Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1918-03-09
THE POULTRY YARD
STARTING RIGHT.
BY Ed weber

thousands of people in all parts of
the country take up poultry breeding
for the first time, and naturally are
| anxious to get started right. There
seems to be a disposition with most
people to start into the poultry bust
| ness on too large scale. They seem
to think that it is wholly unnecessary
first to fit themselves for the UNDER
taking, as they would do were they to
take up almost any other occupation.
1t Is matter Of history that nearly
every one of the large poultry plants
in the United States that has proved
successful has been built up from
small beginning. 1t is also a matter
Of history that there are a number
Of large plants that have proved IN
successful and improbable simply be-
cause the owner undertook to accom-
plish something without first fitting
himself for the task before him.
Those who have met with the great
est success have been content to start
in q small way and expand as theeir
knowledge of the business and their
ability to handle it warranted. Slow
growth Is always the surest. The
mushroom springs up in a single night,
but is short-lived. 1t takes years and
years to grow the sturdy oak, but it's
growth is always substantial, and
when it is finally matured it amounts
to something.
AS to the amount Of capital re-
qulred, this, of course. depends upon
the kind and size Of buildings that
are to be erected, the kind Of equip
ment that is installed, and the kind OF
stock that is purchased. 1t is not nee
essary that buildings be elaborate, the
main requisite being that they be so
constructed that they will protect the
fowls from the cold and wet. OF
course the fellow with plenty of money
can make his houses as elaborate as
not care to spend any money need
lessly principally because he does not
have it 20 spend. :.
Secure Good Stock For Start.
The best cheap house can be con-
structed Of poor grade Of lumber and
covered, roof and side walls, with a
good roofing paper. This makes
house that is both wind and water
tight, anad il properly constructed it
will last for years. The furnishings can
easily be made by anyone who can use
a hammer and saw. Pure-bred stock
should be secured for foundation
whether one is going to breed for fancy
points or principally for the market.
It has been proved time and again that
purebred stock is the most profitable
from a commercial point Of view, and
the largest and most successful COM
mercial poultry plants in this country
are today stocked with poultry of some
standard variety. 1t costs a little more
to stock with standard bred stock, to
be sure, but it Is profitable invest
ment in the end.
The birds which are to be marketed
mature uniformity and make a nice
on sale. Consequently the producer
can command q little premium over
current market prices for them. More
eggs will be secured from a flock of
this kind than from proniscuousf1ock
of mongrels, and the eggs will be un-
form in color and size, they too, MAX
ing a nice appearance and command
ing little better price than a mixed
lot.
While it costs a little more to start
with pure bred stock the extra expense
stops right there for it costs no more
to raise pure bred chicks-if as much,
than 1t does to raise mongrel chicks.
No one should go into the poultry bust
ness with the expectation Of making
big money right from the start or
even a good comfortable living. II a
man has but limited capital we would
advise him to build a small poultry
house and get small flock Of fowls as
q starter. By the end of the first year
he will have acquired a fund Of ex-
perience and knowledge that will fit
him for bigger things if he wants to
increase the capacity Of his plant and
he will be in shape to work intelligent
ly., Having made success of keeping
small flock, a person can safely in
crease it to four or five times the num-
Der, providing he has the time and in
clination to care for so large flock.
But even now he should proceed caut-
iously, for it does not necessarily fol-
low that because a man can make
nice profit from sixty or seventy hens
he can make proportionately great
er profit from thousand. In fact, he
may fail entirely and keep the larger
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