did you know that sultry is the nation's third largest agricultural crops that's green billion dollar business yes chickens are raised in every county in the united states mostly par egg production breeders have achieved great results in boosting a good output of the average hand today's ham averages one hundred fifty four eggs per year and some birds produce over three hundred annually but with this emphasis on egg production poultry meat has been more or less a byproduct of the industry relatively few pokmon took steps to develop better meat type chickens during world war two the industry reaped new gains with a shortage of red meat growers were pressed to supply the demand for top quality chickens suitable for roasting oven or frying pan say that makes me hungry at the end of the war poultry leaders were convinced that the industry would have difficulty maintaining its wartime gains as one solution day and seen food stores the nation's largest poultry retailer offered to sponsor a contest for the development of superior meat type chicken national committee was full of the program the chicken of tomato a broad breasted bird with bigger drumsticks humper thighs and layers of white meat like the wax model on the right the committee made plans for a series of state and regional chicken of tomorrow content to end with a national contest in june nineteen forty eight a m he offered ten thousand dollars in cash prizes by a thousand dollars for the other scorecard was for live chickens with special emphasis on the economy of production hundreds of poultry raisers competed in thirty one state contests held in one nine hundred forty six and still more took part in the one hundred forty seven contests held in thirty state and regional contests all entries in the finals were hatched and raised under identical conditions and common supervision the fragile cargo was shipped from twenty five different states by practically every no means of transportation some west coast breeder ship by air others by rail and still others brought their existence by a private car the railway express agency made special arrangements to handle the contest day and company agents gave each  reared the chicks the dressers and even the judges identified the various entries without knowing the names of the flock o the temperature was first articulate controlled and checked constantly throughout the incubation period by plant personnel humidity also was carefully regulated eighteen days later the eggs were removed from the just station is much further advance ten days the chicks outline is more pronounced as other organs begin to farm at fourteen days you can see the shape of the the contents of the egg provide nourishment during the incubation period the chicks in the chicken of tomorrow's contest hatched on march twenty first of the twelve different breeds and crosses new hampshire's and white plymouth rock history dominated each of the two breeds was represented by a dozen plus a minimum hatch your four hundred strong healthy chicks was required from each entry poultry leaders strays the hatching results a new hampshire flock entered by the shenandoah commercial our town virginia let all of their entries with the hatch of over eighty seven percent white bra flocks average seventy four percent and one flock of dark cornish hatched over seventy three percent cross breed flocks had seventy two percent pretty chicks yes sir alike as two peas in a pod wing bending looks like an oil armless task but government poultry numbers and each bird carried the same number for identification purposes throughout the entire content the chicks were placed in boxes for shipment to the experiment station in charge thomas there to begin a twelve week growing various under the supervision of officials of the delaware agricultural experiment stations the flocks resigned to special pens and were housed in two parallel buildings the day old chicks soon solve the mysteries of feeding troughs and water jugs the first two weeks each pen had four kick feeders three feet long and four one gallon water later these were replaced by five larger feeders with adjustable support and the jugs removed in favor of automatic fountains at a good water war clean dry litter ample food and water that's what the chicks thrive on and these chicks at the very best in care and sanitation on warm days the chicks need plenty of ventilation professor carl seeger superintendent of the experimental station inspected the contest pens and kept daily records on vital statistics conform to usual commercial standards containing a minimum of twenty percent protein three and one half percent fat and a maximum of seven percent fiber all whole grain or pellets where you feed it was kept before the birds there was no lapse in the attention given to the birds and at the close of the growing variant of twelve weeks in two days the chicks were ready for shipment to the processing plant mortality for the entire period was under seven percent alone set the birds back two weeks shenandoah commercial hatchery whose new hampshire's had the best hatchability a record also had the least mortality losing only one and one half percent of the the coops were weighted georgetown and this live weight figure used to calculate pounds of feet per pound of gain two clocks average three point one seven pounds of feet per pound of gain california corn the regular battery died it was given to the birds and on monday june twenty one each lot was dressed separately cooled and ready for judge every six birds selected as the judges sample and rated for meat characteristics uniformity of size pin feathers skin texture confirmation and other factors affecting edible meat you twelve birds from each of the samples were packed for display purposes others went on the the carcasses were thoroughly wife prepared ready to cook and subjected to government inspection judging of the dress birds was completed at pocono and the score of each flock combined with figures from the live bird score card determines the contest results on june twenty fourth a georgetown high school visitors from canada and all parts of the united states saw on the stage an average politan cockerel from each block and a box of dry baldry representing  cleveland of larger oregon scored first uniformity of type and color with his new hampshire as a supplementary attraction to the program the delmarva chicken of tomorrow queen maryland she and her attendants rode in the mammoth parade in georgetown sponsored by the delmarva broader industry everyone joining in the festival spirit and who wouldn't ventris brothers charles in canada add a double reason to celebrate their flock which scored one hundred fifty nine and eighty seven one hundred points out of a possible two hundred was first in both  efficiency and live way tops in economy of production and second in the draft bird score card the birds were developed by crossing red cornish males on straight new hampshire female the chicken of tomorrow contest has turned the spotlight on meat production and bowl truman site the many benefits derived from the three year program in the words of do it term olan chief of the poultry branch of the s department of agriculture the success of the contest rose conclusively that it is possible to bridge chickens with superior meat type characteristics he predicted widespread production a superior meat type chickens within the next few years the national committee was so enthused with the results that it requested the a m t to sponsor another three year program the committee has drafted plans for state contest to be held in one hundred forty nine and nine hundred fifty a series of regional contests also in one nine hundred fifty and another national contest in nineteen fifty one today at california but will tomorrow's meet tight champion the nineteen fifty one chicken of tomorrow contest will provide dns even today housewives are enjoying improved the type chicken they sure make wonderfully yes sir make mine chicken chicken of tomato that i