Rocky Ford enterprise., 1908-12-25
Points About Poultry
Does Poultry Pay?
By o. c. Frantz.

l wish to treat this subject from
the egg side of the poultry business,
as $I.oo can be nroduccd more easily
and quicker from ep",; than broilers
or roasters and the profits will be
much greater.
OF the several branches of the
poultry business none are more prof.
are always in demand at an advanced
price. From my own experience l
can say very emphatically that the
egg business does pay and pays we'll.
The number of plants that continue
to flourish all over the United States
are good evidence that it must be a
paying Business.
The average price of eggs and
poultry are steadily increasing. From
the year 1903 to 1907 the average
price of eggs throughout the United
States increased from 1887 cents per
dozen to 1877 cents per dozen and
during the same period Of time poul-
try increased from Io78c per lb. to
I4.oc per lb. This is remarkable
showing when we take into consider
alton the increase in production dur
ing this period of time as we'll as the
increase in price.
How many of us really know the
actual value of the poultry and eggs
marketed and produced in single
year throughout the U. s.
The last government report by
Hon. James Wilson, secretary of ag-
riculture at Washington. places the
value of the poultry and eggs mar
ketcd in 1907 at 5000. 100000, whA
is an increase over 1906 OF SIoo.ood!
600 The vastncss Of the poultry in
f5iif fh5iiftry liz 7lg,asfy I'iii5jTsfiad .o,v..raa.-
value of the whole wheat crop $780,
100000 Let us go back to the yel
of 1870 and we will find the value
the noultry products for that year
amounted to less than $4,000. 900.
while today the value of the poultry
crop in single state amounts to
more than that Our neighbor state,
Kansas. produced and marketed in
1907 poultry and eggs to the amount
$40. 100000. One single county in
good old Missouri marketed last year
II, 2,ooo.ooo lbs. of poultry for which il
received S2.637.476. While our home
state (Colo.) pays out annually near
ly 100000 for poultry products to
other states, which produce them I'M
der far less favorable conditions.
Colorado alone does not produce
enough poultry and eggs per year to
last Denver 90 days.
I now want to show you the mag
nitudc of the egg industry and the
profits realized from it. There are
thousands of large egg farms in the
U. S. one OF the largest being in N.
Y. state, the products average an
nualIy nearly Sso.ooo.ooo. Many net
their owners from s to 10 thousand
dollars per year. Hundreds OF men
and women arc making money out
of tho business. conducting it as
side issue, realizing from 5000 to ST..
600. and they only devote small
Pctaluna, Calf, is known the
world over as the White Lcghorn
city, because so many white leghorns
are kept around town all for the pro-
duction of eggs for market. The re-
cord for 1907 was 4-422 COB dozen
eggs and the adjoining county pro-
duccd 6.677.So6 dozen: yet some
think the poultry business a small
business.
The poultry business of today il
properly handled will give far greater
returns than any other branch OF
farming. At present price of feed
can clear annually per hen from 81 so
to S2.so. What does It cost to pro-
ducc a dozen eggs from 4 laying
hen? That must be based on the
number of eggs laid per hen per yr.
and the amount of feed consumed per
hen per year.
Take the Colo. business fowl. the
s. c. White Leghorn, which os per
cent of all the large egg farms keep
exclusive for egg production. She
is seldom guilty of laying less than
II doz. cg"s per year and many Law
as high as 40 per year: her one aim
in life is to fill the egg basket.
While the heavier breeds with the
exception Of a few particular strains
bred for cp~ production will not lay
nearly as many eggs per hen and the
amount of food consumed is much
greater.
With the Lcghorn you can easily
produce eggs for 6 to Sc per doz. and
with the heavier breeds 10 to I2c per
doz. and you can realize for them
from IS to soc per doz. (Docs poul-
try payO
At present I am gathering from
IS to 20 doz. eggs per week and get
ting 4oc per doz... cost of food con-
sumed will not exceed $500 per week.
another proof of the profits from a
As>A T.. L-a