tur- keys. From the middle of October to the first of the year is the best period for selling/turkeys, although early in the season there is a great demand for “baby turkeys,” as they are called, which weigh about five pounds apiece and bring high prices— sometimes as great as a full grown turkey would fetch later in the fall. DUCKS AND GEESE When not dry picked, scald in the same manner as chickens, but remember that more time is required for the water to pene- trate and loosen the feathers. Do not try to pluck the plumage just before killing for the sake of securing a higher price for the feathers, as this gives the skin an inflamed appearance and causes injury to the sale. Leave the feet on and do not pick the feathers off the head; also leave the plumage on the neck for 2 or 3 inches. Do not singe the bodies, as this spoils their appearance. After they are picked clean the fowls should be held in’scalding water ten seconds, for plumping, and then rinsed off in clean, cold water. Fat, heavy ducks always bring by far the best prices, and it doesnot pay to ship thin birds as they can be fattened in two or three weeks and bring several cents a pound more. CAPONS Only large, heavy fat capons are wanted. A thin capon will bring no better price than an old roaster, but prime, fat capons command the best of prices the year around and dealers in every city complain that they cannot secure enough to supply 159 SUCCESSFUL POULTRY KEEPING the demand. Capons always are dry picked. The feathers should be left on the neck from the head two-thirds of the way down to the shoulders and likewise on the first two joints of the wing. The feathers also should be left on the tail and half way up the back, and on the legs from the knee joint two-thirds up the hips. ' In fact, only the feathers around the body itself are removed, and there is less shrinkage in dressing capons than in any other class of poultry, the only loss being the blood and the body feathers. Care should be taken to keep the capon DRESSING ROASTING FOWLS Feathers fall to the floor, and are swept up constantly, dried, and sold, being a source of considerable revenue. The five men shown at the table have dressed 700 fowls in one day. clean, and paper should be wrapped around the head to prevent it from soiling the plumage of other birds when they are packed in boxes. BROILERS Nearly all the broilers are shipped dressed, as the trade is conducted only in cold weather, and is at its height from March to June. Those who make the largest profits, however, en- deavor to place the birds on the market as soon after the first of January as possible. From the latter part of November until after New Year’s the bulk of the demand is for large fowls for roasting and frying, but after the holidays broilers come to the front. Some of the largest growers find a steady demand every week in the year, by contracting to furnish a stated supply to large hotels or restaurants, or to dealers who handle the best class of stock. For the live poultry trade, chickens averag- ing a pound each are in greatest demand early in the year. These never sell for less than $3 a dozen, and often bring nearly a dollar apiece. The prices decline gradually after the first of March, but remain high until well along in the summer. Ten dollars a dozen often has been paid for live one pound birds in February. After April 30th, most of the chicks are sold by weight, and hundreds of thousands of broilers are reaching the dealers by that time. The advice of the largest commission men is: Hatch broilers early. November is not too soon to begin, and the first shipped bring the fancy prices. In May it is best to send broilers weighing one and one-half to one and three-quarter pounds, which are worth $6 to $7 a dozen. Broilers should be dressed in the same way as chickens. ROASTERS The raising of “soft roasters’” has become an independent industry, and properly prepared birds weighing more than six pounds being in great demand from the first of January until the middle of the summer, and again from September on to Thanksgiving. These command prices almost as high per pound as broilers, and are simply young birds, generally from six to nine months old—put through a special fattening process to make them plump and tender. They are dressed, dry-picked, wrapped in parchment paper and packed a dozen or a half dozen in a box. The supply of these usually is contracted for, and comparatively few are found in the open market. From 20 to 35 cents a pound is paid throughout the season. SHIPPING DRESSED POULTRY h., ‘Even though a bird is properly dressed, it will reach market in bad shape unless care is taken in packing it. Fancy stock always sells better when shipped in neat boxes holding one or two dozen birds each. The dealers have agreed on certain sizes of boxes for differ- ent grades of stock, and these only should be used. Basswood or any other material except cedar may be used for the boxes; cedar taints the flesh. Each bird should be wrapped in parch- ment paper, which makes it keep longer; ordinary butchers or wrapping paper, on the other hand, hastens deterioration. Two layers of fowls are put in a box, six facing one end and six the other. The regulation box for broilers is made of 4 inch lumber, and is 16 by 16 by 4 inches, inside measure. This will hold a dozen birds. Care should be taken to assort each lot so that the broilers put into each individual box are nearly uniform in size, color'and, weight. Lots should range from 15 to 18 pounds per dozen, or 19 to 22 pounds, or 23 to 26 pounds. These average ranges of weights follow naturally as the season advances. The largest broiler dealer in the West says: ‘‘Boxes should be paper lined, at least, and each broiler should be wrapped in paper if the shipper wants appearance to count in the disposition of his stock. Buyers like to see broilers packed breast up. All culls and off stock should be packed separately and so marked. For roasting chickens the inside measurements of the box is 18 by 8 by 30 inches, This will hold twenty-four roasters, in DRESSING FOWLS IN A LARGE CHICAGO ESTABLISHMENT The men work at tables and each dresses his own fowl. They strip the bodies first, then the legs, and then the neck. Machines do not work well on scalded poultry. These men are members of a union, and make good pay. two layers. Uniformity in size, color and weights of roasters packed in each box is absolutely necessary for attainment of the best results. A good three-layer box is 24 by 18 by 12 inches. but the two-layer package is most favored by the trade. For adult fowls the standard box is 20 by 18 by 12 inches, 160 MARKET POULTRY AND EGGS This will hold 24 birds. For turkeys the standard box is 26 by 24 by 15 inches. This will hold twelve young toms, or six young toms and eight hens, or sixteen hens. On the outside of each box should be stencilled the shippers’ name and the gross, tare and net weight of the box with the grade of the fowls it contains. The largest poultry dealers in the world, Swift & Co., pack their stock in boxes and grade it as follows: Weight per doz. Small broilers, 20 to 25 pounds. Large broilers, 26 to 30 pounds. Small fryers, 31 to 36 pounds. Large fryers, 37 to 42 pounds. Small roasters, 43 to 48 pounds. Medium roasters, 49 to 60 pounds. Large roasters, 60 pounds and over.” : As poultry packed in boxes cannot, of course, be iced, the shipments should be sent in refrigerator cars. Some successful poultrymen who have a trade direct to the families pack the birdsin paste- goods on consignment he becomes the shipper’s agent, and any attempt to defraud his principal is punishable by fine or imprison- ment. Not so if he buys goods outright, agreeing to pay for. them at a stated price. In the latter case the shipper’s only recourse if he fails to receive the contract price is a civil suit, resulting in a judgment generally worth no more than the paper it is written on. For this reason dishonest merchants fre- quently offer to buy outright. Too great care cannot be exer- cised in these matters. When a direct sale is made, except to a well-known house of good reputation, the safest method of pro- cedure is for the shipper to consign the goods to his own order, making draft through bank or express company and attaching it to the bill of lading from the railroad company, properly endorsed. The bank or the express company will then present the draft and surrender the bill of lading only on payment, so that the commission merchant cannot obtain the goods until he has paid for them.’ Five cents on the dollar is the usual commission for selling poultry. board boxes, each holding one bird. Common stock, which constitutes the bulk of the shipments, is sent in bar- rels. Three or 4 inches of ice, broken to the size of a fist is put in the bot- tom, and on this is packed a layer of poultry with the heads down, the backs up and the feet in the center of the barrels. Another layer of ice 2 or 3 inches thick is put on top and then another layer of chickens, ducks or geese, and ice, and so on until the barrel is full. A fifty-pound cake of ice is put on top and over all is ap- plied a piece of burlap, kept in posi- tion by the top hoop. The poultry ‘should not be frozen before being packed as frozen stock is worth two or three cents a pound less than that not frozen. HOW TO SELL A private trade brings the best returns. If the poultryman is near a BS Suing city of good size he will have no diffi- culty in disposing of his products at prices far above those paid in the open market. Next to a family trade—or preferable to it if the business done is a large one—is the supplying of the best hotels and restaurants, or clubs. If direct sales are impracticable, as often is the case because of the grower’s distance from the market, arrangements can be made with a city dealer or commission man to take all the birds raised. Capons, fancy roasters, broilers and other fine stock generally are contracted for, some shippers being paid from 5 to 10 cents a pound above the market price the year around. If the goods are sold through commission merchants, care should be taken to investigate the reliability of the merchant, as a dangerous number of “fly-by-night” concerns are in the business to fleece everybody with whom they deal, fleeing with the gains. This practice is so common that the United States government has issued this advice to shippers: ‘Beware of being tempted by higher market quotations than are sent out by well estab- lished dealers. High quotations are the favorite bait of the imposter.” “There is also a legal point that is well to bear in mind: In most, if not all, states, when a commission merchant receives 161 BOXES AND BARRELS USED FOR PACKING DRESSED POULTRY FOR{SHIPMENT SAVE THE FEATHERS The poultryman overlooks an important source of profit. if he neglects to save the feathers. The value of the feathers is: an important reason for dry-picking the birds, as dry-picked body feathers from chickens bring from 18 to 19 cents a pound, while scalded feathers are worth only a cent a pound. The demand is steady the year around, the following being the average prices per pound: Prime Live Geese, white oo eoeceeeeceee eee eee 60 @ 62 Mixed Grey Feathers 43 @ 44 All Grey. 38 @ 42 Old Geese, according to quality _2_..........--- 20 @ 40: Mixed Geese and Duck oo... oe eee eee 35 @ 37 Duck Feathers, white 42 @ 44' Mixed z 32 @ 33: Old Duck, according to quality__o.. 00 15 @ 35 o™ e SUCCESSFUL POULTRY KErrinu Chicken body dry picked, prime 034 @ 043 Green or musty 02 @ 04 Dry but quilly @ 03} Dry picked, quilly and damp-................-.-.---------- 01 @ 02 Sealded 01 @ White Chicken body, dry picked_................-...-...- 18 @ 19 Chicken and Turkey body, mixed @ 043 Turkey Body, dry and choice @ 064 Green and little damp 01 @ White Turkey body, dry, prime----................-..-- 60 @ 70 Tail, choice and clear-_-_.-.-..--.---------c-2- eee @ 40 Tail, mixed with skirt feathers. ---..-........ --.----- 20 @ 25 Wing, from first two joints @ 19 Wing, tail and pointers_-_..........2...2.. /--2 ----- @ 17 Wing and tail clear @ 25 Wing and pointers @ 13 Pointers- @ 07 In picking turkeys, says the Shippers Guide, save all the feathers that grow on the tail of the turkey; also those on the two joints of the wing next the body. The pointed one-sided quills that grow on the outside or tip of the wing sell at a low price; and should be kept separate from the others. It would be best to keep each. kind separate. Lay quill feathers straight, in as A BOX OF DRESSED POULTRY OPENED TO SHOW ~— METHOD OF PACKING light boxes as possible; do not stuff them into bags, as it breaks them. Body feathers should be shipped in sacks. Before packing weigh your boxes with the covers, and mark the weight in plain figures on the side of the box. Chicken body feathers should be forked over to allow the animal heat to get out of the feathers; they should be well dried out before shipping as the dampness mats them together, and they sometimes arrive heated and mouldy. Be sure and have no quill feathers mixed in with the body feathers. They can be shipped in sacks. Dry picked feathers command best prices. White chicken body feathers, dry picked, command big prices, but must be kept dry and clean. Feathers should be spread out on a floor to dry for if shipped at once they may become musty. Burlap bags are commonly used for shipping. PROFITS IN COLD STORAGE Whenever the supply of poultry in any market exceeds the demand, the surplus is put into cold storage where it is kept until prices are high again, often being left in the coolers seven or eight months. In addition, hundreds of thousands of dollars are invested each summer in poultry to be put in refrigerators until next winter. Rather than sell stock at low prices, the poultryman often will find it profitable to place the birds in storage warehouses until the demand is strong. The warehouses. will take small consignments as well as large ones, and the rates are extremely low. One-fourth of a cent per pound is charged for the first sixty days or less, and thereafter an eighth of a cent a pound per month. All poultry put in storage must be packed in boxes. The ordinary rate for cold storage of eggs is 40 cents per thirty dozen case for the season from March 15th, to January 1st, on eggs stored prior to June 1st. On eggs stored on or after June 1st the rate is 10 cents per case for the first month and five cents a case for each month additional. The storage ware- house will advance from 70 to 80 per cent of the market value of the goods stored. It is estimated that 1,800,000,000 eggs or one-tenth of all the eggs laid in the United States are placed in cold storage every year. The regular storage season for poultry is from September 30th to May Ist, and for this period a special rate of one-fourth to one-third of a cent a pound per month is made by most of the warehouses. A dozen broilers can be kept in the coolers from October to May for only 2 cents apiece. All poultry remaining in the coolers more than two or three weeks is frozen immedi- ately upon arrival and is kept as hard as a rock. The tempera- ture is kept at from 28 to 30 degrees, but the initial freezing is done with the thermometer at 12 to 15 degrees. FATTENING POULTRY FOR MARKET Fattening poultry by machinery has become an important industry in the last few years. Thirty-eight ‘feeding stations” with a capacity of from 3,000 to 10,000 birds each are in opera- tion in the middle west, and many machines are in use in eastern states. The machine consists of a four-gallon receptacle mount- ed on a tripod and so arranged that when the operator pushes a treadle a quantity of semi-liquid ground food is forced through a rubber tube into the crop of the chicken, the operator hold- ing the tube down to the bird’s throat. The birds are kept in small coops arid their crops are crammed full twice a day for two weeks. As a rule, they are kept in the crate three weeks, but fed from troughs the first week. Some fatteners do not use the machine at all. Crate-fed chickens are always in great demand at high prices. The crates in most common use are made of lathed or turned strips in tiers. A thin chicken weighing four pounds will by cramming be made six or more pounds in two or three weeks. If it was worth 12 cents when thin, it is worth 20 cents when crate-fed, per pound. The ordinary cost of putting from two to three pounds on the weight of a chicken has been found to be about 15 cents, and the average increased selling price from 75 cents to a dollar. This accounts for the enormous growth of the poultry fattening business. At the Canadian Experiment Station 365 chickens fed in crates gained an average of 2.35 pounds each, and the average cost of food consumed was 5.27 cents per pound of increase in the live weight. This low cost of increased weight was secured when ground grain cost $1.20 a hundred pounds and skim milk 15 cents a hundred pounds. The foods used were ground oats mixed with sour milk, skim milk, or buttermilk, and this was given in troughs in front of the crates, no machine being used. PRICES TO BE OBTAINED One dollar for a broiler, $2.50 for a roaster or capon, $3.50 for a dressed turkey, $2.00 for a goose, $1.00 for a duckling— these are not exceptional prices for good stock. The value of market poultry has increased steadily since 1901 and will con- tinue to remain high. The consumption of poultry has in- creased enormously. With a private trade of high class, excellent prices are ob- tained the year around—from 5 to 10 cents or even more per 162 MARKET POULTRY AND EGGS pound for roasting fowls and others that are sold by weight, being paid as a premium. Some of the most successful poultry- men with private markets place each bird or pair of birds in pasteboard boxes made for the purpose, and sell the chickens “by the box’”’—not by weight—at $1, $1.50 or multiples. of 50, according to the kind of stock. For those who must depend on the open market the best plan is to write to the commission merchant or dealer and secure from him a list of the average prices per month paid for all kinds of stock, and then arrange to have the birds ready for sale in the month when prices aver- age highest. Heavy roasting fowls, capons, turkeys, geese and ducks are in greatest demand and fetch the highest prices from November to February not so much of this class of poultry being consumed during warm weather. In the summer, too, it is difficult to ship dressed poultry because of the trouble of icing it, and for this reason most of the stock from April to October is shipped alive. a The great increase in the price of poultry during recent years may be shown from the following quotations for turkeys. From time to time these reports contain special instruc tions for killing, dressing, packing and shipping poultry, and we have drawn on this source for a portion of the information given in this article. In the best eastern markets, New York and Boston, and on the Pacific coast, dry picked poultry has the preference and commands the best prices. In the middle west and western markets as well as in some southern ones scalded poultry is required and is in greatest demand. This we believe to be due chiefly to the fact that dry picked poultry to present an attractive appearance requires the services of an experienced picker. The west and south is still comparatively new country in the production of high-class market poultry and outside of some of the large packing houses, experienced dry pickers are few in number and hard to find. 2 In the east where high-grade dry picked poultry is in greatest demand and scalded stock almost “goes begging” for a customer, there are many experienced men who make killing and dressing market poultry a profession. The prices paid for their services vary in different sections of the country. 1906 1905 1904 1903 1902 1901 1900 1899 1898 1897 1896 to18 |17 to19 | 16 to174/17 to18 84 to 12 74 to9 9 tol0 8 toll |10 to11t| 8 to0124| 8 to12 to19 | 19 to20 | 16 to174 18 94 to 144] 74 to 94 84 to 10 8 toll 94 to 12 8 to124,; 9 to 134 to 17 16:to17 |15 to18 | 10 to15 7 to12 8 to 12 8 to13 94 to 124; 8 to13 13 124/14 to15 | 11 to12 |12 to13 9 to124| 64to 8 7k to 10 8 to10 8 to 12 9 8 to 12 to 124/14 to15 |11 to12 /|10 to12 94 to 124} 6 to 8$| 6 to 9 7 to10 6 to 9 6 to 9 7 to 10 to 124 | 133 to 15 | 10 to12 |10 to12 |10 to12 54 to 74 to 7 6 to 9 | 5 to 8 5 to 7 6 to 9 to 124/14 to15 |10 to114/}10 toll | 114 to 12 6 to 74! 54to 7 7 to 8 6 to 8 6 to10 7 to10 to 18 15 | 12 tol17 11 |12 to124/ 6 to 8 6 to 74| 74to10 6 to 10 7 to10 8. toll to16 |15 to16 | 12 toJ4 | 10 toll 1 7 to 9 7 to 8 8 to12 7 toll 7% to 10 8 toll to16 |13 to17 12 }11 to14 /|11 to13 7 to 8 6 to 9 84 to 10 7 toll 8 to10 7k to 9% 16} to 21 116 to18 |15 to18 |15 to18 | 10 to16 7 to10 6 to104{ 9 toll 8 to114/ 8 to104/ 9 to 114 Besehais conte desteziet jo ebSsseentise ofa ne 16 to174!14 to17 !15 to 174/13 to18 9 to1l4! 8 to 94! 9 to 104! 8 toll 8 to12 | 104 to 114 These are for ordinary birds and when two prices are given the bulk of the stock was sold at the higher figure. Prices quoted for January, February, March, November and December are for dressed birds, and for the rest of the year, for live turkeys. The figures are those paid to the country shippers, and not those which the stock brought when bought by the butchers.. Fancy turkeys were disposed of, as a rule, at 5 cents or more per pound above these figures, which were supplied by Howard, Bartels & Co., official statisticians for the Chicago butter and egg board. Broilers should be marketed as early in the year as possible, before the market is flooded with them. A dollar apiece often is brought for the best stock. Roasters find a good market throughout the year, except in the hottest part of the summer, and specialties, such as ducklings, young geese, ‘‘baby’’ turkeys, crate-fed poultry, or machine fatted fowls, are always in demand at high figures. KILLING AND DRESSING MARKET POULTRY DRY PICKED POULTRY IS PREFERRED IN EASTERN MARKETS—HOW TO KILL AND DRY PICK—SOME ADVICE ON SHIPMENTS— WHERE SCALDED POULTRY IS IN DEMAND— REQUIREMENTS > OF VARIOUS MARKETS P. T. WOODS, M. D. Methods of killing and dressing market poultry vary in different sections of the country and it is necessary for the poultryman to make himself familiar with the existing condi- tions and the requirements of his particular market center. This is easily done if he will obtain the regular market bulletins from one or more of the commission dealers in the city in which he intends to dispose of his output. In nearly all cases they are paid on the piece-work plan, receiv- ing a certain amount per bird for all that are dressed, the prices ranging from 3 to 6 cents per head for chickens and from 4 to 8 cents per head for ducks. : In the vicinity of New York City and Philadelphia there are a number of famlies who devote the greater part of their time to dry picking market poultry and they derive a very comfortable-income from this source. At Vineland, New Jersey, which is in the heart of a broiler, roaster and duck raising section, there is a family consisting of father, mother, two daughters, a son and wife, who make a busthess of travelling about the country dressing poultry for the growers in that section. These . pickers visit different plants at regular intervals, the men doing the killing and rough picking and the women serving as pin- featherers and finishers. It is no uncommon thing for one of these pickers to rough pick 200 broilers in a day without tear- ing the skin, and it should be remembered that broilers are ‘very easily torn. When dressing full grown birds that are reasonably free from pinfeathers these pickers will finish a considerably larger number. EARNINGS OF A SKILLED PICKER In the July 1905 issue of the Ret1aBLE Pouttry JouRNAL we told the story of an expert picker who picks South Shore Soft Roasters and made the remarkable record of earning $23.00 one week, $33.40 the second week, $34.80 the third week, $36.44 the fourth week and $38.56 the fifth week, in five successive weeks’ work dry picking soft roasting chickens at 4 cents each. The record is all the more remarkable because in this case the picker finished the birds, removing all pinfeathers, cooled them in the water tank, hung them up to dry, and cleaned up his part of the picking room at the close of each day’s work besides helping weigh up the finished product when the same were packed for shipment, and he worked no longer hours than the average working man. This is an exceptional case but there are many good pickers in the east who regularly earn from $15.00 to $25.00 per week. 163 SUCCESSFUL POULTRY KEEPING Duck picking is a more tedious’ process but experienced dry pickers are able to earn a comfortable income. The aver- age price paid is 7 cents per duck, and a good picker can finish from 40 to 60 ducks per day. In the August RELIABLE POULTRY JOURNAL we called attention to the fact that on one of the large eastern duck ranches the pickers were earning from $2.80 to $4.20 per day. As all of this work is piece-work a skilled workman can usually earn very satisfactory pay, all depending on his ability. LEARN TO DRY PICK-—IT PAYS Dry picked poultry is becoming more and more in demand in the western markets and as the call for high-grade poultry increases and the market poultry industry develops in this section, there will be greater opportunities for earning good pay in this line of work. The enterprising young man with a liking for poultry work will soon begin to take up dry picking and he will be among the first to reap the benefits. In the opinion of the writer the dry picked fowl when dressed by an expert, presents by far the most attractive appear- ance, and if we are to believe the testimony of many epicures and reliable housekeepers, dry picked birds are much more to be desired as a table delicacy than the scalded product. Some may consider this difference an imaginary one but it is only necessary to compare the expertly dressed dry picked carcass with the scalded, parboiled, or partially cooked unattractive ones to acquire a decided preference for the dry picked article. Aside from this the dry picked bird will keep better, reach market in better condition, and none of its naturally fine flavor has been injured by contact with hot water, usually dirty and often decidedly repulsive. Even when the scalding is done by an expert the practice is an objectionable one and results seldom justify the means employed. Dry picking is a comparatively simple matter, easily learned, and once the operator has acquired a little practice, there is no more need of tearing the bird during dry picking than there is after the carcass has been skillfully scalded. HOW TO KILL AND DRY PICK Experienced dry pickers claim that the only trick in getting the feathers to come out easily is in the method of sticking. If the bird is killed properly the feathers will come out easily without tearing the skin. If the killing or sticking is not done as it should be or if the bird is choked too much the feathers may cling as if they were clinched, and it will be practically impossible to get them out without tearing the skin. Nearly every experienced picker has his own particular method of killing and dressing. Along the south shore in Massachusetts the pickers for the most part prefer to sit while working and hold the birds in their laps. It is a practice of some to stick the bird through the throat immediately beneath the angle of the lower jaw or mandible, then give the bird a sharp blow on the back of the head with a blunt stick or billy, the shock of the blow resulting in a nervous spasm that loosens the feathers. The most expert, however, have discarded this method for the nicer operation of sticking the bird through the mouth, allowing the knife point to penetrate the base of the brain, accomplishing the same result in loosening the feathers in a much more satisfactory manner. The writer learned the New Jersey method of dry ;icking and much prefers it to all others, and will endeavor to describe this method of killing and dressing in detail. When learning to dry pick the beginner will get much more satisfactory results if he will practice on adult fowls until he acquires the knack of it. Select adult birds that are well feathered and practically free from pinfeathers, and the opera- tion will be a comparatively simple matter. After one or two trials the beginner should be able to remove all of the feathers in a few rapid movements of the hands. Make preparations for dressing the birds by having every thing as convenient as possible. Provide two barrels placed against the wall of the room or building in which you intend to operate, one for blood and waste feathers and the other for the feathers which are to be saved. Have a good sharp knife with a medium-sized blade; an ordinary pocket knife will answer. The chickens to be killed should be placed in coops within easy reach of the picker. The operator should roll up his sleeves and put on a large apron, We prefer to use a bran sack tied across the breast, just beneath the arms and again around the waist. This covers the clothing and is thick enough to afford ample protection from blood that may be spattered. A soft cap should be worn to keep the feathers out of the hair. Drive a nail in the wall above the center of the barrel in- tended for blood and waste feathers at a point a little higher than the head of the picker. Provide a loop of stout cord from 6 to 10 inches long and fasten this to the nail. Make a noose in the lower end of this cord to be slipped over the fowl’s feet to hold it firmly by the legs. When the fowl’s legs are secured in this noose the bird should hang close to the wall with its head on a line with the operator’s left arm when held in a horizontal position with the elbow against the side of the body. This position will be found to be the most convenient. If the bird is hung either too high or too low it will be awkward to handle. After a few trials the picker will be able to judge exactly what point is the most convenient for him to hang the birds and the exact length of the cord he should use. Do not hang the. bird from a beam or pole in the center of the room where it can swing both ways, and do not hang the bird in a similar position fixing a weight to the upper mandible to hold it steady. Such practice makes the operation an awkward one and pre- vents getting the best results. With the bird hanging against the wall in the proper posi- tion as described above it cannot get out of reach should it struggle and slip from the hand, and it is always under control. The picker should stand facing the wall with his knees braced against the barrels. This gives him a purchase so that the bird may be held firmly when it struggles. The killing knife may be stuck into the wall or placed on a shelf near by. Some pickers prefer to have it tied to a cord fastened about the waist. STICKING Grasp the neck of the fowl with the thumb and forefinger of the left hand. Draw the hand gently downward until it strikes the angle of the jaw forcing the fowl’s mouth open, but be careful not to choke it. Hold the mouth firmly open with the third finger. Introduce the knife into the throat and with a few quck motions of the knife up and down sever the large arteries at the side of the neck just below the ear, so that the bird bleeds freely. Now hold the knife at an angle with the bird’s bill pointing toward the back part of the roof of the mouth in a line with the eye. With a rapid movement drive the knife through the roof of the mouth into the base of the bird’s brain and give a quick half turn of the blade. This causes paralysis, renders the bird insensible, practically kills it, and a quick sudden shudder will pass through the fowl indicating that the feathers have loosened. ‘ Adult birds should be stuck much more heavily than squab broilers or broilers. As a rule with small chickens the twisting in motion of the knife should be very slight. If the sticking is too heavy or too light the feathers will not loosen properly, It is, however, a very simple matter and easily acquired with a little practice. 164 MARKET POULTRY AND EGGS BEGINNING TO PICK As soon as the fowl is stuck the operator should begin at once to remove the feathers, taking them off as rapidly as pos- sible. Grasp the wings with the thumb and first two fingers of the left hand, holding the neck of the bird between the third and little finger, stretching the body a little downward without choking the bifd so as to keep the noose and string taut. This gives the operator full control of the bird so that he can hold it firmly. Next with two or three quick motions with the right hand remove the large stiff wing feathers; also the stiff feathers at the shoulder joints. In removing the large wing feathers they should be grasped with the extended fingers of the right hand and pulled out with a quick downward movement. The stiff feathers at the shoulder joints are pulled upward. Now grasp with the right hand the tail feathers and re- move them all with one quick twisting motion. Pass the right hand rapidly down the back from the rump to the neck, remov- ing all the feathers with the thumb and forefinger pulling them downward. The bird should then-be shifted to the right hand and the left hand used to pick the soft feathers of the abdomen. These can all nearly be removed at one time by grasping a hand- ful of them in the left hand and making a quick turn of the wrist throwing the thumb outward. Next remove all the feathers from the sides of the breast pulling towards the fowl’s back and a little downward on each side. Remove the balance of the feathers on the breast with a downward motion. If the sticking has been properly done these feathers will all come out easily without any danger of tearing; in fact, in adult birds they seem almost to fall out. Again transfer the bird to the left hand grasping it firmly by the head and quickly strip the feathers from the neck with the thumb and finger of the right hand, pulling them a little down- ward. The feathers on the wings and thighs may be easily removed with the thumb and forefinger of either hand. It only requires a quick eye and a little practice to become an expert picker in a short time. It will surprise the beginner to see how rapidly and how easily birds can be dry picked by following this plan. Good pickers will often have half a dozen birds stripped or rough picked before the first bird is done flut- tering. Some years ago the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals investigated this method of picking in the state of New Jersey, and after going carefully into the subject and witnessing the operation performed by~a number of expert pickers the society’s agents were satisfied that there is no more cruelty in this method of killing than in any other; and that the suffering on the part of the bird is reduced to a minimum. It is doubtful if the bird experiences any considerable amount of pain, since the cutting of the large arteries is so quickly done that it could scarcely be felt and when rapidly followed by the sticking into the brain the bird becomes at once insensible to pain. Sticking through the side of the neck and clubbing on the head with a piece of wood is much more brutal and by no means as satisfactory as the method we have described. REMOVING THE PINFEATHERS The pinfeatherer will find it more convenient to hold the bird in the lap and should be seated on a stool or box conven- ient to the rough picker, or if the picker is to do the finishing as well as the roughing, he should remove the bird from the noose, seat himself in a chair and finish the bird in this position. All long hairs and pinfeathers should be removed by the aid . of the fingers and a blunt knife. The picker usually begins at the rump, cleans every thing along the back to the neck, then goes over the breat and abdomen, the wings next, and last the thighs, carefully cleaning up the whole fowl so that the carcass is free from pinfeathers and looks clean and attractive. If there are any large tears in the skin these are cleansed and sewed up by the pinfeatherer. In pinfeathering a blunt half-bladed case knife will be found the most convenient to use. Should the crop be full the skin at the back of the neck is split and the crop worked out through the opening and removed. As soon as the birds are finished they should be thrown into cold water to cool. After all animal heat has left the body they are taken out, the heads and mouths thoroughly cleaned, the feet and legs scrubbed with a brush to remove all dirt, and the carcasses hung up on racks to dry. On some plants it is customary to have two cooling baths, one simply of cold water to remove the first heat from the carcass, and another, containing water and chunks of ice, into which the birds are afterwards thrown to remain during the hot weather, until it is time to ship them to market, and in cold weather until all the animal heat has left the body when they are taken out and hung up to dry. DRY PICKING DUCKS Dry picking ducks is a much less simple matter and re- quires more skill and patience. A good-sized shoe knife with a half square end made as sharp as a razor is used for sticking in a very similar manner to that described above for chickens. After sticking, the duck is then given a sharp blow on the base of the skull with a round piece of hard wood similar to the police- man’s short billy. The bird is held in the lap, its neck between the knees, and legs and wings firmly grasped in the left hand and the feathers quickly removed with the right hand, with a sharp movement from the tail toward the head. In some of the more tender parts the pulling is done in an opposite direc- tion, or toward the tail. After the coarse feathers and larger pinfeathers are re- moved the carcass is rubbed over with a little water and shaved with a sharp shoe knife having a concave edge. As stated above the requirements in dressed poultry differ with the various markets. BOSTON, PROVIDENCE, NEW YORK AND PHILADELPHIA MARKETS There is very little difference in the demand of the eastern markets, Boston, Mass., Providence, R. I., New York, N. Y., and Philadelphia, Pa. Here dry picked poultry is always at a premium. Beginning with the new year there is an ever increasing demand for good-sized soft roasting chickens. Weights most in demand are those which will dress approximately 10 pounds to the pair. Plump, soft-meated, quick-grown, yellow skinned stock are in the greatest demand. Late-hatched chickens suitable for broilers and weighing from 3 to 43 pounds per pair will also command good prices early in January. By the middle of January squab broilers or individual chickens that dress about 12 ounces to one pound each, are in good demand and usually command good prices from the middle of January to the first of May. Soft roasters bring the best prices between June 1st and July 15th. The lowest prices for roasting chickens prevail between October Ist and November 1st. Broilers com- mand the highest prices between the middle of April and the middle of June; the lowest prices during August and September. Ducks bring the best’ prices from May 1st to June 1st and the lowest prices during July and August. Fowls asa rule bring good prices throughout the year, but lowest Prices prevail during the latter part of the summer. Poultry for these large eastern markets should be starved for. 12 to 24 hours before killing so that the crop and entrails will be empty. They are sold with the heads on and entrails in. If the crop contains food it must be removed. For Boston, Providence, New York, or Philadelphia all poultry should be 165 SUCCESSFUL POULTRY KEEPING dry picked and thoroughly bled. They should not be stunned by pounding them on the back of the head as this causes the blood to settle and injures the sale. Scalded poultry will not “bring more than half price in New England markets. PACKING FOR SHIPMENT IN HOT WEATHER Strong and sound barrels are best for ice packing poultry for shipment during hot weather. These barrels should be well washed before using and only clean ice should be used. Place a good layer of broken ice on the bottom of the barrel, then a layer of poultry beginning in the middle and packing in a circle with heads down, backs up and feet toward the center, then alternate layers of ice and poultry. Fill the barrel to within 6 inches of the top, taking care to have ice between the poultry and the staves of the barrel. Fill the top of the barrel with large pieces of ice and cover with clean burlap, and mark with brush or stencil. If to be shipped a long distance put in an extra large piece of ice on top. If properly packed the poultry can be on the road fifty hours without injury. Always ship by express in warm weather. COLD WEATHER SHIPMENTS During cold weather poultry can be shipped either by freight or express. It should be entirely cold but not frozen before it is packed. Boxes make the best packages and should be lined with paper and packed so closely that the contents cannot move. Never use straw for packing and never wrap the dressed poultry in paper. Mark the cover of the package distinctly with the kind and quality of the contents, the gross weight and the correct ' tare in plain figures. Have your own address on the box and see that the package is properly addressed to the merchant to. whom you are shipping. Never ship any goods to arrive on a holiday. Always place a duplicate invoice in every package and notify the dealer by mail of shipment, sending the original invoice in your letter. Yellow meated, yellow-legged, plump poultry is most in demand in the eastern markets and when cleanly dry picked and neatly packed commands the top prices. BALTIMORE MARKET Scalded poultry is preferred in Baltimore, Maryland, market and sells best with head and feet off. The birds should be scalded carefully and feathers removed without breaking the skin. The scalded poultry should be plumped after picking by dipping it for a few moments in hot water, not quite boiling, and then throwing the birds into cool water of the natural temperature where they should remain ten to fifteen minutes. When this is done cut off the head and feet and hang the car- casses up to thoroughly dry off. Be sure that all animal heat has passed out of the body before packing for shipment. Ship in plainly marked packages as advised above, packed tightly so that the flesh will not become bruised in transit. There is a light demand in Baltimore for dry picked poultry. BUFFALO AND CHICAGO MARKETS In Buffalo, N. Y., and Chicago, Ills., scalded poultry is in greatest demand and commands best prices. Care should be taken not to scald the heads. For scalding use water that is as near the boiling point as possible without boiling. Pick the legs dry before scalding. Hold the bird by the head and legs, immerse in the hot water, and lift up and down two or three times. Be careful not to immerse the head as it turns the color of the comb and gives the eyes a shrunken appear- ance, leading the buyer to think the fowl has been sick. Re- move the feathers and pinfeathers without breaking the skin and plump the bird as directed in preparing them for Balti- more market. Birds are sold with heads and feet on and en- trails in (undrawn). If crops contain food they should be re- moved. Expertly dressed dry picked poultry is becoming more and more in demand in these markets. ST. LOUIS MARKET A prominent dealer in St. Louis, Mo., says that careful handling and fine appearance of the stock are half the selling. When everything is plenty a fine lot of poultry will find favor and sell readily, while rough stuff will lie around and may possibly have to be sacrificed at a discount. The St. Louis market prefers scalded poultry carefully picked and well plumped. The birds should be bled in the mouth and are sold with heads and feet on, undrawn, the crops removed if they contain food. SAN FRANCISCO MARKET Dry picked poultry is in demand in San Francisco, Cal. No poultry is scalded for this market as buyers will not purchase it. The entrails are always left in and never drawn. Crop is only removed when it contains food. Heads and feet are always left on. Poultry should be packed in barrels or small boxes weigh- ing from 100 to 200 pounds. Large plump poultry is always in the best demand. This market differs from the eastern, southern and mid-western markets, as the birds are customarily sold by the pair or by the dozen. 166 CHAPTER ELEVEN TURKEYS, DUCKS AND GEESE CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF TURKEYS TURKEYS FROM SHELL TO MARKET—USE OF TURKEY HENS TO HATCH AND RAISE THE POULTS — TREES THE BEST ROOSTING PLACE — NESTS—CARE OF SIT- TING HENS— FEEDING POULTS— LIBERTY TO ROAM —STANDARD WEIGHT MRS. HATTIE A. WELD, Greely, Kans. HENEVER I talk, write or even think turkey, it is a White Holland Turkey. Why? First, because to me they are the most beautiful. Any one who can look upon a flock of fifty or one hundred turkeys all white as snow—except the black beard and the beaks, legs and feet which are varying tints of pink, any one, I say, who can look upon such a flock without admiration, has no eye for the beautiful. Second: Their quiet, gentle disposition always wins friends for them. , Third: They dress well for the market. We now have them bred to a size that can compete favorably with any va- riety of turkeys. But I will not stop now to give all their good qualities. WHEN STARTING, BUY BIRDS, NOT EGGS Better begin with turkeys instead of just buying the eggs. A chicken hen will hatch the eggs just as well as a turkey hen and she will do her best at raising the poults; but she does not wander far enough to give them the food they require and therefore they always lack the size of the turkey-raised birds. And besides, the lice that they get from the chicken hen are so much harder to fight and seem to do the little ones so much more harm than the regular turkey lice. kind is a benefit, but of two evils choose the lesser. Buy your breeders in the fall, if possible. November is the very best month as the turkeys are in range condition, not fattened in the least, and all you have to do is to keep them growing and in good breeding condition. One feed a day is plenty. I prefer to give that at night as this makes them range after cattle or other stock and gives them necessary exercise. But at five o’clock (as the days shorten, feed at four), I put a little wheat or ‘oats in a trough and call them, that all may go to roost satisfied. Have oyster shell, grit and charcoal where they can get it any time. Also plenty of water as the turkey does not like to depend upon snow any more than other fowls do. We yard our chickens in October and leave the range for the turkeys as the two do not feed well together. THE BEST ROOSTS AND NESTS With us the best roosting places are the tree tops and the colder the weather the higher the turkeys fly. They should have a shed open to the south where they may go during stormy days, if they wish. And they will greatly appreciate some poles for perching under this shed. " To be sure neither’ The first of February is none too early to prepare nest- ing places. We get salt or sugar barrels and scatter them around in the orchard, laying them down with open end to the south, driving a couple of stakes at each side to keep the barrel solid. Cover with brush and old hay, having the opening partly hidden. Now place a cozy nest in the barrel and a couple of china nest eggs and we are ready for Mrs. White Holland. Drive the hens accidentally (?) past these hidden (?) nests and see if you do not enjoy the performance of the hen that is about ready to begin laying. Her neck stretches out, she looks on this side and on that, goes partly in, comes out, goes in again, turns round and round and right then and there apparently concludes to deposit twenty or twenty-five eggs in that fine place at laying time. Or, if there is an unused stall in the barn, the turkey hen likes to lay there too. One year I had three White Hollands sit in the same manger upon 46 eggs and they brought out 45 poults. The only trouble was when one hen raised up to turn her eggs, her neighbor upon left or right would stretch out her long neck and with her beak roll under herself as many eggs as she had time to steal. So I had to fasten boards between the three hens. PROTECT THE PULLETS At mating time if your male bird is a large, clumsy, old bird and his mates are pullets, you may save yourself some unpleasant work by putting gloves upon him. Just get the heavy duck gloves that cost 25 cents for three pairs. Put them upon Mr. Tom’s feet sewing fast above the spur with heavy thread. Leave plenty of room for his toes to clinch round the perch, being especially careful to leave room for the small back toe. The thumb and extra finger of the glove I bring up over the top of the foot and sew securely. Last year my old 35 pound tom wore out three pairs—but I did not have a hurt pullet while he was wearing them. If one of the females does happen to be torn, anyone by using a little grit, a fine’ needle and some waxed, white silk thread can perform the necessary surgical work. First, cut off the feathers near the edges of the wound; next syringe the wound with warm water containing a weak solution of carbolic acid. Take short lengths of white silk and wax it, bring the torn skin up in place and hold it there. Now take a stich in the two edges, draw close together and tie. Cut your thread and take another stich. It does not take long to sew up a bad hurt and the turkey never moves. It will heal readily and hardly leave a scar if well done. A good healing ointment may be used to hasten the work. , 167 SUCCESSFUL POULTRY KEEPING MANAGING THE CONTRARY LAYER Sometimes White Hollands begin laying in February but usually it is from March 15th to April Ist. If the weather is cold gather the eggs soon after they are laid and stamp the date upon each. Then you can set the oldest first each time. Turn the eggs once a day till you set them. If your hen does not fancy any of the nests you provide let her choose one for herself as she will not go far, and being “white” it is almost impossible for her to go to her nest with- out your seeing her. If it is an inconvenient place for her to sit, do not worry. Let her lay her clutch of eggs and begin sitting. I usually remove her to the nest where I want her to sit the first night she is broody, but it would be safer with some to wait till the second night. I have barrel nests arranged in a large, grassy yard under some cedar trees, both for shade and because I imagine the odor from the cedar to be a lice pre- ventive. Carry your hen gently, talk to her and put her in the barrel carefully. Let her see the half dozen nést eggs you have given her and press gently down upon her shoulders, if she does not want to sit down, rub some of the eggs upon her bare breast, continuing to press her down gently. Sometimes it is necessary to bend her legs back carefully and hold her down for a few minutes, talking to her all the time. I have never had but one turkey refuse to sit upon the nest and that time I think it was because of my impatience. When the hen settles down fasten her in securely, leaving plenty of room for ventilation, and slip away. Do not dis- turb for two or three days (except to peep in to see if she is sitting). Now she is both hungry and thirsty, take her off gently and away she will go for the corn and water, and you want to have a good big water dish for Mrs. Sitting Turkey always wants to stand in water while she drinks. I do not know whether it is to allay the fever in her feet and legs or to take the stiff feeling out. I simply know her likes and cater to them. Let her drink, eat her corn and pick some grass. This gives you time to exchange the nest eggs for good ones, provided your hen has been sitting all right. I should like to say right here that I often give the eggs to two chicken hens and let them sit upon them for a couple of weeks while the turkey finishes her clutch of eggs. In this way you get your poults a couple of weeks earlier and the turkey makes just as good a mother as when sitting her full time, only you must be sure she is down to business before taking the eggs from the chicken hens. Dust your turkey with a good louse powder two or three times while she is sitting and also have a good dust place in her yard. Do not use the powder too near hatching time. CARE OF TURKEY MOTHER AND POULTS Fifteen or sixteen eggs are enough for the turkey. She can cover more all right, but as nearly every egg hatches and the little ones grow so rapidly, if she has a larger brood she can not hover them so well in our heavy spring rains. And it does not take 28 days for them to hatch. On the 26th day you will have turkeys. Now do not disturb your hen. The little ones come out of a small hole and the egg shells never slip over each other as chicken egg shells do, so there is no need to interfere and it always makes the hen ner- vous to be bothered, especially if she is a pullet. If the mother turkey does not bring off her brood the sec- ond day, I generally take her off in the afternoon. Reach in, get hold of her legs, lift her straight up and out of the barrel. Then take the little ones out. If it should be a cold, wet time leave the turkey undisturbed till the third day. Take some of the shells from the nest, remove the inner membrane, crush the shell into tiny bits and scatter for the little ones to peck 168 at. They will not eat much till they get so they can stand well. It is not best to try to rush them, as the old hen knows best how and when to teach them to eat. “Their first real food is cottage cheese, made from clabber milk, with a tiny bit of pepper added but no other seasoning. Scatter this on a board near the hen, and she will hold pieces of the cheese in her beak for the babies to take. This is why I begin with the cheese as it seems their nature to look to their mother’s beak for their first food. Feed only a little at a time. Here is where so many make a fatal mistake. You must feed sparingly for a few days but feed often. Every two and one- half hours is my rule. Their second feed is a few pinches of popular brand of chick food. I scatter it upon a nice smooth place, and sit down to watch the little ones eat. I pick up first one, then another. Beginning thus early they never have any fear of you, and my hens having been handled from their youth up fear no danger for their little ones from me. For a couple of weeks I alternate the cheese and chick food, giving three feeds a day of the chick food and two of the curd. Sometimes if we have continued rains so the little ones can not range, I omit the curd as it has a tendency to irritate the bowels if not bal- anced by green foods and insects. LET THEM ROAM Now, here many turkey breeders will differ with me but I give the hen and her flock their liberty at once, but usually take her some distance from other fowls as little turkeys follow anything that is moving. At night the mother will take her young back to the nest and she will get the last one into the barrel, without help usually, and she never crushes one as a chicken hen sometimes does. I say I give the turkey hen her liberty—and so I do—but I guide her to the pasture or a corn field or some place where the grass is not rank. And I do not let her out of the yard till the dew is gone from the grass. After the little ones are four weeks old three feeds a day of the chick food are plenty and probably the old hen has begun to wander too far to come up except for dinner and supper. Now, too, begin to mix whole grains of wheat and kaffir corn in with the chick food. In this way you will teach them to eat the whole grains. Right at first they will not like it as turkeys do not like to change from one grain to another. By the time they are six or seven weeks old I am putting oats in, too, and the chick food is omitted. Some complain of oats but I have found no trouble as my turkeys always have grit, shell, etc. I think oats one of our best grains for making size. SHADY YARD AND OPEN SHED A week or two, at most, is long enough to let the turkey roost in the barrel. Remove the barrel and: she will select a place near by for her brood. I think my big shady grassy yard has paid for itself many times. The fence is four feet high and no varmint has ever troubled the turkeys there. There is a low shed at one side, opening to the south, that is covered with roofing paper so it is warm and rain proof. Rainy nights I put my turkey hens under this shed but during fair weather they want all out doors to sleep in. If a heavy rain comes up in the night it only takes a few minutes to gather the little ones into my big apron, and take their mother under my arm and run to this shed. I suppose there is little use in doing this as a turkey seems to know instinctively to choose a roost- ing place that is a little higher than the surrounding ground and her great wings are just like the roof of a house to shed water but I can sleep better if the flock is under the shed during a bad storm. I keep them roosting in this yard just as long as I can, but finally they go to the trees. TURKEYS, DUCKS AND GEESE INSECT POWDER FOR POULTS T have not said a thing about dusting the little ones for lice. Try to put a little insect powder on their heads, under the bill along the throat, and along the quill feathers of the wings, once a week’ at first. Later I do this just whenever I can. During continued rains is your opportunity to fight the lice and you must do it, too, for at such times the turkeys are deprived of their main weapon against lice—their daily dust bath. Some use lard, vaseline, etc., but whenever I have tried greasing little turkeys I have always had a funeral, so I stick to the insect powder. SIZE DEPENDS ON EXERCISE When your turkeys’ heads begin to get red you count them raised and begin to spend the money they will bring— in your mind. And I want to help make the pile as large as possible. Let the turkeys range as far as they will, for their size depends so much upon this; and they are as regular as a- clock in returning home for supper at five. They will not miss the time fifteen minutes. Possibly this is because their owner is always at the gate and their supper is always ready for them just at this time. A BENEFIT TO CROPS One can’t compute the grasshoppers, chintz bugs and all sorts of insects that a flock of turkeys will turn into cash, besides destroying mice, moles and even snakes, A “doubting Thomas’ should follow the flock for an hour and I think his distrust would vanish. A farmer can readily tell which field of clover was hunted over by the turkeys by the scarcity of grasshoppers at cutting time. They will pick a tender leaf of said clover here and there but the fee they levy is very small for the service they render. Then take them in the cornfields—when the corn is too large for the plow. One has no idea of the weed seed they devour. Or turn them out on the field where oats or wheat has been harvested. The grain is always followed by a crop of fox tail and this weed is a delight to turkeys. They begin at the bottom of the head and with one effort strip nearly every seed from the stalk. A flock of turkeys is not a detri- ment to the farm but a benefit if one takes time to find out the truth. Ours never molest the grain or the corn in the shock. If they were starved to it, probably they would. But they are fed every morning (when I can hold them long enough) and always at night, so during the day it is insects and weed seeds for which they search. When October is with us and frosty nights and cold morn- ings come, the turkeys like to linger round the barn in the sunny places, but for your pocketbook’s sake you must not permit it. By nine o’clock take a long stick in each hand and drive them to the fields and pastures. It will be no trduble, as turkeys drive like sheep—at least mine do. I keep them hunting the late grasshoppers and seeds till past ten, then I slip away. Sometimes they do not see me go, and keep on hunting. Sometimes they beat me to the house—but they have had their morning exercise and so have I, and both they and myself are benefitted by these rambles. I drive them to the range every day during October if they do not go by them- selves and my! the pounds of turkey it adds to my flock. PURE-BREDS PAY BEST It pays to raise pure-breds even for market. When I began years ago with White Hollands and marketed 9 pound pullets and 14 pound cockerels, I thought my turkeys paid pretty well. But now I find the cost but little more in pro- ducing 17 pound pullets and 26 pound cockerels. Then, too, if you carry a good grade of stock you can dispose of every bird raised for considerably above market price by advertising your stock. There are very few “culls” among turkeys. They breed so much truer to type than chickens. If one is ailing very much the balance of the flock often kill it. Inhuman? No, sir. Instinct. The fittest should survive. And the largest, strongest, most vigorous male should be allowed to occupy the place he wins by defeating all others —the head of the flock. And I cannot help thinking our “‘Stand- ard Makers” are going against nature when they award ‘‘First”’ to a 26 pound cock over his 35 pound competitor of equal score. Anyhow, friends, you breed big birds and I will guarantee you five chances for sales where the breeder of “Standard weights” has one. 169 SUCCESSFUL POULTRY KEEPING SUCCESSFUL DUCK GROWING THE PROFITABLE IMPERIAL PEKIN DUCK—ACCOUNT OF A VISIT TO MR. JAMES RANKIN’S FAMOUS MAPLEWOOD DUCK FARM—VALUABLE POINTERS ON INCUBATION, BREEDING STOCK, BROODING AND OTHER MATTERS OF INTEREST TO POULTRYMEN P. T. WOODS, M. D. E do not know of anything that gives us more genuine satisfaction than a good long talk with a thoroughly practical and successful poultry- man who has had many years of experience and who was one of the pioneers in the business. Therefore, when recently we found ourselves en route for South Easton, Mass., on a particu- larly fine day, we anticipated much pleasure and profit from our proposed visit to Mr. James Rankin who has been aptly named by the poultry fraternity the ‘Father of the Pekin Duck Industry in America.’ Our pleasant expectations were agree- ably fulfilled and we will now endeavor to tell our readers some- thing about all that we saw and learned at this great’ modern duck ranch and home of the justly famous Imperial Pekin Duck. We were met at the Easton railroad station by Mr. Ran- kin’s son-in-law and after a delightful drive over some fine country roads arrived at Maplewood Farm, one of the largest and best equipped duck’ ranches in the country. One of the first things we noticed as we approached Maplewood was the excellence of the location and layout as well as the fine con- struction and stability of the farm and duck buildings. While Pekin Ducks are the chief products it cannot be considered an exclusively duck farm since other farming interests are also well established and conducted. But the Imperial Pekin is there in all its glory and standard excellence and is unquestion- ably the farm crop of greatest importance, all other features being subservient to it. On our arrival Mr. Rankin met us at the door of the in- cubator cellar, and being particularly interested, we were at once conducted into that department to, view 190 newly hatched ducks that had just been excluded from 200 eggs left in the machine at the final test. Mr. James Rankin is well known in the poultry world and his name is always associated with the Pekin Duck Industry. About forty years ago. he made his first start with ducks and ten years later he came promi- nently beter the poultry public as an incubator inventor and ‘eee of both shake and ducks. The Monarch Incubator was devel- oped and manufactured by Mr. Rankin on his home farm, and for over a quarter of a century proved itself to be one of the most successful hot water tank incubators ever invented. During recent years owing to pressure of other business and because of the high cost of construction, and so necessarily high selling price, it was decided to abandon the manufacture of these machines and take them off the market. Nineteen of these Monarchs of 600-egg capacity each, are now in use on the farm and bringing off remarkable hatches of strong, vigorous duck- lings, besides two 300-egg capacity machines of a more modern make which Mr. Rankin considers quite equal in operation and results to his own invention. This gives Maplewood Farm in its two incubator cellars a total machine capacity capable of setting 12,000 duck eggs at’ one time. SAVING EGGS FOR HATCHING Naturally one of the first things we talked about was arti- ficial incubation, a subject in which the writer is much interested and one on which Mr. Rankin is well qualified to talk authori- tatively. He firmly believes in keeping eggs cool when saving them for hatching and recommends that they be kept at a tempera- ture of between 40 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit. As low as 35 degrees will not injure the eggs and at 40 to 45 degrees they can be safely kept for three or four weeks before setting them. Eggs lose vitality rapidly when exposed to a temperature above 75 degrees and are seldom fit for hatching when kept for more than three or four days at this temperature. This information coming as it does from forty years experience of a very active, capable and observing man should prove valuable to all poultry keepers who save eggs for incubation. Only well formed, medium-sized eggs with sound shells are used for hatching. As a rule the fresher the eggs the better for incubating pur- poses, but entirely satisfactory results have been obtained from one month old eggs, when they have been properly kept. While keeping the eggs they are not disturbed to handle or turn them. They are placed in boxes, baskets or cases and allowed to remain until needed for sitting. This plan has been found to give the best results. 170 TURKEYS, DUCKS AND GEESE COOLING OR AIRING THE EGGS For a long time in the earlier years of his business Mr. Rankin used to hatch with hens, the Pekin Duck seldom sits and when she does cannot be depended upon as a reliable mother. He found that where the hens were confined to the nests and only allowed off for a brief interval each day to feed, drink, exercise and dust, the results were better than where the birds were allowed their own sweet will. Further he made the inter- esting discovery that by protecting the eggs, covering them while the hens were off the nest, he got better hatches of stronger chicks and ducklings. This led him to believe that while it is necessary for the hen to leave the nest to feed and attend to Nature’s needs, so allowing the eggs to cool, it is not proof that the eggs need cooling. Some incubator manufacturers have advised cooling or airing the eggs daily for the simple reason that the hen allows them to cool, losing sight of the fact that while it is a necessity for the hen to leave the nest it may not be helpful to the embryo. When the hen leaves the nest and the eggs cool, they quickly return to the temperature when she covers them again with her warm body and in a very short, time they have regained their normal temperature. With an incubator it is different and it may require an hour or more to regain the lost heat. He firmly believes that cooling and airing the eggs is in a large measure responsible for the poor hatches obtained by some who employ artificial means. In this belief he is supported by the opinions we have heard expressed by many other experienced poultrymen. The eggs get sufficient colling and airing while turning them twice a day in all ma- chines where eggs are turned by hand. Where eggs are ma- chine turned without removing them from the incubator it is well to air them a few minutes at each turning. When operating in cold weather the doors of the machines are kept closed while turning, in warm or hot weather they may be allowed to remain open at this time. The eggs are turned twice daily beginning in the morning of the third day. The eggs are always turned by hand and their relative position in the trays changed daily to help offset any inequality of the heat in the egg chamber. Hand turning in this manner more than pays for the labor involved by the better hatches ob- tained. When turning eggs in a very cold room they are turned as quickly as possible to avoid too much cooling. Care is taken not to jar or shake the eggs overmuch while turning as the less shaking they get the better. TEMPERATURE OF EGG CHAMBER AND TESTING The temperature of the egg chamber is maintained at 102 degrees with a thermometer on a live egg until the animal heat begins to get well established which is on or about the fifteenth or sixteenth day, when the heat is allowed to go to 103 degrees, at which point the temperature is maintained throughout the balance of the hatch. Readjustment of the regulating device is frequently necessary when running a machine filled with strongly fertile eggs, as there is always a tendency to a rise of temperature, and this is considered a good sign. The duck eggs are tested out after they have been incu- bated about seventy hours and all the clear eggs are sent to market. Mr. Rankin assured us that these infertile eggs brought @ price equal to strictly fresh eggs and that they were really considered a superior article because of their keeping qualities Being so short a time in the machine they do not dry down appreciably and in appearance are equal to any egg fresh from the nest. They are not in the least injured for any culinary purposes and will boil perfectly, which is considered one of the best -tests of a fresh egg. In keeping qualities these tested out infertile eggs are superior to all others as they will keep in perfect condition for months, if kept in a cold, dry place. The sales of these eggs total up a very comfortable figure during the season. A second, test is always made on the tenth or twelfth day and all eggs missed at first test, or those in which the germs have died, are removed. A final test is usually made on or about the 24th day. Whenever a dead egg becomes putrid it is smelled out and removed. These can often be detected by the color or marbled appearance of the shell. The wire cloth of the egg trays is covered with or replaced by burlap which is less liable to injure eggs and makes turning easier, as the eggs do not roll about on it as they do on wire. Moisture is used in the machines from the 18th day and is considered a necessity in incubating duck eggs. The usual method is to sprinkle the burlap on the tray and the eggs thor- oughly with water at about the temperature of the eggs, the object being to saturate the air of the egg chamber with mois- ture. On the 26th day the eggs and trays are made quite wet with moderately warm water and the machine closed to remain so until the hatch is over. The ducklings are usually all out on the 27th day and are removed to the brooders on the 28th. THE BREEDING STOCK At Maplewood they are carrying this year (1906) 1,100 head or prime young breeders, and they have carried as high as 2,500. All of these breeders are fine lusty, healthy, vigorous youngsters. Mr. Rankin does not believe in carrying any con- siderable proportion of one or two-year old birds over for breed- ing purposes. He pushes all his growing stock for all that there is in them, and gets all the growth and eggs he can in the short- est possible time. The breeders are picked from the growing pens before the birds go to the fattening yards, and only the choicest. and most vigorous, healthy specimens are selected. He selects his best drakes for next winter’s breeders from the growing yards containing this year’s January, February and March hatched ducklings. At the time these birds are chosen the flocks are in their best possible shape just prior to the final finishing for the market, and will average to weigh about six or seven pounds each and worth at market prices from 25 to 30 cents a pound. So it will be seen that his breed- ing stock stands him at market prices from $1.50 to $2.00 a head. Add to this the fact that these birds when selected are but eight to ten weeks old and must be fed and cared for until nine months old before breeding them, it is not surprising that breeding birds do not sell for less than $3.00 to $5.00 each. Choosing the breeding ducks is done in the same manner but is seldom begun before the March hatched ducklings begin to develop. As a rule ducks will mature for breeding about twelve weeks earlier than the drakes, so that as a breeder a six months old duck compares favorably with a nine months old drake. We show herewith a picture of a flock of Imperial Pekin Drakes which our artist took for us at Maplewood. This flock contains nearly 300 fine breeding males, all early hatched youngs- ters that have been carefully selected as the pick of the season’s production. Never before have we seen a more handsome lot of Pekin drakes in one bunch and it is extremely doubtful if such a lot was ever before duplicated, many of them going ten pounds and over in weight and all in the pink of condition. The Rankin method of selecting ducklings, taking the pick of the flock to save for breeders as soon as their good points can be determined, is a particularly good one and worth follow- ing. Raising as he does from 25,000 to 30,000 ducklings annu- ally this gives him a grand opportunity for the selection of the best sort of breeding stock for all essentials, including standard points, profitable tendencies as to development, size shape and vigor. 171 SUCCESSFUL POULTRY KEEPING NO WATER EXCEPT FOR DRINKING PURPOSES This duck ranch is unique in one respect that the breeding stock do not have access to a water run. No water is supplied to ducks or ducklings except for drinking purposes. The breed- ing houses are light, airy and well ventilated, and divided into pens of twenty-five birds each; five ducks to each drake, early in the season, and later on six to eight ducks to one drake as the males become more active and begin to handle the ducks. more roughly. If too many drakes are. allowed in the pens late in the breeding season, they are liable to spoil the appear- ance of the ducks by rough usage and make their heads and necks sore and bloody by pulling at the feathers. The breeding pens are about 12 by 20 feet and have out- side yards about 20 by 100 feet each. There is a three-foot walk just back of the pens in the breeding house and separated from them by a low two-foot high partition. The birds are fed in the house near the walk, and all the water they get is one bucket to each two pens (the water trough is in the middle partition) three times a day, or but twelve quarts of water for each fifty ducks at each meal. That seems pretty closely figur- ing for water supply for birds that are normally considered water fowl, but the breeders were in the best possible condition, and we were given to understand that the fertility of the eggs was all that could be desired or expected for the season of the. year. Neither the old or young stock ever have water to swim or bathe in. FEEDING THE BREEDERS Young stock selected for breeders are turned out to pas- ture as soon as possible in flocks of 200 each. Here they are housed in open sheds or shelters and are fed twice a day all they will eat of the following mash mixture: Three parts, by measure, heavy wheat bran, one part low grade flour, one part corn meal, five per cent beef scrap, three per cent fine grit,and all the green food they will eat in the shape of corn fodder, clover, alfalfa, oat fodder, or green rye, cut fine. When housed in the breeding pens in the fall the brids are put on the laying ration and from then receive a mash twice a day, morning and evening, composed of equal parts, by measure, wheat bran and corn meal; ten per cent beef scrap; twenty per cent low grade flour; ten per cent boiled turnips, mangel beets or potatoes; fifteen per cent clover, rowen or alfalfa, green rye or refuse cabbage, cut fine, and three per cent grit. At noon they get a light feed of corn and oats. Clean grit and the best quality of oyster shell is kept in boxes always before the birds. The mash food is never cooked and is always mixed with cold water. The houses are always kept clean and well aired. The breeding pens are cleaned out and bedded frequently with meadow hay grown on the farm. The ducks appreciate the clean, dry bedding, and it is necessary to keep their feet warm and give them a dry bed. Unlike hens, ducks do not need ‘ any incentive to exercise; they are always on the move and usually busy both day and night. On account of this ten- dency to be always on the move and talking about it, and because of their extreme timidity it is necessary to avoid hav- ing dark quarters at night. Lighted lanterns are kept in the houses and yards at night to keep the ducks quiet. LOTS OF HARD WORK IN DUCK GROWING While one of the most profitable branches of the poultry business there is plenty of good hard work connected with the conduct of a large duck ranch. It means early to rise and late to bed for the man in charge if a respectable balance is to be kept on the right side of the ledger. It isn’t a business suited to the man who likes short hours or who wants to linger in bed after daybreak. The duck man must be up and doing before sun-up, when the first gray haze of dawn shows on the horizon. The ducks will be up and waiting for breakfast and it isn’t good business policy to keep them waiting too long. They have lusty appetites and the clamorings of their empty stomachs will cause them to fret off good flesh or will affect the egg crop if permitted to go long unappeased. Mr. Rankin employs six men on his duck farm and he keeps them all busy. For himself he considers fourteen to sixteen hours out of the twenty-four a day’s work, and he has been keeping this sort of thing up for a long time and is still hale, hearty and remarkably young and vigorous for his ‘years. On one of our visits to his plant we reached there on an early morning train and found him busily at work hoeing the aspara- gus bed, having already finished the routine work for the morn- ing. Many years of strenuous farm life have not marred his health or activity and there are few men in offices today, fifteen or more years younger, who are his equal in physique. NO GROUND POISONING Although Maplewood has been a duck and poultry plant for forty years there is no evidence of ground poisoning of which we hear so much now in the poultry papers. Cleanli- ness and good common sense care of the farm are responsible for this freedom from the common evils attendant on the con- stant use of yards and houses for poultry and ducks. Maplewood Farm is very flat and there is no gentle slope to aid in the natual cleansing of the yards with each rainfall, but the soil is fairly well drained. Once each week the men sweep out the runs and yards and the manure so cleaned out is used on another part of the farm for fertilizer. In hot weather the yards are also swept thoroughly when ever there are signs of an approaching heavy rain. Otherwise the hot sun on the wet droppings would cause a very unpleasant odor. As soon as the ducks are out of the yards for the season the soil is well turned over by deep plowing, is thoroughly worked and planted to’rye, clover, alfalfa, corn or other crops. One or two crops a year on the ground gives all the disinfecting needed. On this ranch they grow all the green food and vege- tables used and store away quantities of mangle beets, tur- nips and cabbages for the winter. Rye is kept growing the year round. Clover, alfalfa and corn fodder are grown in large quantities. Fresh cut, shredded green corn fodder is con- sidered one of the best green foods for ducks of all ages. BROODING AND FEEDING THE DUCKLINGS All ducklings are brooded in hot water pipe houses of the ordinary box-hover pattern with one flow and one return pipe, each 2 niches in diameter. It is aimed to keep the temperature under the hovers at between 80 and 90 degrees and the house itself comfortably warm. There is always plenty of fresh air in the houses at all times and when the ducklings are two weeks old they get an outdoor run on green rye. The little birds are kept com- fortable, ctean and well fed. Their runs and hovers are bedded with planer shavings. : The water founts are galvanized iron and are placed on a wire cloth fastened on to a board walled pit at a level with the earth floor of the run so that any water slopped is quickly drained away and does not mess up the brooder house. For the first four days the ducklings are fed four times a day all they will eat up clean in twenty minutes of a mash made of four parts by measure of wheat bran; one part corn meal; one part low grade flour, five per cent fine grit. From four days to four weeks old they are fed four times 172 TURKEYS, DUCKS AND GEESE a day all they will clean up of a mash made of four parts by measure wheat bran; one part corn meal; one part low grade flour; three per cent fine grit; five per cent fine ground beef scrap (soaked first by scalding). Finely cut green clover, rye or cabbage is fed freely. From the end of the fourth week until six weeks old they have the following mash four times a day all they will clean up quickly: Three parts by measure wheat bran; one part corn meal; one part low grade flour; three per cent fine grit; five per cent beef scrap; one per cent fine oyster shells and a liberal amount of fine cut green food mixed in mash. From the end of the sixth week until eight weeks old, they have the following mash three times a day: Equal parts by measure wheat bran, and corn meal and fifteen per cent low grade flour; ten per cent beef scrap; ten per cent green food and three per cent grit. Keep oyster shells before them. From eight weeks until finish at ten or eleven weeks they are fed three times a day on a mash of one-half corn meal; equal parts by measure wheat bran and a low grade flour; ten per cent beef scrap, and three per cent grit. Oyster shell is kept before them. Green food is fed less freely until within ten days to two weeks of market time and then is omitted altogether. The birds are watered at feeding time. All mashes are made dry and crumbly, never gummy or pasty. As soon as the ducks are weaned from the brooder they are housed in the fattening sheds and yards to remain there until ready for market, unless selected for breeders, in which case they go out on pasture. The mortality among ducklings on this plant is estimated at not over two per cent of the sound, healthy ducklings hatched. All weaklings are killed when the ducklings are taken from the machine to be placed in the brooders. GRAIN, GRIT AND SHELL BY THE CARLOAD All grain, grit, shell and beef scrap used on this farm is bought by the carload. It takes a vast amount of food to keep this plant going in the height of the season. At the time of our visit the 1,100 breeders were receiving about fifteen bushels of mixed mash food at a meal. When the brooder houses are full and the plant is going at full capacity it requires 760 buckets of mash mixture a day to satisfy the hungry ducks and ducklings. These buckets average 12 quarts each, so that it means 285 bushels of mixed feed per day to run this plant in the busy season. Four expert pickers are employed by this plant while the market season is on. These men receive seven cents per head for picking ducklings and will dress from 40 to 60 ducks each as a day’s work. Maplewood averages to market 200 ducks a day during the season which begins in Februay and ends in August. Be- sides this many hundreds of breeders are grown and thousands of eggs are sold for hatching. Pekin ducks are remarkably prolific layers and when once well established in laying it is not uncommon to get as high as 90 per cent egg yield from the flock. After the first few eggs are laid and the birds get in full lay the fertility is remarkably good. The ducks usually start laying in January and are well established and showing a good fertility by the middle of March, and they keep it up until well into June or early July. The ducks will average about 140 eges per head for the season, some making records as high as 165 eggs. Young ducks will often begin laying at five months old but it is customary to endeavor to hold them back until they are more mature. MARKETING AND PROFITS All ducks marketed by this plant are hatched, grown, killed, dressed, cooled and iced on the home farm. They are New York market when prices are favorable. marketed when from nine to eleven weeks old. Mr. Rankin estimates that the total cost of raising duck meat, labor in- cluded, is not over 10 cents per pound at the present prices for grain. Marketable ducklings will average to dress six pounds each at nine weeks old and seven pounds each at ten to eleven weeks old. One drake grown last season weighed nine and one-half pounds when dressed and ready for market at ten weeks old, this is an exceptional record weight. The prices for fancy market ducks are highest early in the season and the man who beats his competitors getting into market gets the cream of the profits. This season had only begun when we made our last visit to Maplewood and it was too early to obtain figures on the market, but all the incubators were in full blast and the brooder houses rapidly filling up with ducklings. Last year (1905) the top price was 30 cents per pound for early ducklings and did not go below 15 cents late in the season. Mr. Rankin at the last of the season during July made but one shipment at this lowest price as he was able to control the market for his output, and for all other lots the lowest price paid was 19 cents per pound. Boston market takes the bulk of the out- put of this plant although some few shipments are made to the Last season sales of Maplewood ducklings averaged 20 cents per pound. At an average gross cost of production of 10 cents per pound this means quite a tidy profit. The buying public is only just beginning to get acquainted with the excellence of properly grown duck meat and each year sees a constantly increasing demand. With such generous pro- fits to pay for the hard work it is not strange that the industry is developing by a steady and sturdy growth. For a man who likes outdoor life and is willing to stay at home, work hard and keep long hours there is no branch of the poultry business that gives promise of better or more cer- tain returns. To Mr. James Rankin belongs the honor of being one of the first men in the United States to recognize the value of the Pekin duck and to help create the great market outlet in this country for specially grown, fed and fatted ten weeks old duck- lings. May he live long and prosper. ‘TOULOUSE GEESE B. F. HISLOP, Milford, Il. Several years ago we decided that geese would be a source of income in connection with other poultry rearing. The question then was to decide on the variety we would breed. First we looked to the common market’s demand, knowing that this went hand in hand with the fancy. We easily learned the market demanded the heaviest geese, also the fattest, and that the Toulouse came nearer this type than any other, hence our selection. There are drawbacks to all kinds of poultry rearing—one don’t get from this “something for nothing” any more than in another calling, but of all the birds we have handled, geese have the least, and they can stand pampering and heavy feeding and all the breeder needs to do is to see that they have green forage, plenty of drinking water and a little grit; then he can feed any kind of grain he chooses and in any quantity. Of course grain for the young goslings should be in the form of mash and generous in quantity, in connection with green forage, etc., but the adult birds may be scrimped on this if one does not care to fatten them. 178 SUCCESSFUL POULTRY KErrinu The young birds before in full feather must be protected from inclement weather, but the adults can live most anywhere at all seasons, open sheds or the shelter of buildings is all they ever need in our vigorous winters. During the summer the adults may be plucked at least three times, first at close of breeding season, the others as soon as feathers are in condition; this is when the quills of the small feather (no others should ever be plucked) are free from animal matter, like blood, etc. These feathers will pay for the bird’s keep, leaving the price of fowl as profit. Geese are different from other domestic fowl, as it requires no high fencing to keep them confined anywhere; a big tight pasture is sufficient as they never think of flying over, and the adults are too large for small openings. ; They are only fit for the common market about three months in the year at best, November, December and January; rest of the season are thin, no matter how fed (we never tried stuffing them). The goslings are very vigorous with good care, seldom die, barring accidents. We say, a gosling hatched means a goose for market, and seldom miss it. To get the best size one wants to keep them growing ‘all summer. We hatch the eggs and rear the young with chicken hens, as we find them more docile and easier handled. They are then very tame, regular pets, always happy and contented, while other young fowls do lots of crying around. Our goslings reach from standard weights up to as high as 20 to 22 pound females, and 23 to 25 pound males, in December. Average good birds, 16 pound females and 19 pound males, highest weights given are our exceptionally fine show birds and fattened, although this is done on range and whole grain. We have never been able to supply the fancy market at good prices, since we have established our reputation to send what we promise and cheerfully take back birds that are not satisfactory. ‘True, we don’t get as large sums for single speci mens as is often received for turkeys or chickens, but on an . average (most all geese are good specimens in a well bred flock) we make as much and often more profit off of our geese than any other variety of fowl we handle. They are not as prolific when it comes to eggs and young birds as turkeys, neither to be compared with chickens in this respect, but the per cent of young reared to maturity is too great for comparison. Being large birds the ordinary farmer need not expect to rear large numbers of them, nor does he of any kind of stock, but every farmer could easily keep a trio or two of old breeders each year and rear all the young possible from these. The adults while not laying can run in lots with shoats or even several old hogs with little or no danger, or with horses and cows if there are a few nooks for them that the large animals can’t go in. The old birds kept for breeding should never be made ex~- cessively fat during the winter, if one wants best results in spring. Geese live to a good old age and breed well, young breeders are not as good as old ones. Toulouse are by many farmers called ‘‘dry land’’ geese, it isn’t necessary for them to have swimming pools; it won’t hurt them to but they can’t be fat- tened to top weights when they do. Goslings should never be allowed to swim while in down, or when weather is chilly. The young birds keep changing in color until in full feather, then they remain the same, both male and female are alike to a feather, male coarser and larger, with more of a masculine look about the head, but. one not familiar with them can’t distinguish between the sexes nor can an old breeder until they about reach maturity; then their voices become different, that of the female, very hoarse and male squeaky; actions of birds also a key to sex. Geese in common market bring from 10 to 12 cents per pound; as breeders, good ones $5 up to $15 or more. 174 CHAPTER TWELVE PREVENTION OF POULTRY DISEASES BREED ONLY SOUND, HEALTHY STOCK IMPORTANCE QF FRESH AIR AND SUNSHINE—WHOLESOME FOOD AND PURE WATER NECES- “SARY TO HEALTH—DON’T WASTE FIVE OR TEN DOLLARS’ WORTH OF TIME AND MEDI- CINE DOCTORING A DOLLAR BIRD, AND SO RISK INFECTION OF YOUR WHOLE FLOCK S THE prevention of disease is of much greater importance than the cure so far as poultrymen are concerned, we shall devote this chapter en- tirely to a brief discussion of how to avoid poultry ailments. For those who care to go more fully into the subject and who desire to know the best methods of treating sick fowls, we recommend a eareful study of the book ‘Reliable Poultry Remedies” of the REtiaABLE PouLttry JOURNAL series. In that book will be found all that it is necessary for poultrymen to know about diseases common to poultry. In the prevention of poultry diseases one of the most im- portant matters is to bear in mind the fact that “like begets like.” You cannot grow good crops from poor seed, you cannot raise strong sturdy chickens from breeding stock that has.had serious sickness or that is debilitated and out of condition. Once you breed birds that are not in condition or that have made only a fair recovery from a serious illness, you start trouble that it will take several generations of careful breeding to up- root. To be absolutely sure of having healthy chicks it is not sufficient alone to have healthy parent stock, the stock must have been healthy for more than one generation; in other words, to have healthy chicks you must have healthy grand-parent and parent stock. Begin now to select and handle your stock with a view to breeding only healthy fowls hereafter. If this is given careful attention, in a few years, provided you properly care for your stock, disease on your poultry plant will be con- spicuous only by its absence. , THE BREEDING STOCK Breeding stock must be perfectly sound, healthy, vigorous and active. Cured fowls that have once had a serious ailment should never be used in the breeding pen if the best results are desired. Examine all breeders carefully, particularly the mouth, throat, nose and eyes. Don’t breed a bird that has a cough or that is seriously troubled with canker. Breeding birds should be plump but not overfat. They should be as nearly physi- cally sound as it is possible to have them. Fowls of either sex which exhibit a tendency to grow dark about the face, comb and wattles when frightened or startled, or after running, should not be used in the breeding pen, as there is in all probability something wrong with the circulatory organs and they cannot as a rule be depended upon to produce healthy offspring. Select birds that are good feeders, but don’t use the gluttons of the flock. There are always a few birds in every flock that are in- clined to make hogs of themselves in the matter of feeding, and these are seldom good layers and almost invariably are poor breeders. It is best to make use of their gluttonous tendencies to get them fatted quickly and off to market. While it is true that so far as we know disease cannot be transmitted through heredity, it is also true that the tendency to disease may be handed down for several generations. For this reason it is absolutely necessary to breed only sound, vigorous, healthy, active specimens. Be sure that breeding birds are well matured. Don’t use those which are exceptionally pre- cocious. Too early maturity is just as bad as too late maturity, Choose birds which mature evenly and well and show as far as possible good development at all stages of growth. Look for the bright eyes, red comb, smooth, dry, well-kept plumage, keen appetite and activity, which indicate the healthy fowl. If you pay attention to these details the battle is half won. NATURE’S BEST REMEDIAL AGENTS Nature has provided for us two of the best remedial agents, disinfectants, blood purifiers and health promoters, in pure fresh air and sunlight. Fresh air is of just as great importance at night as during the daytime. Many fowls that would other- wise be sound and healthy have their constitutions utterly. ruined by cooping in tight, poorly ventilated poultry buildings. No poultry house should be too tightly closed at night. Some allowance should always be made for a liberal supply of pure fresh air. As a general rule fowls do best in any climate in cold poultry houses that are well ventilated or in open front build- ings, the so-called fresh air poultry houses. There are many types of these buildings and most of them will prove safe and satisfactory. The most essential feature is to provide a plen- tiful supply of pure fresh air at all times without drafts about the roost. Houses that are tight at the north end and east and west sides and have a tight roof, can have the windows or openings in the south front kept open for the greater part of the time, night and day through the year, in fact, the south front should never be wholly closed. In cold houses where this plan is adopted there will never be any trouble from so-called ‘house sweating,” the birds will not be as susceptible to sudden weather changes, and the egg yield will be just as good as, and frequently better than, that of fowls kept in tight, close poultry buildings. Tight poultry houses will be greatly benefitted by having muslin screens substituted for a part of the glass in the south front. Use the coarse unbleached muslin and tack it loosely on to wooden frames which take the place of the upper half of the window sash. In this way fresh air can be supplied without danger from drafts, even in small narrow poultry buildings. Sunshine is one of the best purifiers and disinfectants that we have, and all poultry houses should be so arranged as to admit an abundance of sunlight to the interior of the house whenever the sun shines. WHOLESOME FOOD AND PURE WATER NECESSARY Wholesome food and pure water are of the greatest im- portance. Remember that the greater per cent of the fowl’s 175 SUCCESSFUL POULTRY KEErins body, and of eggs produced by fowls, is water. They need a constant supply of clean, pure, fresh water at all times. It should be drawn from a source from which we would be willing to take our own supply. Disease will spread through impure or polluted drinking water more quickly than in almost any other way. Where a good, pure, fresh running stream can be had it will serve well for watering the fowls, but as a rule running streams are not fit for drinking purposes. No stock should be permitted to drink from streams which run through foul barnyards and piggeries, or which receive the seepage from manure heaps, privys and piggeries. Neither should streams into which factories empty their waste be used for watering stock of any description. Where a stream has its source in a pure spring or springs and runs through clean open land or woodland, and is not contaminated from above mentioned sources, it may be safely made use of and proves an ideal means of watering, provided it is so placed that it will not receive the wash of crowded poultry yards. Drinking fountains should be cleansed frequently. For adult fowls 10 or 12 quart galvanized iron pails make the best~ drinking vessels, as they are easily handled and may be thor- oughly cleaned with very little labor. Good galvanized iron drinking fountains are best for little chicks, although easily cleaned earthenware, glass or cast-iron water fountains may be used when convenient. It is seldom wise to allow more than one pen of fowls to water from the same pen or bucket where birds are kept in continuous houses, since by watering two pens from one receptable you simply double the chances of infection should sickness break out in either one of the flocks. All food should be sound, sweet and free from must and mold. Never use sour, musty or moldy grain. It is a pro- lifice source of bowel troubles in both young and old stock. Cracked grains when purchased in this condition should be care- fully inspected, as they are very liable to be musty. Fowls need a variety of food to keep their appetites in good condition, which means keeping them healthy. Grain may be supplied mixed or separately, and it is wise to feed at least two or three kinds such as wheat, corn and oats. Barley, buckwheat, kaffir corn and other grains and seeds may also be used to advantage by way of variety. Green food is of the utmost importance and some fresh raw food should be fed at all seasons of the year. The ideal way to feed green food is to give the birds a good pasture on clover or grassland. If this cannot be supplied, furnish them with an abundance of raw vegetables such as mangels, beets, turnips, cabbages and small potatoes, as much as they will clean up during the day. Vary this supply occa- sionally by giving cut clover or cut alfalfa. By keeping an abundance of green food sufficient for each’ days’ needs before the birds all the time, you will prevent many common ailments and discourage feather picking. Oyster shell, grit and charcoal are necessary to the health of the birds, and should be kept before them at all times. Oyster shell is particularly necessary and it has been found by careful tests that birds supplied with grit alone do not do as well as those that have oyster shell and no grit, while those having both grit and oyrster shell do best. Charcoal is necessary as a cor- rective. The fowls will not eat more than they need of it and it keeps their digestive organs in good condition and prevents diarrhoea. CARE OF THE POULTRY HOUSE Poultry houses should be kept reasonably clean. By this we mean filth must be avoided. A little dust will do no harm, but extreme dustiness is dangerous to the health of the birds. You will generally find more or less catarrhal trouble in build- ings that are exceedingly dusty. Sand or gravel is preferable as a filling for poultry houses to loam or other dusty soil. Road dust should not be used as it is necessarily of a filthy character containing all sorts of impure matter. Fowls will enjoy and take benefit from a good dust bath and such should be supplied in some sunny portion of the pen. Clean, sandy loam mixed with a little sifted coal ashes makes a very good dust bath, and the fowls will prefer it in summer time kept a little moist. VERMIN % You cannot expect fowls to be very healthy and do well if they are subject to continued attacks of lice and mites. These poultry vermin must be gotten rid of if we are to get best results. With a little care one can enjoy almost entire freedom from these pests. A good liquid lice killer used freely about the roosts and droppings boards will insure freedom from mites. To get rid of the body lice on the fowl, dust the birds once in three months with pure Dalmatian or Persian Insect Powder. This powder should be made of the pure fresh ground Persian insect flowers, or Pyrethrum, and should be purchased of a reputable drug supply house. The price varies from 25 to 30 cents a pound, and it is well worth the money to any poultry- man. In dusting the fowls they should be dusted thoroughly, working the powder well into the feathers down to the skin all over the body. If all birds are given a thorough dusting and a little of the powder is scattered in each nest, there will be no more trouble from lice for some time. We seldom find it nec- essary to dust brids oftener than once in three months, but it is absolutely necessary to use the pure, fresh, unadulterated powder. AVOIDABLE CAUSES OF DISEASE Among the avoidable causes of disease are poorly ventilated poultry houses, overcrowded buildings, crowding on the roosts at night, dampness, filthy quarters, impure food and water, the use of moldy or musty litter material, and breeding from unsound, unhealthy or debilitated stock. All of these causes can be avoided with a little care. All new fowls received should be quarantined for a short time before being introduced to a flock. Sick birds when found should be immediately removed from the flock, and if seriously sick had best be killed and cremated. It is never wise to spend five or ten dollars’ worth of time and medicine doctoring a bird whose carcass is only worth about a dollar at market prices. If it were simply a matter of doctoring the bird alone, the matter would not be so serious, but as a rule when time is taken to treat sick fowls the danger of infection of the balance of the flock is not reckoned with. Ifa sick bird is promptly disposed of and the carcass cremated the danger of infection of the bal- ance of the stock is reduced to the minimum. If the bird is simply placed by itself on some other part of the farm and the attendant goes from treating it to the buildings occupied by the other stock, or if contagion is carried in some other way, there is always liability of spreading the disease. As a general rule the best way to treat simple sickness in fowls is to provide a range for them on some remote part of the farm where they will be obliged to rough it in open front sheds with the roosts well elevated in the rear part where the birds can sleep free from drafts, but at the same time have the benefit of practically living in the open. Keep a mixture of dry grains always before these birds and plenty of oyster shell, grit, char- coal and pure water. See that they have an abundance of green food. Any that are worth saving will usually come through without the necessity of special treatment. The outdoor natural “roughing it’ life will be all that is necessary to bring them round in good shape. Seriously sick birds had best be killed at once and the carcasses cremated. 176 a eee eee eee