The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1885-08-21
CHICKENS BY MACHINERY.
THE business OF 9DUCIEG
POULTRY FROM rNCUsAToRs.
AN Industry which l. Extending
Food for the GhiCks-A Chi lkcI,
kanrh in NcNV .5prNnX.

"The outlook for the incubator and
poultry supply business is first ra c, 8"
Said a we'll known dealer in response TO
inquiries made by a reporter for the New
York Null and E5press "There are
many new parties coming in every day
now booking at machines who intend
starting in the chicken raising business
this fall to make regular ,radc of it.
lncubators increasing in number2 Yes,
sir; there are in the market from twelve
to fifteen machines of different patents.
We have here IN our store eight of the
leading ones in constant operation night
and day. The prices range from $50 to
$500 each, with varying capacity from
fifty to 1000 eggs As rule, a first class
incubator matches from eighty to ninety
per cent of the fertile eggs that are put
into it. Most of the machines are auto
matte in their regulation, so that they
require very little care"
GLOW much capital does it require to
start in the chicken raising business Z"
was asked.
81 know of one party whose capital is
800, and of another whom we fitted out
the capital for whose stock was $40, 600.
Ali the eight machines that we keep are
Matching chickens every day. These we
send to our chicken ranch at Franklin,
N. j. Some days our machines hatch
out as many as 300 chicks. Yes, the
chicken raising business is new indus
try that has sprung up within the last
two years. But aside from those who
go into the business as business there
are many wealthy men, owners of coun
try seats, who have gone into it for the
novelty of the thing. But you will be
surprised when l tell you, and statistics
will prove the truth of the statement.
that the poultry industry has now be
come one Of the largest industries in
this country, and amounts to more than
even the trade in wheat Even now
there is not a sufficient supply of eggs
in the market, and it is necessary to i'm
port them in large quantities. "
HAS not this growth Of the business
increased the demand for poultry sup
plies?'
"Ies, very largely. Among the arti-
Giles in great demand is ground bone and
oyster shells, which is fed to the chicks.
Why, we sell at least fifty tons of this
material a year, and the demand has
made new way of disposing of bones
and oyster shells. Not long ago a man
the especial purpose of grinding bones
and oyster shells for the chicken trade,
and he has a big trade in it already. 1t
has also made great demand for wire
netting for fences to poultry yards. The
other day we sold and put up for one
party mile Of this wire netting"
"Gou spoke of chicken ranch.
What is it likeW
"Ours at Franklin covers six acres of
ground. 1t is enclosed by fence
about six feet high. 1t contains a num-
Der of wooden buildings, built especially
for chicken raising. One of these
measure sixty by eighty feet and is
twenty feet high. 1t was originally
built for the fattening of poultry. 1t is
divided into pens for tlocks of chickens
of different breeds. The pen measures
about ten by twenty feet, and each con
tains nest boxes, roosts and feeding
troughs Another building on the
ground is long and narrow, ten feet by
fifteen, and is divided into pens, the
same as the other. Still another is forty
by fifteen feet, which we use principally
for ducks. 1t has a small pond adj Join
ing On knoll back of these buildings
we keep large number of the artificial
breeders for young chicks taken from
the incubators at the store. They are
kept in these brooders four weeks and
are then Old enough to be put in with
the larger stock"
"'Nhat is the capacity of such
ranch"
without crowding it will accommo-
date nicely 200 full-grown fowls, 3, 900
young chicks and 700 ducks The
cost OF such ranch complete, without
the land, is about s., 900. One man and
a boy can attend to it nicely. Their du-
ties are to feed and water the fowls
regularly and keep the buildings thor
oughly cleaned. If thisis properly done
it keeps the fowls in perfectly good
health. Such a business, properly
carried on, will yield a profit
OF at least one hundred per cent. on the
capital invested, and even that is low
estimate. Take fancy bred fowls and
they bring from 81 to $40 a piece,
and know man who has partridge
cochin cock which 500 couldn't buy.
Then take broiIers. They are worth to-
day, and it is the dull season, twenty.
two cents a pound live weight Each
one will weigh two ana a half pounds and
cents. In winter they bring from fifty
to sixty cents pound, or - a pair.
The demand for eggs for Matching is
great and large part of our business is
10 supply eggs for this purpose. In fact
our ranch is carried on for raising thor
oughbreds, not for market poultry. DO
we allow visitors? Yes, we set apart
Fridays for any who want to see the
place. But there have been a number
Of such ranches lately started in the
neighborhood of this city. One on Long
Island conducted by stock company is
the largest. The capital interested is
$40, 600, and the place is conducted for
the exclusive production of broilers. 1t
has now capacity for Matching 1000
eggs, and they are putting up more
buildings, so that the place will have a
capacity for Matching out 200 chickens
day. They find the business profitable,
and their trade is in this city. Another
somewhat different ranch is one in New