The theocrat. [volume] (Zion City [i.e. Zion], Ill.) 1914-1949, 1917-01-20
Poultry Talks
By O. L. Tsmdazz.


It is now time to make your plans for the
coming season. This is important! 1t is
easy to spoil the business for a season by be-
ing little behind time with the Matching.
I have seen two parties with equally good
focks. The one had pullets Matched early.
He was getting three dozen and more eggs
day through December, while the other =
neighbor was getting none. They had the
same kind of chickens, but the difference
was simply this: the one Matched his chickens
in May and the other late in June and July.
A man can hardly afford to feed late pull
let's with high priced feed if they do not lay.
This is especially true during these war times,
with wheat two dollars and more bushel
and other grain in proportion Poultry men
should know this.
A late Matched chicken is of doubtful value,
unless a man wants it for his table. There is
difference in the breeds on that point. The
larger breeds, such as the Orpingtons, Wyan-
dots, Rocks, Reds, etc., should be Matched
earlier than the smaller breeds, such as the
Leghorns, Minorcas and others, as it requires
more time for the large chickens to mature.
If you want winter layers the pullets must
be Matched early-from March to May in
elusive. There is also a danger of Matching the
pullets too early, as they are liable to moult.
L
April and May are the best months for the
smaller breeds.
AS to the cockerels, the earlier Matched the
better. The most of them will be sold for
brolers. The early ones sell for about double
to what the late ones will bring.
The broiler business is very profitable
one if you yet your chickens on the market
early Last spring we sold broilers as high
as SAC pound here in our home market.
When of two pounds in weight, they will
bring the price of an ordinary grown chicken
later on in the season. If requires but little
feed to bring chicken to two pounds If
fixed to hatch early chicks, it pays we'll to
hatch broilers. That means you must have a
good basement for your incubator, or a COM
Portable house. 1t means good warm place
to brood them. These things must be figured
on before you begin Matching. I have seen
men lose whole broods of nice chickens, be-
cause they were not prepared to care for them
after they were Matched.
These cold days, when a man cannot work
much, is good time to make your plans for
the coming season. Do as the Great Teacher
told us. Sit down and figure, if you expect to
build a house and see whether you have
enough money to finish. Do not lay founda-
ton and have to stop for lack of means. Your
neighbors will laugh at you as they pass by
and say, "This man began to build and can
not finish.'
Failures are bad things and are discourage
ing. Men fail and then proclaim that the
business is failure. No! The man did not
demonstrate that the business was failure
only that he was failure.
Many, in the same way, demonstrate that
Divine Healing and other good things in the
Bible are failures. They tried them and they
did not work.
If a man hasn't had experience in the bust
ness, he had better go slow in the beginning.
He cannot afford, most likely, to make big
failure. He might stand small failure for
the experience - for what he would learn
from it = if he is an apt scholar.
A man should ask himself few questions
before he launches out into the poultry bust
ness. For instance: How much experience
have had? How much money have I? How
much time have I for it? How much room
have in which to operate? All of these are
important.
We would love to see large poultry plant
started and operated in Zion City. 1t is a
good location, being so near these large mar
kets. The field is unlimited. The demand is
greater than the supply. According to re-
ports, the supply is much less u in the cold
storage houses than last year. The shortage
goes into the millions This affects the mar
ket price very much. The cold storage men
have to supply the bulk of the trade at this
time of the year, when the old hens are taking
a clay off," The papers say that the con-
sumers are paying SC an egg = Goo dozen
- now in Chicago.
Poultry men say, Keep in the business
There is a good harvest before the man who
sticks to it,
Poultry and eggs are high and. likely to
be higher.
Zion, we believe, should have a large
poultry plant, where thousands of birds are