Lower coast gazette., 1914-01-17
Why Not Raise More Poultry.

one deserving far more consideration than II lc
usually gets. The good ladies of our households t
who generally undertake the care OF the family t
poultry have no books kept for them ana me (
result is thar, raise as many chickens and Sc
cure as many eggs as they may, they are ger
eral]y consumed at home and the good ladies' OF
the household get no credit for this very ma
terial help given by them to their families IN
this industry.
AS we have a large rainfall in this parish 1t
becomes extremely necessary that chickens IN
time Of storm and in time Of heavy rains should
be well housed and kept out Of the water. Inc
chicken house then becomes the center Tor dls-
ease and vermin and it requires untlrlng vigil
ance to keep poultry diseases and poultry YER
min away. Yet it this be done the investment
of a very few dollars will bring more moneys
worth of food and comfort into the family than
can be secured in any other way. UP IN She
western states years ago it was the general GUS
tom Of the farmers wives to buy all of the min
or family supplies, including the clothing, with
the proceeds cf their sale Of chickens, eggs and
butter. These articles paid the grocery bill and
ordinarily the dry goods bill, which, however,
was not very extensive, and paid for such shoes
as were essential for the family.
Barring the excessive %rainfalls, lis as easy
to raise chickens IN Plaquemines Parish as any
where else. Out in the western part OF our
own state. say in Vernilion and Lafayette
marshes. where the rainfall is about equal to
ours. tiers of thousands of eggs and hundreds
of cocps Of chickens are shipped into the New
Orleans market where they always command
good prices. One trouble with chicken farming
is the cost of food where food has to be bought.
There is so much rice produced in our parish
that if the rough screenings were carefully
sorted out and not thrown away, but saved up
for chicken feed, they would form an immense
amount Of feed in the aggregate. Apart from
this. there is hardly sny other parish IN the
state where chickens do better by their own
grazing than they can do in this parish. Ihey
are very considerable grass eaters and simply
revel in the newly plowed grounds Were they
can get access to a supply of bugs and worms.
In regard to the matter of danger from
minks. rats and opossun::;, as well as ether pre-.
dacious individuals, it is necessary that chicken
coops or houses should be elevated high enough
from the ground so that the dogs and cats car
get under them and so that the houses can d.
locked up every night to prevent anyone get
ting into them without committing actual burg
lary. Many persons would be deferred iron
stealing chickens il they had to break 8 lock 0
i force a door open, if they knew it would SEM
them to the penitentiary fer a term Of years
and yet such is the case where actual barg]ar
is committed. If the doors are left unlocked Q
unfastened, the crime becomes the simple caec
larceny.
Rhode Island has become celebrated all owe
the country for it's production OF high grad
chickens and turkeys. The people there are \
!. more Industrious than ours, but they nave MOI
rigorous winters and more difficulty than "
, have in feeding domestic animals. Our paris
ought to be a paradise for chickens and wou
! be if e would give this great industry mo-
attention than we now 10.
Some speculations in chicken growing haN
occurred in our parish in recent years ana ma
failed of success. That, however, is one OF t
; unfortunate results of going into this matter
an amateurish sort Of way, without giving Il
n industry LnaC complete alu CdISlui oeeonel
+ that should be given it. The central point
: that chickens must be made to feed themsely
: in whole or in a large part. and that outside
4 the family kitchen scraps, which ought to
" given to them, there should be little or
Dough. feed. If these matters were taken
a time We should almost surely have a supply
IL ckeap rice and other material of that kind wi
. which to supply our chickens. The spring
= now on us and why not make the venture a
M see if we. can't make some money out OF poul
!. or at least if we can't get our families bet
~ fed than they are now and with a diminution
the cost equal to the value Of the poultry p
.duced? Other people are doing it in the oil
:. states of the unien. Other people are doing
- in the parishes of this state, and why not
!. P%laquemines Parish take a fresh hold and W
renewed energy determine to exploit the pc
try industry thoroughly we'll?
Its
"A Orange. Culture.