Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1910-07-20

Il
In earned my pin money out of
| chickens. My. hens give me
profit OF more than five dol
lars a head. You think that an
enormous yield for chickens? So do
l. for l had been raising a few chick
ems ever since l was q small girl;
but have my account book and so I
know Just what / spend and what I
take In.
My chickens are Rhode Island Reds
and bred from the best layers. have
found that there Is more in the strain
than In the breed OF chickens. / car
! ried my chickens with me when I
went to Florida, so / know all about
them for generations.
Years ago l sold all my other
breeds. keeping only the Plymouth
Rocks and Rhode Island Reds, because
| had proved to my satisfaction that
these two breeds gave most eggs In the
winter when eggs are scarce and fetch
the highest prices. finally discard
ed the Plymouth Rocks because
found the Rhode Islanders harder and
lighter feeders, or perhaps | should
say better foragers.
This characteristic of their being
good foragers has had a good deal to
do with my large profits in Florida
never have given my flock meat They
find insects enough for their own
meat supply. Since the first season
down there l have never given them
a bit OF meat except the few morsels
that are mixed in the table scraps
which they have regularly every day.
In Florida / have not raised my own
iced but have bought 1t In small guam
titles at the regular retail prices.
have been forced to hire all labor
done, such as building and repairing
the houses. coops and fences. At my
home In Massachusetts,. being then
a comparatively strong woman, was
able to do all such things myself. and
yet my chickens never netted me more
than $1.50 a head all the years that I
struggled with them.
There in the winter the birds had
to be housed and supplied with green
and meat food besides their regular
rations of grain. In Florida they run
In the yards all the year long and
get their green food from the small
patch OF grain which l keep for them
at the back of their yard and their
own meat by catching insects.
Northern friends who have come to
visit me ask II there is not a differ
ence In the prices which I now re-
ceive for my chickens and those I
sold while In Massachusetts,. am
forced to reply that / formerly re-
ceived somewhat higher prices than
are paid in Florida. Most OF nv
eggs and dressed fowls are bought by
the largest hotel and though It is run
by northern manager, he expects
and gets southern prices. All that
the hotel does not take is readily
sold to private families. so never
have the expense of shipping.
l do not think any other breed
would do as well as my Rhode Island
Reds. let my hens sit on their own
eggs. have found this best in a
small flock. A hen must have some
time for rest from laying. never
allow a hen to sit more than once
In each year, because It is not neces-
sary where all are equally good moth
ers and where there is a good demand
for fresh eggs.
Before the chickens are a NINTH old
the mother invariably has begun IN
lay again. ] have four hens that
give me 200 eggs each year. They are
mother and three daughters. AS the
mother Is now four years old I am
looking forward to the time when her
yield OF eggs will drop of. but even
then / think It will pay me TO keen
her, not only because of the strain
but also because she Is an excellent
brooder and mother. The ordinary
hen do not think Il pays to keen
after IL Is two ears old.
| have found that in Florida the
/ houses have to be much more care.
fully attended to than in Massacbu-
| sets because of the extreme difficulty
IN keeping down Vermin. Ny houses
are all Of wood built for ventilation
more than warmth For the first four
| feet the boards are put on solid To
prevent the depredations Of what the
negroes down here call varminta. that
is, minks. 'coons, foxes aud stray
/ dogs and cats that may slip through
your fence. Above this solid line
a space Of two inches Is allowed he
tween the boards until on a line with
the roosts. There again Is a solid
belt to prevent the chickens from
roosting In a draft
Besides the usual enemies here a
chicken raiser has to fight snakes
They slip into the nests and not only
swallow the eggs. but often devour
young chicks. To fight them a Flor.
ida friend told me to get a pig and
give her tina run Of the yard. bat 20