Watauga Democrat. [volume] (Boone, Watauga County, N.C.) 1888-current, 1924-09-25
POULTRY MEETINGS-NON
PAYING HENS co TO MTRKET

The Poultry Department of the Ex
tension division has agreed to send
a man to Watauga county for a week
to instruct the farmers in the art and
science of separating the laying hens
from those hens that lay few or no
eggs at all. This poultry expert will
be in the county during the week of
September 29 October and will be
at the following places on the follow
ing dates:
Monday September 20, Meat Camp
in Gree Valley at 2 o'clock; Tues
day September 80 at Beaver Damat
w. w. Wilson's at 10 o'clock; We'd
nesday October 1, Mabel at DR.. Greer
at 10 o'clock and at Don J. Horizons S
in the afternoon of the same day at
$3.50; Thursday October Villas, at
Grady Bradley's at 10 o'clock; in the
afternoon of the same day he will
be at Boone, place of the meeting
still open. On Friday October he
will be either at Windy Gap or Stony
Fork, the time and place of meeting
will be advertised at A. G., Miller's
store; Saturday October 4 at 10 o.
clock he will be on Elk, culling the
flock of Miss Eliza Wheeler.
Any person, man or woman who
keeps as many as ten hens will find
it profitable to attend one of these
demonstrations. The. purpose of the
meetings are not to show these indi-
vidual farmers how to Gull out their
boarder hens or Gull them out for
them, but is to afford the community
an opportunity to come together and
see this work done in fact actually
do it themselves before the meeting
is over so they can go back home and
go through their own flock in the
same way. If half the hens in Wa
4uga County were culled out and sold
and if the feed which has been 60
ing to the whole flock was then fed
to the half remaining we would then
get a great many more eggs.
Practically every hen will lay a
few eggs in the spring during the
time of year when we are setting
hens and raising chicks so we are
just as apt to raise our future flock
from the poor producers as we are
from the good hens. soon as spring
has passed and eggs get high agin
these poor hens quit laying and spend
the rest of the year giving US the
pleasure of watching them eat.
There are two ways of picking out
these unprofitable birds. One is by
using trap nests which catch the hens
when they go on to lay and keeps
them there until you go and take her
out, get a number and place an egg
to her on the tally sheet. Practically
no farmer has time to watch hens
in this way. The other method is
to examine the conformation of the
hen and by being familiar with the
conformation of producers and non
producers any individual is able to
pick out the hens that will not lay
enough eggs to be profitable. This is
the method that will be followed in
the culling demonstrations next week.
That this kind of work can be done
is being demonstrated every day. The
owners of the flock that is culled
next week will be asked to place the
fowls culled out in some placewhere
they can be watched for a few days
to determine whether or not the work
was we'll done. The result OF these
demonstrations will be interesting.
Those who are interested in poul-
try and are trying to give their flock
reasonable attention should not miss
this opportunity. There are some far
mers in Watauga that are making
poultry keeping the most profitable
enterprise on the place. One lady
ran contest with her husband and
proved that her little flock of poul.
try was bringing in great deal more
profit than his herd of cattle. There
should be many more like this. If
you are in business for the profit
that you can get out Of it these Gull,
ing demonstration will be worth the
while.
JOHN B. STEELE. Co. Agent