Norwich bulletin., 1911-01-28
THE BUILDING OF A
 SUCCESSFUL POULTRY PLANT Told by w. J. TilIey to State Pout-
 trymen's Association.

Told by w. J. Tilley to State PouL- trymen's Association. w. J. Tilley of Moosup made an ad dress of much interest on The Build ing Up of a Successful Poultry Plant at the State Poultrymens meeting at
 Hartford this week.
 Tn June. 1901. Mir Tilley decided to
 change from city life to country life and moved to Packerville, village of about 100 inhabitants He purchased ! a yarn box for ten cents. bought two settings of eggs at twenty-five cents each, one hen at fifty cents and bor- rowed a hen.
 1 The eggs matched Aug i, netting ] 13 chickens, three roosters and ten bullets. March 10, 1909. the hens be- gan to lay. He built a 6xS house l for the bullets and purchased a cock erai for 32.50. The net profits for the 1 first year were s22.l3, besides an in crease in stock of 15 bullets. In the I spring he hired about one-haf acre of land for $5 per year and built a | house, 10x12. That year he matched about 200 chickens and after fighting 1 the cats, rats, hawks and crows, saved | 50 bullets. Mir. Tilley has continued I to increase his stock and houses and l now ndS LULU henS. MT. Tilley does not believe that egg production can be increased in a flock | by the use of the trap nest It may | be all right for an advertising dodge, but it doesn't work. The best way is I to look to the vitality of the breeding stock and feed so as to strengthen and stimulate the egg producing organs. Had known this earlier I would have been hundreds of dollars better | off,
 Heavy layers are very apt to pro- duce weak chicks. Don't hatch more l take care of and don't be afraid to cull. I had rather have twenty good strong healthy hens than 200 weak undersized ones.'
 | MT. Tilley uses a dry mash composed l as follows: 25 pounds bran, 25 pounds wheat middlings, 15 pounds corn meal, | 10 pounds gluten meal, 20 pounds lin | seed meal, 10 pounds blood meal, 25 1 pounds ground oats, % pounds short cut alfalfa.
 1 This mash, also beef scraps. oyster shells, grit and charcoal are kept be- ] fore the hen at all times. A mash of cooked yegeta bles is fed gwice week. Cracked corn, wheat and oats, equal l parts, is fed in the litter twice daily, at 10 a. m. and to p. m.
 MT. Tilley uses a hopper devised by himself and built as follows: A ] trough the desired length is made, 10 1 inches wide and $ inches deep, cleats are nailed to the bottom and run l nailed to the trough so that it stands ming board for the hens to stand on neiled to the trough so that it stands about 12 inches off the ground. l V-shaped top is then made of 1aths and hinged to the trough.
 'In 1910 inaugurated the double yard system, which was a grand sue cess. Heretofore the eggs had dropped off in June. July and August to such an extent that I was obliged to dis l pose of my old hens very early In l fact, my income from eggs was almost nothing and my only revenue was a picture of Edgewood farm will re- I member that row of pine trees ex- l tends across the land from east to west pust in the rear of the laying 1 houses These trees were trimmed up as high as one could reach and wards
 built making front and back yards for each house. These yards were 1 alternately sown to oAts in the spring and summer and rye late in the fall. l This keeps the ground sweet and clean, ! also furnishes plenty of green feed
 1 ten months in the year. To those who 1 have never tried it, I hope that they l will give it a trial this year. It is not necessary to plough the ground. Sow the seed thick, say four bushels l to the acre. and run a cultivator | l
 | There is nothing wasted My chick en yards are handled in the same way. l now have 25 yards that are as green
 as your lawn in summer. The runs l inside of the broader houses, which I are feet long and 1-2 feet wide
 l are also soWn to oats or rye, and 1 sprinkled with warm water
 l MT. Tilley has found the fireless
 l brooder very useful in decreasing the mortality of his chicks. He makes 1 his breeders as follows:
 A continuous platform four feet wide
 l is built the length of the house which run in front of the brooder and four 1 feet alleys in the rear. The front and
 top of the breeders are 22 inches apart
 making each brooder g by AS inches,
 l and 10 inches high. The hover, which
 l is an ordinary cracker box. just fits
 i in between the partitions; the bottom
 1 of the box is sawed off so as to make l a tray 2 inches deep. In this tray
 l fine cut hay is kept. Burlap is tackled
 on top of the box and allowed to sag
 I within 2 inches of the hay. On top
 of the burlaD is quantity of fine
 I wooden waste, the amount being gov
 erned by the weather. Some use cot
 | ton batting, but MT. Tilley prefers the
 1 woo1en waste, as it takes much less
 1 and keeps the chicken warmer
 In conclusion Mir. Tiley emphasized
 l the importance of good strong breed
 i ing stock and keeping the vitality up
 to the highest standard
 | Mr. TiIley answered a number of
 questions after his address and made a
 l strong plea for cooperation He said
 the farmers and poultry men were get-
 ting squeezed and should combine for
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