The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1912-05-10
The Best Breed
of Chickens
(By w. H. Hart.)

n (By w. H. Hart)
e For this section of the country
2 believe that the Single Comb Whit
Leghorns are far the best foul to kee
both on the city lot and on the farm
! If we were near good market lik
}. Portland, San Francisco or even Bots,
there could be more said in favor Q
the larger breeds; but around the bes
markets like New York and San Fran
t cisco we find all the large poultr.
] farms keep the Whit Leghorns ex
clusively. Not less than a million
E White Leghorn hens are kept the yea
round in the one locality arount
= Petaluma, about l8 miles from Sa,
Francisco.
. 1t costs about one-third to one-hal
less to feed Leghorns than the larger
breds. Recent experiments, in Oregon
: and in the east, to find what it cost te
feed different breeds of chickens fol
a year, gave the amounts for White
Leghorns at 72c, for Wyandottes and
R. l. Reds at SIPS, Plymouth Rocks al
$1.35 and the Asiatics at still higher
figure. The difference in weight will
little more than make the difference
in the cost to raise the larger breeds
when you sell in good market, but
you lose on the larger breeds on those
you keep for egg production. The
market here for broilers or even fries
is poor and l cannot see that it pays
to raise poultry for that purpose-that
| is,there isn't enough difference in the
price you get for Leghorn fry and
those of larger breed to justify keep
ing the heavier fowl. The Egg farm
must be the best paying proposition,
everything considered, or all the large
poultry farms both east and west
would not be stocked with White Leg
horns.
The Leghorns are the best foragers
and will rustic more of their own feed
than the larger fowls, and the more
feed the hens can find themselves, the
cheaper will be the cost of eggs pro-
duced, which certainly is an item i'm
portant enough for every farmer to
consider seriously.
Another item of consideration is
that of housing. A house large enough
to accommodate 100 Leghorns will not
hold more than 20 to IS of the Wyan-
dottes, Rocks or Orpingtons; that
means the cost of housing Leghorns is
one-fourth less than that of the larger
breeds.
We find the Leghorn chicks little
harder to raise until they are about
six weeks old. after that we think they |
are more hardy than the large size |
chicks.
The Leghorns are considered poor |
settlers and mothers, but if we were on
a farm we would hatch and raise
nearly all our chicks by incubators and
brooders, as we are doing here in town
and we find it very much easier to do
it in this way. We do not lose any
more this way, and l doubt if we lose
as many, and they are just as strong
and hardy. Since we have used ma
chimes we have had no trouble with
lice and to have your chicks free from
lice is great advantage gained in
raising chicks, as it is next to impos-
sible to keep the chicks free from lice
when Matched and raised by hens.
So much for the farm. What about
the city lot? The housing of poultry
on the city lot is great deal the same
as on the farm. Our house is 16x24
feet. We have IS White Leghorns
in it this spring but next winter and
spring we expect to have about 90 TO
100 hens in It. We have no outside
run for the house, and we got 738
eggs during April, an average of
26 20 eggs day. from IS hens, and
they are not pushed for heavy egg
as they are our BREEDING
stock. The house is built so the floor
is six feeet above the ground; the
lower part is fixed up for a brooder
house. The brooder house has an out
side run the length of the house and
about five feet wide. We expect to
hatch not less than ESQ chicks this
spring and raise to maturity about Isl
choice pullets in this brooder house,
to be placed up in the laying house
next fall So on a space of 2lx24 feet
we expect to keep 90 to 100 hens the
year round. besides furnishing the
house with young stock. Later on we
intend to build another and larger
house and expect to keep not less than
800 White Leghorns the yeear round
on our 50xl2O foot lot and have an
abundance of room.
The White Leghorns stand confine-
ment just as we'll as the larger breeds,
if not better. You can enter our poul-
try house at any time of day and find
a great number of the hens working in
the liter hunting for grain, and its
seldom you see one on the roost ex-
cept at night. They are nealy always
busy. and we have very little trouble
keeping the flock free from disease
and lice.
We keep poultry for egg production
and so far have found it quite profit
able even on city lot and the hardest
part of any business is getting a start
We cannot raise young stock for eat
ing as cheap as we can buy them in
the fall, so we do not raise any for that
purpose except few for very early
tries, and Leghorns answer very well
for that purpose
For the family who wish to keep a
few hens just to supply eggs for the
table and cooking purposes l would
advise keeping Whit Leghorns be-
cause you can keep ten hens in the
same space that it takes for seven of
the larger fowls, the feed bill wouldn't
be any more and you would get