The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1912-05-10
POULTRY RAISING AN ART
Leroy II. Sands is Proprietor of n
Poultry Farm Northeast of Haw-
ley and Has One of the Most
Complete and Sanitary
Farms Around Here.

the pleasure of being conducted
around the large poultry farm own
ed and conducted by Leroy E.
Sands, of Hawley. The farm is sit
uated about a mile northeast of
Hawley, at the top and slope of the
hill and consists of twenty-five
acres of vergin soil. Some of the
land has been cleared of stones and
young apple and peach trees set in,
but a small portion of the farm is
still being cleared and prepared for
the planting of apple trees. The
farm, however, is mostly taken up
with the raising of thoroughbred
poultry. 1t is a wonderful sight to
one who has never been to a place
OF this kind to see so many high
grade birds. Mr.. Sands has at the
present time about 1900 birds, most
ly Leghorns, which he keeps for
breeding purposes and some of which
he ships to all parts of the country
The breeders are penned off and in
each pen are laying boxes and roost-
places which are thoroughly cleaned
every day, keeping them in a sani-
tary condition all the time. The
tioors of the pens are of cement with
thin layer of straw covering them
! for the poultry to roll in. Each
| breeder consists of five or six of
these pens, each with their separate
runway extending back in a yard,
which is seeded down. When the
! tender shoots begin to come up they
make excellent food for the birds.
In each breeder there is a feed
pen and hospital for lame and sick
birds. They are fed grain three
! times a day and a prepared dry
mash is before them all the time. In
house, some distance from the en-
! trance to the farm, are kept the in
! cubators. Several small ones are in
operation all the time. In the CEN
ter of the room extending almost the
entire length, about twenty feet, was
a mammoth hot water incubator
which holds about $500 eggs. 1t is
divided off into compartments and
| is heated by hot water. When the
little chicks are hatched they are
put into brooder where they have
plenty of freedom and sunlight.
Chicks are hatched here at the rate
of 1000 a week. The brooder is
large place partitioned off with WOW
en- wire into stalls and a certain
number of chicks are put into each.
Each staH has its separate brooder
which is kept at the same tempera-
1
4 until they are three weeks old
when the temperature is gradually
decreased. When about three weeks
old they are let run over the farm.
! Each stall has separate runway,
extending back from the brooder
and which is also seeded down SO
the young tender sprouts can be
utilized as food for the young
chicks. When the little chicks are
still in the brooder they are fed
oats and the floors of their pens are
covered with cut alfalfa, which is a
valuable food for them. At differ
ent places all over the farm Mr..
Sands has small brooders, heated by
lamps and states that when the
chicks are three weeks old they are
let out to run over the place.
Going back to young chicks it
must be mentioned that five-day-old
chicks are shipped by Mr.. Sands to
many states east of the Rocky
Mountains. The chicks are shipped
by express in small paste board
boxes, which allow enough air for
breathing purposes. Small chicks
can stand this confinement for about
forty hours, and even under unfav-
orable conditions if they are packed
right. Many of the small chicks
are kept for breeding purposes but
about one-third of the hatch is ship
ped.
Eggs are also shipped to Western
states for matching. About 1000
eggs are received a week from his
$500 hens. Mr.. Sands raises Leg
horns mostly, but keeps few
! White Rocks for table purposes.
All his birds are thoroughbreds and
| his fame for raising poultry has
reached many states of the Union
where he ships both eggs and birds
| Mr.. Sands undoubtedly has one OF
the most complete and sanitary
poultry farms in this part of the
state and is thoroughly equipped in
every way to handle his large and
extensive business. The chicken
business is certainly some business