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UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS

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AMHERST

to

PHILO
SYSTEM

THE PHILO SYSTEM

OF

PROGRESSIVE POULTRY KEEPING

BY E. W. PHILO

The purchasers of this book are given the right to make and use
any and all appliances herein contained. Owners of the book may
employ others to make the appliances; but persons who do not
own the book have no right to use the appliances nor the System.

340th Thousand

Seventeenth Edition

1910

E. R. PHILO, Publisher
ELMIRA, N. Y.

P,S4

COPYRIGHTED 1907

BY

E. R. PHILO
All Rights Reserved

INTRODUCTION.

In publishing our system of Progressive Poultry Keeping
wesimply give the facts about all branches of the work that have
been learned from experiments conducted by the hand of the
writer. We have learned by actual tests that many theories
advanced by the majority of poultry writers are without founda-
tion. Men gifted with the power of imagination and the ability
to write an entertaining article have been given too much space
in publications.

Our experience in poultry keeping dates back over a period
of thirty-five years, and the mistakes made during that time if,
properly explained, would fill a book much larger than this one.
While many of our mistakes were expensive and discouraging,
we were dqtermmed to win out, and as the failures came, we had
the opportunity to study the causes, and again start from the
foundation to overcome the difficulties. Many times the dis-
coveries were surprising to us, as they will, no doubt, be to you,
and were not put down as facts until each of them had been tested
for at least five years, and many of them much longer.

We have learned that artificial heat supplied to chickens
is not only unnecessary, but better poultry may be raised with-
out it. The average ordinary heated wood brooder is too com-
plicated and expensive, and there is too much danger of chilling,
overheating, or burning the chickens. When they come into
this world they are supplied with an abundance of heat and all we
have to do is to retain it.

When green cut bone is fed liberally to breeding stock,
good eggs from which to hatch strong chickens are not obtained,
neither are the eggs likely to be fertile.

The best two pound broilers can be raised when confined to
a space of one square foot, when there are not too many in the
flock.

Pullets may be properly matured in a space of one and a
half square feet, and a laying hen will do her best when given
three square feet of space. While it is generally understood
that the largest egg yields from laying hens are obtained from
the smallest flocks, the system is not in general use.

It is not uncommon to get six eggs from six hens in a flock,
seven consecutive days. To get sixty eggs from sixty hens in a
flock, one day in a year is hardly possible, and, as far as our

34149

knowledge goes, is not on record. Sixty hens properly bred and
kept in ten colony coops will lay sixty eggs per day many days
in the year, and at least twenty-five per cent, more eggs than the
flock containing sixty hens. When chicks do their best they
must also be kept in small flocks.

The natural desire of men to get rich quick without much
knowledge of the business, or capital to invest is probably the
excuse for large flocks. They estimate the profits from a given
number of hens they wish to keep, and figure that the cost of
the poultry plant would be less when the fowls are maintained
in large flocks.

Our aim has not been simply to get the greatest returns, as
we have given more thought to economy and simplicity in labor
saving devices, making it possible to keep large numbers of lay-
ing hens in small flocks at no greater expenditure for appliances
than where large numbers are kept together. Everything in
connection with our system is made with a view of using all kinds
of material to the best advantage, and without waste. The
lumber, wire, muslin, and waterproof covering required in the
construction of our appliances are all standard sizes and may
readily be obtained in all villages and cities.

While the advantages of the Philo System are many they
can all be summed up in one word, "success". Follow the entire
plan as outlined and success is sure.

Very truly yours,

E. W. PHILO.

5

STARTING IN THE POULTRY BUSINESS.

The best way to start In the poultry business is to begin
with two pairs of the best birds (not related) that you can afford
to purchase. When the details of our system are carefully fol-
lowed and the breeding stock is right, it will be perfectly safe
to handle as large a business from the start as you can provide
necessary appliances for and the time required for proper atten-
tion and care. However, the disadvantage is likely to be in-
ferior stock that possibly has been inbred, or that has not been
ra"sed in a way to build up a constitution of vigor and hardiness
which is the foundation to a successful business.

By starting with two pairs of the best stock obtainable, with
the assurance that they have not been inbred, you will get large
profits more quickly than to start with a dozen or more birds.
It would not be difficult to raise twenty-five pullets and a number
of cockerels the first season from two hens, furnishing breeders
that would give you three hundred pullets the second year, and
th's would enable you to do as large a business as you like the
third season. While these figures may look large, they are not
over es imated, as we are getting still greater returns right here
in ou: own yard, and are not giving them as careful attention as
it is possible to do.

^ Purchas ng the best eggs obtainable for hatching is also a
desirable way to start in the business, and in many cases would
be less expensive than to buy the stock. We would not advise
you tobuy stock that wouldcost less than ten dollars per pair, un-
less you know positively the quality and can get them for' less
money; and it would be still better to pay twenty- five dollars
each, provided you could get birds so well bred as to be worth the
money.

Two sittings of eggs at five dollars each should produce
more and better stock than you could purchase for an equal
amount of money, and it sometimes happens that better birds
are ra sed from eggs bought than from those raised by the pro-
ducer. If you can find eggs from very choice stock for ten
dollars a. sitting, it would prove a good investment. In other
words, if you can get either stock or eggs that are really worth
the money, almos" any pri e is not too much to pay, as what you
raise from them would soon bring you large additional returns.

If you are to buy eggs for the foundation stock they should
be hatched in February or March provided the fertility is guaran-
teed. If not, get the eggs during the natural season for hatch-
ing, April, May or June.

The advantages of getting eggs for hatching that are laid
during January or February are that you are sure they were laid
by winter layers; and after breeding in this manner for two or
or three generations your hens will lay as naturally through the
cold winter months as others do in June.

If they are to be hatched during the winter or early spring,
one of the brooder coops should be ready when they hatch , which
will provide the necessary protection to keep them in the best
possible condition at all times.

Before eggs are ordered, some provision should be made for
hatching them as you cannot afford to take chances on finding
a broody hen, or on the prompt delivery of an incubator. The
successful man is the one who is just a little in advance of his
business, and takes time by the forelock.

LOCATION.

One of the advantages of our system is that you can start in
the business where you now live, provided you have four square
feet of land for each fowl you wish to keep. Three-fourths of
the lands is for fowls, and one-fourth for walks. It is better,
however, to have twice the amount of land required, that you
may alternate the poultry yard with the garden, thereby purify-
ing the ground and making a garden that will astonish the
natives.

Should the soil be low and damp it will be necessary to fill
in with sand or gravel so it will be slightly above the ground
around it. If dry, and there is some gravel in the soil, it will
not be necessary to fill in. Stony or coarse lumpy soil should be
avoided, as it is necessary to keep the ground mellow, which is
easily accomplished by spading, with the aid of the hens to keep
it stirred up.

In selecting a new location to make a specialty of the poultry
business you will find it of advantage to get a place where the
soil is composed principally of sand or gravel. It is also an ad-
vantage to have it slightly rolling with a South or East exposure
to the sun. By selecting a gravelly soil the hens are furnished
a natural grit which is not only a saving in the expense account
of the plant, but is actually preferred by the fowls to the manu-
factured grit.

A nice apple orchard is a fine place during the hot summer
months, and the increased production of the trees, and the im-
proved qual'ty of the fruit will add much to the profits of the
plant. Grape vines and plum trees grow quickly and make a

desirable shade, as well as being very productive.

The combination of poultry, fruit, and garden Is one of the
best, and the possibilities from anacrelotcanhardlybe estimated.

To make the combination complete a few colonies of bees
should be kept. There is hardly a thing that the writer has un-
dertaken that has brought as large returns for the amount of
capital invested and labor required as the honey bee. One sea-
son 200 pounds of white clover honey in one pound boxes were
taken from one colony of bees, made up from two new swarms
combined. The time required to care for the bees was less than
a day and the value of the honey was thirty dollars. This of
course was an uncommon yield, still half that amount is not an
uncommon yield, and the returns are large enough to make the
business interesting.

SELECTING BREEDERS TO PRODUCE LAYERS.

It would be treading upon dangerous ground to mention
any one breed of fowls as being superior to others as egg pro-
ducers. In our experience it is not so much the breed as the
strain, as careful and intelligent breeding will do wonders in a
few generations. It will make sitters of non-sitters, and non-
sitters of the breed that is often found broody, if you wish to
breed to that end. It is also possible to make the very best
layers from poor ones, and very poor ones from the best.

We have selected the Single Comb White Orpingtons simply
for the reason that there is more money in them for us at the
present time than in many of the other breeds. After carefully
selecting and breeding them for seven years we find they will lay
more eggs in a year than any fowls we ever kept, although we
consider it possible to make as good layers from many of the
older breeds. Like all breeds, they have their good qualities,
but we will not go into the details of any particular breed, as
it is largely a matter of choice of the poultryman.

When undertaking the fancy part of the poultry business,
there are advantages in selecting a new breed, and growing up
with it. There are many noted breeders of the older varieties,
making it difficult to compete with them, while in the newer
varieties there are less experts at the work, making it possible
to gain a substantial footing at an eariler date.

For utility breeding, either eggs or meat, it would be ex-
ceedingly difficult to improve on many of the old standbys.

The systems for selecting layers that are now advertised in
the poultry journals were practiced by the writer fifteen years

ago. The width of the hen and general make-up will determine
to a certain extent her value as a layer. It is not always true
with us as we find some of the hens that are not quite as wide
behind as the widest, are superior layers, and the only correct
way is to know to a certanity how many eggs each individual
hen will lay in a given time, but we do not consider it necessary
to have a complete year's record, as every hen will show her
productiveness in each lot of eggs laid between her rest periods.
After a hen has laid a certain number of eggs she will either rest
for a few days or become broody when the stock of egg-making
material has been exhausted. The time required for this rest
seldom varies, it generally being just one week from the time the
last egg was laid before furnishing the first one of the new lot.
This is, of course, when the hens are properly fed and in good
condition.

In our tests we find the number of eggs laid between the rest
periods are sometimes not over nine, while others will lay forty
to fifty or more without stopping. The number of eggs laid be-
tween each rest is not sure to indicate the value of the hen as an
egg producer, as it often happens that the hen producing twelve
eggs between the rest periods, will lay them in twelve consecu-
tive days, while the one laying more eggs without stopping, often
requires two days to lay one egg. A day and date record for
two months should determine the quality of the hen af. egg
producer.

The pullets that first begin laying, or those that commence
while quite young are generally the best layers. The philo-
sophy of this is that the pullets that lay first have matured most
quickly because constitutionally more vigorous. The same phy-
sical conditions will enable them to produce a larger number of
eggs than the pullet that was slower in coming to maturity be-
cause of a less vigorous constitution.

In selecting layers there are two points to be considered
that we have never known to fail. The largest individual hens
of any breed are never the best layers, and the hens laying the
largest eggs never lay as many of them in a given length of time.
When finding a hen that will lay twelve eggs in twelve consecu-
tive days, the eggs will seldom weigh over twenty- five ounces lo
the dozen, and the hen laying very large ones requires two ^
to make every egg. As long as eggs are sold by the dozen it it. an
advantage to the poultryman to breed hens that will lay eggs
averaging about twenty-five ounces to the dozen. They are
not considered small, and will sell at the highest market price.

The color of the eggs is also another point to be considered,
as eggs of a uniform color, either white or brown, are more at-

tractive and will generally bring a little better price when mark-
eted.

Breeding from the best layers for three or four generations
will produce a strain of fowls that is capable of producing its
like, while a good laying hen that has not the breeding back of
her is not likely to produce her equal.

In summing up we will give a few points that go to make up
the most productive hen.

One that is not over large for her breed, and that is especially
wide and deep in her fluff.

One that has a very large crop for her size and has it well
filled at night, and one that lays eggs of a medium size.

SELECTING BREEDERS FOR BROILERS.

In selecting breeders for broilers, capons, etc., one's aim
should be extreme hardiness, early maturity and large, well de-
veloped frames. These qualities are all possible with the best
layers, still these best layers may not be the best for the broiler
farm. The hen that lays only every other day puts more vitality
into the egg.

-^^ is generally the largest of her breed, and her eggs also
are large, furnishing more nutriment for the growing embryo
and more yolk for the chick to absorb, to give it a good start in
life after being hatched.

With the average stocK, first crosses will make the best
broilers, and make them more quickly than the ones raised from
thoroughbreds. This is on account of the breeders not being
related, and is the point which should convince poultrymen that
the practice of inbreeding is a mistake. It is possible, however,
to get as good results from the thoroughbred stock when they
have not been inbred and when their constitution and vigor have
been retained to the highest degree.

The "First Cross" is breeding together two distinct breeds
and the offspring would be hybrids, not valuable to use as breed-
ers, for mating together, nor for crossing with a thoroughbred
of another breed.

SELECTING BREEDERS FOR EXHIBITION.

In breeding for exhibition, the American Standard of Per-
fection should be consulted, and birds selected conforming as
nearly as possible to the Standard requirements. When it is

10

possible, the males should be especially strong in the points where
the females are weakest. The size and shape of the hen , and the
color of the male bird are reproduced in nine cases out of ten.
A Black Minorca male crossed with Barred Rock females will
produce black fowls shaped like Rocks, and a Rock male crossed
with Minorca hens will produce barred fowls shaped like Minor-
cas. While there may be exceptions to the rule, it may safely
be relied upon in nearly every case. The chicks hatched from
the first six eggs laid after the mating, are not as likely to follow
the color of the male as those laid after the first six.

Leg bands should be used on all breeders and a caref u 1 record
kept; giving as many details as possible, including weight, color,
etc., just as given on a score card as indicated on another page,
the necessary cuts being made after carefully comparing the bird
with the illustration in the Standard and making the cuts for
imperfections as indicated therein.

For pedigree breeding this record is indispensable, as the
only means by which we can ascertain facts about breeders of
the past, that we may know to a certainty the true qualities of
the stock from which our birds have sprung. It is also an educa-
tor in itself, as it plainly shows from one generation to the next
the improvements made, and how they were brought about;
besides, the stock thus raised has a market value greatly in ex-
cess of stock of the same quality that has been produced by
chance or haphazard breeding.

There are sixteen individua 1 1 oe marks that may be made by
punching the webs between the toes in all combinations. As
soon as the chicks are hatched they should be thus marked, and
a careful record kept showing their ancestors. When the chicks
have matured it is an easy matter to tell the breeders which are
producing valuable show birds, and these should be retained for
many years, or as long as they will produce superior stock.

It sometimes happens that the best specimens do not pro-
duce the best stock. Several years ago we lost all of our best
male birds of one breed at the close of the hatching season.
There was one bird left that we considered worthless as a breeder.
We were anxious to raise a few more chickens, and it was too late
in the season to purchase a valuable bird, so we concluded to
make a trial of the one we had. To our surprise the bestspeci-
rr^ens we raised that season were from this male bird which we
had considered worthless, and the chickens were especially
strong in points in which the old bird was weak. The breeding
back of this bird was of the very best, and the qualities produced
by him were the superior qualities of his ancestors.

Official Score Card of the American Poultry Association

Date Variety .

Owner Sex ...

Address Band No.

Entry No Weight .

SHAPE

COLOR

REMARKS

Symmetry

Weight or Size

Condition

Head and Beak

Eyes

Comb

Wattles and Ear-lobes. .

Neck

Wings

Back

Tail

Breast

1"

Body and Fluff

Legs and Toes

*Hardness of Feather .

tCrest and Beard . .

^Applies to Games and Game Bantams
t Applies to Crested breeds

Name of Judge

Secretary

This form should be used to keep an accurate record of the breeding
stock. We can furnish printed books, as above, of a hundred sheets for
25 cents, postpaid.

12

Seconds from carefully Lied stock are more valuable for
breeding purposes than the firsts from stock that has been care,
lessly bred.

THE BEST AGE FOR BREEDERS.

In this matter our experience differs from the theories ad-
vanced by most breeders, as it is generally claimed that the cock-
erels mated to two year old hens are best.

We get best results from breeders both male and female that
are just past one year old. The pullets having then reached
maturity, the time of laying large eggs, are then fully developed
and should be in better physical condition than either earlier
or later in life.

A male bird that has been with hens constantly for a year
is not likely to be a good breeder during the succeeding winter,
and needs a few months' rest. You will be surer of satisfactory
results by using a younger bird just matured.

Our breeding stock is all hatched in February or March and
is grown as rapidly as possible, commencing to lay in August or
September, and laying from sixty to one hundred eggs each be-
fore the new year, when they are to be used as breeders.

From twenty-five to fifty per cent, of the winter-hatched
pullets will go through the molt in October or November, gener-
ally completing it in about half the time required by old hens.
After completing the molt they are full-fledged hens and in prime
condition for breeders or the show room. The fertility of the
eggs is then at its best, and the chicks after being hatched, are
more easily raised than those from old or very young hens, be-
sides reaching maturity at an earlier age.

This system also has the advantage of raising stock that
comes to laying during the cold Winter months as naturally as
the average stock lays in May and June

When raising exhibition fowls, it is best to use your choice
breeding stock as long at they will produce birds of superior
quality. Females from five to ten years old are often valuable.

FERTILITY.

Three days after mating, fertile eggs may be expected. If
the matings have been changed, some results from the former
mating will be in evidence. The following six eggs are also likely
to produce birds showing the characteristics of either mating.

13

Careful tests have shown that not over twelve eggs will be
fertilized after the sexes have been separated, and in many in-
stances the fertility ends with the sixth egg. After two weeks'
mating we may expect nothing but the results from the last
mating.

When a hen becomes broody she may be taken from one
pen and placed in another where she should again commence
laying in one week. The first egg laid will be fertilized by the
last mating.

FERTILITY AND HATCHABILITY

A very large per cent, of all poultry keepers are now learn-
ing that fertile eggs and those capable of producing strong chick-
ens are two different things. Every egg from a hen or pen of
fowls may be strongly fertilized, yet not composed of the proper
material to furnish a chick. It should not be difficult to find the
reason for the defect, still hundreds of people are puzzled, and
think the trouble is due to improper incubation. In ninety-nine
out of one hundred cases the trouble is in the feeding, and the
food used is too fattening and lacks bulk.

A pen of fowls purchased from a party who had paid but
little attention to their feeding may serve as an illustration.
The first eggs laid after they came to us were fertile, but the
chicks died in the shell at about the tenth day. The next lot
did better, but did not hatch. However, after these hens had
been fed on coarse, bulky food, including clover, for about three
weeks, their eggs hatched well, and have done so ever since.
The progress made in their improvement along this line has been
steady and before the close of the season we expect to produce
chickens which will leave the shell with a bound, andgrowfrom a
tiny ball to a mature hen in the shortest required space of time.

For the benefit of those having trouble along this line we will
say that the foods used to overcome these defects in eggs from
which to hatch strong chickens are as follows: Whole oats
wheat bran, sweet milk, lean beef, and green food, either cut
clover or alfalfa, or sprouted oats.

In Summer we use a mash composed of at least three-
fourths green food in some form, clover, alfalfa or lawn clippings.

14
BREEDING IN LINE.

Line breeding is to use our own stock and not to introduce
new blood without the knowledge of what it will produce.

Inbreeding is generally practiced to start line breeding,
although it is not the proper way for the best results, especially
when breeding utility stock, as the vitality is weakened to a cer-
tain extent, requiring several years to overcome the bad effects.

Our way to start line breeding is to get eggs or stock from
two poultrymen who are separated by as many miles as possible.
The birds are not as likely to be related as those from the nearby
poultry yards; and should they be related, the fact that they have
been bred under different conditions of climate, etc., will render
them of nearly as much value as birds not related. You will
then carry two distinct strains and may use the male birds from
one side to cross with the females of the other side. After the
first cross it will be necessary to cross first cousins, which is not
considered inbreeding, and this will produce stock that is more
likely to inherit the good qualities of its ancestors.

CARE OF BREEDING STOCK.

Natural conditions are the essential points to success. While
it is not possible in a cold climate, during the best breeding season
of the year, to Dring about perfectly natural conditions, we are to
do so as neaily as possible.

It is necessary to commence the work before the first cold
weather, that the change may be gradual and the fowls hardened
under natural conditions to the extreme cold weather. They
must be protected from the wind and direct draft, having at the
same time the full outside weather conditions, and without being
in the rain or snow. Our combined Summer and Winter Colony
coop is well adapted to get the desired conditions. Other build-
ings that will answer the purpose, and save the cost of the colony
coop, may easily be arranged with but little expense and labor.

We used the loft of an old barn for some of our best breeding
stock one winter with very satisfactory results. There were no
glass or window openings, so large openings were made on the
south side six inches from the floor, six inches from the roof and
six feet long, and the opening covered with muslin. A tight box
three feet wide, three feet deep and just long enough to accomo-
date the fowls on two perches, allowing two feet in length for
every five birds, was nailed in the rear of the room two feet above
the floor, the opening of the box facing the south, or front of

15

the room, and covered with a burlap curtain that was let down
every night to retain the heat of the fowls, keeping them com-
fortable and at the same time supplying an abundance of fresh
air. It was nearly as cold in the room outside of the roosting
box as the outside weather conditions, yet the fowls in the box
did not suffer, and their combs were not frosted.

Whole oats, dry wheat bran, cut clover and oyster shells
were kept in boxes all the time, and a little wheat, buckwheat and
barley was scattered in the litter at night after roosting time, so
that in the morning they might exercise enough to warm up, and
get their blood circulatiiig. Cracked corn was used for the night
food and scattered in the litter about three o'clock in the after-
noon, which would keep them busy until roosting time. Water
was given them in the morning and at noon; and on very cold
days it was necessary to empty out the ice and furnish water
four or five tmies during the day. If the water supply is allowed
to run short the egg supply will suddenly be cut ofif.

We never feed condition powders, nor any of the patent
material for promoting egg production, as it weakens the vitality
of the stock and brings about unnatural conditions that are
ruinous to a fertile egg supply. Green cut bone was never given ,
as we had discovered that eggs were not good for hatching after
fowls were fed green cut bone during the winter. When lean
beef can be had at a reasonable cost it is advisable to use it, and
the results will be very satisfactory. Bone, if fed at all, should
be dried and ground, or burned and crumbled. Grease, tallow
and the marrow of the bones should never be fed except to fowls
that are being fattened.

The pen of fourteen hens in the Darn loft furnished us from
eight to twelve and, occasionally fourteen eggs per day during
the entire winter and spring. Nine eggs were set the 20th of
January to test fertility, and nine chicks were the result. After
the 20th, all perfect-shell eggs were incubated, and the lowest
fertility during the Winter was five infertile eggs from one hun-
dred. Several sittings showed one hundred per cent, fertility
many times hatching every egg. The average hatch during the
winter was over ninety per cent, from all eggs set, and ninety-
eight per cent of the chickens assigned to our brooder coops were
successfully raised.

KEEPING EGGS FOR HATCHING.

The very best treatment to give eggs for hatching is to set
them the same day they are laid. When breeding from one or
two hens this is not always advisable. They may be kept in

16

good condition for a week or two, although we seldom incubate
eggs over one week old. It is not uncommon to hatch eggs six
weeks old, still it is not advisable, as it would be very difficult
to raise the chickens. The loss of fertility is not the only thing
to be taken into consideration. The evaporation of the moisture
from the egg commences at once, taking with it some of the mate-
rial necessary to grow a strong chicken, and making a deprecia-
tion in its value each succeeding day until the egg is worthless
for incubation. The age of the egg before commencing to in-
cubate has much to do with the amount of moisture to be sup-
plied during the process of incubation. A perfectly fresh egg
in a properly constructed incubator should never require sup-
plied moisture. While the moisture may be supplied to bring
out a satisfactory hatch the same quality of material cannot be
replaced that was lost by ev^aporation, and the vitality of the
chick is weakened to a degree corresponding to the age of the

While keeping eggs for hatching it is not best to turn the
eggs every day as is generally advised, for it weakens the al-
bumen, making it more volatile and capable of penetrating the
shell to a greater extent; besides bringing the germ capable of
producing life nearer the surface of the shell, until finally it
becomes attached, when it is worthless for incubation.

As the temperature is increased above the freezing point,
evaporation increases in proportion. An egg kept at a tempera-
ture of eighty degrees will lose as much in weight in one week as
it would in two weeks at a temperature of fifty-five degrees;
and its value at two weeks is not equal to that of eggs kept at a
temperature of fifty-five degrees, as the temperature is too high
to retain the living germ in a perfectly dormant condition.

A low temperature does not weaken the vitality of the germ.
If too low, it kills it outright and the egg may be kept as an in-
fertile egg, and it will dry up in time without decaying. We
have had good hatches from a basket of eggs where twenty-five
per cent, of them were frozen and cracked open. About twenty-
five per cent, of those not cracked were killed, while the other
fifty per cent, produced fine chickens that were raised to maturity,
and made healthy stock.

In all of our experiments the germ has been killed at some
point below twenty-eight degrees above zero when exposed for
at least twelve hours. A temperature below fifty degrees is
better for eggs that are to be hatched than any point higher.

Eggs that are intended for incubation should never be
placed with the small end down. It is not their natural position.
After standing on the small end for a week or two the germ will

19

float near the air cell in the ^arge end of the egg. The chick will
grow naturally for about ten days, then the growth will not be
normal and the chick will not be properly matured at hatching
time. It is also more likely to bring the chick's head at the
small end of the egg, making it nearly impossible to free itself
from the shell without help.

A temperature of eighty-five degrees for a few hours will
start incubation, and the embrvo will die during the next twenty-
four hours, unless the temperature is raised to at least one hundred
degrees. The egg will then decay.

A temperature of 115 degrees for five hours will kill the
germ and the egg will appear infertile, and will keep nearly as
long as an infertile egg.

CONTROLLING THE SEX.

To raise cockerels select a very strong, active male. A
young bird is generally better than an old one. Then select
hens that are from two to five years old. When but one hen is
used in the breeding pen you will hatch from seventy to ninety
per cent, cockerels. By increasing the number of females in
the pen you will increase in proportion the number of females
raised.

To raise nearly all pullets, use an old male bird or cockerel
not especially active, mated to thirty or forty good lively pullets.
You will not be likely to get the highest average fertility, but
the chickens hatched will run largely to pullets. In one experi-
ment we raised seventy pullets from seventy-seven chickens
hatched.

The early hatched chickens are likely to run to cockerels
to a much greater extent than those hatched from the same pens
later in the season.

When the vitality of the male is greatly in excess of the
females the chicks will run largely to males, and when the fe-
males are superior in that respect, a large portion of the chicks
will be pullets.

SELECTING EGGS.

In selecting eggs from which to hatch our best layers, those
weighing about twenty-five ounces to the dozen have the pref-
erence.

The shells should be smooth and uniform In shape and color.
The ones that have a ridge around the center, and those with

20

rough ends are rejected. When the rough end appears firm and
the shell as thick as other portions of the egg it may safely be
used.

Eggs having a metallic ring when being handled or rubbed
between the hands are infertile, and the eggs that feel smooth
and solid with a dull heavy ring like a ripe watermelon are best.

Large eggs are best to hatch broilers from as a rule, al-
though the eggs weighing twenty-five ounces or more should
produce quick maturing broilers.

Hens' eggs weighing more than thirty-two or less than
twenty-four ounces to the dozen should never be set.

ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION.

The success of artificial incubation depends fully as much
upon the quality and condition of the eggs as upon the machine
or operator. Eggs produced under the conditions outlined in
this book are easily hatched as compared with the eggs peo-
duced without any definite knowledge as to what is actually
required.

But when the eggs are right, nine out of every ten failures
are due directly to improper care the first week of incubation,
although the chick will develop under improper handling, it
will not hatch properly unless it has been properly developed by
the end of the first week.

If there has been too much cooling, or the temperature has
been low during the first seven days it is exceedingly difficult
to get satisfactory results; the hatch is likely to be delayed and
chicks hatched with crooked toes. When they have been proper-
ly handled the first week the chances are good for a good hatch
even though they suffer from neglect during the later stages,
and after two weeks of proper handling they will hatch when
subjected to very harsh treatment.

After the first week, the temperature of the eggs may drop
to fifty degrees for several hours, with no serious damage. Of
course it is much better to keep the temperature within regular
limits, but you need not be frightened because of variations,
if not continued too long.

FIRST WEEK (102).

At" the end of the first twenty-four hours after the eggs have
been placed in the machine the thermometer should register
about one hundred and two degrees with the bulb touching the

21

upper surface of the egg. This temperature should be main-
tained as steadily as possible during the first week with but
little airing.

The relative position of the eggs should be changed at least
twice daily and three times is better when they can be quickly
changed without much cooling. The machine should not be
opened more than two minutes at a time during the first week.

In turning it is not important that the eggs should be turned
exactly half way over, simply change their position.

Nature has provided for the very frail condition of the em-
bryo during the first five days in two ways: First, by giving a
hen the instinct to stick closely to the nest during this time, and
secondly by allowing the embryo to float to the surface no matter
what position the egg is in, during the first five days, that it
may come in contact with the heating surface of the hen's body.
After five days, when the embryo becomes stationary, there is
quite a network of blood veins, and the rapid movement of the
heart causes the blood to circulate more than half way around
the egg, thereby generating heat that is a help in overcoming
excessive cooling.

SECOND WEEK (103)

At the beginning of the second week the blood veins should
completely encircle the egg near the air cell. Should there be a
space not covered it would indicate a lack of heat, too much
cooling, or a deficiency in the egg. If there is a clear space of a
quarter of an inch between the extreme ends of the blood veins,
and the egg is not at fault , the defective work of the first week may
be partially overcome by carrying the temperature a half degree
higher than is best under natural conditions during the remainder
of the hatch.

When properly developed at the beginning of the second
week, the temperature should be carried as nearly as possible at
103 degrees. The eggs should be turned two or three times daily
as during the first week, and when turning the last time at night
they should be cooled about five minutes when the room is from
sixty to seventy degrees. If above seventy degrees they should
be cooled one minute longer for every two degrees above seventy
degrees. When the room temperature is below sixty, one min-
ute should be taken from the five, for every five degrees cooler
which would allow but one minute (about the time required to
turn the eggs), in a room temperature of forty degrees. If the
temperature of the eggs should be found above 103 degrees the

22

eggs should be cooled five minutes longer for each degree too
high. If found at 104 degrees they should be cooled ten minutes,
or fifteen minutes if found at 105 degrees. If at any time the
temperature should be at 106 or beyond, it may be quickly re-
duced by sprinkling the eggs with cold water.

Should the temperature of the eggs get below the desired
point at any time do not cool them nor turn them; close the ma-
chine quickly and allow the eggs to warm up first. If the lamp
should accidently go out, allowing the eggs to get cold, a few flat
bottles or rubber bags of hot water, or cJloths wrung out of hot
water laid on the eggs will quickly restore the heat.

THIRD WEEK (103 1-2)

The rules as above for the second week are used during the
last week, and the only changes made are to allow the tempera-
ture to run a half degree higher, and cool eggs five minutes long-
er, making the standard time for cooling ten minutes in place
of five, and the temperature of the eggs 103 j/^ degrees in place
of 103.

By cooling the eggs the last thing at night they have a better
chance to regain the lost heat, and are not likely to get over-
heated before morning.

On the seventh; twelfth and seventeenth days cool the eggs
a full half-hour in a room temperature of about seventy degrees.
In cooling the eggs thus, the contents contract, drawing through
the pores of the egg shell a good supply of oxygen that is needed
for the proper development of the chick.

The above directions apply to machines heated with hot
air from above. When they are heated from the bottom or are
heated with hot water, the temperature should be maintained
one-half degree cooler than above.

Never under any conditions put eggs on top of the eggs on
the trays so there will be two layers.

When the regulator of a machine has been properly ad-
justed, give it plenty of time to do its work before readjusting.
Many hatches are ruined by playing with the regulator. After
the eggs have been cooled the damper will sometimes open with
a temperature of ninety degrees. When they are thoroughly
heated through and before settling down to business the ther-
mometer will register 104 or 105 degrees before it has time to
reach the correct adjustment. The fact that the thermometer
registers a little high does not indicate that the inside of the eggs
has reached that degree of heat, as it requires several hours to

23

change the temperature of the egg more than one degree.

While no absolute rule can be given as to what degree of
heat will kill the germ, yet the following will serve as a guide in
determining: A temperature of 108 degrees for ten hours the
first week; of 110 for same time the second week; and of 115 the
third week, will almost surely kill the germ, so that no chick
can be hatched.

TESTING.

The eggs should be tested as soon as the germ can be de-
tected, which is about five days for eggs with white shells, and
one week for eggs with brown or dark colored shells. In test-
ing hold the egg between the thumbs and fingers of both hands,
keeping the hands as flat as possible to exclude the light near
the egg. Close the hands on the egg so there will not be any
openings for light between the hands and egg. Then by holding
the egg before a strong light you can see perfectly the condition
of the egg and its contents. Egg testers are not to be compared
with this system after having a little practice and learning just
how to hold the egg.

Three eggs may be tested in this manner in the same time
required to test one with an ordinary tester. Testing is best
done at night. Look through the side of the egg, not the end.

Discard all eggs that are perfectly clear, and those having
a decided dark ring around the embryo, as these are imperfectly
fertilized and will not produce chickens.

Chickens have more difficulty in getting out of the shells
when the temperature has been carried too low than they do
when the average temperature has been full high enough. Too
much cooling the first week will retard the growth of the embryo
to such an extent that the albumen will not all be consumed.
The chick will hatch a day or two late and will be glued to every-
thing it touches

Unless your machine is very poorly constructed, moisture
should never be supplied before the last week, and then is not
required when newly laid eggs are being incubated. When the
hatch is delayed and the chicks are slow in breaking the shell,
dampen a woolen cloth with hot water and lay it over the eggs.

As soon as the chicks are dried off they should be removed
at once to the brooder. (See Brooding.)

24

HATCHING WITH HENS.

All sorts of interesting and uninteresting advice has been
given about setting hens. When persons have one good hatch
they take it for granted that they have solved the problem.

Regarding the location of the nest , the advice most generally
given is to place it on the ground. After careful tests for thirty
years we are not prepared to say that the ground is a better place
to set a hen than the loft of a barn.

Poor results in hatching with the hens may be traced to
but few causes, provided the eggs are what they should be. If
eggs are accidentally broken in the nest, the shells of the other
eggsmustbethoroughly cleaned so that the pores may be opened
for the admission of air to the growing chicks. During the first
week of incubation it will not injure the embryo if the egg -is
coated with the contents of the broken egg for twenty-four hours,
and then thoroughly cleaned. If coated twelve hours the second
week the chances are against it, and if the egg remains entirely
coated for two hours the third week the chick will die.

The quiet hen that would naturally be considered the best
sitter is really the poorest hatcher, as she retains the same posi-
tion on the nest too long at a time, not giving the eggs air or the
embryo the exercise by moving about and changing the posi-
tion of the eggs. The hens doing the best work are those having
a nervous temperament, changingabout onthe nest and changing
the position of the eggs in the nest with their beaks.

When you have a close sitter, she should be lifted every
time you have the opportunity, changing the eggs about in the
nest with your hands. The eggs that feel cool, or not quite as
warm as others, should be placed in the center of the nest.

You can save every chick by removing the eggs as soon as
the first one is found pipped, and placing them between wollen
cloths thick enough to retain the heat and keeping them near
the stove or in a temperature from eighty to ninety degrees.
This would not answer for three or four eggs containing chicks
without keeping them in a warmer place, but where there are
ten or more the heat of the chicks will do the work when it is
properly retained. Your chicks will then be free from lice and
may be raised in our brooder without artificial heat.

We once shipped by express to a point three hundred miles
away, eggs that were about to hatch. They were billed out
eggs, and received as chickens with a one hundred per cent,
hatch. The next week we received a letter from the party
receiving the chicks saying that he had received a box containing

25

fourteen fine chickens and some egg shells. These eggs had been
properly incubated and would have hatched if they had been put
on the floor and covered with a blanket, and kept warm.

A TRICK OF THE TRADE.

How to Save Fully Matured Chicks That Could Not Hatch
Without Help.

At least one-third of all the chickens that are fully developed
at the hatching time are unable to free themselves from the shell,
and many times unable to make the first little opening. When
they have been properly developed up to hatching time they can
all be saved. In proportion to the number set there are just as
many lost under hens as in incubators.

When the time has come for the egg to hatch, and there
is no sign of life, hold the egg to the light and find the air cell.
With a sharp-pointed knife-blade make an opening about the
center of the air cell. By holding your thumb firmly against
the side of the knife, near the point of the blade you will avoid
cutting deep. Make the opening the size of a dime and you
can then see the condition of the chick. ^ If you find that its
beak is through the inner lining of the egg, take a pin with the
point upward and the head next the egg and, holding it at a right
angle with the egg carefully chip out the shell around the large
end of the egg commencing at the chick's beak. By being a
little careful the shell may easily be chipped so it will disconnect
the large end of the shell without injuring the membrane or
causing it to bleed.

Then roll the egg up in a moistened strip of woolen cloth
three inches wide by about ten inches long, the ends left open so
the chick can get out without assistance and lay the egg back
in the machine to hatch. Use hot water for moistening the
cloth.

In the majority of cases it would not be necessary to break
the shell loose with the pin as described, as the small opening in
large end of the egg furnishes a liberal supply of air and the chicks
that would not hatch otherwise come out nicely," without the
danger of smothering just as they are about to leave the shell, as
the woolen cloth causes the chick to sweat and softens the lining
of the egg so the chick can make its escape without any great
effort.

Our first experiment with the above plan was made several
years ago after we had bought two sittings of expensive eggs.

26

When the time came for the eggs to hatch we found pnly ten eggs
containing chickens, eight of these hatched out nicely but the
other two could not crack the shell. The two eggs not hatched
represented to us $4.2(),^worth making an effort to saxe. We
opened the large end and found the beaks open and the chickens
gasping for breath in their effort to crack the shell. After watch-
ing them a few minutes their beaks closed, and the exhaustion
caused by breathing was not so great. They were rolled up in
cloth as above described and hatched out as bright and lively as
the rest, and all of the ten chicks were raised to maturitv.

WHY EXCESSIVE OR LIMITED MOISTURE INJURES
THE HATCH.

We find many articles written on the moisture question.
Reports from experimental stations, where elaborate tests have
been made to ascertain the necessary amount of moisture to be
furnished the egg during incubation in order to get the best
results, fail to state the reasons why too much moisture or in-
sufficient moisture would be injurious to a successful hatch.

In our experience we find that the more moisture retained
in the eggs the better will be the chickens, and if it is necessary
to supply moisture the chickens will not be as large, neither will
they have as much strength as otherwise.

The amount of moisture retained or supplied to the eggs
affects the size of the chicken, and when there is too much mois-
ture, which is sometimes the case with sitting hens when on damp
ground, the chickens will be too large for the egg and will be
cramped for room, making it impossible for them to escape.
They may sometimes have room enough to crack the shell,
but this alone will not let the chickens out. After the shell is
first cracked the chicken remains very quiet while absorbing the
yolk, which requires from ten to twenty hours. Then it is
necessary to make a complete turn in the egg, and by its efforts
to turn, its beak is forced through the shell and when the com-
plete circle has been made the end of the shell will be entirely
cut off. When the chick is too large it is bound by its size, and
cannot move around the regular course, so will smother or die
in its efforts to move.

In many instances the chicken is too large to make the first
small opening on account of not having room to move either legs
or beak, for the movement of the legs, when there is room, causes
a pressure on the shell by the beak which makes an opening.

While a very small chicken, or one incubated with excessive

27

evaporation of the eggs, is more likely to hatch than one that is
too large, it very often happens that the chick lacks bulk, and,
although it can make its turn in the egg and sometimes does so
several times in an effort to find the way out, the shell will re-
main solid and the chicken will perish. It may kick and move
around all it possibly can and yet be unable to bring the necessary
pressure against the shell to niake the first small opening.

Very large chickens and even those too large to make their
escape are the best and can be raised with little effort as compared
with those having been dwarfed by evaporation.

Judging by the letters coming into our office daily we think
there will be over a million chickens saved during the season by
applying "a trick of the trade." Many operators are saving
from twenty to fifty chickens from each machine operated.

The dwarfed chickens are the ones more likely to have
bowel trouble, although in nine cases out of ten the trouble is
caused by the fact that the hens were not properly fed when
producing the eggs, and the bowel trouble was hatched with
the chickens.

BROODING THE CHICKS

Chickens may be raised and kept in perfect condition with-
out supplying artifical heat.

After carefully testing our new brooder without artificial
heat the old style brooder will be a thing of the past. (See
Brooding without heat.)

But if for any reason you wish to use a heated brooder, the
chickens, as soon as they are out of the shell, or at least a dozen
or more of them, should be removed to the brooder having a
temperature sufficient to keep them comfortable without crowd-
ing. It is not necessary to use a thermometer in the brooder,
as it is better to watch the condition of the chickens and regulate
the heat to make them comtortable. Many times when govern-
ing the heat of the brooder by fixed rules the chicks will be over-
heated or possibly chilled. Just a glance at them should tell
one whether they are comfortable, and when guided in this
manner the results will be more satisfactory.

Chicks removed to the brooder while very young learn the
ways of the brooder more quickly than the ones that are left in
the hatcher for a day or two.

The last efforts to free themselves from the shell is a greater
tax on their systems than at any other time during incubation.
Absorbing the yolk of the egg is the next to the last work ac-

28

complished by them before leaving the shell. By this act they
are provided with food and should sleep quietly during the next
twelve hours.

Large brooders are a mistake, no matter how many chickens
are to be hatched or raised. It is better to keep them in small
flocks, not over fifty the first week and twenty-five will do better
than more. The second week they should be divided into flocks
of twenty to twenty-five, and when forcing a few fine specimens
for the show or some special work they should again be divided,
leaving but ten in one brooder.

When there is much more room in the brooder than the
chicks fill there is always circulating air that is a serious ob-
jection to the youngsters' welfare.

When artificial heat is used in the brooder it is just as im-
portant to have the heat automatically regulated as to regulate
the temperature of the incubator.

THE FIRST FOOD.

After the chickens have been properly hatched, the success
in raising them depends largely upon the care they get during
the first week.

Nearly all writers say, "starve the chickens after they are
hatched," some going as far as seventy-two hours before giving
any food. That is not nature's way nor is it the best way. As
soon as the chickens are old enough to run about and pick for
food they should be given something nourishing to eat, and also
something to drink.

It is generally claimed that if chickens are fed before they
have digested the absorbed yolk of the egg, the food given will
be used in place of the yolk, and the chicken will run down and
finally die. The facts are, that when the yolk is not digested,
it has been baked or hardened by improper incubation, especially
over-heating leaving it in a hardened state causing it to become
indigestible. Although the chicken will sometimes live six or eight
weeks, it will dwindle and die in spite of all that can be done for
it. The yolk must remain in a liquid form until it has been en-
tirely used to build up the system of the chick. It matters not
how much food has been given to the chicken, or how soon it was
fed, the yolk will be used, if not rendered indigestible before being
absorbed.

The first food should be bread crumbs slightly moistened
with sweet milk. A very little at a time should be sprinkled
around several times during the day where the chicks run, or

29

about every two hours for best results. The bread used should
be thoroughly baked and dried, so it will roll fine. Hard-boiled
eggs rolled in the dry crumbs will add variety to the ration and help
to give them a good start in life. Dry oatmeal or oat flakes should
be given as soon as they will eat them, and should be fed once
each day during the first three weeks. Both skim milk and water
are placed before them as soon as they will drink. While it is
possible to raise chickens without anything to drink during the
first week they do better when given both milk and water.
After the first day they are given a very little Baby Chick Food
twice daily, and the amount is increased each day until they are
given all they will eat twice daily for the first three weeks, and
longer if you can afford it. Dry coarse wheat bran is placed be-
fore them the first day, in little boxes about one inch deep and
is kept before them constantly at all times, and at all ages of
the poultry. When they are educated from the first to eat bran,
it is astonishing to see the amount they will consume. If they
are out of the bran for half a day and then given a fresh supply
they will leave all other food and eat the bran. Half the bulk
of food used for our poultry at all ages is dry wheat bran.

Fine grit, sand or fine gravel is given them from the first,
although fed very sparingly the first day, or until the chickens
know its value. If given all they will eat at first, they will
sometimes eat too much, but are not so much inclined to do so
when fed very young.

Finely cut clover is used for litter and a large portion of it
is eaten by the chickens. It adds bulk to the food and helps
to expand the crop, giving it a large capacity which is necessary
to get the best results.

In feeding the sweet milk it is necessary to give it in a way
that will prevent the chickens from getting it on them. We use
the Cycle chick servers and find them very satisfactory.

Raw, lean meat is very fine food when it can be obtained
without costing too much, although our work is very successful
without it. It was not used this season in our home yard, where
we raised so many chickens without loss and in perfect condition.

FEEDING THE FIRST THREE WEEKS.

The chicken that is properly handled the first week of its
life is practically half raised. Like incubation, if the first week's
work is properly done, the results are reasonably sure and the
work easy; if not, the proper conditions may never be expected
to exist with a lot of chickens that have been improperly handled
the first week.

30

After the first week the bread and milk may be discontinued,
although one feeding a day would be an advantage where the
supply may be had at not too great an expense.

A part of the coop should have an earth bottom, and if the
ground is hard and stony, it should be dug up and removed, and
good garden soil and sand put in, to the depth of eight inches,
and frequently spaded, so that the chicks can easily scratch for
the grain you bury. It will aid digestion and strengthen the legs,
which will be necessary to keep pace with the rapidly increasing
weight of the body. Some of the chick food should be thorough-
ly mixed in the soil every day. It will keep them hustling to
find the little seeds and finely cracked grain.

Never attempt to raise chickens in cellars, or any place be-
low the surface of the ground.

FEEDING FROM THREE TO EIGHT WEEKS.

After they are three weeks old, all chickens that are intended
for breeders or to stock the egg farm should be fed to produce
bone and muscle rather than flesh. They take on fat readily
during the next few weeks, and unless properly fed are likely to
get too heavy for their legs, and also to be troubled with indi-
gestion, either of which will retard the growth and make seconds
of chickens that should stand in the front rank.

After they are three weeks old they should be fed as many
kinds of small grain as you can get, including cracked corn for
the night food. This should be given in the morning and at
night. During the day they have all the dry wheat bran they
will eat, and a very little chick food is raked in the run to keep
them busy. Green food or finely cut clover is supplied every
day. A very little meat scraps or fresh lean meat is excellent,
but not altogether necessary, unless in case of weakness in the
parent stock caused by insufficient or improper feeding. When
the meat is not supplied, either sweet or granulated milk should
be fed. Unless there is an abundant supply of natural grit,
the manufactured kind should be fed liberally.

FROM EIGHT WEEKS TO MATURITY.

When the chicken has been properly handled until eight
weeks old, its whole nature soon changes and the food given all
goes to build up the frame. At this age they will stand very
heavy feeding without injury, or adding to their flesh ; in fact, it

31

is very difficult to keep them in good condition for market or
table, as the tendency is to grow lean and lank rather than fat.

In order to keep up the rapid pace of de\elopment it is
necessary to tempt their appetite by feeding moistened mash for
the morning food and also late at night so that there will be some
for the early morning before the attendant has put in an appear-
ance.

The mash should consist of equal parts by measure of
ground oats, wheat bran and corn meal, and at least as much
cut clover, alfalfa, or lawn clippings as all these others, and as
much more as you can induce the chicks to eat. The whole
should be moistened with milk and seasoned with a little salt.
Water may be used instead of milk, but milk is better. We use
sweet milk in winter and sour in summer. When the milk can-
not be had, some granulated milk, fresh lean meat, or meat
scraps should be fed in small quantities.

At noon they are given whole oats that have been covered
with water since morning. After the first week the oats may be
fed dry.

Dry wheat bran, green food or cut clover must be fed to
furnish the bulk and keep them in perfect condition.

Cracked corn is fed late in the afternoon before giving the
mash for night. In this way they are induced to eat more than
they otherwise would, should the mash and cracked corn be fed
at the same time.

The success of the work depends entirely upon the amount of
food they can be made to consume and digest. Besides the
quick development, we get hens better adapted for large egg
yields, as all food not required to keep up the system must be
turned into eggs, and the amount of the egg yield depends en-
tirely upon the amount of food the hen can be made to consume.

FEEDING FOR EARLY MATURITY.

The pullets are now three months old, and have been fed in
a manner to develop the frame with large strong bones, lacking
only the filling out to make perfectly matured birds.

Our aim now is to feed all we can get them to eat of as many
kinds of food as we can get , consisting of whole grain , ground food ,
shell, green food, etc. The time of the day for feeding the dif-
ferent kinds of food does not matter very much if they get whole
grain at night with a liberal amount of corn. To determine when
they are properly fed, the condition of the crop at roosting time
and in the early morning will tell the story. When ready for

32

the roosts the crops should be completely filled and rather hard,
and in the morning they should be comparatively empty.

When the crops are not completely filled at night there is
something lacking in the bill of fare that they need, and they
should be tried with a little of everything we have to feed until
they get what they are so much in need of. The bulky food should
be given largely during the early part of the day, as it is easily
digested, giving them a good appetite for the more substantial
food later in the day.

When food is found in the crop in the early morning there
should be more gravel or grit fed, and for this we prefer ground
oyster or clam shells in addition to the gravel, as it supplies lime
besides digestive material in larger quantities than obtained
from the crushed stone, marble, or granite. When this fails to
bring the desired results, less solid food should be given them,
and more of the bulky food. Cases of indigestion are seldom
found when they have access to the dry wheat bran.

The wet mash should be fed at least once each day, either
in the morning or at noon, consisting of equal parts by measure
of ground oats, wheat bran, corn meal, and as much clover or
alfalfa as all these other things. Skim milk may be used to
moisten this mixture, or w^ater, if milk cannot be had.

The mash should be seasoned with a little salt and a very
littVe pepper, either black or red, but not more than would be
used to season food for the table.

Dry wheat bran and whole oats should be kept before them
all of the time.

One of the most dif^cult tasks is grading the chickens, with-
out discarding valuable birds, and doing the work in time to fit
the seconds for two-pound broilers when but eight weeks old.

The color of the eyes sometimes changes when they are from
eight to ten weeks old, so it will be necessary to do some guess
work in grading three-weeks-old chickens regarding the color
of the eyes. The ear-lobes also change and take on the final
color when from eight to ten weeks old.

The color of the feathers on buff and white breeds should
be good when the chicken is small and the feathers just starting
although there is often a slight change in color when they take
on their adult plumage. The best specimens may be selected
when they are but three wrecks old. The legs and beak change
some after this age, still they are beginning to take on the final
color, and a very fair conclusion may be arrived at.

It is not difificult after a little practice to tell about what
the comb willbe,andall birds not strictly up to your expectations
in that respect should be turned into broilers, excepting the early

35

pullets that are bred for eggs, as they should be retained regard-
less of the required standard qualities.

The utility birds are more easily selected at a very young
age as those looking the brightest and the ones maturing in ad-
vance of others of the same age will always make the hustling
hens. They should have a bright keen eye, be quick in motion, and
the first to reach the feed when it is given them. These will be
the last to go to the roost at night, and the first to put in an ap-
pearance in the miorning.

TWO POUND BROILERS IN EIGHT WEEKS.

The care of the chickens during the first three weeks is
the same as before described, and the work of finishing up the
broilers is accomplished in the following fi\e weeks.

After the first three weeks they should be fed little and often,
five times daih' to get the best development in the shortest space
of time.

All food should be moistened with miilk excepting the crack-
ed corn fed at night and the dry wheat bran that is constantly
before them. Sweet milk to drink, as well as water, should be
given to get the best quality and largest quantity at the proper
age.

The mash at first should consist of equal parts, by measure
of corn meal, ground oats and wheat bran, and as much clover
or alfalfa as they can be induced to eat. When they are four
weeks old gradually change the bran for middlings, until one-
sixth of the mash is composed of middlings; when six weeks old
gradually increase the amount of corn meal and add a little lin-
seed meal to the mixture

All moistened food for chicks or fowls should be slightly
salted as for table use.

The chicks should be provided with cut clover, or other green
food in addition to what is in the mash.

When forcing for heavy weight they must be kept on the
ground to prevent leg weakness. The ground should be spaded
every day and not allowed to get wet from a soaking rain.

When the feeding has been properly handled the crops should
be full at night. If they are not full, and the chicks are not in-
clined to fill them, a little less food should be given during the
day, and gradually increased until the last feeding time at night.

When broilers are allowed to roam the fields they develop
their leg muscles, which become tough and their flesh will be
nearly as hard as that of older fowls. A broiler raised bv our

56

system is as tender as a squab, and the quality cannot be excelled .
In a few instances we have raised broilers weighing a little
over two pounds in seven weeks.

A BROILER FARM ON A CITY LOT.

In answer to many inquiries regarding the possibilities of
the broiler business on a city lot, we are herewith giving figures
made from the results of tests made repeatedly, to show
what may be accomplished on a city lot, fifty feet square,
containing 2,500 square feet of ground.

These figures may appear exaggerated to many; still they
are not overestimated, as we do not allow as much space here in
actual practice. However, it is best to allow this space for the
alleys on account of saving labor in the care of growing chickens.
It is also possible to increase the number of finished broilers
from twenty to twenty-five to the coop, adding twenty per cent,
to gross receipts. In making the estimate, liberal allowance
has been made for mortality, allowing twenty per cent, loss,
while in actual practice here, and also in many other places where
this system is being used, the mortality is less than five per cent.

The writer had the pleasure, recently, of showing Mr. J.
W. Froley, of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, our small city-
plant and the broilers being raised by the new system. In one
section of the chicken department we had a little over 200 pounds
of broilers, and the total amount of ground occupied with the
coops and walk is twenty feet long by five feet wide. These
chickens, how^ever, are past the broiler age, as they will now weigh
a little over four pounds each, and the figures given are simply
to show that former estimates as to the amount of poultry that
can be successfully raised on a given space of ground are far from
reaching the limit of possibilities.

All of the work necessary could be accomplished by one man,
and we are not sure but one good, active woman would have still
better success, as women are more likely to look after the little
details, which are very essential during the first week of the chick-
en's life. With the help of a man one day in the week to do
some heavy work and cleaning, it would not be very difficult to
handle the plant, although very confining, possibly more so than
the average person would care to undertake.

It would also be possible for a very strong, active man to
care for this plant so as to produce the eggs necessary to use from
which to hatch the chickens, and one is more likely to succeed
when getting eggs from his own hens than where it is necessary

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Ground plan of a city lot, showing the arrangement of sixty Philo System

coops and walks, where $1,450.00 worth of broilers can be raised

in eight months on a city lot fifty feet square.

to purchase the eggs. However, it is possible to arrange with
some good, reliable farmer to raise the eggs, even though it may
be necessary to furnish him with the kind of breeding stock
desired for broilers. We sometimes furnish the breeders and pay
the farmer a little above the market price for the eggs produced
by our hens, with the understanding that they are to be fed ex-
actly as_we feed to produce eggs capable of hatching chickens
which will develop into finished broilers in the shortest space of
time.

38

Our average hatches have been better than 85 per cent,
during the past several years; still in making the figures we only
estimate on 50 per cent, hatches, making it necessary to set 50
eggs per day to hatch 25 chickens to keep all coops filled. After
the first chickens hatched are two months old, twenty or more
two-pound broilers would be ready for market daily. This
would allow for twenty per cent, mortality, which is greatly in
excess of our losses, and also make a daily output of forty pounds
of finished broilers including Sundays; although the Sunday
chickens should be sold on the following Monday, making the
amount 80 pounds in place of 40 pounds as on all other days.

Commencing to hatch chickens by January 1st, the first
large broilers would be ready to market about the first of March.
In many markets there is a demand for broilers about half the
weight of the two-months broilers, and many could be sold by
February 1.5th, bringing as much per chicken as they would when
fully two months old. While this would add to the income of
the plant, we will omit it from the estimate as the returns made
from the regular line will be in excess of former estimates, and
will be doubted by many who do not know the possibilities. A
visit to our small city plant here has convinced the most skeptical
that we can do all we are claiming, and are now doing a little more.

During March and April 20 broilers per day can be marketed
at 50 cents each. In May and June they should bring 40 cents
each, and in July and August about 30 cents, making a total
income auring the six months of $1,450.00. At the very high
price of all kinds of grain and the necessary food the cost of feed-
ing, and eggs for incubation^ should not exceed $576.00, leaving
a balance of $874.00 net profit. This is not all, as 600 capons
could be matured in the same plant, using the cockerels in the
last lot of broilers for capons, which should be developed to weigh
from eight tc twelve pounds by January 1st, or by the time of
starting the broilers tor another year. This should add at least
$300.00 to the profits of the plant.

In our plant here we matured ten of the late hatched pullets
in each of the brooder coops, and many of them were laying in
coops during the coldest winter weather.

Several tons of the best f ertilizei would be made which should
also add much to the income of the plant.

Nowabou th( Investment. We will take it for granted that
the party operating the plant owns a plot of ground fifty feet
square, or that this small space is included when renting a house
in which to live. However, extra rent could be paid and there
would still be left more clear money than 99 per cent, of the labor-
ing oeople make.

33

The material for the brooder coops and small boxes for
brooders could be bought for about $350.00, and 21 cycle Hatchers
at wholesale prices for $84,00. In addition to these amounts
$80.00 would be required for food until the firsr sales were made,
making a total investment of $514.00. This is a comparatively
small amount of capital to invest in a plant that promises so
well in returns.

With the former ways of handling the business there is a
constant danger of loss by fire and of injuring the chickens by
lamps, which sometimes get unreliable. By the improved meth-
od all the danger from fire is eliminated, besides the loss caused
so many times from hawks, cats, dogs and other prowling animals.

Just a word of caution in conclusion, as we do not wish an^--
one to think such returns would be possible without some ex-
perience or knowledge of the work. Although there is not the
first thing that any ordinaril}/ bright person could not do after a
little experience, it would be very unwise to attempt the work in
a large way without first mastering the little details by putting
into actual test the smallest unit of this plant. If, by its use,
you can accomplish very nearly as good results as we are getting
here, producing forty pounds of broilers in each single coop in
eight weeks, you will not have any difficulty in developing
the plant to the full capacity and do even better than we are now
doing.

HOW TO GET LARGE EGG YIELDS.

In the directions for the care of breeding stock the essential
points for getting large egg yields are well covered. Larger
yields may be had by increasing the amount of meat scraps and
providing sweet milk after the cream has been removed. The
milk will not injure the quality of the eggs for incubation, neither
will fresh, lean meat. Commercial meat scraps when not com-
posed entirely of lean meat will injure the quality of eggs for
hatching when fed in quantities to get the largest egg yield.

The best egg yields are obtained where the hens have an
abundance of bulky food, clean water, oyster shells, sweet milk
freshlean meat, a large variety of grain, dry wheat bran, and a
comfortable roosting place. Never feed laying hens by measure.
Give them all they will eat or you cannot get the best egg yield.
See that the hens are provided with all the above, and your egg
basket will be well filled.

40

HOW TO GET EGGS WHEN PRICES ARE HIGH.

Change the Season for Hatching and the Hens Will Molt

in the Spring as Naturally as They Now Molt

in the Fall.

Poultry keepers who are satisfied to handle poultry just as
their grandfathers handled it must be content when selling eggs
at the lowest market price. However, this is not necessary, as
recent discoveries are changing conditions which cause the hens
to be more productive in the early winter and molt during the
spring months.

We all know that hens as commonly bred are more pro-
ductive in the spring and early summer than at any other time
of year. This is the natural breeding season, and they lay dur-
ing these months just because their mothers did, making it
difficult to convince them that the time they should do their
best is during the fall and winter months.

It would probably be safe to estimate that 99 per cent of
the hens raised for laying are hatched during May and June,
and our plan is to hatch them at the season of the year we wish
them to be most productive.

It requires some little effort and quite a bit of skill to bring
about the changes necessary to cause the breeding fowls to
produce fertile, hatchable eggs at this unnatural time, and the
first efTorts in this direction are the least successful. Each succeed-
ing year shows a decided improvement caused by using only the
early-hatched cockerels and pullets for the breeders, and being
particular to carry at least two lines of fowls not nearly related,
that out-crosses may be had each season without the necessity
of purchasing breeders which have not been hatched during the
early winter. The third season will show a marked degree of
improvement, and hatchable eggs will be more easily obtained.

Should every farmer and poultryman adopt the plan, the
time for high-priced eggs would soon be changed to the spring
months, as every one would have eggs to sell during the winter.
This, however, will never happen, as there are but few people who
would ever believe in the possibility of making such radical
changes, as compared with the multitude of poultry keepers who
would doubt the advisability of being progressive along any line
that would change the natural instinct and habits of hens.

All this talk is not theory. It is the result of patience and
perseverance in endeavoring to change the breeding season from
March, April and May to December, January and February.

41

Several years ago we commenced setting eggs January 20th,
hatching chickens February 10th. At first it was very difficult
to get hatchable eggs at this season of the year. A few of the
February hatched chickens were selected for the next winter's
breeders, and the eggs were 75 per cent, fertile and hatched well,
and the chickens showed more strength than those of the previous
year, while the eggs from later-hatched breeders were hardly
worth setting, although from the same strain of fowls, and fed
and cared for just as those producing the better eggs. This com-
menced to open our eyes, and we were still more surprised the
following year to find nearly every egg capable of producing a
strong, healthy chicken.

Our first winter-hatched chickens last season were
forced for early egg production, and were laying at a lively rate
during July and August and in fact all the fall, when eggs were
selling at forty to fifty cents per dozen, and we never had hens
more productive during the months of April and May. Decem-
ber 10th thirty-nine eggs were started to incubate to test the
fertility, and from these, twenty-seven sturdy chickens hatched
January 1st. They were placed out of doors January 2nd with-
out artificial heat and were raised almost without loss. At this
writing. May 1st, the average weight is four pounds. The cock-
erels weighing four and one-half pounds and the three pullets
three and one-half pounds each.

From this experience we have learned several things: First,
that by proper selection and breeding, eggs may be produced
that will hatch as well in January, and the chickens will be as
strong, as those hatched in June ; second, that chickens may be
raised with the least trouble without artificial heat during' the
coldest winter weather ; third, that the surplus brings the
highest market price, and that the pullets will do most of the lay-
ing during the time eggs are worth gathering. And this is not all.
When the pullets are kept in condition to lay all through the win-
ter they will molt during the spring and will then be in condition
to lay valuable eggs during the fall and winter while the spring-
hatched hens are resting.

Our pullets that were laying last July are now in the full
molt, which is conclusive evidence that we are not laboring under
a mistake, and also that changing the season for hatching
will also change the season of greatest productiveness.

Like many other valuable discoveries, this has all come about
while working for other purposes, especially to get show birds
that would be fully developed for the August and September
shows, and not trying to breed them to lay during the unnatural
season. Still the results from the out-of-season work ha\e been

42

more valuable to us along unexpected lines than the purpose
for which we were striving. ^

SUMMER AND FALL CHICKENS.

All chickens hatched by July 1st can be fully matured be-
fore the extreme cold of winter sets in, and will make valuable
poultry for late breeders or for laying market eggs.

In this section of the country it is difficult to raise chickens
during July and August when given free range, as the insects
are too numerous and many of them are very injurious, causing
bowel trouble, which results in the loss of many chicks. When con-
fined to the coops we recommend, and the coops are protected from
thedirect rays of the sun, the chickens will mature as rapidly and
make as good poultry as those hatched during the earlier months.
Berry bushes, lima beans or sun flowers make good shade, and
when the rows are planted six feet apart the coops may be moved
between the rows. Beans and sun flowers may be planted in the
same hill or drill, and you will not have to set^poles, as the sun-
flowers grow tall and answer the purpose very nicely.

It will be better for the farmers who wish to allow the chicks
free range to set as many eggs as possible from the first to the
tenth of August. The chicks will then hatch just before the first
of September and, with proper care, will grow and develop
more rapidly than at any other season of the year. The cock-
erels will be just in time for the Thanksgiving market and the
pullets can be wintered cheaply and will commence laying in the
early spring, making the very best summer layers, in fact, con-
tinuing to lay after the earlier hatched have stopped.

PEDIGREE BREEDING.

It is safe to estimate that not over one poultry keeper in a
thousand can tell the father and mother of each chicken raised
or who can tell just what to expect from the results of mating
more than two or three hens in a flock. If we are to reach the
success we are striving for it is very important that we know the
exact breeding of every chicken raised so as to be able to take
advantage of our season's work and know about what to expect
from a certain line of mating.

At the beginning of the season we were determined to be
systematic and that we would know at the end of the season the
father and mother of each chicken raised. We used all the six-

43

teen toe marks, but soon learned that it would be necessary to
mark the chickens in other ways if we were to keep an accurate
record of all the chickens.

During the present year w^e have already mated each of our
five best exhibition hens to four of our best exhibition males.
With these several matings it has been necessary to have four
distinct marks for each of the live hens, making tw^enty in all,
to keep an accurate record showing the ancestors of each chicken
raised. After all the sixteen toe marks had been used we com-
menced using aluminum pigeon bands, which are simply pressed
together and may be expanded as the legs of the chickens develop.
When the chickens are banded, the records are made by using
the number on the band to distinguish the chickens.

To be accurate and know the sire of every chicken, it is
necessary to incubate the eggs as long as the fertility lasts before
starting the next mating, when fertile eggs may be expected in
three days.

When several hundred chickens are banded it is quite a task
to see that the bands are not too tight. At the time of expanding
the bands (which is necessary about once every two weeks) we
get much pleasure in consulting the records and noting the devel-
opment and markings of the chickens from certain matings, and
w^e soon learn the source from which the best chickens come,
giving us an opportunity to produce more chickens from the same
line before the close of the season, and to discard all breeders
failing to produce strong, healthy chickens of the quality desired
and those not maturing properly.

When the chickens have outgrown the pigeon bands, larger
ones must be substituted, and the new numbers recorded in their
proper place.

W'hen attempting this w^ork with twelve to fifteen males and
nearly a hundred females to select from, much thought and study
are necessary to get the best results and to get the majority of
the chickens from the breeders producing the best vspecimens.

The only advantage we have been able to find in breeding
old fowls is in knowing just what to expect from certain matings.
This may be good practice to a certain extent; still by so doing
we are satisfied to leave "well enough" alone and are not taking
advantage of the opportunity to raise better poultry. If we are
doing the work properly there should be an improvement in each
generation, and to use last season's breeders we are just one year
behind.

44

LEG WEAKNESS.

Winter chicks are often troubled with a weakness of the legs,
and some times the toes will turn under until they lose the use
of their feet. Indigestion is the cause, and the best remedy is
to stop all fattening food such as corn and corn meal. Give plenty
of ground oats, wheat bran and milk, until they have recovered
the use of their feet, then feed but sparingly of rich foods and
those hard to digest.

Leg weakness is seldom, if ever, found when the chicks are
on the ground, and when it is possible to keep them there it is
much better than on board floors.

GAPES.

When ground once becomes infected with gape worms, it is
very difficult to keep chicks free from the pests. The freezing
of the ground during the winter does not kill the worms, and the
chicks that have access to the infected ground soon become af-
flicted. If only a few are troubled, most of them may be saved
by removing the worms from the windpipes of the chicks with a
horse-hair or fine wire. But if they are put into our anti-lice
brooder, they may be more quickly treated. Sprinkle air-slaked
lime and pulverized sulphur on the cloth cover of the brooder.
When the chicks move about in the brooder the lime is sifted
through the cloth, causing the chicks to inhale a little of it during
the night. A very little of the lime should be used at a time,
so as not to smother the chicks. The same treatment is also
good for colds, canker, etc.

When fresh ground from the field is supplied for the brooder
runs to a depth of about ten inches, your chicks will never have
the gapes.

LICE.

Sprinkle a little lice powder on the brooder cloth over the
chickens and there will be no lice.

When the buildings are overrun with lice the best remedy is
boiling water. Thoroughly drench the inside of the building
with dipperfuls of boiling water. Do not use a spray, as the
water will cool before reaching the lice.

Dissolve as much salt as pOvSsible in the water and one treat
ment will generally last a full season.

Old fowls dusting in wood ashes will be free from lice

47
BROODING CHICKENS WITHOUT ARTIFICIAL HEAT.

Thousands of chickens are raised every year without arti-
ficial heat. It is not a new discovery, as it has been practiced in
China and Egypt many centuries, yet Americans, usually quick
to take advantage of improved methods, have been slow in dis-
covering the advantages of this system. We as Americans are
not satisfied to accomplish things in a small way like our ancient
friends, and have endeavored to devise appliances whereby the
chickens may be turned out like the output of great factories.
Although the output may be unlimited, nature has something
to say when its laws are violated to any great extent. Raising
the chickens is not at all unlike hatching them. By furnishing
a little higher degree of heat than is given the eggs under natural
conditions we hasten the process of incubation from twenty-four
to forty-eight hours and get bright, healthy looking youngsters
until the time arrives for them to derive nourishment from the
absorbed yolk, when excessive heating having hardened the yolk,
the chick must soon perish. Chickens thrive for a time when
subjected to a temperature above that supplied by the mother hen,
still the bad eftccts are soon discovered and the chicken dwindles
without any apparent cause. Naturealsorebels when the number
of chickens in one flock is greatly in excess of those raised under
natural conditions.

We have raised chickens successfully for many years with-
out supplying heat, and in many instances where the temper-
ature would drop below zero for a week at a time, and without
loss or bad effect on any of the chickens. Until the last few years
our experiments have been too elaborate and complicated to be
practical. All that is really required is a very simple device
by which the natural heat of the chicken is retained.

The plan we give in this book is very simple, yet the proper
conditions may be had for successful work, and without the danger
so common and fatal with the average artificially heated brooder.

We are not surprised that people generally are slow to be-
lieve it possible to brood baby chickens successfully during the
coldest winter weather out of doors without artificial heat, and
were it not for the fact that they are thus grown right under our
own eyes we might be as slow as others to think it possible to
accomplish the work in a satisfactory manner.

While writing this for the book in a comfortable office by the
side of a warm fire — there are about forty baby chickens in one
flock now only two days old just a few feet away out of doors in
the brooders without artificial heat. There are also several
other flocks one week old, two weeks old, three weeks old, etc ,

until reaching maturity. Since the two younger lots have been
hatched and placed in the yard the weather has been cloudy and
very cold with only one day of partial sunshine. Several morn-
ings have found the temperature at zero, and yesterday it was
12° below. A heavy fall of snow last night and today has nearly
covered the brooder coops, the glass is thickly covered with
frost, yet the chickens in the frosted coops, now only a few days
old, are as bright and lively as crickets.

It has required many years of study and experimenting to
give the writer courage to make the trial during the extreme winter
weather, although it has been a success during the spring and
summer for many years past.

Hardly a day passes when people are not here from hundreds
of miles away to see the tiny living balls of downy chickens in
their snow-bound quarters, as chipper and bright as snow birds
on a cold winter's day.

AH conditions must be absolutely correct to be successful
during the coldest weather. To get these results the details of
the work as set forth in this article must be carefully followed or
there will be a lot of frozen chickens and disappointed poultry
keepers. One party who was very anxious to try brooding with-
out heat, during one of the coldest days last winter placed two
chickens, just hatched, out of doors, without heat early in the
morning before going to work. On returning at noon the chickens
were found right where they had been left and were frozen until
they were as hard as the heart of the thoughtless keeper. Had he
profited by what he had read he would have known that it re-
quired at least twenty-five chickens to furnish the necessary heat
to keep them warm.

In the first place we will take up the construction of the latest
brooder coops just as they are now being used by us with the best
success, and hope to mak it so plain that additional information
will not be necessary.

BROODER COOP CONSTRUCTION:— Hemlock lumber
is used for the foundation, as it will last longer when placed on
the ground than any other kind of inexpensive lumber. The
box part of the brooder coops is made of North Carolina pine, as
good, sound boards twelve inches wide can be bought at a lower
price than any other kind of lumber, and when it is painted in-
side and outside it will last many years. The strips for the tops
and sliding frames are made of soft pine or native poplar, either
of which will hold a nail without splitting and are light to handle
and durable. We use one-ply Paroid roofing for floors and two-
ply for the roof.

51

The center partition is held in position with cleats so it c;in
be easily removed when not required to retain the heat for the
little chickens.

FOUNDATION :-The foundation frames are made of 1x4
in. lumber just the size of the coop, six feet long and three feet
wide outside with a four inch partition in the center. In one
end of the coop the floor is laid on strips about one and one-half
•inches from the bottom to keep the boards off the ground and
prevent them from getting damp. The floor is then covered with
one-ply roofing material that the moisture from the top may not
penetrate the boards when the litter becomes damp.

The coops and foundations were formerly made of square
edged boards. We are now making them ship lapped to hold
the sections and foundations together without being nailed, and
to prevent the storms and wind from going through the open
cracks which are likely to appear when square-edged boards are
used. Any lumber dealer will understand the term ship lap, so
that you will not have any trouble in getting this kind of lumber.

COOPS: — The brooder coop is the exact size of the founda-
tion frame, three feet wide and six feet long. The boards are
ship lapped on the bottom edge to fit over the foundation. The
back board is twelve inches wide and the two ends and center
boards are one and one-quarter inches narrower to allow room for
the sliding frame and three-eighths of an inch between the frame
and the cover for ventilation when the coop is closed on very
cold nights. An opening four inches square is cut in the partition
board for the chickens to pass from one end of the coop to the
other. A sash one foot wide by six feet long, having six panes
of glass, is used to form the front of the coop, and the bottom of
of the sash is also rabbetted to fit the foundation. Parting strips
1-2x7-8 in., which are used in building window f ramies, may be
had at almost any lumber yard. These are nailed lengthwise
on the inside of the back board and the inside top edge of the
sash 1 1-4 in. down from the top so that they will come level with
the ends of the coop for the muslin frame to slide on.

SLIDINCx FRAME:— The muslin frame is made of 7-8
xl l-2in. strips of lumber mitered at the corner and with a center
piece of the same material to strengthen the long sides. The
frame is covered with one-inch wire netting and over this is
tacked an inexpensive grade of unbleached muslin. The entire
frame is covered for cold weather or where the climate is cold , but
during warm weather only one-half of the frame is covered with
muslin. This frame may be made of 1-2x1 1-2 or 2 in. strips
and lapped at the corners instead of mitering, which might be

02

easier tor some people who are not accustomed to this kind of
work.

We are now putting the Paroid on top of the frame work
instead of on the under side with three strips on top as described
below.

In making the roof two strips 6 ft, 2 in. long are used, the
front one 3 in. wide, and the back one 2 in. For the ribs on the
under side we use eight strips 2 ft. 9 in. long and 2 in. wide, and
one strip 2 ft. 9 in. long and 3 in. wide. For the top we use two
strips 3 ft. 2 in. long and 2 in. wide, and one strip 3 ft. 2 in. long
and 3 in. wide. All these are 7-8 in. thick.

The Paroid is 3 ft. wide and we cut two pieces 3 ft. 2 in.
long. The ends of each piece of Paroid are nailed to the long
strips, with the outer edge of each piece even with the ends of
the long strips. This makes the roof 6 ft. 2 in. long and 3 ft. 2
in. wide, with a two in. open space in the center between the two
pieces of Paroid.

Now turn the roof over and nail the nine 2 ft. 9 in. strips
(the 3 in. one in the center) between the inside edges of the long
strips. These shorter strips should be cut so as to crowd the
long strips apart and stretch the Paroid to remove all wrinkles.
When these strips are all nailed in their places, turn the roof over
again and nail the Paroid to these short strips, taking pains to see
that the inside edges are securely fastened to the 3 in. strip. Fill
the space between these edges with roofing cement or paint, and
also let it come over a little on each edge. You now have left
the three 3 ft. 2 in. strips ; nail the 3 in. strip over this center space,
and a 2 in. strip at each end. This will now be the top of the
roof, with three strips showing over the Paroid, while the under-
side will have two long strips and nine short ones. This arrange-
ment makes the roof absolutely water-proof.

Astripof wood 1-2 in. thick by 1 1-2 in. wide and 3 feet long is
used to hold the roof in any desired position. A small hole is
bored through one end of the stick to fasten it to the top edge of
front sash. The hole should be large enough to allow the stick
to move at any angle without binding, but not so much that it
will slide off the head of the screw. Several larger holes are bored
in the stick so that they will slide over the head of the screw m
the center of the front edge of the roof, that it may be adjusted
at any desired angle, as it is sometimes advisable to change the
adjustment in varied weather conditions. When the sun shines
the roof should be wide open and when it is stormy, it should be
nearly closed, but not entirely closed unless the weather is very
cold.

HOW TO SET THE COOPS ;— The ground should be nearly
level where the coop is set. ^ If the ground is frozen hard it will
not matter, as the sun shining through the sash will soon draw
the frost, and the little chicks over the board floor will not suffer
even though the ground is frozen solid.

The coop should be placed so it will face the south during
the winter, and if possible where there will not be any obstruction
to prevent what little sunshine there is from entering the coop.

The roof should be opened when the sun is shining, to dry
out the cloth and give a 11 the ventilation it is possible to give them
without exposure. When the sun is not shining, and at night,
the roof should be closed, unless the night is warm, when it may
be left open about six inches. During the warn weather the
coop should face the north, and the roof will shield the chickens
from the direct rays of the sun.

When there is twice as much ground as required for coops
it might be an advantage to move the coops once each week to
give the ground a chance to purify itself by absorbing the am-
monia and decomposed matter from the droppings, requiring
less spading to keep everything in a perfectly sanitary condition.

It is not uncommon to find filthy conditions in poultry yards
where valuable stock is being raised, when a few minutes properly
used every day would keep everything in fine order.

The cover is used as a protection against storm and against
the direct rays of the sun, when too warm for the comfort of the
chickens, and may be lifted to any desired angle to make the
chickens comfortable with unfavorable weather conditions.
When the chicks are very young the cover is let down flat at
night to retain the heat.

The cost of this brooder coop is not over half the cost of
coops commonly used for the same purpose. The chickens are
at all times in the best possible condition to raise them practically
without loss.

For an experiment a cockerel weighing about three pounds
was taken from one of the coops and given his liberty and the
free run of the garden. In just a month he gained one pound in
weight, while those confined in the coops gained one and a half
pounds each. This bird was given the same kind of food as thoi e
confined, besides having the pick of the garden.

'A

BROODER WITHOUT ARTIFICIAL HEAT.

BROODER BOX CONSTRUCTION:— Make a box of
half-inch or thicker lumber eighteen inches square inside and eight
inches deep. Cover the bottom of the box with water-proof
roofing material so that it may be easily cleaned and to prevent
the bottom board from getting damp. Cut an opening in the
center of one side of the box three and one-half inches square
for the chickens to enter.

Make a frame of one-half inch by one inch strips of lumber
a little less than eighteen inches square so it will fit loosely in the
brooder box. The corners of the frame may be lapped and nailed,
or mitered. ' Tack a piece of unbleached muslin or cotton cloth
on the underside of the frame so it will sag in the center about
two inches below the frame. This is best accomplished by mak-
ing half-inch plaits in the cloth about two inches from each cor-
ner of the frame. Small nails may be partially driven on the
inside of the box to hold the frame at the desired height.

87

Three cushions are made of muslin or cotton cloth eighteen
inches square, or just the right size to fill the box, and each of
these is filled with about one-half pound of cotton, so when
finished they will be about one inch thick. The three cushions
should weigh about one and one-half pounds. They should be
tied as in making comfortables to hold the cotton in place. The
cushions are the only tops to the brooder boxes and are better
than to have a board cover.

This brooder box will accomodate about fifty chickens at
first and from twenty-five to thirty when they are four weeks
old. It will brood twenty-five chickens as long as they require
brooding during the coldest weather. The brooder is to be used
inside the brooder coop, which will afford ample protection for
tnG chicles

THE BEST WAY TO LEARN HOW:— While it is possible
to raise the finest chickens during the coldest weather without
artificial heat, it is somewhat safer and easier to keep them in the
"Metal Mother" at first (which is supplied with heat and auto-
matically regulated) until they are about one week old. They
learn to go into the heated brooders with less teaching, and when
about one week old the lampless brooders will be more readily
accepted.

After having a little experience in brooding without heat
there will not be any difficultyin placing the chickens in the lamp-
less brooders as soon as hatched; even during the coldest weather.

There should never be less than 25 chickens at first when the
weather is freezing cold, and when it is zero weather there should
be about 40, and when it is 25 below zero there should be 50
ch'ckens in each brooder. Although it might be possible to
brood them out of doors without heat when it is colder than 25
degrees below zero, we haven't made the test, as this is about
the coldest weather we ever have in this locality.

In testing the work where it is much colder, we would carry
the chickens into the house at night, brooder box and all, and
only place them out in the brooder coop when the sun is shining,
untilthey are old enough to stand the cold and keep comfortably
warm at night when in the brooder box.

When there are but few chickens to brood and the weather
is very cold they should only be placed out of doors when the
sun is shining,until they are about one week old, or 1 arge enough
to keep warm without being carried into the house.

When the chicks are first hatched the box is filled to the
cloth-covered frame with cut clover or other fine litter. A small
nest is made in the center just large enough to hold the chickens,
and as soon as the chickens are old enough to run out. a little

58

depression is made in the litter to the opening of the brooder.

The litter should be changed as often as it becomes damp
which is about once the first week and twice each week when the
chickens are older.

Place the cloth-covered frame in the brooder box so the lower
part of the cloth will just touch the litter, which should be at
least once inch deep in the center of the box and much deeper
around the sides of the box. Over this place one cushion at
first when the weather is warm, two cushions when it is freezing,
and three cushions for zero weather. The correct number ot
cushions to use after the chickensare older can only be determined
by the number of chickens in the brooder, their size and the
condition of the weather. The desired conditions can best be
learned by running the hand through the small opening in the
box after the chickens have been in it for about one hour. When
they are found crowded together and there is evidence of moisture,
the cushions should be lowered to keep out circulating air, there-
by inducing the chickens to spread out rather than to huddle.
The top cushion will become quite damp and should be placed
out in the sun and air to dry two or three times weekly. A few
extra cushions will be found very handy.

During zero weather when the chickens are first hatched the
small opening in the side of the box should be banked with clover
to keep out the cold air. If the clover is dry there will not be
any danger of smothering the chickens, as the ventilation through
it will give them all the air they require on a zero night, and the
opening should never be closed in any other way. The brooder
should always be used in the brooder coop , made after the plans
as set forth in this book.

The brooder box should be placed in the end of the brooder
coop, having a floor and dry litter, and the chickens confined to
this end of the coop, until they are old enough to find their way
back to the brooder, which is generally in about three days after
being hatched. The cut clover or litter should be about one
inch thick over the floor of the coop, a nd should be changed as
often as it becomes damp.

The chickens are always fed in the brooder coop outside of
the brooder box, even during the coldest weather, which will not
injure them in the least, provided they find their way back soon
after they have satisfied their hunger. Thehalf of the brooder
coop without the floor should be filled with finely sifted sand
about four inches deep, so it will come about level with the floor
and high enough above the ground to keep it reasonably dry.
It is better, however, not to become perfectly dry, but should be
just dry enough to keep it fine, and moist enough to sprout grain

59

that should be mixed in with the sand each day. At first a very
little chick food is sprinkled over the sand and slightly mixed
with it so it will not be difificult for the chickens to find it. When
kept busily at work scratching for the food, and provided with
an abundance of dry wheat bran and sprouted oats they will
never have indigestion, weak legs, or the blind staggers, which
are common with winter chickens raised on board floors.
(See page 29, Feeding The First Three Weeks.)

SUMMER COLONY COOP.

Every poultryman, farmer or fancier will find our light
Summer Colony Coops of much value, even though our entire
system is not adopted. They are especially well adapted for
use as a desirable place to keep a small breeding pen from early
Spring until the end of the season. They may also be used to
the best advantage as a brooder coop, as well as for broody hens,
fattening cockerels, maturing pullets, and growing capons.

The cost of material and labor to build this style of coop is
not over half that required to build the Winter Colony Coop, and
its value in a poultry plant can hardly be overestimated.

Two panels four feet wide and twelve feet long are used in
forming the coop. Two three-cornered ends made with doors,
and one partition covered with muslin, make the complete coop
without furniture, the center partition being used only in cold
weather to retain the heat while the fowls are roosting, or when
used as a brooder coop to retain the heat for the chickens.

The lumber used is half or three-quarter inch strips two
inches wide and four feet long running up and down; the ends are
nailed to three by one inch strips twelve feet long. Heavy water-
proof roofing material is used to enclose the ends, and six feet of
che center is covered with one-inch mesh wire netting, making
a roosting room, feed room and park. The one-inch mesh wire
is used to keep sparrows out.

CONSTRUCTION OF SUMMER COLONY COOP.

To make the panels, mark out a place on the floor four feet
wide by twelve feet long, and draw a four-feet cross line three feet
from either end, leaving six feet in the center. By measuring
with a rod about thirteen feet long from corner to corner in the
form of a letter X you will get the panels perfectly square when
the measurements are alike from either corner. Nail four or
five cleats along each of the twelve feet lines, place the two-inch

60

Strip twelve feet long on one of the lines and the three-inch strip
on the other. Cut roofing material that is three feet wide in
strips four feet long, and one-inch mesh wire netting that is four
feet wide in strips six feet three inches long. Tack the roofing
and netting in place on one of the twelve-feet strips, then nail
over this the six four-feet strips as indicated in the drawing.
Nail the other end of the four-feet strips, and also the roofing and
wire to the other long strip, drawing it tight and smooth. Turn
the panel over and nail the roofing and netting to the four-feet
strips, and the panel will be completed.

When two long panels have been completed, stand them up
and fasten the top edges together, then spread the bottoms three
feet six inches. You will then have the exact size and shape for
the end panels. Make a drawing on the floor of this size. Lay a
piece of ten-inch board along the bottom line, then hold over the
long lines a straight-edge strip which will give the bevel to mark
the ten-inch board, making a pattern to be used in marking out
as many of the ten-inch boards as will be needed to complete the
coops.

"In the same manner lay a one by two-inch strip along the
four-feet line, find the center of the bottom line which will be
twenty-two inches from the corner, lay a strip over this line with
the other end over a point where the two four-feet lines intersect ;
marking along this strip will give the correct miter for the upper
corner, and a pattern to use in laying out the others. The doors
are made in the same manner of a proper size to fit inside the
other frame, and long enough to lap a half inch over the face side
of the ten-inch base board.

The doors are covered with muslin or roofing material and
hinged to the frame making the end panel.

When used early in the spring and late in the fall, panels
four by six feet covered with roofing material are used over the
netting to protect the birds from the rain and snow. They are
fastened at the top -with screw hooks or light hinges, and are
raised at any desired angle to overcome unfavorable weather
conditions.

The arrangement of the roosts, nests, etc., is plainly shown
in the drawings.

HOW TO USE THE SUMMER COLONY COOP.

It is best to place this coop over mellow soil without grass
sod, as the fowls require exercise to keep them in perfect condi-
tion. A handful of whole oats raked or spaded into the mellow

soil every day will provide the necessary attraction and also
some green food, as some of the grain will not be discovered until
it sends forth a delicate sprout that is greatly relished.

When not limited for room, the most desirable conditions
may be had by seeding to clover a strip of ground six feet wide
by twenty-five feet long. One by six hemlock boards should be
placed in the ground along either edge of the clover sod , extending
about one inch above the sod to protect the edges from being
scratched out. The colony coop is placed crosswise over the
sod (when thoroughly established,) in a manner to bring the por-
tion enclosed in the netting over the sod with the three feet on
either end over the mellow soil for exercise and dusting. The
coop is moved three and one-half feet, or just its width every
day to give its occupants a fresh supply of clover, and also to
prevent them from digging up the roots. The space of twenty-
five feet will allow seven days for moving the coop without being
in the same position any two days, allowing seven days to re-
plenish the clover that is consumed in one day. This brings
about ideal conditions for a breeding pen of six hens, and when
they fail under such conditions to produce six eggs per day many
days in the season, they have not been properly bred.

When limited for room the coop may be kept in one position
during the entire season by thoroughly working the soil.

WINTER COLONY COOP.

In our Winter Colony Coop we have combined a complete
poultry plant, especially well adapted for housing and yarding
poultry of all ages from the day they are first hatched, at all
seasons of the year, and in all weather conditions from the hottest
summer days of the South to the coldest days of the extreme
iN'orth. With this coop it is possible for parties renting property,
and the city fancier limited for space, to raise as fine poultry, and
get as good returns as the farmer who has unlimited range. The
entire poultry plant is moved as easily as household furniture,
and a day's notice (without handling a hen) will enable one to
locate his plant many miles from the original site.

Many people refrain from keeping poultry on account of
the cost of building, without any assurance of being able to dis-
pose of the buildings at the original cost. With our system there
will be a demand for the coops, when properly constructed of
good materials, at nearly the original cost. The actual expense
of building them to accommodate any number of hens is not over
three-fourths as much as a large house would cost to accommodate

the same number of fowls. The egg yield will be at least twenty
five per cent, greater than where twenty-five or fifty hens are
kept in one flock, and a larger number of the chickens hatched
may be raised, making better fowls than would be possible to
raise under ordinary conditions.

The standard size of the coop is three feet wide, six feet long
and three feet eight inches high to the eaves with a gable one foot
higher, making the extreme height four feet eight inches to the
top of the gable. It is made two stories high with nest boxes,
roosts, feeding troughs, etc., on the second floor. Aside from
the space required for nest boxes, stairs, etc., there is left about
thirty square feet of floor space, which is ample room for six
laying hens and one male bird, fifty chicks the first three weeks,
or twenty-five chickens until they weigh three pounds each.
Ffteen pullets may be matured until they are ready to lay, or
twelve capons grown to perfection. These coops have many
advantages, and were it not for the fact that they are more ex-
pensive to build, we should use more of them.

CONSTRUCTION.

They are made from half-inch, three-fourths or one-inch
lumlDcr either matched or square edged and dressed. When a
good grade of matched lumber is used in the construction, and
nicely painted they make a very attractive coop that does not
look out of place in the best kept yards. When the cheaper
gradesof lumber are used it is necessary to cover the entire out-
side with water-proof roofing material, and when a good grade
is used and nicely applied they are attractive and durable.

The ends are made three feet wide, three feet eight inches
high to the eaves, and one foot higher to the top of the gable.
One end is made solid with three cross cleats of one by two inch
lumber, one being nailed at the bottom, one two feet from the
oottom for the second floor to rest on and the other across to
the eaves. The other end is made like a frame with three inch
sides, three inch bottom and a gable, leavingan opening two feet
six inches wide by three feet five high to be covered on the inside
with muslin and wire netting to keep out dogs, cats, rats, etc.
Extremely cold nights the coop is closed with the exception of
this window which provides the necessary ventilation. Where the
climate is very cold it is well to make a frame just the right size
to fit this opening, covering it with muslin on the outside to keep
out the cold. When in place there will be about an inch space
between the two thicknesses of muslin covering the window
opening.

ov

The sides are composed of two panels twenty-two inches
wide by six feet long and hinged in the center, the top half being
secured with screws to the ends, and the bottom half left unfasten-
ed so it may be opened by swinging up from the bottom. Both
sides are made alike, or if more light is desired in the lower story,
the upper part of one of these sides may be made of a long sash,
such as used in the brooder coop. _

The floor for the second story is made three feet wide and
five feet ten inches long, leaving an opening ten inches wide by
twenty inches long at the window end for the stairs which are
made from a board just wide enough to close the opening and
three feet long. Cleats are nailed on to aid the chickens in climb-
ing, and the board is hinged at the back end so it may be lifted
on very cold nights to retain the heat, and closed while very
young chickens are being raised in the upper story until they are
large enough to use the stairs.

The back portion of the roof Is covered with one panel two
feet wide by six feet four inches long, allowing a projection of
two inches at the eaves and over the gable ends. The front is
the same length and two inches wider, and divided into two sec-
tions, that one may be raised at a time. They are cleated on the
ends of the boards, as battens would interfere with the frames
under them. They are hinged to the top of the back roof and
allowed to extend over it one inch so there will be a one-inch lap
when the front is open, to prevent the rain from leaking through.

Two frames are made of 7-8x1 1-2 inch lumber, mitered and
nailed at the corners, and just the right size to fit the opening
when the front half of the roof is raised. One of these frames is
covered with muslin and the other with wire netting. In fine
weather both sides of the front portion of the roof are opened,
and on very cold days the side over the muslin. These frames are
made to slide. In feeding and caring for the fowls one frame is
slid over the other, and both are removed when cleaning the sec-
ond floor after the fowls have been driven down stairs.

In making the nests, a ten-inch board, two feet four Inches
long is placed in the opposite end from the window, fourteen
inches from the end ; two pieces of board fourteen inches long and
three inches wide are used to divide the two nests and hold the
straw in place where the hens enter.

The wide board is eight inches shorter than the width of the
coop, and is fastened to the front side of the coop, leaving an
eight by ten inch space at the back side for the hens to enter the
nests, which are under the roost boards.

A board fourteen inches wide by three feet long Is placed
over the nests with a two-inch strip around the sides, and a roost

one by two Indies and ttiree feet long is iastenea in position in tnc

center of the board three inches above it. The roost is used for
a handle to remove the dropping board when gathering the eggs
or to clean the board,which should be a portion of the day's work.

A strip of board four inches wide is placed at the window end
of the coop next to the stairs to prevent the litter from being
scratched down stairs.

Frames are made of 7-8x1 inch strips of lumber and covered
with one-inch wire netting to enclose the two sides of the lower
story. Two short strips an inch square and 4 in. long are nailed
to the foundation about 4 in. from each end. The frames are
hinged to these strips, and a round spring window catch, to hold
the frame in position when closed, is put through the top strip
of the frame, The frames are lowered when spading or raking
the soil. They are made enough smaller than the opening soJ>
that they will not bind.

A frame is made of two-by-fours six feet long and three feet
wide. They are set edgewise and are used as sills. Place them
where you wish the coop to stand, and level them, with the top
about two inches above the ground, leaving a two-inch space to
be filled with fine gravel and sand. The coop is placed on these
sills, and faces the south in winter and north in summer.

The door on the back side of the first floor of the coop is
never opened in winter, and the front side is opened on pleasant
days. By opening both sides and the front half of the roof in
summer, a shade is provided by the hanging doors and roof,
admitting a free circulation of air to keep the fowls comfortable,
and in fine condition.

As these coops are all made from panels they may be con-
structed indoors, and but a few minutes will be required to set
them up when completed.

Twelve-feet lumber either six or twelve inches wide is used
without waste and with but little ripping the boards.

Or if it is desired, one of the long sash described in connection
with the other coops may be used in the upper side of the floor
that encloses the lower part. If used, the upper outer edge may
be beveled so that it is only as thick as the board above it, to
shed water, and the hinges let in as far as necessary so that the
inside will be flush to allow the door to close. This will furnish
an abundance of light in cold and stormy weather, when the lower
part must be closed.

n

DOUBLE WINTER COLON V COOP.

We hardly expect farmers to build many of the single winter
colony coops on account of the small number of birds they afford
protection for and the additional amount of labor required in
caring for a number of small flocks, in place of the one large one
generally kept on the farm. However, should they try several
small flocks in place of the one large one, it would not require
many seasons to show them the advantages to be gained and the
increased egg production derived by the use of the colony system.

Our double house is designed largely for this class of poultry
keepers, as well as for others who have but little time to care for
fowls, and for those living in very cold sections. With birds
having large combs the double coop has advantages. The birds
are warmer in this coop, yet they have all the advantages of the
single coop, excepting that the fiock is double the size. There are
twice the number of birds in the coop, and the natural heat would
be twice as great; besides they are more than twice the distance
from the muslin window in the end, making the loss from radia-
tion very much less than where the birds roost within a few feet
of the window.

THE NEW ECONOMY COOP FOR WINTER AND SUMMER

USE.

During the past two years while raising so many fowls on
our small city yard we have been forced many times to keep more
fowls in the coops than is best and have often kept the pullets
in the brooder coops until they matured and commenced laying.
When the weather grew cold in the fall, it was necessary to close
the coops at night making it too low for the fully matured fowls
so they did not have head room in the brooder coops. It was
then necessary to double them up by removing the top of one
and setting another one on top of it to miake the coop about two
feet high. These we used for keeping odd lots of cockerels not
used in our breeding pens, and pullets not likely to commence
laying very soon, and we have been surprised to note the condi-
tion of the fowls thus kept and how early the pullets commenced
laying, and also how well they continued to lay while thus con-
fined. W^e also learned that the fowls in three of these coops could
be cared for in about the same length of time required to care for
those in one of the W^inter Colony Coops. This, of course, would
not matter much where there were but few fowls, but where a
great many nf them arp kept, the savins: of a little time in cnrinc;

72

The Foundation of the Coop and the Roost Board in the
Hand of a Practical Poultry Keeper

for each coop is a matter worthy our consideration. One of the
objections to our system of housing the laying stock has been in
the amount of labor necessary in looking after so many coops, and
the cost of building our regular Winter Colony Coop. We hardly
think it possible at the present time to construct any kind of
house or coop that will bring about as desirable conditions for
the poultry at all seasons of the year, and at the same cost and
outlay for material and labor as in the new coop.

Before giving the plans to our readers, we have experimented
in building several different styles, until we are qrettv well con-

73

vinced that the one we now have is superior in many respects
to anything we have formerly produced. Our efforts have been
largely to economize along all lines, and for this purpose have
tried to construct all of our coops without glass, and several coops
were made and used without any glass making it necessary to
leave the roof slightly raised that the fowls might get light
through the muslin covered sliding frame. When driving storms
came we were annoyed by the rain blowing under the cover.

The Nest is Placed in the Back Center of the Floor End

Coop, and is Fastened Near the Top, Giving the

Hens the Floor Room Under It

and snow drifting in during the day when it was necessary to give
the fowls light. Of course on cold, stormy nights the coops are
always completely closed and the storm is kept out.

Mr, Cox discovered that a small light of glass in front of
his brooder coop would be an advantage, so the top might be
completely closed during severe storms, and we could at once
see that it would be a decided advantage in our deep coops, and
we are now making them with the sash six feet long and one foot

wide to take the place of the front board on the upper section of
the coop.

We find it an advantage to make a foundation to set these
coops on where the ground is wet, and raise the ground in one
end of the foundation two or three inches above the level of the
ground outside of the coop. The foundation can be made of
inexpensive lumber and when used will save the bottom edges
of the coop from decaying, making the cost less to keep the coops
in the best condition after being used many years.

After Cleaning the Roost in the Morning it is Turned
Up Edgewise Against the Back of the Coop

CONSTRUCTION: — The foundation frames are made of
lx4in. lumber just thesizeofthecoop, six feet long and three feet
wide outside with a four-inch partition in the center. In one end
of the coop the floor is laid on strips about one and one-half inches
from the bottom to keep the boards off the ground and prevent
them from getting damp. The floor is then covered with„one-
ply roofing material that the moisture from the top may not
penetrate the boards when the litter becomes damp.

The coops and foundations were formerly made of square
edged boards. We are now making them ship lapped to hold the
sections and foundation together without being nailed and to

77

pieveni cne stuims dua wina iroiii going tnruugn the open cracks
which are likely to appear when square edged boards are used.
Any lumber dealer understands the term ship lap so that you will
not have any trouble in getting this kind of lumber. The next
section of the box which rests on the foundation is made from
lumber twelve inches wide and is just the right size to fit the

!l

The}Roost Board is Dropped at Night as Shown in the
Illustration

foundation. The top section is also made from the same width
lumber (twelve inches wide) and just fits on the under section
making the coop three feet wide by six feet long and twenty-
four inches deep. The end boards of the top section are ten and
three-fourths inches wide or one and one-fourth inches narrower
than the front and back of the coop , to allow room for the sliding
frame and about three-eighths inch space between theframe and
roof for ventilation through the muslin curtain when the roof
is closed. A sash one foot wide by six feet long, having six panes
of glass is used to form the front of the coop, and the bottom of
the sash is also rabbeted to fit the foundation. Parting strips
1-2x7-8 in., which are used in building window frames, may be
had at almost any lumber yard. These are nailed lengthwise on
the inside of the back board and the inside top edge of the sash

L i-4 in. down Irom che top feu that they will jusi curat- level with
the ends of the coop for the muslin frame to slide on.

SLIDING FRAME:— The muslin frame is made of 7-8x1-2
in. strips of lumber mitered at the corners and with a center piece
of the same material to strengthen the long sides. The frame is
then covered with one-inch wire netting and over this is tacked
an inexpensive grade of unbleached muslin. The entire frame
is covered for cold weather, or where the climate is cold, but dur-
ing the warm weather only one-half of the frame is covered with
muslin. This frame may be made of 1-2x1 1-2 or 2-in. strips and
lapped at the corners instead of mitering, which might be easier
for some people who are not accustomed to this kind of work.

We are now putting the Paroid on top of the frame work
instead of on the under side, with three strips on top as described
below.

In making the roof two strips 6 ft. 2 in. long are used, the
front one 3 in. wide, and the back one 2 in. For the ribs on the
under side we use eight strips 2 ft. 9 in. long and 2 in. wide, and
one strip 2 ft. 9 in. long and 3 in. wide. For the top we use two
strips 3 ft. 2 in. long and 2 in. wide, and one strip 3 ft. 2 in. long
and 3 in. wide. All these are 7-8 in. thick.

The Paroid is 3 ft. wide and we cut two pieces 3 ft. 2 in.
long. The ends of each piece of Paroid are nailed to the long
strips with the outer edge of each piece even with the ends of the
long strips. This makes the roof 6 ft. 2 in. long and 3 ft. 2 in.
wide, with a 2 in. open space in the center between the two pieces
of Paroid.

Now turn the roof over and nail the nine 2 ft. 9 in. strips,
the 3 in. one in the center, between the inside edges of the long
strips. These shorter strips should be cut so as to crowd the long
strips apart and stretch the Paroid to remove all wrinkles. When
these strips are all nailed in their places, turn the roof over again
and nail the Paroid to these short strips, taking pains to see that
the inside edges are securely fastened to the 3 in. strip. Fill the
space between the edges with roofing cement or paint, and also
let it come over a little on each edge. You now have left the three
3 ft. 2 in. strips; nail the 3 in. strip over this center space, and
a 2 in. strip at each end. This will now be the top of the roof,
with three strips showing over the Paroid, while the under side
will have the two long strips and nine short ones. This arrange-
ment makes the roof absolutely waterproof.

A strip of wood 1-2 in. thick by 1 1-2 in. wide and 3 ft. long
is used to hold the roof in any desired position. A small hole is
bored through one end of the stick to fasten it to the top edge of

1%

the front sash. The hole should be large enough to allow the stick
to move at any angle without binding but not so large that it will
slide off the head of the screw. Several larger holes are bored in
the stick so that they will slide over the head of the screw in the
, center of che front edge of the roof that it may be adjusted at any
desired angle, as it is sometimes advisable to change the adjust-
ment in varied weather conditions. When the sun shines, the
roof should be wide open, and when it is stormy, it should be
nearly closed, but not entirely closed unless the weather is very
cold.

In making the roost board a frame 15 in. wide and 2 ft. 10
in. long is made of 7-8 x 1 1-2 in. strips. Roofing material is
nailed to the bottom of this frame which makes it very light and
easily cleaned. Two small blocks, 1 1-2 in. wide and 4 in. long
are nailed on the top edge of the ends of the frame. A strip of
wood for the roost, 7-8 in. thick and 2 in. wide, with the corners
slightly rounded, is nailed on these blocks. We formerly placed
this roost board across one end of the coop, but after using the
sash in the front of the coop it would make it rather cold for the
hens roosting on the end next to the window. The roost is now
being placed against the back side and in the end without the
floor. The center board, 8 ins. wide, is set edgewise on the center
board of the foundation and is held in place with cleats nailed to
the inside of the coop. The board is to prevent the hens from
scratching the straw into the end without the floor. Small cleats
are nailed horizontally to this center board and also in the end of
the coop 15 ins. down from the top to support the roost board,
and during the day the roost may be turned up edgewise against
the back of the coop to make more room.

The nest is used in one corner of the coop at the top and is
made 12 in. wide, 16 in. long and 10 in. deep. The bottom board
is 24 ins. long to provide a lighting place for the hens in entering
the nest. The coops should face the south during the winter and
north in the summer.

In the construction of three of our coops in the illustration
eight-ounce duck cloth is used in place of lumber. It is tacked
both on the inside and outside of light wood frames allowing an
air space of nearly an inch. We are not sure that more than one
thickness is required even where the temperature drops many
degrees below zero. Where the weather is warmer the coop
would answer every purpose when covered with muslin or cotton
cloth, and when only one thickness of the cloth is used in cover-
ing the sides of the coop the sash in front would be a very small
item.

80 .

CARE OF THE FOWLS :— Oat straw is used in the floor end
of the coop about four inches deep and during damp weather it
is necessary to change the straw twice each week, although it is
generally in good condition for a week during the winter and two
weeks during the summer.

The first thing in the morning a little wheat or buckwheat
is sprinkled in the straw, after being sure that there is not any left
over from feeding the day before. The droppings on the roost
boards are emptied into a bushel basket and the roosts turned up
edgewise out of the way against the back of the coop. The water
troughs are then rinsed and filled. A handful of oats is spaded
in the dirt end of the coop and all straw and rubbish scratched
over the center board are removed. Sprouted oats are then fed.
A warm mash is used for the noon feed, consisting of equal parts
by measure, of wheat bran, ground oats (hull and all), and corn
meal, and as much cut alfalfa or clover as the fowls can be in-
duced to eat. We are now using it so that it constitutes one-half
the bulk of the mash. One tablespoonful of salt and a teaspoon-
ful of black pepper is used in a half bushel of feed. Boiling water
is used to moisten the mash, and after it is thoroughly mixed it
is covered for a half hour or more to steam and swell before feed-
ing. One pint of good beef scraps may be added to a half bushel of
feed, although good results may be had without them. It is
possible to get very good results without the warm mash by keep-
ing wheat bran, and cut clover in the hoppers. It is best to keep
each kind of food in separate hoppers that the fowls may make
their own choice in balancing their ration. About one hour be-
fore dark, cracked corn and wheat or buckwheat, is thrown in
the straw when there is not any left from the morning feeding.
The roosts are then dropped in place and the eggs gathered.

When these coops are used and this system of care and feed-
ing is employed, the eggs will surely pay for the feed and labor,
besides leaving a good balance for profit. We have one pen of
White Leghorns, seven hens and a cockerel, that have produced
eggs enough, at an average price of 30 cents a dozen, to yield a
profit of nearly three dollars per hen in seven months, from De-
cember to July.

WINTER QUARTERS.

The climatic conditions differ to such an extent that it is a
difficult proposition to formulate definite plans that would be
best adapted to all localities. The foremost thought in planning
should be to arrange the winter quarters for the comfort of the

81

fowls, although this is generally a secondary matter and the ta-
tendant's comfort and ease in handling the poultry is often the
first to be considered. This, of course should not be ignored when it
is possible to combine comfort for both the poultry and the keeper;
and right here I wish to make the statement that women are often
the most successful poultry keepers, for the reason that they look
more to the comfort of the fowls than does the average man.

It matters not what the breed or what the feed may be: when
comfortable quarters are not provided, the results will not be
satisfactory. Even though wishing to follow our system of keep-
ing poultry, it is not positively essential that the old poultry houses
be discarded and a lot of our system coops arranged to take their
place in which to winter the poultry. The winter house is, in
fact, the least important in our new way of keeping poultry so
long as the flocks are small and the coops comfortable. It is a
fact, however, that when poultry have access to the finel^^ sifted
ground in at least a small section of the coops theresultswill be
more satisfactory than when they are confined over a cement or
board floor and do not have access to the ground, and the eggs will
be of better quality from which to produce strong chickens.
While the ground is an advantage it is not an absolute necessity
to get good results. The upper story of a building may be utilized
for winter quarters when such rooms are already on a place where
one's space and capital are limited.

Comfort for the fowls means as much sunshine as it is possible
to get, no dampness, and fresh air from muslin or open windows
when the weather conditions will permit, even though very cold.

The size and shape of the glass windows and other openings
to be covered with muslin are of the greatest importance and sel-
dom get the proper consideration. The windows should be the
long way up and dov/n instead of being placed in a horizontal
position, that the rays of the sun may reach every foot of floor
space sometime during the day, and to get these results it is neces-
sary that the window openings be nearly full length between the
sill and plate.

When the house has but one slant to the roof, the high side
should face the south, when the windows can be placed in che
south side of the building. If the windows are to be placed in the
east side, the front or high side of the building should face the east,
as the rays of the sun will then reach a greater depth, or farther
back in the room than when the windows are placed under the
eaves or on the low side of the building.

A great many houses have been built with the low side facing
the south, the builder thinking that the sun shining directly against
the roof would furnish more heat. There is always plenty of

heat when the sun shines, and the sun is of greater value when
shining in the building than on the broad side of the roof.

The greater the depth of the building, the larger the windows
and muslin openings should be, that the rear of the room may be
lighted on the darkest days. When the room is 6 ft. wide by 6
ft. deep it should be provided with a window having six panes of
9 X 12 glass, and a room 6 ft. wide by 12 ft. deep should have a
window with twelve panes of 9 x 12 glass, and twenty-four panes
the same size are not too many when the room is 12 ft. wide by
12 ft. deep, in order that the hens may readily find the small ker-
nels of grain in the deep litter on the darkest days. The vsize
9 xl2 is given as a basis from which to estimate the correct amount
of glass and muslin for any size room.

The opening for the ventilation should be practically the same
size as the window and a light wood frame covered with a coarse
grade of unbleached muslin made to close the opening on very
cold or stormy days and at night.

Ten hens in a pen 6 x 6 ft., having six panes of 9 x 12 glass,
should give good results, and when the pens are larger, one hen to a
pane of glass is all that should be allowed, and they should never
exceed the limit of the room 12 x 12 ft., having twenty-four panes
of glass, 9 X 12, and twenty-four hens.

It will not require as much labor to care for a given number
of hens when in large flocks, but to get the very best results, six
hens should be the limit of the number kept in a single pen.

The opening should always be on the south side of the house
when it is possible. There are many poultry houses and barns
already built which could be adapted to the business, and it is
not always possible to get the opening on the south side on ac-
count of their location or, possibly, by their joining other build-
ings on the south.

Our next choice would be the east side for the opening, that
the fowls may get the early morning sun, and when it is possible
to arrange openings on both the east and west sides, the most
desirable conditions may be had by opening the east side during
the forenoon and the west side during the afternoon. When thus
planned :'t will be necessary to arrange close fitting doors that
when one si "e i^ closed and the other open there will not be any
cracks through which to create a draught. This plan also has the
advantage of making it possible to open the side of the building
on which the wind is not blowing, on cloudy days.

When the openings are on two sides as above, the roosting
boxes or bed rooms should be p'aced about in the center of the
room on the south side, and when the opening is on the south side
of the building the boxes should be placed directly opposite on the

north side of the room. 1 he roobiing boxes should be just large
enough to accommodate the fowls, allowing room for the long tails
of the male birds and just room enough to allow the fowls to
stand on the perches without hitting their heads against the ceil-
ing of the boxes.

The perches should be about three inches from the bottom
of the boxes to prevent the fluff feathers from being soiled. The
front is the only opening of the roosting boxes, but this should
be closed with a curtain made of a coarse grade of muslin tacked
along the top edge of the box and arranged to hang close at the
bottom and sides.

By providing a run-way to the roosting boxes with an en-
trance at one end of the lower corner, the muslin curtain may be
gradually closed, as the fowls become acquainted with the new
roosting quarters, until it is all hooked down leaving but one cor-
ner loose. The fowls will soon learn the door- way and will enter
the box at night and leave it in the early morning without at-
tention. The boxes should be cleaned every day.

Dry, clean litter is of the greatest importance and the fowls
seem to get the most comfort when scratching for small particles
of food, and are nearly covered in the litter. Oat straw is as good
as any material and can be obtained in small bales in nearly all
_ localities. Although this is not especially of any great food value,
"it is surprising to see how much of it will be eaten by the fowls
even though they are provided with cut clover, sprouted oats
and other green food. It is not generally understood how much
bulky food is required and when this is not provided they will often
greedily devour feathers longer than one's finger, which is no doubt
one of the reasons for feather pulling.

The yearly cry of infertile eggs is more often due to a lack of
coarse food than to any other cause.

If looking for a sight that will do your heart good, just throw
a handful of finely chopped, cooked lean beef in a thick covering
of oat straw. The straw will not only fly, but the music made by
the hens will do one good who is a lover of the music furnished
by a healthy flock. This is one kind of music that pays, and pays
well, as the singing hen is sure to be productive and make its
owner feel like singing even though unable to "pitch a tune."

We have taken up the matter quite fully regarding com-
fortable winter quarters, and we do not wish to be misunderstood,
leaving an impression that winter chickens can as well be raised
in buildings as in brooder coops placed out of doors. Raising
chickens is a decidedly different proposition from that of keeping
them after they have been raised, and when the best success is to

84

be had it will Dt riecei)aai> tu icnac tiiv. ^mcKca* jn tfie grouna in a

regular brooder coop.

We would not think of keeping more than fifteen hens in a
pen and six hens will do better. Where the climate is very cold
we would not allow over four square feet floor space to a hen, but
inwarmer localities, where the temperature seldom reaches zero,
it is best to allow each hen a floor space of five or six square feet.

The ceihng of the room should not be higher than is required
to give the keeper head-room when caring for the fowls. When
necessary to economize in the remodeling, strips of wood or poles
may be strung across the ceiling and thickly covered with straw
or other inexpensive material. Several thicknesses of burlap
sacking tacked to the under side of the strips of boards will also
make a desirable ceiling, and when this is used the straw would
not be required unless where the fowls to be wintered have large
combs and it is desirable to make the coop as warm as possible.

We have great success in raising poultry in our small coops,
three feet by six feet. The young chicks are kept at first in the
low brooder coop, one foot high ; when they outgrow this, they are
placed in the Ecomony coop, which affords ample space for them
as long as they are kept for breeders.

The low coop can be converted into the higher one by adding
J. twelve inch section between the foundation and the one with the
sash, and to which the roof is attached.

GALVANIZED IRON TROUGH.

The galvanized iron trough shown in the illustration is well
adapted to our colony coops, and is used either for food or water.
The illustration shows the construction. The size we generally
use is three and one-half inches deep, and two and one-half inches
across the opening and fifteen inches long. The top edge is turn-
ed back, forming a groove which is hooked over special nails

85

With large headh, so that cht trough may Oc placefl mthout look

ing for the nails or holes.

Ice is easily removed by springing the sides, and the trough
will expand rather than crack when the water is freezing.

By giving the ends a half-inch bevel, making the bottom one
inch shorter than the top, they may be nested, and will take less
room when stored.

SPROUTING OATS

Green Food Costing About 15 Cents Per Bushel.

This food has proved itself to be for us a most excellent egg-
producer. It serves as a green food all the year around, and the
fowls are extremely fond of it. The way this food is prepared is
as follows:

Take a quantity of oats or rye and soak them in water for
twelve hours. Then pour off the water and put the cats in an ordi-
nary box which has holes in the bottom and let the water drain off.
The oats are watered with a sprinkling pot night and morning
and are stirred with a stick or hand, before watering. As soon as
the oats begin to sprout we spread them cut in a box to the thick-
ness of about an inch, and still continue to water them night and
morning, but do not stir them after they begin to sprout. In
about ten days or two weeks, depending upon how warm, the room
is in which they are kept, they will be ready to feed. When in the
proper condition to feed, the sod will be about two inches thick,
and the growth of green feed on top willbeabout oneortwo inches
high. We feed a block about two or three inches square of this to
each pen of six fowls. We have been using this feed throughout the
winter and must say that our hens never laid so well. We have
averaged a fifty per cent, egg production all winter long. This
can also be fed to young chicks, although it should be fed at a lime
when the sprouts are just starting, or they should be cut fine.

OVER $1,000 FROM POULTRY AND EGGS PRODUCED

FROM SIXTY BREEDING HENS IN EIGHT

MONTHS ON A CITY LOT FORTY

FEET SQUARE.

Under several headings in this book we give particulars
about our work this season that has brought such large returns
from sixty hens on a space forty feet square in our city garden.
While these figures are the result of our labor for several months
less than a year, it has taken us six years to build up the strain
of fowls from which this record was made. With our present
knowledge of breeding as set forth in this book we think a better
record could be made in a shorter space of time.

By having our little plant on a prominent street In the city
we had free advertising, and it proved to be of the ver}' best kind.
Parties passing could hardly help seeing a beautiful lot of pure
white fowls nicely kept, and those who were familiar with poultry
could readily see that they were well bred.

We commenced setting the Cycle Brooder Hatcher, or Metal
Mother, on the 10th of December, 1907, so that the first chickens
would hatch on the first of January. Another loc was set a week
later to get some baby chickens to exhibit in the Elmira Poultry
Show.

The baby chickens were brooded in the Metal Mother the
first week, and eggs were being incubated in the same machine
constantly from Dccemberuntilthe present time,keeping a supply
of newly-hatched baby chickens in a glass case where they could be
seen by people passing by. It was noc long before there was
such a demand for the eggs at $5 per sitting that all we could
spare w^ere soon engaged.

These early chickens were also hatched to test the brooders
without heat during the coldest weather^ and the results were very
much better than we had ever had before with winter chickens.
On account of the winter hatching during a few previous years,
our hens were more productive during the three winter months
than at any other time of the year, and one of the greatest mis-
takes we ever made was in selling over a thousand eggs for table
use when they should have been incubated. It would have been
an easy matter to raise at least 500 chickens from the eggs sold
for table use, and the early chickens would have brought more
cash than we have received from all other sales. It would have
been necessary to increase the size of the plant during the time of
raising the chickens, and that would have been an easy matter

87

asthe^^arden at that time was not in use and would have been im-
proved if covered with coops until planting time.

It is now nearly the first of September and we are still setting
all the eggs noi sold for hatching and will continue to do so all
through the winter that we may get the full value of every egg
laid by our hens, and will make an effort to double the returns
the coming year from our small city plant.

During the eight months, beginning January 1st, 1908, we
made the following cash sales of eggs, chickens and poultry, all
of which have been produced on one small lot less than 40 feet
square :

Broilers and table eggs $ 149 . 00

Eggs for hatching , 349 . 00

Baby chickens fresh from the hatcher , 283 . 00

Hens, pullets and cockerels for breeding 275 . 00

S1056.00

We have on hand about 200 head of chickens, from those just
hatched to fully matured, more than we had at the beginning of
the year, and whenthey are sold the net profit from this very small
poultry plant will exceed $1,500.00 in one year.

While the space of ground occupied by the poultry has been
given as forty feet square, one corner of this space had a small
building on it not used for poultry where fifty or more chickens
could have been raised, adding considerable to the ret urns from the
small plot of ground.

On account of the great amount of business we have had
during the year the poultry w^ork has of ten been neglected, and the
chickens and poultry allowed to suffer. We hope to do better
the coming year and give the poultry better care, that we may
learn just how many dollars worth of poultry it is possible to
raise on a square foot of ground in one year.

We now have grape vines set between the coops to furnish
shade, and when they com.e into full bearing will add many dollars
to the income of the plant.

There were always eggs with imperfect shells that were not
suitable for hatching, supplying the table for a family of five.
One to three chickens have been used on the table nearly every
week, no account of which is given in this report.

HOW POULTRY HELPS TO MAKE A GOOD GARDEN.

In estimating the value of poultry products the real value
of the fertilizer produced is too often lost sight of. Comparing
its value with th?.t of the commercial fertilizers it would be per-
fectly safe to credit the poultry business with at least one-fourth
the total amount of the feed bill and especially when one has land
enough to use it to the best advantage in growing small fruit or
other graden truck.

From the recent tests we have made of its use we hardly
think its true value is correctly estimated. Like our intensive
system of poulcry culture, wonderful results may be had from a
very small space of ground by using it much more liberally than
has been considered advisable. It is a fact that too liberal a use
at an improper time will kill almost any kind of vegetation, but
with proper application fully one-fifth in bulk may be mixed with
the average soil, producing surprising results.

About the middle of June, or too late in the spring, as stated
by a florist, to grow Cannas to perfection, we thought a nice bed
in our front yard would improve its looks, and we started out with
a determined effort to kill or cure as the case might be. Three
bushels of fertilizer which had been emptied in the garden previous
to several heavy rain storms was mixed with three times its bulk
of garden soil. This was placed where the plants were to be set,
at a depth of ten inches. About two months after the plants were
set some of them were over six feet tall and have continued to
grow since the photograph was taken.

When extremely large quantities of the fertilizer are to be
used it should be thoroughly mixed with the soil and subjected
to several rain storms, before planting time, or placed where the
heating properties will be destroyed before it is to be used.

We now keep large piles mixed with garden soil and sifted
for immediate use so that any kind of plants may be set at any
time.

Grape vines were set in rows running north and south and
the rows about eight feet apart to furnish shade during the ex-
treme heat of the summer. They were set one year ago last
spring and the Summer Colony Coops were placed close to the
roots of the vines. Quantities of the fertilizer have been spaded in-
to the ground almost daily. In addition to this they were banked
with a very rich mixture to a depth of about ten inches as a pro-
tection to the roots; however, after one year's growth the vines
were photographed showing their condition and the abundance of
fruit they are carrying as the result of a single season's growth.

One hundred strawberry plants were set in rows about six

feet apart. Large quantities of unadulterated fertilizer were
placed between the rows which would have covered the entire
plot of ground, and the fertilizer was gradually worked into the
soil around the plants, producing remarkable growth of plants
and heavy fruiting this season.

Several varieties of roses were treated in a like manner giv-
ing us a constant supply of roses for table bouquets all through the
dry summer months. The cut given in connection with this
article was made from a photograph taken from roses picked from
our bushes the latter part of August.

Tender broilers, eggs, fruit, vegetables and roses fresh from
the garden as often as desired is a luxury not enjoyed by many
people. By adopting the intensive culture and making every
available foot of ground produce something of value, nearly every-
one could enjoy at least a portion of the good things and of better
quality than could be procured from the market.

HOW TO MAKE A LIVING FROM POULTRY.

This is, without doubt, the one question uppermost in the
minds of many of our readers, and to answer it intelligently is by
no means a small undertaking. However, we know for a fact
that there is a living in keeping pcultr^^ and a better living than
ninety-nine out of every hundred who seek work for a living are
making.

It is far from a "get rich quick" scheme, and can only succeed
with almost constant care and deep study that no little detail may
be neglected and a positive knowledge at all times that ever>' last
chicken or hen in the flock is not suffering from neglect.

An educated eye to take in the tiue condition of the birds at
a glance is of more value to the poultry keeper than the unlimited
use of money, if the keeper profits by what is seen and does the
necessary work at once to improve the conditions. "Tomorrow"
will never answer in a successful poultry business.

In ninety-nine cases of failure in any business the cause may
be traced to the lack of attention to business at the proper time,
ortogiving more thought to the things not concerning the business
and unless one is willing to devote almost the entire timeand thought
to the many little things so important to success, the chances are
against the living from poultry. It is also the one business where
brains count for more than muscle, as the muscle can be purchased
at a moderate price, but the brains must accompany the living.

It is very nice and also a shorter road to the living to be able
to purchase valuable birds that are worth the price, still it is not

' 92

a necessary requisite ic«> cne besi siicce»o. All breeaers, even the
most successtul,find their mosc difficult task to be the keeping the ir
young chickens alive, and when one is successful in raising them
there will be more to bank on for the living than in being able to
find a market for that which they cannot raise.

We get hundreds of letters telling of some particular location
and asking advice regarding the possibilities for them in the poul-
tr5^ business there and our answer would be nearly the samie to
all, as the location is but a small factor in the development of a
poultry business, provided that the ground is dry, or tha t it could
be drained. Many places are naturally fitted and could be turned
into a poultry yard with but little work and expense.

In asking our advice as to the possibihties in any particular
case we could give a more accurate answer if we knew the person
who would have charge of the poultry than we could by having a
full description of the land and buildings where the business is to
be handled.

One should possess an unusual amount of stick-to-itiveness
and have a determined mind to win at the chosen occupation.
All other things must, and will, come by degrees, and a successful
plant may be established in a very short time when the proper
push is behind the enterprise.

After being satisfied that one is qualified for the business and
is willing to work for the living just as would be necessary when
employed by another, the work of raising the chickens to per-
fection should be the first one to master, as it is the foundation
of the poultry business.

Fully three-fourths of the the poultry that will soon go into
winter quarters will be too oM to be profitable, and in nearly every
case it is on account of not having been able to raise the chickens,
and in many instances they have been carelessly lost from neglect.

At the present stage of poultry keeping there is no excuse for
allowing dogs, cats or hawks to carry the young chickens off, any
more than a successful merchant would leave the door of his store
unlocked thinking that possibly by some good luck the goods
would always be found in the place. At least ninety per cent,
of the chickens hatched should be raised to maturity and unless
this can be accomplished year in and year out, there is something
faulty about the care or system, which should be changed or cor-
rected.

The one in charge of the poultry plant is the greatest factor
in making the business a success. If determined to win and work
along some definite line, success will be sure.

I have always been considered visionary, and the longer J
live the more neprl therp sjPAmc fr»r onf to he visionary if tfaf^rp isr

93

CO be anything gamed in hie more man « iivmg. We must set
our stakes high, then drive hard to the mark until the goal for
which we are aiming has been reached.

There is a good living in poultry by just keeping ordinary
thoroughbred stock. Still greater success may be had when the
best quality is kept, and they should be improved each year.
The demand for poultry of the finest quality is always in excess of
the supply, and when one has some extra good ones to sell the pro-
fits are greatly increased and there is an incentive for one to aim
still higher. As a basis for estimating profits for the production
of market eggs we will take for granted that the average hen with
the average care will produce 150 eggs in a year, and that it will
cost as much to raise the hen as she will bring after completing
the year's work of producing eggs. The difference, then, between
the cost of feed consumed and the amount the eggs will bring
would be all profit (or pay for labor when the owner is doing the
work).

The average market price for eggs is twenty-four cents a
dozen, making the net proceeds from the hen during the year
$3.00. At the present high price for feed and grain it will cost
$1.50 to supply a 150-egg hen 365 days, leaving a net profit of
$1.50 a year. One good, active person can care tor 1,000 laying
hens which would yield a profit of $1,500.00, when the care given
the entire lot would be equal to the care given a single flock or
six hens in a pen.

It now costs $1.85 a year to keep a 200-egg hen, making the
per cent, profit greater than when the 150-egg hen is kept, at a
cost of $1.50 a year, and the difference between the 150-egg hen
and the 200-egg hen is largely in the breeding, although the care
given them has about as much to do with a large egg yield as the
breeding. $1 ,500.00 a year would be considered quite a snug little
income by the average person and is more than the average per-
son would make, for the simple reason that they do not think it
possible to get such returns and are afraid to set their stakes for
fear of failure, which only comes to those who are looking for it,
just as the greatest success comes to one who dreams dreams and
sees visions and then uses the talent given to carry on the work as
planned, in the most practical and business-like manner.

At the average market price of eggs the net price from 600
laying hens, kept in flocks of six hens each, at the Australian lay-
ing contest, has been $3.37 a hen, and the amount is increasing
each year, as the store of knowledge of the keeper is increasing
and the poultry improved to make every move count for more
eggs.

The most rommnn ran<ip of failurp in the ooultry business is

without doubt, trom inattention and its being handled as a side

issue, the fowls getting but a remnant of thought and attention i

after one is exhausted by close attention to other business and has '=

nothing left for the sadly neglected poultry. Give the poultry :

the same careful study and care it is necessary to give any other \

remunerative business and there will not be any question as to {

which will pay the best. 1

NEW AND BETTER FACILITIES. J

We have purchased thirty acres of land in this city, about one ■

mile from our present location for the purpose of conducting a '

poultry school and experimental poultry plant. The land is ;

nicely situated, being between two direct lines of street cars and ;

is also easy of access to three of the principal railroads of the city. '

There are about twelve to fifteen acres of high, gravelly ground, !
slightly rolling, and a portion of this ground has a gradual slope

to the south. This part will be used for our poultry plant. The ]

balance of the ground is low and not available in the present con- :
dition for poultry culture, but this will not matteras we shall only
devote a portion of the ground at first to our poultry work. We
shall use several hundred coops, about half of them for mature
fowls, and the others for chickens of various ages. From each

breeding pen of five hens and one cock we can raise from 100 to 200 ;

chicks each year, and in this way can increase the flock to alriiost i

any extent, and at the same time furnish several thousands of ;

young chicks and growing fowls for breeding purposes. ;

In addition to the poultry that will be kept on the two acres j
there will be grape vines, plum and cherry trees and sun flowers

to furnish shade during the summer. The hens will make the ■

vines, trees and sunflowers productive and at the same time they I

will be greatly benefitted during the hot summer months by being !

protected from^e direct rays of the sun. i

This article, we trust, will serve a double purpose, by giving ■

our readers a thorough understanding of the work we are under- i

taking, viz: «

1. — The possibility of a large poultry business on two acres of •;

ground.

2. — The excellent opportunities offered anyone who would like ;

thoroughly to masterall branches of poultry work, and the practical .

plan for others to follow to get larger returns from a small plot of ;

ground than can be had in almost any other way. i

The portion of the farm devoted to poultry culture is slightly i
raised, the north side being about four feet higher than the sduth

ll-'

which is loui iiunarcu lecc uistant int doii xa acvci maday ,
being composed of sand, gravel, loam and cobble-stones, and the
ground can be walked over any season of the year without soiling
more than the soles of one's shoes. The natural conditions are the
very best with the exception of the stones which can be screened
outatany time, although this will requireagreatamount of labor,
but will be labor well spent when the work is finally completed.

The soil must be fine and mellow to induce the fowls to scratch
in searching for grain buried beneath the surface.

During the winter the coops are open to the south to catch
every ray of sunshine and in the summer they face the north, the
roof acting as a shade board, and four sun flowers planted vsouth
of each coop help to shade the fowls from the piercing sun during
the warmest days.

Even though a thousand acres are given a flock, better con-
ditions can not be had for growing chickens to perfection or for
getting the largest yields from laying hens.

A long concrete feed and supply building with an incubator
cellar is placed at the south end of the poultry- plant, and the feed
and supplies will be easily accessible so that the work may be
handled with the greatest ease. The incubator cellar will be
provided with one hundred hatchers for the use of the students.

Four mon ths of the year oats will be sprouted in the cellar to
supply the fowls with green food in addition to the alfalfa or dry
clover clippings which will be fed liberally in the moist mash at
noon.

To produce the best quality of clover clippings a two acre lawn
Fceded with White Dutch clover will be cut with a lawn mower
every week and the clippings spread out two inches deep under
cover to dry, and before making the second cutting, the first lot
will be ready to sack and store away for the winter supply to be
fed during the months of December, January, February and
Mar h.

The farm will be used for educational and experimental pur-
poses and will be made to pay a larger profit than one would
think possible. Raising chickens and compelling the hens to be
productive is no longer an experiment with the writer, and if
permitted to retain his health and carry on the work out' ined, there
will not be any question as to the final outcome of the enterprise.
There is yet m.uch to be learned about keeping poultry , and with
the advantages of the farm, of imiproved breeding stock and of the
increased facilities we shall have for conducting the experiments,
we hope to give our readers the results of many valuable lessons
learned during the year and for many years to come.

We furm«b on annther ipage fh.fi ©Laji for our new hatcher and

98

brooder house nov/ In use at the farm. The building has been
planned to serve instruction purposes, and to take care of the
chicks from the time they are hatched until well past the danger
point. Everything has been laid out so as to facilitate the work,
and we feel that this arrangement will better suit our purpose
than anything we have ever tried when handling chicks in large
numbers. It will be noted that it is the intention to start the
chicks inside in a heated building. It has been thought best to
follow this plan for, in the school work the brooders must be opened
frequently for inspection and demonstration, and this condition
is very hard on the chicks in cold weather, and It Is somewhat
easier to feed and care for them on stormy days, although we are
sure that without any heat at all we get chicks of greater vitality.
The building is approximately 12 by 106 feet, two stories
high, and is constructed of concrete and cement brick. We have
been fortunate enough to find several deposits of sand of excellent
quality on the farm, and this, combined with the natural gravel
f ou ndation has given us very desirable and lasting building mate-
rial.

^Even with these favorable conditions the building has cost
about one thousand dollars. The building extends east and west
with the coops and runs on the south side. At the left of the en-
trance at the east end are the stairs leading to the second floorand
to the pit for the heater to warm the building. The main floor Is
about two feet below grade In order to bring the floor level of the
coops at a convenient working height and at the same time to
keep them level with the ground outside. A four feet passage
runs the entire length of the building, on the north side of which
there is a concrete shelf arranged to accommodate the hatchers,
and of such dimensions that students may operate machines
without Interfering with each other. On the south side the coops
are arranged In pairs with four feet side passages between so as to
allow two persons to work in the same passage on opposite sides
at the same time. The coops are three by six feet each in floor
area, and two and a half feet high. The front of each coop is in
two sections, the upper one, twenty Inches, Is a screen and hinged
at the top to swing in backward out of the way, and the lower one,
aboard ten Inches wide, which Is stationary, to confine the little
chicks and to keep the litter from being scattered outside. The
coops are made this height in order to confine a pen of grown fowls
when desirable for experiment, demonstration, or to study fancy
points. The floors of the coops are of wood, and under this coop
floor there Is arrang^^d a row of drawers for feed and appliances.,
This arrangement Vrill serve to keep every thing connected with
each pen from becoming separated, or from being misplaced

93

which will be a great convenience to those taking charge of the
different lots of chicks. The windows in front of the coops are
made to slide up and down, and the upper part of the top half is
fitted with a muslin screen, the lower portion being raised when it
is desired to give the chicks access to the runs. This arrangement
affords an abundance of light as well as ventilation. The out-
side runs are three feet wide by five and a half feet long, with the
sides made of concrete. The fronts are fitted with muslin screens

Section of the Hatcher and Brooder House

and over the top are hinged sash somewhat similar to those used
in hot beds. The runs are filled with finely sifted earth, and oats
will be spaded in to afford green feed in the chicks* scratching
ground. While sprouted oats themselves are somewhat large
for chicks to handle, the chicks devour the tender shoots which
is excellent food for them, and are greatly relished causing them
to dig actively, once they have acquired a taste for them. Along
the inner wall on the south side under the coops are placed the
heating coils for warming the building, and it is intended to main-
tain a constant temperature of 75 degrees during cold weather.
The chicks will be kept in fireless brooders, which, combined with
the thorough ventilation, will give outside conditions as nearly

100

as possible without the likehhood of the chicks staying outside
too long and becoming chilled.

Running water is provided for the entire house, with a faucet
for each pair of pens.

The second floor is used for storage, and also as a feed room
for the various grains in bulk that are used for feeding the little
chickens and grown fowls. The floor is made of reinforced con-
crete, thus practically fire-proofing the lower portion of the build-
ing.

Altogether it has been our aim so to plan the structure that
it will amply serve for school purposes, giving sufficient room to
move about without undue interference, and at the same time pro-
viding suitable and safe quarters for the hatching apparatus and
baby chicks.

OUR NEW SCHOOL AND OFFICE BUILDING.

For the further improvement of our poultry work, and o
give better opportunities for those who wish to devote some time
with us as students, we have constructed a large building three
store is high, with about 27,000 square feet of floor space. This
will giveample facilities forall the workconnected with ourpoultry
school including the two departments, the actual doing of all kinds
of poultry work under competent instructors, and also for con-
ducting the important branch of our Correspondence School.

This new building is equipped with every modern conven-
ience and device, and will be an ideal place for our work and we
shall be very glad to welcome friends and visitors, and give them
ail actual demonstration of the practical workings of the Philo
System.

We know that it is entirely feasible for parties to start a
poultry plant of their own with only the Philo System Book as
their guide, as thousands of people have done so.

But there are people who wish to begin on an extensive scale
who would like to qualify themselves for such an undertaking by
getting some practica 1 knowledge at first hand ; and for the benefit
of such parties we have been furnishing personal instruction for
more than a year to persons who have come to Elmira for that
purpose. They have been given an opportunity to learn how to
do every part of the work of poultry' raising, by actually doing the
work under competent supervision . and after two or three months'
stay they have gone away satisfied with the results, and have
started plants of their own or have accepted positions as super-
intendents of plants for other people.

101

But there are so many people who cannot spare the time to
come here for study, who want further and definite instruction
to fit them for successful poultry business that we have determined
to establish a Correspondence Course, covering all the theoretical
and practical knowledge of the business, dividing the field into
ten sections, with a carefully prepared text-book for each, with all
the facilities for mastering these lessons that are afforded by the
best of the correspondence schools of the countr>^ After each set ol
lessons has been thoroughly studied, examination questions will
be furnished, and these when properly answered will be the basis
for a certificate of proficiency with the percentage of accuracy
stated.

When one section of the course is finished, the next will come
in regular order, and so on until the entire course is completed.
Further particulars concerning either branch of our school work
will be furnished upon application.

Address
Philo National Poultry' Institute,

Elmira, N. Y.

NOTICE

All appliances used in connection with the j

Philo System can be purchased of the Cycle i

Hatcher Co., Elmira, N. Y. ^

Catalogue free. ]

103

Complete Index to the Philo System

Artificial Heat

Better Poultry Without It 3

Artificial Incubation

About opening incubator during first week 20

Avoid too much cooling >1

Changing position of eggs -21

Cooling the eg^s at night ^l

'* " " on special d&ys ^i'i

Overcoming defective work of first week ^1

Generation of heat by growing chicks 91

Never set eggs in two layers 22

Rules for '?nd and 3rd weeks 21-22

Temperature of working room 21

The cause of failure 20

The instinct of the hen 21

To raise temperature quickly 21

Use of woolen cloth and hot water . . 23

Watch the damper and regulator 22

Best Age for Breeders

Best results from year old hens 12

Hatching in Feb. and March 12

Hens from 5 to 10 years old. . . . 12

Winter hatched pullets quick molters 12

Breeders for Broilers 9

" " Exhibition 9

American Standard of Perfection 9

Chicks from first eggs after mating 10

Keeping careful records 10

Use of leg bands 10

Breeding in Line

Bad effect of in breeding 14

To insure good qualities of your birds 14

Brooders

Disadvantages of wooden brooders ..... ^

Brooder coop advantages in rearing chicks 15

Brooding Without Artificial Heat

Baby chicks outdoors in zero weather * 47

Large brooders a mistake V8

Metal Mother first week in cold weather 57

Number of chicks in fireless brooder 57

Use of fireless brooder 57

Perfect conditions and better birds 3-27

Care of Breeding Stock

Adaptability of our summer and winter coopp 14

Hardening fowls to cold weather 14

Must be protected from draughts 14

Wintering breeders in barn loft 14*

104

Coop Construction

Of Brooder Coop 48

Summer Colony Coop 59

Winter Colony Coop 62

Combination Economy Coop 71

Double Winter Colony Coop 71

Fireless Brooder 54

Galvanized iron trough . 84

Egg Production

Early'laying pullets best producers 8

Gk)od points of a productive hen '. 39

How to get large egg yields 40

Large hens not best ; 8

Laying in cold w^eather I'i

The color of eggs 8

The hen for market eggs 8

Measuring food bad practice '. 3P

Sprouted oats / 85

The rest periods 8

Eggs When Prices are High

Bringing the highest market price . . .41

Hatching in winter 41

Out-of-date methods 40

Summer and fall chickens .....;'. J 42

Natural breeding season 40

Fertility

Fertility and Feeding 13

after mating 12

" *' separation 13

Results of change in mating l.s

Sure results after two weeks mating 13

Food

Cooked lean beef 8.i

Cut Clover 35

Chick:s first food 28

Feeding the first three weeks 2!'

from three to eight weeks .:M)

eight weeks to maturity .so

Full crops at night 32

Formula for wet mash 32

Food for cold weather ...... 1 5

Green cut bone never given 15

Green food at 15 cents a bushel ....... 85

Give hens all they will eat 39

Hens properly fed 8

Never feed grease except for fattening 15

Oats spaded in dirt daily. . .v. 80

Straw on floor ,85

Sprouted oats .'HO

Supply bulky food in the morning 39

Water supply and egg supply. 15

Winter food ■• • • - • • • 83

■ Gapes - . . 44

105

Grading 32

Green Cut Bone and Infertility 3

Hatching

Get ready before ordering eggs 6

Keep in advance of your business

Hatching With Hens

Active Hens the best'Sitters 24

Changing eggs in the nest 24

Cleaning eggs 24

Nests on ground no better than in the barn loft 24

Raising the chicks in our brooders 23

Saving the chicks by removing the eggs 24

The causes of poor results 24

Helping the Chicks to Hatch

Chicks properly grovv^n can all be saved 25

How^ to save them 25

How to Start

Buy the best eggs obtainable 5

Foundation stock hatched in February or March 6

Starting with tw^o pairs of birds 5

Starting where you now live 6

How to Use Coops 48-53-54-59-60-64-71-80

Large and Small Flocks

Egg production 39

Advantages of small flocks 5-82

Leg Weakness

Indigestion the cause 44

Remedied by care in feeding 44

Seldom occurs when chicks are on the ground 44

Lice

Put powder on brooder cloth 44

Use of boiling water 44

Use of wood ashes for hens 4

Location

A combination for an acre lot 7

Natural grit 6

Sandy and gravelly soil '. 6

Stony and lumpy soil to be avoided 6

The new Philo plant and grounds 100

Keeping Eggs for Hatching

Evaporation of moisture decreases vitality of the chick.

Low temperature not disastrous

Germ killed by high temperature

Natural position for keeping eggs for hatching . . .

Not best to turn eggs daily while waiting

Temperature and evaporation

Two weeks the limit for keeping eggs to hatch . . .
Setting eggs the day they are laid

106

Moisture

Evaporation while waiting for hatcher

Excessive moisture produces too large a chick for the shell

Supplying moisture the last week

Too little moisture and the results.

Pedigree Breeding

Banding chickens 43

Expanding the leg bands 43

Mating the birds 43

Records difficult to keep 43

Sixteen toe marks 43

Plans for a Large Plant ; 600 Coops on 2 Acres, to Accommdate

10,000 Ciiicks 94

Poultry Helps the Garden

Mixing the fertilizer with soil 88

Value of the fertilizer 88

Pullets

Properly matured in space of one and a half square feet 3

Winter-hatched pullets as breeders 12-4

Results of the Philo System

$1,500 a year from 60 hens 86

Average eggs hatched and chicks raised 38

Another estimate of profits, chiefly from broilers 38

Cost of starting a broiler farm with 60 lampless brooders, coops

and incubators 39

Setting Brooder- Hatcher Dec. 10th 86

Plan of new grounds ... 100

Philo National Poultry Institute 100

Selecting Breeders

Advantages of selecting anew breed

As to superiority of breeds

Breed a matter of choice 7

Making sitters of non-sitters 7

Productiveness between rest periods 8

Strain considered above breed 8

The good breeding hen

"Width of hen and general make up 8

Selection of Hatching Eggs

Less than 24 oz. or more than 32 oz. per dozen never used 20

Shape and color of the shell important 19

Test by sound 20

"' Weight of 25 oz. per dozen preferred 20

Sex Control

Selection of male and female 19

To raise 70 per cent to 90 per cent cockerels 19

To raise nearly all pullets 19

Vitality of male and female 19

Testing Eggs 23

Theories Without Foundation 3

107

To Make a Living from Poultry

Not a " get rich quick " scheme 91

Ordinary good stock 93

Prices of eggs and profit per hen 9S

Strict attention to business daily 94

Trick of the Trade, A 25

Two-Pound Broilers

In eight weeks 35

Raised in space of one square foot 3

Tender as squab when closely confined 35

The food and care of broilers 85

To prevent leg weakness keep on spaded ground 35

Use of salt and milk 85

What investment and profit to expect 39

Winter Quarters

Adaptability of houses already built 82

Comfort of the fowl 81

Importance of ventilation 82

Keep flocks small 82

Ground not so important for mature hens as for young and grow-
ing chickens 44-81

Value of sunshine 81

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