The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1914-01-23
EGGS FOR THE FAMILY
Hundreds Of People Keeping
Chickens in Small Space.
All That 10 Required ls Suitable
Ground and Reasonable knowledge
of Principles Of Poultry Raising
-House ls Factor. *


(By PROF. JOHN WILLARD BOLTE.)
Did you know that anyone with a
small yard and the ambition to try,
can easily keep enough chickens to
furnish eggs for the family and enough
extra to pay for the keep of the flock =
This fact is so well proven that there
are hundreds of people doing it in
every city and town in the country.
! A space of 20 by 80 feet is enough
yard for so hens, when handled prop
erly. All it requires is the ground
and reasonable knowledge of the
principles of poultry keeping. In fact,
we know number of people who are
! keeping poultry successfully, and the
! laying hens have never set foot out
side of their houses, OF course this
intensive method calls for considera-
BILE skill and experience in order to
avoid disease and kindred Affections,
due to the very close confinement, but
! fowls can be handled successfully in
| this way, and the details of this meth
| cd will be taken up in later article.
There is absolutely no reason why
fowls will not lay as many eggs and do
as well in the city as in the country,
under normal conditions, and it Is pos
sible to produce eggs as cheaply one
! place as another, buying the same
amount of food.
Fowls kept in confinement are usu-
ally more profitable than fowls that
have free range, all things being con-
sidered, hence the city flock is as we'll
off as the country flock. City dwell
ers also have the advantage of having
easy access to sources of cheap feed
| like bakery and hotel waste, fresh
/ bones from the butcher shop, etc.
The poultry house is one Of the most
important factors to success, and sue
cess means many eggs at low price.
| The house should face in such way
that the maximum amount of sunlight
shines on the floor during the winter
months. This means dry, healthy floors
and freedom from disease and colds.
A house 10X10 feet will allow suffi-
cient floor space for from 20 to so
hens, provided the house is kept scru-
| pulously clean, and there is an abun-
dance of fresh air at all times of day
or night. Have most of the south side
of the house either glass or muslin
sash, and fully half of it should be the
muslin. Avoid cross drafts and keep
the house as dry and clean and sweet
smelling as your own.
What sort of hens shall we use? The
breed makes absolutely no differ
ence as far as your success is con-
cerned. All of the business breeds
are profitable when handled with com
mon sense, and there is far greater
difference between the different
strains and fiocks in the same breed
or variety than there is between the
different breeds taken as whole.
The owner of the city flock can feed
his hens at cost of about dollar
each per year. His return in eggs
should be higher per hen than the
manager of the large commercial flock
gets, and an average of dozen eggs
per hen per month is not at all out OF
the way for any small flock properly
handled. Figure out the profit on sc
hens on your back lot for yourself.
1t is not necessary or advisable to
keep a rooster with the city flock, as
the hens will lay better, if anything
without his presence, and you can buy
your young pullets each year just
about as cheaply as you can raise them
in the city. This does away with
: the biggest objection to city docks OF
poultry, namely the ROSTERS growing