The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-04-09
EVOLUTION AND POSSIBILITIES OF
 THE DAY-OLD CHICK INDUSTRY
A Natural Development In- cidental to Commercial Growth of Poultry Indus try-A Profitable Side Line and an Excellent Means of Making Initial Start
By PROF. HARRY R. LEWIS Department of Poultry Husbandary at New Jersey state Agricultural Ex- pertinent Station.

pertinent Station.
 l It has only been during the last few
 years that poultry husbandry has taken ] on the extensive commercial aspect which
 we now see on every hand. Until recent ] ly it was carried on more as a side line l to some other branch of agriculture. Nat
 ural methods of matching and breeding were used almost entirely, and owing to | the limited number of chicks which could 1 be reared under these conditions each
 farmer or poultryman was more of unit
 unto himself. Today the development of | improved methods of matching, in large numbers by artificial means, and the gen. eral tendency toward specialization has been responsible for the origin and suc- | cess of the day-old chick trade.
 l There are two special phases of the baby
 chick business which should be studied and their various opportunities appre- ciated. These are custom matching and | the selling of back chicks as side line to egg farming, both of which have at | tained rapid development in the commer- cial egg producing sections of New Jer- sey, New York and Connecticut, and also | on the Pacific coast, especially in Cali | fornia.
 | Hunterdon county in New Jersey is characteristic of the sections where cus- tom hatcheries are being operated suc- cessfully In this county, especially in the vicinity of Frenchtown. Stockton, Lambertville and Milford, there are To- cated some of the largest custom hatch | ing establishments in the world. PUBLIC HATCHERIES A small area of land and few well planned and properly constructed build l irgs are all the equipment needed. The owner of the matching establishment usu- ally keeps but a limited number of fowls ! himself In Petaluma, Cal, these hatch | ing establishments maintain large flock ! of specially selected breeders and pro- duce large part of their matching eggs. The custom hatchery is generally equipped | with a large capacity mammoth incub ator or incubators, and in some instances a large number of small lamp heated ma- chimes are still used.
 l The business of these hatcheries is of l two distinct kinds-f1rst, the operator rents the compartments of his incubators to customers at a given rate per egg. The usual price is cents an egg for the period of incubation. If the incubator capacity is large enough this rental of compartments offers a very satisfactory remuneration. The operator receives the eggs from the customer and places them in the machine caring for them through out the entire period of incubation, and returns the matched chicks when they are a day or two old
 The operator or owner of the hatchery s1,lA f>x Al,1, 70 l the germ or the fertility of the eggs. It | is his duty to operate the machine cor rectly, of course; he must test the eggs at least once; he must keep a record of the progress of same and must notify the owner of the eggs if the hatch is not pro- I gressing properly.
 BOON TO POULTRYMEN /, This method of getting ones eggs
 he tched is very satisfactory, especially if the hatchery is near by. Most hatcheries also make business of buying eggs from poultry plants in the vicinity and selling | baby chicks matched from them. The prices vary, depending upon the season. quantity and breed. The success of this end of the baby chick business depends l largely upon the ability of the hatchery l to secure eggs frcm well bred, vigorous stocks at the time needed.
 l Probably the most satisfactory aspect
 
 carried on as side line to egg farming There are great many, comercial poul- 1 try farms in the east and west which ! make the main source of their income in | market or table eggs. and in addition to \ this they breed strong. vigorous birds and are in a position to sell large numbers of ! matching eggs during the spring. They | must have large incubator capacity to | hatch the quantity of chicks which they require for themselves, consequently they are in a position to hatch and sell large { quantities of baby chicks. Such chicks
 are usually of the very best quality be- ! cause the reputation of the owner of the i farm is back of the stock. They are pro- duced from stock of known breeding and from birds which are cared for with the one idea of producing hatchable eggs 1 Chicks from such farms frequently bring
 from 15 to 25 cents each This product not only makes a considerable increased | revenue for the commercial man who is
 equipped to handle it, but to the customer wishing to make start or to secure
 bullets to supplement those of his own l matching.
 1 VIGOROUS CHICKS NECESSARY | The first requisite to a successful baby
 chick trade is vigorous, healthy, livable I stock. The husky, vigorous chick de- | bends upon two very definite factors l first, the quality of the egg which is used for matching, and secondly, the condi- tions surrounding the egg during the
 matching period. The operator of an in
 cubator who gets unsatisfactory and dis l couraging matches often planes his ma-
 chimes unjustly. All poor matches are not l caused by the failure of the incubator to do it's work properly. but frequently by
 the poor quality of the eggs used.
 The prime hatching egg must be pro- 1 duced by a flock of healthy, vigorous, se- lected breeding birds which are properly housed and correctly fed and which are
 so mated that large percentage of the eggs produced are fertile. Ninety per | cent or over of all eggs placed in the l incubator should be fertile during the spring months. From the time the egg
 is laid until it is placed in the incubator
 it should be handled carefully. It should | be kept at temperature of about 50 i degrees, and should be turned occasion- 1 ally, or held with the small end down to keep the air cell in it's norma! position. Moreover it should not be held too long, not. over two weeks if possible Hatch l ing eggs should be carefully selected l and only those of normal size, of average shape and with perfect shell should be I set.
 1 In the operation of the hatchery, there l are two Fundamentals which must be fol- lowed. One is the careful disinfection of | all equipment such as trays, nursery drawers and the interior of the entire l machine after each hatch. This reduces | the possibility of disease being communi- | cated from one hatch to the other. White l diarrhoea is easily transmitted in this way. Spraying with 10 per cent sol,l- l tion of some reliable diSnfectant is best