The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1909-06-17
CARE OF CHICKENS
BEST BREED NOT ALWAYS MOST
PROFITABLE.
Management and Care Essential Fea-
tures--cradusI Decrease in Lay
Ing Of Hen After the
First Year.

The question as to which is the
most profitable breed Of fowls is very
frequently asked me. There are un-
doubtedly differences in breeds, but
undue importance should not be
placed upon breed The trap nest has
shown that there Is more difference in
individuals than in breeds. Breed is
not everything. says a writer in At
lanta Constitution. You must keep
away from that idea in poultry keep
ing. If one starts in the poultry busi-
ness with the best breed" as they
believe, and has with it the notion
that breed is everything, there win be
inevitable failure. The breed may
be all right, but the fowls must be
encouraged to do their best by good
care and management. When eggs are
steady at 80 cents a dozen and the
hens fail to respond, the owner is like
ly to become unreasonable and take
up with another breed, and most like
ly the fault was not in the breed. The
fault is usually one or two things;
enther the hens are of a poor or non
productive strain of their breed, or
the management is poor.
1t is a point in management that
wish to write Of here, one point Of
many that may be taken into account
If poultry keeping is to be made a
success. II is a question OF the most
profitable age Of the hen. Poultry
raisers who have kept in touch with
poultry investigations during the past
few years are pretty well informed on
this point, but the importance of the
subject is not yet generally appre-
ciated. To determine this fact, line
OF experiments was conducted by sew
eral experiment stations with the OBJ
ject Of determining the value of the
hen at different ages for egg produc-
tion. The same hens we're kept year
after year under similar conditions,
and record was kept Of production
and food consumed. These expert
ments proved that the hen is different
from the COW, which retains or inn
proves her productivity with age. The
first year was the most profitable, and
there was gradual decrease in pro
ductiveness each succeeding year. 1t
is safe to figure this decrease at rs
per cent each year. With average
prices for food and for eggs, it is
not profitable to keep hens after they
have finished their second year Of
laying. The first, or pullet year, is
very profitable, the second win give
satisfactory profit, but during the
third year the egg yield win seldom
pay for the food consumed.
These conclusions apply only, of
course, where the eggs are sold at mar
ket prices Fowls that have a special
value as breeding stock should be
kept longer, but the notion that the
old speckled" hen is the good layer
should not be cherished unless she is
canght in the trap nest. The fact that
she sings joyful lay, paints her
comb brilliant red and scratches a
brilliant scratch should not be accept
ed as sufficient grounds for commut-
ing the death sentence.
It is safe to say that poultry rails
ers of the south would be many thou
sands of dollars in pocket by vigor-
ously killing off the hens every two
years and replacing them with new
stock-with exceptions noted above.
When pullets and hens are allowed to
run together 1t will be necessary to
mark them, otherwise it will be diff
cult to separate the old stock from the
young when it is desired to market
them. The usual method Of marking
is to punch hole in the web be-
tween the toes when the chicks are
hatched. This is easily and quickly
done with punch, that may be pur-
chased from poultry supply houses for
25 cents. A number of different mark
ings may be made in this way. Cut
ing OFF one toe nail is another good
way Of marking chicks. Do this when
chicks are first hatched and before
the first feed When the practice is to
dispose of the hens every two years. it
viii be sufficient to mark them every
other year.
The above suggestion is timely, as
the Matching season will be over by
latter part Of May, and it is a useless
expense carrying over lot of old hens
another year. Dispose of them be-
fore they begin to moult, giving their
room and feed to the youngsters com
ing on.