Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1923-08-15
PUEEBRED CHICKENS
AS A SIDELlNE.

To the average person, chacAen-
raising may mean q rooster and d
few hens which are allowed 10
run about the back yard. Bat
raising chickens can be made q
profitable business if proper al
tention be given the birds.
J. f. Gleaves, of Memphis Tenn.
is one who has made an outs.and-
ing success of chicken-raisjnE as
a side-line, and frequently picks
up as much as 500 a month from
his chicken yard. Mr.. GIeaves IS
employed in Memphis, and he
keeps about $50 hens at his home
in the suburbs Of that city. It is
not uncommon for him to gather
as many as a hundred eggs a day
from his flock, and whatever de-
gree of success he has attained is
due he says, to raising only pure
bred fowls.
Mr.. Gleaves purchased his first
chickens in the spring of 1920. He
started with one Barred Rock hen
with nine chicks, then purchased
fifteen purebred White Wyandotte
pullets and two cocks. Since that
time he has relied upon his own
ability to raise chickens. He buys
some pufebred eggs for setting.
One of his recent purchases was
las purebred White Wyandotte
eggs from John S. Martin of Port
Dover, Ontario, Canada, Mr.. Mar
tin is known the world over for the
fine purebred chickens he raises.
The eggs cost Mr.. Gleaves $50 a
setting of fifteen eggs.
During 1922, theethird year o.
IBIS experience as a chicken raiser,
Nr. Gleaves had a total of 400
chickens at his place. He has since
sold them, until he now has only
las So far this year he has set
1000 eggs of his own chickens,
as well as the Jas eggs which he
purchased from Mr.. Martin.
Mr.. Gleaves matches his chickens
by incubators. The young chicks
are placed in a broodhouse that is
heated by hard coal fire. After
the baby chicks are AZ hours old
he feeds them a specially prepared
buttermilk starting food, and he
keeps them on that alone until they
are ) days old Then they are Civ
en- small grain each morning and
night in addition. The size of
The grain is increased as the chicks
grow older. When they reach the
age of 3 weeks, they are fed a
outtermiik growing mash instead
Of the buttermilk starting food.
All of his feed contains buttermilk
in some form or other. At the age
Of 6 months he feeds butter
milk laying mash. The older
chickens are also fed sprouted oats
and occasionally cabbage and let
tuce.
Mr.. Gleaves' profit from his
chickens is between $50 and 500
a month. His greatest income j,
from the sale of setting eggs
breeding stock and baby chicks,
he says. Friers bring him as much
as $1.65 each; pullers, from $3.50
to SIS; male birds, from 81
to SO. His baby chicks sell fol-
from $25 to $35 a hundred.
His belief is that it costs n,
more to feed and care for pure
bred chickens than it does for tn
other kind aad the returns ar
much more from the purebreds
With proper care and feed, tn
purebred chickens develop mucI
faster than other chickens, Nh
Gleaves says.
The story of Mr.. Gleaves' sue
cess can be made the experienc,
of any farmer or suburban resi-
dent in Sumter county. All tina
is needed to make this section
community where vast quantities 0
poultry and poultry products ar
produced is the will to make
thus, Already there is an embry
poultry industry in Sumter cour
ty, and steps have been taken t
organize a poultrymen's associa
ton here. There is no question O
the wisdom of perfecting such a
organization here that every pei
son engaged in the industry ma
profit by the experience of other,
Poultry production is an easy an
profitable ''game" in which ever
farmer should engage, if only as
side line.