The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1919-03-27
LIGHTS
DECEIVE CHICKENS
LONGER DAY INCREASES EGG
PRODUCTION.
Hens Pay Own Way.
Columbian Resorts to Deception to
Make Poultry Yard More Prof.
table Venture.

By the liberal use of electric lights
in his laying houses, S. H. thinner
man: proprietor of the North Colum-
bia Poultry Yards, has so heightened
the short winter days that he has ap-
preciably increased his egg yield.
The two laying houses, one 16 by
100 feet and the other 16 by Is feet,
are strung with wires, with the
switch in the residence nearby. Dur
ing the winter, before daybreak, the
lights are switched on, the roosters
crow in rousing fashion, the hens
begin to scratch in the straw and by
the time other chickens are begin
ming to leave the roost, Zimmerman's
hens are considering the advisability
of increasing the egg supply.
"a cold hen won't lay" said Mr..
Zimmerman yesterday. "By hous
ing them properly during the cold
weather, by having them get to
scratching about two hours before
daybreak and by proper feeding,
they warm up and will lay in the
coolest weather, and it is the egg that
is produced out of season that brings
the high dollar
To 60 into the poultry business as
a money making venture has long
been considered among many men as
a quick and more or less painless
method of committing financial sui
eide. AS a side line to general farm
ing, poultry is all right, for the wo-
men, say many farmers, but the man
that depends on poultry as his only
source of revenue is bound for the
auctioneer's block: So common has
this view become that it is genuinely
refreshing to find a man who admits
openly that he has made money rails
ing poultry, that the business in his
opinion has a great future, and that
he enjoys the outdoor life that the
business makes possible.
And S. H. Zimmerman admits all
of these things, together with the
fact that Mrs. Zimmerman is treas
urer of the concern. Four years ago
Zimmerman was bank clerk in one
of the large banking institutions of
Columbia. The more or less prison
like existence affected his health, and
with Is hens and one rooster he
made a modest start. He had one
house 10 by 10 feet. Today, after
four years in the business, he has
1900 birds, has six houses and esti-
mates the value of his plant and
equipment at $4,000.
The youthful proprietor makes a
speciality of shipping day old chicks
to purchasers. He said yesterday
that he had shipped the chick into
Georgia, North Carolina and South
Carolina and had met with much
success in the shipment. FHe also
realizes a considerable profit from
the sale of day old eggs.
Mr.. Zimmerman says that the man
who goes into the poultry business
with the intent of getting rich over
night is doomed to disappointment.
He holds that the poultryman should
learn to crawl before he tries to
walk, and that the wise plan is to
start with a small flock and increase
his stock, equipment and plant as he
becomes familiar with the various
features of the business. A constant
vigilance against disease, and abso-
lutte cleanliness are two requisites in
the business.
Mr.. Zimmerman does all of his
Matching in an incubator with ca
pacity of 2,42S eggs. Yesterday he
had 1900 eggs in the machine. Dur
ing the present week he has removed
400 chicks from the incuba-
tor. The incubator is heated by
steam piping and two Small electric
fans force the heat throughout the
machine and also provide constant
ventilation. A temperature of 100
degrees instead of 103 is maintained
in all the egg chambers. The incl
bator is housed in cellar about six
feet below the surface of the grouno
A most careful system of egg test
ing is maintained by Mr.. thinner
man, and infertile eggs are removed
from the chambers of the incubator
regularly. The houses are f1oored
with cement, have ample exposures
to the south and are we'll construct
ed, having been put up by the pro.