Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-12-13
First of the Prize Articles.

The first of the series of prize
ticles, which the poultry editor par
poses to publish from week to week in
this deparfm Of The Sunday star ap-
pears below. Each Sunday, beginning
today and continuing until further no
tice, these articles are to he published,
and a cash prize of 81 is to be awarded
to the writer of the winning articles.
As has been announced i'll the poultry
department, these articles must not he
more than 500 words in length. They
may treat of any phase of the poultry
industry. and should be accompanied
10y clear. we'll defined photograph to
be used i'm illustrating the article. If q
photograph is not av;.ila BILE, however,
articles intended for the weekly prize
competition may be submitted without
them. although. other things being
equal, articles accompanied by photo
graphs will be given preference Write
on one side of the paper only: give
name and address; inclose postage il
il is desired that the article shall be
returned in case it fails to win a prize,
and address articles to the Poultry Edi-
tor. Sunday Star. Washington, d. c.
II. F. Danielson. Berwyn. Md. r. i.
D.. is the winner of this weeks compe-
tiiion- His article follows:
Success With Poultry.
My first effort at raising chickens
was with flock of ten hens and Il
cock. white Plymouth Rocks. This lit
tie flock was housed in piano box,
converted into a tiny henhouse, with
a wire-inclosed run measuring ten by
thirty feet. That was six years ago.
My plant today consists of an in
closed yard of about one acre, with
three houses. each having a capacity of
100 fowls In one corner of the poul-
try yard. however, the original piano
ooX house still stands l use it. now
u fattening mouse for surplus cockerelS.
My original ten hens and cock were
bought early in october of 1908. During
that fall and winter the fowls were fed
table scraps, a large part of which 1
obtained twice or three times a week
from a lunchroom in town. Starting in
TO lay within two weeks after l bought
them. the hens continued laying
straight through the winter, aud in
December they laid 217 eggs. For the
months of November. December, jan
Uary, February and March that year
the ten hens laid at the rate of 30 per
cent
Most of their feed was table scraps,
although they had in addition, twice
day. Il feed of mixed grains, contain
ing wheat. oats. barley, corn and sun
flower seeds Besides this. the hens
had plenty of green food-ca bbage.
lettuce leaves. turnips and carrots-a1
the grit and oyster shell they wanted.
and fresh water daily. In the cold
weather the water was always warmed
The table scraps contained all the
meat the hens needed.
In the spring of 1909 ] Matched, under
hens. los chicks, from eggs laid by my
own hens From these chicks i raised
- pullets. and that fall built the first
of my new houses Continuing to feed
table scraps as much as possible, found
Il necessary to add a dry mash to the
fowls feed. the mash being made of
wheat bran, middlings, ground oats.
oornmeai, gluten meal. mealed al
grain feeding in addition. but the ia BILE
scraps formed the greater part of the
ration During the months of Novem-
her, December. January, February and
March of that season l succeeded in
keeping the hens and pullets-oply two
of my original ten hens had gone the
way of all hens-up TO egg yield of
IS per cent. The pullets were matched
in March and April. and the first pullet
c-s was laid November S.
In the spring of 1910 I Matched 33S
chicks and raised 1e5 as fine puIlets as
amy one need wish for. This year, as in
the preceding year. all my surplus
cockereis were fattened and sold as
'roilers. only enough. and these the
best. being reserved for breeding pur-
poses In 1911 | bought two handsome
cockerels for breeding purposes, and
n 1912 i bought two more. Except for
these purchases my flock today is de-
Seconded from my original ten hens and
cock
have made no effort to breed fancy
1owls for show purposes. II is my be-
lief that qualities that win ribbons and
prizes at shows are not necessarily the
qualities that make for heavy egg
yields ! have endeavored to breed only
from hens that have maintained an
average of nor less than 80 per cent
egg production during the winter
months. and the male birds ] use are
from mothers that have maintained
this average ] have not found that
bad results come from using well ma
tured pullets as breeding stock
nave AT the present about 30 pull
let's and hens As my layers have not
fallen below about 55 per cen, egg,
yield IN any previous year. l do not an
tIcipate that they will DO SO this year.
They are not show birds; they have
rev fancy points. although there is
not one among them that is not :: yell
grown, handsomely built. snow white
Fowl. But they lay eggs. and they do
u when eggs are worth money. and
that is what ] am aftor