The Marshall republican., 1913-11-28
lay till the following spring.

In other words, the March chicks
give mi eggs all fall when eggs are
very high. while the May chicks are
free boarders for months afterwards
and, at that, lever do grow to be the
strong. vigorous fowls the others do.
And I lose a far greater percentage OF
the late chicks in brooding besides,
for they never show the same vigor
and vim of the March chick, and are
the ones that first contract any in
fectious disease which may be about.
And while this condition applies to
the females, or pullets. II is the same
way with the male chicks, or cocker
els. by the middle of May a March
Leghorn weight. about two pounds
at about two months of age-and I
get 30 to 40 rents per pound for him :
while the May chick does not reach
the two-pound notch till along in
August or September. and by then /
can get only 10 cents per pound; not
a profitable transaction.
Late Matched Chicks and Culis.
Now a thoughtlcss person will say
that such a small item as that makes
but little difference. That may be
true with just a few fowls but where
you are rearing a thousand or two
thousand chicks, II amounts to a
good income; just that one leak
alone. / have estimated the pecuni
AIRY difference IN value between the
Starch 18th and the May 18th chick.
and | place II c~onseryatively at one
dollar per chick. | 10 further than
that and say that from a %pecuniary
standpoint wouldn't accept as n
lgiit all the May patched chicks that
could be offered me. II my early
matches failed | would sut down my
incubators aud go buy early-hatch
chickens from some reliable breeder
with a good strain OF fowls.
Leak No. 2.-lnsufficient culling.
Throw out the non-laycrs as fast as
they can be detected. Sell or give
them away. Now It's n difficult mat
ter to select the layers of the flock. 1
have no confidence In the many So
called systems" which are literally
advertised. purporting to infallibly
detect the laying hen; %trap-nesting a
thousand hens Is out OF the question.
But | can tell when a hen Is lazy, or
Is getting past her laying profitable
ness. can also tell the small. delic-
ate specimens. and these should be
eliminated: the flock gone ovor oft
en-. and every non-produccr disposed
Of. Those are the ones that eat up
profits.
Leak No. 3.-Broody hens. Surely
no stock In "deader" than n broody
hen. They not only consume food
without recompense. but they are n
doteriment 70 the layers: smashing
eggs. Matching mites, starting into
termination the eggs laid by the
other hens. and. indeed. n perfect
nuisance. NomInally Leghorns are
Eon-setters. and are worthless as
means OF Matching. but sometimes
they take Il notion they want to sit.
cluck around and bother Just like any
other, During the spring and sum
mer I 10 through the nests every
~evening ut dark and remove the sit
tiers which | find In coops. sometimes
one or two. sometimes a dozen.
Forty-eight hours on water alone
generally ends Il. and sometimes
they wen lay before ! liherate them.
Leak No. 4.-Thc males OF the
flock. or course I do not aliude to
the growing coekrels. Our earliest
ones are sold off when the price is
high, and II is profitable. Later We
hold on TO the last couple OF humid
red from which to select our breeders,
and we can generally play even as TO
cost and the pound price we get. And
II is Il curious fact which have
never been able to explain: that the
later ~hatchings produce cockerels
with more high points than the earli-
er hatchings. Why the early chicks
show up with bad ear lobes. while
the later ones show the clear white,
is something | cannot understand.
The sale OF cockrels for breeding
purposes is the very poorest end OF
the poultry business. | got caught
once at that point; but Just once. /
carried about a hundred through for
spring sale; plenty OF inquiries, but
people seem to think a dollar Gust
think of that!D is enough for a roost-
err. There's more money In giving
them away the preceding September,
So / usually carry about fifty OF the
very pick through to spring, for !
use about thirty myself, and a few
sensible people turn up to take what
is left off my hands in the spring.