Savannah morning news., 1886-04-04

NEW INDUSTRY THAT THE
SOUTH KNOWS LITTLE ABOUT.


SOUTH KNOWS LITTLE ABOUT.
Growing Chickens and Ducks by Thou
sands at Chippewa Farm-Hatching
Spring Broilers 500 at 4 Time-sOme-
thing About Incubators and Chicken
Raising.
Poultry farm" would not be an unapt
term for an enterprise conducted at
"Chippewa,' just beyond the 4-mile stone
on the White Bluff road. Setting back
from the road on the east side couple of
hundred yards is the dwelling where live
the Coes--J oseph, the father, and Ezra
and George, his sOns-who are probably
the largest poultry raisers in the State.
They have veritable chicken and duck
ranch.
On one acre around their house, more
chickens and ducks are raised in the
course OF a year than are, perhaps, on any
ten other acres in Georgia. Drive by the
place anytime during the day, and a dock
OF 10 tull grown white Pekin ducks Will be
seen pudding, diving and swimming in
! the pond In front Of the house. A little
/ way of the ducks can scarcely be told
from geese 80 closely do they resemble
each other Drive up TO the house ana the
latner or either Of the sons Will show the
visitor anywhere from 600 TO 900 little
ducks, and 1000 to 1000 chickens--and
there is NOS hen on The place, nor have
! tney set an old duck for months.
I Inside small, warm room in the
hatchery" are four yellow boxes that
look like so many chests. They are all
setting up tour feet from the floor. There
are glass windows in the front of
each of the boxes and through the
a ra n no Z fEto NIL
stock two stores. The boxes are incu-
batOrs, and practically are an improve
ment on the old hen. Each incubator
Will hold 4jO duck eggs, or from 800 TO 700
| chicken eggs. 1t takes an incubator Just
as long to hatch setting OF eggs as it
takes hen-2l days for chickens and 2S
days for ducks. From 600 fertile chicken
eggs 4S0 to $40 young chicks are hatcned,
on an average. Ninety per cent. Is the
| highest the Messrs. COe have obtained.
The lncubators are kept at lO5 deg. and
are heated by kerosene lamps at the end.
A tank holding 20 gallons of water is
placed over the eggs. The lamp on tue
outside of the incubator heats a small
| boiler of water, and water from the boiler
circulates through coil Of pipe under
and over the eggs. Rankin, the inventor
OF the hatchlng machine, arranged very
| ingenious cOntriVance. ltis automatic, and
IS so arranged that when the temperature
begins TO get too nigh three valves open
aud it is lowered TO 10j, or one or two de-
grees less.
rhe little chicks and ducks are kept in
the incubators a hours after Matching
Then they are strong enough to bump
around for Themselves, and they are re-
| moved TO the "brOOder." This is a small
pen heated by a lamp on the under side.
In the middle of the zen is a table eight
inches high. The edges of this are
/ trInged with w00len cloth, which hangs
! down to within half an inch Of the floor.
| rhe cloth is slashed up every few inches
to allow the chickens to so under freely,
and they huddie under it as though it was
mother hen.
All of the young chickens are orphans
| ana never knew what il was to have any
other mother except the incubator aud
The brooders. Young ducks afford more
| amusement than the chickens do. All
are tame and not in the least afraid of
person. The ducks are the worst of
gOurmands, and run to the little shallow
| troughs every time any one opens the
door. They are well fed AT first on a mix
ture OF boiled eggs and meal and after
| wards on the best material in the poultry
food line. Ducks are ten and twelve
| weeks growing to marketable size and
chickens grow into brOiers in about the
same length of time. BroiIers weigh
| from one and three-quarters to two and
a-halr pounds, and bring now in market
| from - cents to 81 pair.
1t is possible with the incubators to
have spring chickens all the year round
! 4 Pekin duck at the age Of ten weeks
pulls down the scales to the five pound
mark. From the time the chickens are
tWO weeks old they spend the rest of their
| brief existence out Of doors in pens eight
feet wide aud thirty feet long Tue south
side OF the Messrs. Goes yard Ia lined
with these pens which are filled with
chickens in all stages of growth from the
2-weeks-Old youngling to the marketable
brOiler.
The Messrs. Coe started the poultry
| Industry last fail, renting the farm Chip
pewa" from Messrs. Granam II Hubbell,
of this city.
Elsewhere, and more particularly in
New England, the chicken ranches have
proved very profitable. The prices Of in
cuhators range from $50 10 $500, with a
varying capacity from 80 to 1000 eggs
There are dozen different machines on
the market AS a rule, a frst-class in
cubatOr matches from so 10 90 per cent. of
the fertile eggs that are put into it.
Around New York are great many
persons engaged in the business of rails.
ing poultry who hatch all their poultry in
incubators. Some parties start with a
capital of 500, and from that amount the
capital runs away up into thousands.
The largest poultry ranch is on Long
Island. IL is conducted by a stock com
pany with capital Of $4,000. II is con-
Quoted for the exclusive production of
broIlers 1t has now capacity f0t hatch
ing 1000 eggs, and the capacity is to be
increased to hatch out 1000 chickens a
day. The investors have found the busi-
ness profitable, their trade being in New
York city.
Another somewhat different ranch is
one in New Jersey. which is devoted to
the production OF eggs exclusively. The
man who owns il started 3 years ago with
a capital S25. He keeps now / 900 lay
ing hens and his present buildings cost
him $4,000, all OF which he is said to have
made out OF the business.
The Messrs. COe experience trouble in
getting chicken eggs. The duck eggs
they get from their own flock. but for the
chicken eggs they have TO depend upon
| the cracker hens.
superior Court Gases,
The report Of G.. II. Dorsett, receiver in