Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1916-06-13
Money Made or Lost In Poaltry.

Money Made or Lost In Poultry.
"a. ". Richardson, Instructor In Animal Indul
Try, Poultry Division. University Of Nancy
Many people, from oil walks Of LII
and with varying amounts Of capital
: start In the poultry business and nearl,
J. - many fail and the question comes up
"How did they lose their money!"
There are several phases Of the poul
try industry such a. inattention to de
tails, an ignorance Of the business, poo
stock to begin With, poor equipment, to-
+ little money to handle the enterprise
and lastly an inability to raise chicken
which would spell ruin.
By inattention to details, ! mean thos'
little things such - keeping the wate
pals filled with clean, fresh water, keep
Ing the hen house ct all times free from
lice and mites, allowing the dropping
to accumulate and become filthy. Feed
ing stale, musty grains simply because
they were cheap, thinking It was none,
saved, when in reality 1t was money
lost; providing no shade for the small
chicks during the extremely hot days o.
July and August. Il Is such details a
these which, If only one were neglected
would make but little difference, bu
when all are neglected are bound e
bring ruin to the man neglecting them
By ignorance of the business, I mean 8
lack of knowledge Of how to feed hii
stock to get the best results not only ir
eggs or meat, but also In vigor and vital.
ity; lack Of knowledge how to mix bill
grain, at all times of the year, ~ to give
his hens what they need, and nothing
more or less; lack of knowledge 90 to
what to reject and what to keep when be
| is selecting from his pullets those he
wishes to winter and those he wishes to
Gull out and sell for eating purposes; 9
lack of knowledge of how to run brood
fers and incubators and raise chickens on
. commercial basis; lack Of knowledge
of his market requirements, Of the best
time Of year to dispose of his culled
hens, culled pullets and surplus cocker.
els. These and lack of other funda
mental knowledge will drive any man
out Of the poultry business In short
time.
Poor stock IL another cause OF failure.
II man has stock which 10 not vigor.
GUS and healthy he cannot economically
produce good strong, vigorous chicks,
and II he can't do that he might 40 well
quit at once because he will have to
eventually because strong stock 10 abso.
lQtely essential to success. II his stock
II diseased, he will fail because many
poultry diseases are practically inherent
and no man can produce chicks from
diseased stock and make any money at
lit.
Unless man has the equipment to
handle poultry he ought to keep out OF
It until he has. He should have sufi-
cient incubator room, sufficient broodefs
to properly brood his chicks without
crowding, and room to house the birds
on the range, and also roomy quarters In
which to place the birds for their winter
laying. He must have bis plant 30 laid
out that the work on IL can be, done eff.
oiently because, lacking equipment the
labor cost 10 increased and bis expenses
exceed his receipts.
II Q man having the proper equipment,
stock and knowledge starts In the poul-
try business and has but little capital to
fall back upon, failure is quite certain to
overtaks him. His family or himself
alone must be supported while he Ii get
ting under way because there 10 quite an
expense involved In Matching and rear
ing many chicks, up to the time they
begin to return any money, and mans
| capital should be such ~ to tide him
over any misfortune which is liable to
befall anyone. For this reason, I say
one of the reasons for failure is that
many did not have sufficient capital to
swing the business.
To my mind, most Of the money made
or lost In the poultry business depends
on the persons ability to raise chickens
with which to replenish his flock.
Most any man can take an average
flock of pullets and in twelve months
make the eggs show q profit over and
above the actual cost Of the feed. There
are many rations put out by our colleges
and experiment stations, which have
been 20 made up that they cover the
needs Of the average hen. Some one OF
these rations may be 80 adapted to spe-
cial conditions that the feeding OF the
hen to produce eggs is not necessarily
difficult.
Most any man can take dozen or flf-
teen hens, put rooster with them, al
low them more or less liberty, set the
eggs under the hens, raise chickens, re-
plenish bis flock, and do 1t successfully.
But when his flock is increasing to five
hundred or more birds and It becomes
necessary for him to use incubators and
brooders, then his troubles begin. he
does not mate his birds In such way as
to get hatchable eggs. There are too many
females with one male. The eggs for
hatching are kept too long. Birds are
used for breeding which should be used
under no circumstances. he runs his
incubator carelesSly, and In an improper
place. After bis chicks are hatched they
are 'brooded In any old box or brooder,
dirty and filthy and foul. The chicks
are fed sloppy foods, soured foods, no
grit, are given no exercise, do not have
the proper temperature, have no green
runs when they are young, have not sum
cient shade and range a. they grow old
or, are hatched late when 1t 10 more ex-
pensive to raise them, and when they
are matured they lay late. All these
things 20 to make bis chick raising .
failure.
In conclusion, would say that II . per-
son pays strict attention to details. has .
knowledge Of the business with sufhoient
capital to start and stay In the business,
there is money to be made In the poul-
try industry. AZ So
A Good Barnkeeper.
Some farmers are just naturally good
barukeepers. They appear - ITO the
manor born'' and abhor dirt and flth.
1t is such men who are able to make