The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1919-02-14
Fowls Realize Full Benefits From
Propitious and Longer
Growing Season.
FOSTERS EARLIER MATURITY
Hatch In Time for Best 6roiler Mar
kets and Also Produce Pullets
Ready to Lay When Hens
Want Needed Rest.

Fable is transforming into fact. 1t
has been customary in allegorical
statement only to allude to the hen
that lays the golden eggs. In view of
the present prices of eggs and poultry,
1t begins to look as if the age of the
golden eggs had arrived. With mar
keting conditions for poultry products
better than ever before, with stabil-
ized demand for quality products. and
with prospects of lnrger amounts of
feeds being available as result of
the cessation of war. there is every
incentive for the poultryman's best eff
forts.
A fundamental factor which makes
for greater success with hens is to
hatch early. The early chick catches
the worm both in the garden and in
the economies Of poultry production.
The poultryman who aspires to beat
the calendar and to hatch several
weeks earlier than the cut-and-dried
practice gains an advantage which
permits him to market quality cock
erels at less cost and greater profit
much In advance of his associates who
are remiss in lighting their incubators
or setting their hens. Chicks thrive
and develop rapidly during the early
days Of spring; the early hatched
fowls thus realize full benefits from
the propitious and longer growing sea
son.
Why to Hatch Early.
Tba ao,ly hot,h cpoIlc Suro peoAte
other conditions being equal, because
it fosters the earlier maturity and egg
production of the pullets; it induces
a stream of eggs at the season when
eggs are highest in price it gives the
chicks chance to develop into strong.
healthy birds before hot weather sets
in: it provides q supply Of wage earn
ing pullets to replace the old hens in
the flock as soon as the latter birds
begin to develop starbOarder charac-
teristics; 1t produces chicks which are
robust and rugged and better able to
Withstand the attacks Of lice and dis
ease; 1t means early cOckerels for
market when the supply is scant and
the price correspondingly attractive.
Hens take q three months vacation
every fall during the molting season
while they don new plumage. When
the hens are idle. the stream of egga
ceases unless early Matched pullets
are ready to substitute for the older
fowl as egg-producers. AS fall and
winter eggs are always in demand at
profitable prices. early Matching re-
fx,iI <h~
let's are geared up for active service
when the hens begin their rest.
Less Disease Among Robust Puliets.
Where lice attack the flock, the
smaller, weaker chickens are first to
succumb. Lice are worse during warm
than cold weather and hence the
early hatched chicks are less exposed
to such pests while still very young.
Furthermore, immature pullets are
subject to colds during the fall and
are likely to spread colds throughout
| the entire flock. To remedy this diff
f1culty. hatch early and have the pull
let's reasonably well matured when
they are placed In winter quarters.
| As more cockerels are produced
than are needed for breeding pur-
| poses 1t 10 imperative that the surplus
stock be rapidly matured and sold as
broilers and springers at early ages.
| The demand for such chickens il best
early In the season when the price is
1T its peak and. on this account, the
youns males should be hatched early