Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-02-19
POULTRY.
POULTRY.
Large Profits From this
Easy Industry.
WILL 1T PAY HERE Y
Answered by a Farmer in the
Columns Of the Rural
Californian.

Mr.. Fields has good success in
poultry raising. He keeps his hens
shut up in a yard except an hour or
two just at night. He feeds his hens
all the wheat they will eat; in fact
keeps it before them all the time. He
feeds good many chopped onions.
Once a week he feeds bran mash
literally seasoned with cayenne pep
per.
My poultry account for the year
1887 stands thusly: Fowls on hand
January 1st, 16o, including 10 cocks;
eggs sold in January, Az doz. for
$12.98; eggs sold in February,
AN dox. for $9.6S; also sold 6
cocks for SO; March egg sales,
1877 doz. for $19.37; fowls sold, 1a
4 z. hens for 1925; April egg sales,
204 doz., for $50 70; May egg sales,
125 doz., for $23.07; June egg sales,
liz doz., for $24 81; also l doz. cocks,
S.; July egg sales, 81 doz., for $19.5 .58;
broilers, $l2.15; August egg sales, 43
doz., for $1l 40; also cocks, so cts.
September egg sales, 40 doz., for
1923; also 8cocks for 1915 October
egg sales, 91s doz., for 1923; Novem-
ber egg sales, 8 doz., for $3.50; De-
cember egg sales, % doz., for $12.65;
making a total of 1856 doz. for $l91.79,
averaging a little over l21a cts. a
dozen. Fowls sold amounted to
$27.65, making total receipts $2l9.44.
No account was kept OF the eggs
and fowls served at our table. But
these together with the manure, we
consider fair offset to the labor of
feeding and caring for the fowls. 1t
will be seen that by far the largest
sale was in April, and the lowest in
October and November. The number
of eggs sold in January and February
were exactly the same, but the
amount received for the January sales
was a quarter more than for the Feb
ruary sales. The lowest price receiv-
ed Tor eggs was 1919 cts, in March;
the highest price received for eggs
was "a cts. The fowls on hand at the
end of the year are 240. An increase
of 80, worth $40, makinga total credit
of $259.44.
The debit side stands like this:
Paid for feed $135.63, a little over
$l1.30 month, or S5 cents a year
for each fowl. This deducted from
the credits leaves net income of
$l23.8l, or " cents for each fowl of
the original 100, or over 100 per cent.
profit. after allowing good interest
on the investment.
My method of treating my fowls is
not dissimilar to that Of many 9TH
ers, yet it may be instructive to
beginner. My fowls are mostly con.
fined in a yard in my orchard, with
a fence of wire netting, 3 feet high,
with wire loops over each stake to
prevent flying over. My fowls are
nearly all Leghorns, the most diff
cult of any breed to keep confined.
Corrals of 6-foot lath are
used for breeding pens. 1
keep rs fowls together in the main
pen, with one or two roosiers, to
speak to the passing hawks. My
houses, in which the fowls roost, are
closed on three sides with stakes, and
the fourth with open lath work.
These houses are but three feet high
at lowest point, four feet wide and six
feet long. l allow about 20 fowls to
essch house. These houses are SO
light that two good sized boys can
easily remove them, by handles on
the ends, to new ground each week,
when the manured ground can be
spaded under. The nest boxes are on
the ground, but SO protected as to be
quite secluded. The nest is of fine
earth, covered with fine saw-dust.
We raise, yearly, few vegetable
gourd nest-eggs.
In the morning, early, the fowls are
given liberal breakfast of mashed
boiled potatoes or beans, into which
has been stirred mill feed and little
salt, and once week cayenne pepper.
This feed is put into troughs so con-
structed that it is impossible for the
fowls to get their feet in it. A little
flint-corn, hard to shell, is kept in the
pens for the fowls to exercise and busy
themselves with through the day. At
night they are fed about all the wheat
they will eat, varying this twice
week with shelled corn. A box of fine
sea shells is kept constantly in their
corral, and occasionally draw them
q load of gravel. They are watered
three times day, and have more or
less milk the year round. Most of
the year they are let out just before
night to take run, eat alfalfa and
pick few worms. Whenever any
fruit or vegetables necessitates my
keeping them confined all day, as it
sometimes does, feed them three
times week with chopped, or boiled
and mashed "cracklings," bought at
the butcher shop, and every day all
the cabbage the will eat; sometimes
varying with beets.
In the year 1886 I started with
thirty hens less than in 1887, but the
net profit of that year, per hen. was
only 81 cents against II cents the
the past year. But with my flock re-
duced to fifty or less, doubtless 1
could make much larger profit
per hen; but from the above
figures no one should conclude
that because l sold only 1856
dozen eggs from $50 hens, that each
hen only laid So eggs in the course of
the year. 1t must be remembered no
account was kept of what we ate in
our family, and no account was kept
of the number we set, not more than
half of which hatched. Col. Sellers
would estimate this way: Hens
should average at least 120 eggs each
q year, a little over two week. One
hundred and fifty hens would yield
1900 dozen eggs, which, at the aver
age price sold at, would be $322.50,