Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1893-11-20
The Value Of Poultry.

An authority in the matter speakiasS
value of poultry raising, makes the fols,.
ing timely suggestions;
In studying the question Of whs, c,a i
profitsbly produced on = small farm. I
seems to me that the intelligent msn.~.
mens of poultry ffe,s one of the bes, th.as,
for the farmer who must start with email
capital. For series Of years all pouh,,
and eggs have brought relatively hisN..
prices than most products Of the farm. ~
at no time have they sold so low that th.,.
was not good profit from them.
suppose there is netting more dit6cuh
to convince farmer Of, than that poulry.
raising can be made profitable busines.
Because the women have always sttepdea
10 the chickens on about % farms on, 4,
100, and done it with old barrels or ban,
for coops, which were accessible to r.h
weasels and other depredators, and in vhiA
the hens we're confined while the chicken.
struggled around an easy prey to havks
with the coops of such poor construction sn
arrangement that whole broods were Otter
drowned in q storm, and also because Ii,
family usually consume the larger pan al
the years product, the farmer thinks ,he
chicken business" beneath his notice. and
leaves to his over-worked wife the lob AZ
furnishing him with fresh eggs and yellow.
legged chickens. IL would, perhaps, wake
up some of these farmers to know tint
for series of years more than $1,000 worth
of poultry and eggs has been sold from
so acre farm, and all food for the fowls pro.
auced on the fern. None of these fowls Or
eggs were sold at fancy prices for breeding
purposes, but all on the market for food |
do not speak of this because | suppose that
any farmer can DO as well, for this success
came after long experience, and from wise
location where good city markets were with.
in reach. know, however, that there an
tens of thousands of farmers who DO not
sell $500 worth of products of all kinds
in year from their farms and
to whom this sum would seem a small
fortune, and any one ought easily to be
sure of an income of that amount from 4
poultry farm with little experience. Be.
sides, raising poultry need not occupy all
the time, nor shut out all other sources Of
profit, and moderate sized dairy is an ex.
cellent adjunct to Il poultry farm, for while
you are selling eggs and chickens you can
take butter to market as well. and milk and
curd make excellent chicken feed. A few
acres of potatoes, either Irish or sweet, will
not be damaged in the least it the fowls
roam over them every day, and after the
merchantable tubers are sold there will be
much valuable food for the fowls.
The beginner with poultry is likely to
make mistakes, and one of the worst 10 in
attempting to do too much at first. Read
ing of the phenomenal success of some one
growing poultry on large scale he attempts
to discount it by doing still more.
How then would advise farmer to
begin with poultry? l would say, start
with 80 or 100 hens if the latter number,
make two colonies of them. Put up
house eight feet wide and twenty five lotg
for colony of this size, with roosls at one
end and nests at the other. These houses
should be built warm, lined with
paper imperyious to uir, and may be cheap
structures, but should have some large WIN
dows at the south. | build them withs
front to the south and the roof with buta
single slope to the north, Make them ten
feet high at the south and six at the rear.
BY all means start with good stock Of
some distinct breed they will do better than
mongrels, and before long your ueighbors
will pay you good price for eggs and fowl
TO stock their farms with