Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1908-10-16
ssIIins Day-oId Chicks.


II may surprise many OF our renders
70 hear that an extensive traflc IL be-
Ing carried on in some parts Of the
country by selling chicks q day old in
: the place of "eggs for Matching" Ex-
Lerience has proved that they can be
shipped in safety for long distances
with less loss than is the case with
eggs. In describing his visit TO three
institutions whose business 1t 10 to
ship chickens as soon a they are
hatched, A. /. Root, in Gleanings in
Bee Culture, has the following to say:
cat the first place visited this ship
ping day is Tuesday and l suppose
their incubators are started so as tc
have chicks come out, say on Mon
day On Tuesday the chicks would be
dried off enough to put In little paste
board boxes holding not less than 25
which can be sent by express even IN
cold weather. AS small q number rs
ten can be sent safely after May L.
only four pounds. You see they are
lighter than eggs. l presume some
arrangement is made with the express
companies so there shall be no delay.
The day l was there, Tuesday, they
had sent out about 5000 chicks. /
had a box of Is of different kinds that
/ brought home to experiment with
in my homemade 'fireless' brooder.
The prices run from to Is cents. The
Leghorns are usually the cheapest.
They also make special low rates on
all the odds and ends that are
left. l supposed at first that they
had poultry yards of sufficient capacity
to produce their own eggs for hatch
ing; but l learned that this was next
to impossible. They get their eggs
from farmers and others in their vi.
cinity who produce them for this par.
ticular purpose, the proprietors of the
hatchery probably furnishing the stock.
/ judge this to be so, because they
have some very choice high-priced
stock All the parties engaged in the
business told me they had very few
losses. The package of chickens IL
opened in the presence of the express
agent, and he ccrtifies to the number
of dead, if any. The shipper then re-
places these with another shipment or
makes some satisfactory arrangement,
If the number lost is small. A ship
ment made from New Washington, T.,
to Tampa, Fla, occupying four days,
was received in very good order and
the chicks did not seem to be much
the worse for having lived four days
without food or water. In fact, ]
believe the general decision is that
chicks are better of without anything
to eat for at least 4S hours after they
break the shell. OF course, it is i'm.
portant that the purchaser be on hand
at the express Office to take charge of
the chicks just as soon as they are
received. 80
The firm claims they can furnish
Matched chickens at just about double
the price you would have to pay for
eggs of the same kind; and / Judge
there is but very little difficulty In rails
ing the chickens by our best modern
method safter they are once Matched.
II this were not so, the customers of
former years would not be patronizing
these same establishments year after
year
Mr.. Root sees in this industry an
other indication of the tendency to
specialize all branches of farming
and thinks 1t offers freat inducements
TO boys and women. In fact, one OF
the establishments he visited was run