THE POULTRY KEEPER SERIES. 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 
 
 
 P. H. JACOBS. 
 
 EDITOR OP 
 
 THE "POULTRY KEEPER" AND "FARMER'S MAGAZINE." 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 THE POULTRY KEEPER COMPANY, 
 PARKESBURC, PA. 
 
ALBERT R. MANN 
 LIBRARY 
 
 New York State Colleges 
 
 OF 
 
 Agriculture and Home Economics 
 
 AT 
 
 Cornell University 
 
B Cornell University 
 S Library 
 
 The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31 9240031 1 81 00 
 
THE POULTRY KEEPER SERIES. 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 ^ultTjtorPrgtit 
 
 POULTRY FOR PROM.; 
 
 FH.3tKjob5 
 
 P. H. JACOBS, 
 
 EDITOK OF 
 
 ■THE mim KEEPER 4SD "FARMEO MAGAZUIg." 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 THE POULTRY KEEPER COMPSNY. 
 
 PARKESBUBO. PA. 
 
 PAEKESBUPvG, PENVA. 
 1886. 
 
TO THE READER. 
 
 In presenting the Potjltry Keepeb Seeies the author has consid- 
 ered it proper to arrange the subjects under appropriate titles, there- 
 by believing the readers will be better enabled to select those portions 
 ■which directly interest them. It is much better to present different 
 subjects in separate works, at a small cost for each, than to refer to 
 a larger volume containing much that may be foreign to the reader's 
 requirements. As the author has devoted many years to the stvidy 
 of poultry, and also interested himself in breeding nearly all the 
 varieties, as well as conducted numerous experiments, he sincerely 
 trusts that the readers will reap many times the cost of this work, 
 
 and that each and aU may be successful. 
 
 KespectfuUy, 
 
 The Author. 
 
 CoPYEiQHT Owned 
 
 BY 
 
 THE POULTRY KEEPER COMPANY. 
 
POULTRY AS A BUSINESS. 
 
 The principal desire on the part of tliose who are interested in 
 poidtry, is to so conduct the business as to render it profitable. It is 
 admitted that poultry return as large profits for the capital invested 
 as any other stock; but can poultry raising be made sufficiently 
 remunerative to allow one to embark in such an enterprise without 
 assistance from other sources ? That is at present the gretCt problem 
 which all poultrymen are anxious to solve. In considering the mat- 
 ter let us compare such a venture with other enterprises. In the 
 first place, laying the object in view — raising poultry — aside, let us 
 inquire what amount of ca;^ital the party who is to engage in busi- 
 ness is willing to invest ? Many persons of limited means may place 
 the figures at SIOOO, while others may name ten times that amount, 
 but we have found the latter class not very numerous. The interest 
 on SIOOO is only^$60 per annum, at six per cent, while it is $600 on 
 $10,000. In most enterprises, a dividend of ten per cent, after pay- 
 ing interest on capital, is considered a large and remunerative one; 
 and this cannot be estimated until all expenses are deducted. Add- 
 ing the fiiterest and dividend, we must derive a profit (no matter 
 what the business engaged in may be) of sixteen per cent, basing 
 . our estimate on six per cent interest and ten per cent dividend, 
 which allows us, clear of expenses, $160 per each $1000 invested. 
 The figures speak plainlj', and show for themselves what may be 
 expected, and j'et there are but few persons who are willing to 
 engage in the poultry business with only the prospect of securing 
 $160 from an investment of $1000, though the sum obtained is really 
 a large one, as compared with many other ventures. 
 
 Let us consider the subject in a still more libex'al manner, and 
 allow as profit, including interest and dividend, the large sum of 
 fifty per cent, and we have an income of $500, but we make no mis- 
 take in affirming that there is no branch of industry that returns 
 fi'Jty per cent on capital invested, nor even one-halt that amount; there 
 may be exceptions, but not as a general average. Why, then, should 
 
6 POXlLTRy FOE FEOFIT. 
 
 the poultry business be expected to return a larger profit than other 
 pursuits, and why is it not remunerative if it returns a lair profit, as 
 compared with other investments? We have often received inquiries 
 from widows, infirm gentlemen, and others, who were anxious 
 to secure a means of livelihood by raising poultry, and they were 
 always anxious to be advised as to the practicability of earning a 
 profit from a few hundred dollars sufficient to maintain themselves 
 and families; an expectation that few would apply in any other direc- 
 tion. We maintain, however, that in proportion ho capital investeif 
 and labor bestowed, as large profits can be secured by raising 
 poultry for market as from any other investment; yet, like other 
 pursuits, the party who engages in it must thoroughly understand 
 what he undertakes. 
 
 We do not propose here tcf place a book in your hands filled with 
 glittering impossibilities, and containing descriptions of imprac- 
 ticable methods, but wish, rather, that we may reason together and 
 consider all the advantages and disadvantages. What we wish to 
 do is to show what is possible, and what may be done, the execution 
 of the work, however, depending not only upon a knowledge of what 
 is required, but also upon the executive ability of the poultry keeper, 
 and the first suggestion, therefore, is not to exp«ct too much. 
 
 What Can be Derived From a Siixgle Hen. 
 
 We have realized as much as $5 from a single hen, and as the hen 
 was valued at only fifty cents, the gross sum derived was equal to 
 one thousand per cent. An enthusiast may claim, according to the 
 figures, that as fifty cents returned a gross profit of $5, or at the 
 rate of $10 for every dollar invested, that $100 should return $1000. 
 And we have also known of flocks that gave a net profit of •$? each, 
 the flocks ranging in numbers fi-om ten to twenty hens. But the 
 conditions were favorable. The hens were fed regularly; they were 
 supplied with all that they required; they were carefully sheltered 
 and kgpt warm, dry, and comfortable, had unrestricted range, 
 and consequently, were contented and happy, secured plenty of 
 exercise, and were capable of assisting themselVes whenever the 
 proper conditions of food were overlooked by the owners. And it 
 seems, also, an easy matter to secure $5 from one hen. We hatched 
 ten chicks with her, *hich sold, when only two pounds in weight, 
 at twenty cents a pound, or forty cents for each chick, making $4, 
 while the eggs laid by her numbered 108, or exactly nine dozen. 
 Some of the eggs were served upon the table, but enough were sold 
 to realize a little more than $1. Thus it appears that any hen may 
 raise ten chicks and lay 108 eggs (nine dozen) at twenty cents a 
 
PO UL TB r FOB PB OFIT. 7 
 
 dozen. We did not estimate tlie cost of the food, liowever, whioli 
 would have reduced the profits, but we can safely estimate that for 
 each pound of flesh produced in the shape of chicks, the cost will 
 not exceed five cents, and, deducting tliis from the $4, a profit of 
 $3 was derived from the cliicks, wliile the eggs used on the table 
 acre than repaid for the board of the hen. But every hen will 
 iot raise ten chicks, and 1(18 eggs is fully up to what mny be 
 Ixpected from each hen in a large flock. Individual hens receive 
 great care. The hen mentioned above received the scraps from 
 the table, and she and her chicks were favorites, and were closely 
 watched, fed, and attended to. The chicks were never allowed out 
 while the grass was wet, and at night they were nicely tucked away 
 under the hen, on a clean, warm nest. In fact, every condition was 
 observed in order to prevent loss, and to ensure suficess from the 
 hen and her brood. 
 
 If a small flock may be made profitable a number of flocks should 
 be made equally so, and they can. This is done every day. A 
 flock in one location has a range to itself, while that of a neighbor 
 has the same privileges, and thus the number may be multiplied as 
 often as we wish; but fowls are no respeotors of persons, and it 
 matters nothing to them whether they be divided into separate 
 fields, and owned by different individuals, or whether they are 
 under the care and ownership of one person. A thousand hens may 
 be kept as profitably as a dozen, provided the ke(eper is willing to 
 invest sufficient capital in the business to ensure success. The first 
 idea that usually strikes a beginner is that of massing the hens 
 under a single roof, and of economizing as much as possible in 
 room and shelter. They cannot discern why a hundred hens may 
 not thrive and prosper together as well as a dozen; yet, fowls, like 
 humans, are subject to certain laws and conditions that govern 
 them naturally. In our domestic relations we may be happy with a 
 family of twelve persons, as peace and good feeling can exist, but 
 we would not prosper so well with our cousins and relatives living 
 in the same house (or the same room) to the number of one hun- 
 dred. Everything -may be amicably arranged, yet there would be 
 obstacles in the way which are at once apparent to all. We would 
 much prefer that our cousins be separated and domiciled on neigh- 
 boring locations, thereby leaving us more room and greater freedom 
 of action. We do not believe that a large number of fowls, there- 
 fore, can be made as profitable when kept together, as they would 
 be if they were divided into families, or flocks. In order to divide 
 them, then, to the best advantage, capital is required to so arrange 
 the buildings and grounds as to secure the most favorable conditions. 
 
8 POULTRY FOR PJiOFJT. 
 
 and even then there will arise so many obstacles which cannot be 
 anticipated that the profit will be proportionately lessened. Take, 
 for example, the hen with her brood. She has a whole field to her- 
 self. Then change the illustration, and imagine 100 hens with 
 broods, and at once it is seen that the conditions are not as favor--' 
 able for the 100 hens as for the individual hen. Should a chick 
 accidentally stray to another brood it becomes a ^dctim to the dislike 
 of the strange hen, and should two hens with broods meet a strug- 
 gle often occurs, which usually results in the loss of some of the 
 little pets, but where a hundred, hens are on a hundred farms no 
 such difficulties arise, and no competition for existence ensues. . 
 
 "With the foregoing as a i^reface, we will attempt to assist the 
 reader in overcoming many of the difficulties that stand in the way of 
 making poultry, when kept in large numbers, profitable . Our reason 
 for proceeding as we have is to induce the reader to personally look 
 over the field of operations himself while following us, and by so 
 •doing he will partially solve for himself the problem which seems to 
 stand in the way, while the ideas we may give may be improved 
 upon, the consummation of which will be as satisfactory as though 
 our thoughts and experiences had alone been the guide. 
 
 PREPARATIONS FOR BUSINESS. 
 
 Figure 1. 
 
 As we stated, everything depends upon the accommodations 
 
 and management. While expensive buildings may be put up, 
 
 arranged with every contrivance for the accommodation of poultry, 
 
 yet it is not everyone who can afford to engage in the business as 
 
POUL TR Y Fun PR OFIT. 9 
 
 they ■would desire, and hence let us confine ourselves to those essen- 
 tials for operation whieh are rather within the peovince of ijersous 
 (if limited capital. We must make every dollar go as far as possible, 
 and while constructing cheap buildings, thej- must be dry, warm and 
 light. The first consideration is how to get thQ greatest surface 
 space for the least outlay. We jjresent, therefore. Fig. 1, which, 
 while it may not be exactly according to the most ajiproved style, 
 has some advantages that are very important, and conveys some 
 very good ideas. The house is 10x10, with three greenhouse sashes 
 facing the south. Each sash is three feet wide and six feet long, 
 and they cost, usually, about three dollars each. Now, while we have 
 ten feet each way, in the house proper,, making 100 square feet, we 
 also have the room under the sashes, which is 4x10, or 40 square 
 feet, the entire surface being liil square feet, or equivalent to a 
 house 10x14 feet, while the roof is built over a surface of 10x10 feet 
 only, the glass serving in the capacity of a roof to the extended 
 portion, and is also so inclined as- to allow the heat and light of the 
 sun to pass in to a distance under the main section, as well as 
 directly down ujjon tlje four feet extending- foi-ward. The cost of 
 the glass is partly saved by the shingles that would be necessary for 
 covering a roof 10x14 feet instead of 10x10 feet, as it may be 
 observed glass would be necessary, also, for a house 10x14 feet. 
 Before building the house, or fixing upon the size, first determine 
 ho'w the fowls are to be kept. We would suggest that instead of 
 adopting the above size, we would build, a house 8x16 feet, so as to 
 best utilize 16-feet boards, with two sections to fhe house, making 
 each section 8x8 feet, and with a cock and ten hens to a section, 
 which is two cocks and twenty liens to a house 8x16 feet. Instead 
 of three .sa.shes, there need be only two, one to each section, which, 
 gives the room on the floor, however, for each section 8x12 feet 
 (instead of 8x8 feet). The reason for so doing is that in the winter, 
 when the weather may be severe at times, the hens may b& 
 kept in doors, and have plenty of room, as that portion under the 
 .sash will be as serviceable as that under the main portion. In Fig. 
 2 wc show how a single sash may be arranged, and also how a still 
 cheaper house may be constructed. Fig. 1, alluded to, is five feet 
 from the eaves to the ground, the peak being eight feet frorp the 
 ground. Fig. 2 should be made 10x10 feet, the peak being seven 
 feet from the ground. At the bottom is a board one foot high, 
 though it may be two feet if preferred. The door is at the right, 
 and ample room may be had inside for those who may have to 
 enter to collect eggs or clean the hou3e. In front, near the right 
 comer, is a place of ingress and egress for the fowls, and the house 
 
10 POVLTRY FOR PR OFIT. 
 
 may be roofed with narrow tongue and grooved boards, shingles.^ 
 tarred paper. Our object here is simply to give design of the house. 
 Before the house can be considered finished it should be made 
 verv warm, and should be lathed and plastered, no matter how con- 
 structed as an ordinary board house, although supposed by many 
 to be sufficient, will be found a very cold place when the thermom- 
 eter is near zero. Do not become alarmed, however, at the idea of 
 plasterin<^ it. which is expensive, but let us endeavor to adopt a 
 substitute. No poultry house will be free from lice, or draughts of 
 air unless it is plastered, or closed in some manner. So we will 
 
 FlGUKE 2. 
 
 paper it inside, and do so in a cheap and inexpensive way. We 
 will give several methods, the reader selecting that which suits his 
 inclination. 
 
 Before stating our preference we will say that lice will not 
 remain in the presence of tarred paper. Get a lot of old news- 
 papers, or a ream of brown paper, and make some paste by stirring 
 flour in boiling water, first adding a little glue and alum to the 
 water. Now put plenty of paste on both the paper and the wall; 
 lay on the paper, and put on a covering of paste over it. When this 
 is done put on another layer of paper, taking care to cover aU 
 cracks and broken parts of the first layer. Let the first course dry 
 before putting on the second. Paper under the roof as well as on 
 the sides. You may now put on the tarred paper, by nailing it with 
 tin heads and small nails, and strips of lath may be nailed over the 
 tarred paper to assist in holding it in position. If the tarred paper 
 is too expensive, and you wish to harden the paper, make a paste of 
 skim milk and lime, adding a little dissolved glue and enough flour 
 to make it stick. Before applying it put in a pint of coal tar, or 
 
POULTRY FOR PROFIT. 
 
 n 
 
 boil a piece of tarred paper in tlie paste. Brush this over the paper 
 on the wall, and it will soon become as hard as a board, while the 
 odor of the coal tar will keep oil' lice. Once a month make a 
 whitewash, adding a quart of milk, a little glue, flour, and coal tar 
 to the whitewash, and with the mixture whitewash the Interior, say 
 three or four times a year. It is also an excellent outside coating. 
 You now have a building which is warm and comfortable. The only 
 objection to the coal tar is that it darkens the interior, while the 
 hens love plenty of light. This may be remedied by passing a little 
 whitewash over it. Always endeavor to have the odor of coal tar 
 present, as it is an sxcelleut disinfectant, prevents lice, and assists 
 In warding of disease. 
 
 The best floor is boards, but they are expensive, and also allow 
 rats to get under them. >Iake the floor of concrete. Get some lime 
 
 Figure 3. 
 
 and slake it with plenty of warm water. To every bushel of lime 
 add one peck of calcined plaster, cement, or skimmed milk. Put 
 in, also, a gallon of coal tar. Now mix the mortar of lime, plaster 
 and coal tar, with sand and gravel, making it of such a consistency 
 as to easily run out of a bucket, and spread. Level down the floor 
 of the house (which should be higher than the ground outside) and 
 trample it firmly. Now pour on the concrete, but mix it only as 
 required, as it may set if allowed to stand too long. When finished 
 take a trowel and level it down. After it is dry, make some concrete 
 
12 
 
 PO UL TE Y ^OB PROFIT. 
 
 of lime, tar, plaster and sand (no grayel) and spread it evenly, about 
 half an inch in thickness, over the first layer, so as to stop up any 
 eraclcs or openings, and in a day or two you ■will have a hard, solid, 
 dry floor, under which no rats or weasels can enter, and which may 
 be cleaned off by sweeping with a broom, sprinkling with either 
 sand, dry earth, sawdust or land plaster, after each sweeping. 
 
 We give Pig. 3, an illustration of a poultry house with the win- 
 dows so arranged that the light and warmth enters as soon as the 
 sun rises, and so remains ifntil sunset. A window may be on the 
 roof or not, as preferred. Observe that, although the house may 
 appear expensive, such is not the fact, as it should be considered 
 that the space on the floor is equal to that of a house covering tlie 
 ^ound occupied by both the main portion and the window. With 
 
 FiGUKE 4. 
 
 Ught and warmth the hens will remain inside on cold days, and if 
 they are kept at work will lay in winter, hence we will again remind 
 the reader that when feeding the hens in the morning, give a sm^all 
 quantity of soft food, and throw gi-ain into leaves, cut straw, chafi, 
 or even sawdust, and make them scratch for it. Keep the hens at 
 ■wo-rk during the day, but feed them well before they go on the roost 
 at night. Never feed a full meal in the morning unless the fowls 
 can secure it by scratching. Make them work for all they get. 
 
 We also show a building (Fig. 4) composed of a row of parti- 
 tions, each section beinpr 15 feet; the yards, of course, bfeing the 
 
POULTRY FOR I'llOFIT. 
 
 13 
 
 same width. Our motive in tlie illustrations in to show the econ- 
 omy of combining light, heat and floor .space, hoping the reader 
 may imjirove iipon our plans. 
 
 How to Make a Cheap Fence. 
 
 Wl> are sho^nng how to make a cheap and comfortable house, 
 and not how to build an elaborate one. The next desideratum is a 
 cheap fence. A fence should be at least six feet high for the small 
 breeds, though four feet is high enough for hea'Vy fowls. The 
 cheapest material is lath, but a fence made of lath will not answer 
 unless it is constructed in such a manner as to be strong. Fig. 5 
 will give an idea W how a durable, strong and effective lath fence- 
 may be made. The illustration represents a fence with the lower 
 ends of the lath in the ground, using only two strips from post to 
 post. To make a fence six feet high, take three strips of 2x3 soant- 
 
 FlGUEB 5. 
 
 ling, or shingling lath, and nail the strips with the wide part lying 
 flat, the narrow part fitting against the post. This enables it to 
 stand greater pressure. Place the first strip six inches from the 
 ground, the second fifteen inches above the first, the top of which 
 will be two feet from the ground. Now out whole laths in half, and 
 nail the pieces to the strips, the top of each lath being an inch and 
 a half from the top of the second strip, or rail. Allow one inch space 
 between each lath. Now nail on a third ^trip, three feet above the 
 second, and nail whole laths, fastening the bottoms of the lath to 
 the inch and a half space on the second strip, which was left above 
 the top of the half lath, and nail the upper portion to the third 
 strip, which will leave one foot of each lath projecting above the 
 third strip, though the third strip may be nailed three feet and a 
 half above the second strip, instead of three feet, if preferred. The 
 whole laths may be placed two inches apart. The advanta^s of 
 
14 POULTMT FOS PROFIT. 
 
 this fence are that the strongest part will be near the bottom, and 
 more capable of resisting pressure from dogs, or even fowls. The 
 cost of the lath wiU be about two cents per running foot, six feet 
 high, and it will 'be close enough at the bottom to enclose young 
 chicks. It would be a good plan, also, to nail laths lengthwise 
 across the ends of those nailed to the *itrips, in order to more 
 securely hold them in place. ' 
 
 Changeable Yards. 
 
 It may be supposed by the reader that we are making our 
 calculations with the expectation that the poultryman desired only 
 to keep one or two flocts, but we mean something more. We are 
 discussing the best methods for keeping poultry in large numbers, 
 and before going into further details in regard to the construction 
 of the houses and fences, let us consider how best to manage 
 them. As we stated before, fowls having a whole farm to them- 
 selves always give satisfactory results, while every attempt to keep 
 a large number "of fowls massed together has been met with 
 reverses. The reason is that the >poultrymen have attempted 
 changes that were entirely too radical. They do not consider thaf 
 poultry, like other stock,, demand attention and labor, as the 
 poultrymen are usually desirous ol engaging in the business with as 
 little labor and outlay as possible. Nine out of every ten are anx- 
 ious to take a barn, or other large building, and divide it up into 
 rooms, in which they proijose to place a large number, ranging from' 
 twenty to fifty fowls for each room. Others propose to build a long 
 poultry house, dividing it into sections, with a passage way the 
 whole length of the building. We admit that either plan wiU do if 
 you wish to keep poultrj'or young chicks, but will not do for 
 laying hens, unless the houses are roomy. The square building will 
 have only one south side, 'and some of the rooms will consequently 
 receive no heat from the sun in winter. The other plan gives only 
 long, narrow yards, unless the divisions are large. The poultryman 
 must bear in mind that the more room that can be allowed in the 
 yards for foraging the better, and in winter the inside of the poul- 
 try house should be roomy, especially on the floors. There are 
 several objections in the way of confining fowls in sniall yards, 
 among them being that the yards will become foul and dirtjt, no 
 matter how^weU 'they may be cleaned; that closely confined fowls 
 become too fat, for want of exercise, and wUl not lay; that if not 
 allowed to forage they become addicted to the vice of feather pull- 
 ing, which also prevents laying. How, then, are we to get over the' 
 difdculty? Simply by allowing plenty of room, keeping the hens 
 
POULTRY FOR PROFIT. 
 
 15 
 
 always busily at work scratching for their food, and while so doing 
 endeavor to gi'ow the green food. The following plan will give the j 
 reader an idea upon which he may improve : 
 
 "a" 
 
 B 
 
 B 
 
 ■"a" 
 
 B 
 
 "a" 
 
 B 
 
 "a" 
 
 "a" 
 
 B 
 
 B 
 
 "a" 
 
 B 
 
 "a" 
 
 B 
 
 / 
 
 . . .^. . 
 
 B 
 
 ..k.. 
 
 B 
 
 "a" 
 
 B 
 
 "a" 
 
 B 
 
 To describe it we will state that AAA and B B B are yar*is, bu'; 
 the yards marked A are separated by those marked B. Th^ dark 
 sqviares represent houses, each being divided into two partitions, a 
 cock and ten hens being in eaoli. Our object is to allow the fowls 
 to have the liberty of the yards marked B, while those parked A 
 are regaining a new growth of vegetation. By changing the foT^ls 
 back into the yards marked A, those marked- B may bf; spaded or 
 plowed (.thereby turning under the filth and enriching the land) 
 and also re-seeded for vegetation. A space of at least twenty-six 
 feet is between every flock, no matter whether they ar« turned into 
 A or B, Which prevents the cocks fighting through Jihe fenco, and 
 separates' them completely, although the houses aref always facing 
 the south. The reason why a cock and ten hens aife suggested is 
 that a larger number of hens would require two cocks, ap d they 
 would naturally become jealous and quarrel, and peace is very 
 desirable. The eggs will also hatch better the fewer the number of 
 hens with a single cock. Two cocks in the same yard, are almost 
 useless, as one will not only make a coward of the other, but will 
 be prevented from paying attention to the hens. If the eggs are 
 not desired for hatching no cocks at all are required, as the hens 
 will lay as well without them as with them, and th b eggs will keep 
 Ibetter. 
 
 As to how many hens should be kept on an ac; 'e, we can easily 
 
16 
 
 POULTIiY FOR PROFIT. 
 
 teU by a calculation. An acre is about 209 feet square. We can, 
 therefore, get four lots 52J feet front 209 feet deep, eight lots 52i feet 
 front and 104^ feet deep, and 16 lots 52i feet front and 52i feet deep. 
 Or, we can get 16 lots 264 ffeet front and 104^ -feet deep. But, as each 
 flock -will require t-no yards (if ■« e adopt the ^ize of 26ixl04i) we 
 ■will hate eight flocks to the acre, or four houses, divided into two 
 departments each. Of course the yards may be made smaller, and 
 a larger number kept, but the results will not be so satisfactory; for 
 imder this plan the yards are deep, the flocks are completely sepa- 
 rated by a wide yard, they can be at any time cljanged from a filthy 
 i^ard to a fresh one, they can always have green food, and the land 
 will produc i greater amount of vegetation every year from being, 
 eiuichetl _/y the droppings. 
 
 An Estimate for One Acre. 
 
 If we can keep eighty hens on an acre (and we may keep 100 
 
 if tlie eggs are not desired for hatching purposes) in proportion to 
 
 \cost of labor, they will givea greater 'return, per acre, than can be 
 
 Realized from any cither kind of stock, or from any growing crops. 
 
 it is not always advisable to "count clixckfciis before they are 
 
 Kitclied," for no man can tell what a hen will perform, but it is not 
 
 riit oj place to attempt to estimate the possibilities from eighty 
 
 liens on one acre of ground. AVe will not say anything at present' 
 
 about the cost of the buildings and fences, nor of incubators, 
 
 brooders, and small coops, for such belongs to the invested capital, 
 
 but\let us try and an-jve at a knowled,ge of the profits and expenses. 
 
 Che estimated allowance for a hen is five pecks of corn, 
 
 or its equi valent, for one year. The equivalent, of course, means 
 
 less corn when wheat, oats, soft food, meat, or vegetables are given. 
 
 Shoulfl you gi-ow any of the food on the ground occupied for 
 
 poulti'^ you gain so much. Five pecks of corn, for convenience,^ 
 
 may be nstimated at a value of one dollar, which means that it wili 
 
 cost onR! doll.ir to keep a hen one year, and we believe th 3 esti- 
 
 mate sh 
 
 Id bii high for expenses and low for receipts, as will be less 
 
 room fcr disappointment. We wish to know, now, what to expect. 
 Let us igain t'egin a calculation. We have known hena to lay as 
 many a i twelve dozen eggs in a year, and even sixteen dozen, but 
 we will try and get within bounds and claim only nine dozen. We 
 would cLaim only eight dozen, but these hens are expected to give 
 but few eggs wlien they are high, and a greater number when they 
 are low, and thcirefore nine dozen eggs from a single hen is not a 
 large eslimate, yet we feel satisfied that, under proper conditionSj 
 
POVLTRY FOH I'HOFIT. 17 
 
 from ten to twelve dozen may be secured. How shall ^e fix the 
 price? We will do so by stating that eggs range in price from 15 to 
 40 cents per dozen, in tihe neighborhood of good markets, and we 
 will strike a price between tlie figures — 27i cents. No, let us cut off 
 a figure, and estimate it nine dozen oggs at 20 cents a dozen, in or- 
 der to make a safe estimate. We have, then, $1.80 as a gross sum 
 '.i-om the hen, and the cost of her keep is $1.00, leaving a profit of 
 SO cents. This does not look like a large sum, but, at 80 cents per 
 lien, from 100 hens, we have the interest of six per cent, and a divi- 
 dend of ten per cent, on a capital invested of $500. "We are not 
 done yet, however. If our hen only lays nine dozen eggs, it will be 
 because she loses time sitting, and if she is a poor layer she will 
 probably sit twice, and hatch two broods. "We would not expect 
 two broods if she laid early and up to the period of moulting, for 
 she would give a larger number of eggs, but we wiU make a calcu- 
 lation for her work as a sitter. 
 
 We will give her thirteen egg«'for a clutch, as that seems to be 
 a favorite number, but in winter she should not have over ten. She 
 batches perhaps seven chicks, and loses three, or nearly one-half, 
 leaving four chicks out of thirteen eggs, for sale. Have we made too 
 high a-a estimate in claiming four chicks as the result of what a hen 
 may raise from a single sitting? We think not, and we must now 
 estimate what they are worth. If they are hatched in March, they 
 win get into market when about five weeks old, weighing three- 
 quarters of a pound each, and will bring anywhere from fifty to 
 seventy-five cents each. If they are hatched later, they must be 
 sold when a pound in weight, and will bring from forty to seventy- 
 five cents each. If hatched still later, they will sell best when about 
 from one and a half to two pounds each, the price ranging from 
 twenty-five to fifty cents per pound, according to size and the sea- 
 son. We win let our four chicks grow to two pounds weight, and 
 sell them at twenty cents a pound, or forty cents for each chick, but 
 it is fair to presume that some hens may sit early and some late, 
 but we will accept the low price ^ of twenty cents a pound, and we 
 have $1.60 for four chicks, estimating that we were not in -time for 
 the early ones, and had to let ours grow until they were two pounds 
 in weight, and that our hen only raised four chicks. The expenses 
 for the eggs the hen used when sitting may be placed at high prices, 
 however — forty cents — and the chicks cost five cents a pound to 
 raise, or ten cents each, making eighty cents for eggs and food, 
 leaving us eighty cents profit on chicks, which, with the eighty 
 cents profit on eggs, gives us $1.60 as net profit from the hen. So, 
 we conclude, $1.60 may be expected from one hen.* But stop awhile. 
 
a18 
 
 POULTRY FOR PROFIT. 
 
 -Eemember our hen was a poor layer. She ought to hatch another 
 brood along in August or September, and she ought to have better 
 luck with her chicks, as she will not have the cold weather to com- 
 bat. Well, we will again give her thirteen "eggs, and she ought to 
 raise five chicks, which we can sell for at least fifteen cents a pound 
 (a low estimate) when they weigh two pounds each. This will allow 
 us thirtj' cents a chick, or Sl-50 for the five. The eggs this time, 
 however, we may place at twenty cents a dozen, and the feed for 
 live chicks at fifty cents, making seventy cents expenses, and we 
 again get eighty cents profit, which raises the profit from the hen to 
 S2.40, and all expenses of her board deducted. We were about to 
 say we were done, but we find that the hen and her two broods of 
 chicks Jand remember we let thos.e chicks grow to a fair size) made 
 some manure, and that is worth something, for it sells very, readily 
 to gai'deners. It ought to be worth at least twenty-five cents. 
 
 ji^M>^ 
 
 FiGTJBE 6. 
 
 though we are sure fifty cents would not be too much, but we will 
 accept twenty-five cents, and stop at a profit of $2.65 per hen. 
 
 A little more figuring enables us to claim $265 .for 100 hens 
 on one acre of gi-ound, or $212 for eighty hens on the same 
 area, which is • equivalent to six per cent interest and fifteen per 
 cent dividend on $1,000 from the eighty hens, or six per cent inter- 
 est and twenty per cent dividend from 100 hens on the same amount. 
 It is equal to six per cent interest and about forty per' cent dividend 
 from eighty hens on $500, and six per cent interest and fifty per 
 cent dividend from 100 "hens. Surely, the investment should be 
 considered a paying one. 
 
 If we base our estimate on one acre, and arrive at the figures 
 necessary for business on that much ground, we can afterward cal- 
 culate for any number of acres, but for fear that we did not make 
 allowance for mistakes in oui- profit of $2.65 for each hen, let us cut 
 
POULTRY FOB FSVFIT. 19 
 
 / 
 off the sixty-five cents and call it $2, and wo may easily arrive at 
 any estimate in a moment. It will be necessary to keep only enougli 
 cocks to fertilize the eggs required [for hatching, and one-half the 
 yards, tlierefore, may dispense with them, especially in summer. 
 We may, then, keep fifteen hens in a house 8x8 with 8x12 ground 
 room, which at a glance shows that 100 hens may be easily kept on 
 an acre, giving a profit of $200 per acre. If the houses are single, 
 and so constructed as to be moved, like Fig. 6, the ground may 
 serve as a floor, provided it is tight and dry. We give the design, 
 however, but it may be altered to suit convenience. 
 
 Capital for Beginning. ' 
 
 If we wish to arrive at a knowledge of the capital required to 
 begin with, on one acre, let us estimate the price of lumbei at $20 
 per thousand feet, the shingles at $5 per thousand, and the lath at 
 $3 per thousand. A building 8x16 feet, 5 feet high to the eaves and 
 8 feet to the pitch, •with solid inside partition, will require about 
 500 feet of lumber, which includes the portion covered by the sash- 
 of glass, making $10. The shingles will cost about $5, nails and 
 hardware $5, and floor (if of boards) $3, or) a total of $25, allowing 
 for extras, such as glass, etc. The fences (permanent) will require 
 209 feet on the four sides of an acre, and one line across the middle. 
 The four sides will be 836 feet, while the four houses will take away 
 64 feet from the middle fence, leaving liS/feet, which, added to the 
 836 feet, will amount to 981 feet. AVe mus^' now build fourteen par- 
 tition fences, in order to separate the yards A and B, the partitions 
 to be 104J feet each, making 1,463 feet, which, added to the 981 feet, 
 gives a total of 2,444 feet for the yards. This will require about 300 
 posts, at- five cents each, $15; about 7,500 feet of railing (shingling 
 lath, at $6 per thousand, will answer), $45, and about 20,000 lath, 
 $60. Thus, four houses'will cost $1Q0, the posts $15, the ra,iling ^45, 
 the lath $60, and the nails $5, making a ! total of $225 for material, 
 the labor of building the same being perhaps $100, or, provided one 
 does his own building, $500 may equip two acres, which wiU accom- 
 modate 200 hens. As a matter of course, the cost of material de- 
 pends upon the location and the proes therein, and, although 
 giving an estimate here, the figures may vary some. Much depends 
 upon the size of the buildings and the) kind of fence used, but we 
 have aUdwed two yards to each flock, dach yard being quite large, 
 while the ground floor of the housesjis ample. If we were to esti- 
 mate for contingencies, and place the post of material for equiping- 
 an a«re at $300, we would be safe, and estimating $100 -(^ith which 
 
20 
 
 rOU^jTEY FOR PROFIT. 
 
 to purchase liens (a large estimate), T>y realizing $200 from an acre, 
 'we think the profit from the outlay quite large. 
 
 But this $200 is not all profit- The labor is worth something. 
 It -will not be a hard task, however, for a person to manage flVe acres, 
 or even ten, almost as handily as one acre, and consequently the cost 
 for aTsingle acre should be in propontion, yet we feel assured that 
 all of our readers are willing to let the profits pass if they can realize 
 §1,000 on iive acres, on a capital of $1,500, by lahor. 
 
 The Single House Plan. 
 
 Here is another plan, which is not a bad idea; it is more 
 •economical, and is favored by many. If we will make plenty of 
 room inside the house and spade up the yards frequently, no doubt 
 it may answer. Build a house 210 feet long and 10 feet wide, with 
 windows arranged all along the front, the same as in Fig. 1. We 
 then have the floor 210 feet long and 14 feet wide. Divide this 
 building into fifteen sections, with yards front and back. Each 
 section (or room) will be 15x14 feet on the floor, but as we may 
 take up a passage way the whole length, of 2i feet width, the apart- 
 ments occupied by the fowls will be ISxlli feet, or 172i square feeis 
 to each apartment. Dispensing with cocks, each room will easily 
 accommodate fifteen hens, and, as we will have fifteen rooms, tve 
 ean get 210 hens on a trifle over an acre. We give the arrangeiaent 
 thus: 
 
 B 
 
 "a" 
 
 B 
 
 "a'I 
 
 B 
 
 ■ ■■ 
 
 B 
 
 
 B 
 
 !.A. 
 
 E 
 
 1 
 
 ''a'] 
 
 !.A" 
 
 B 
 
 !.A.! 
 
 B 
 
 
 ■ ■ 
 B 
 
 "a" 
 
 B 
 
 !.A.! 
 
 B 
 
 "a" 
 
 B 
 
 A and B represent the yards, there being one at the rear and ons 
 at the front of each room. The heavy black line represents the 
 building, which is 210 feet long. Each yard is 15 feet front and 1044 
 
PO J'L TR Y FUR RR OFIT. 21 
 
 feet deep. Let ns now I'ompare the cost with the other plan. The 
 house should be 5 l(H't to the oaves, mid, if '21(1 t'eet long, each side 
 will require 1,050 ieet of liTmbcr, or 2,1(10 lor the front and back; or, 
 making allowance for the kIu.ss section in front, with studding and. 
 shingling lath, about 5,000 feet for the building, costing $100. The 
 shingles will cost aboiit 875. the nails and hardware about $15, and 
 incidentals SIO, or a total of S'2O0. The floor, if of boards, will cost 
 ?5ii more, ^^'e are not familiar with a knowledge of estimating for 
 building, as is done liy a carpenter, but believe $300 will amply 
 cover the expense for material required for the building, as, with 
 the exception of two feet of board at the bottom, the. partitions in- 
 side may be made of lath. The fences will require 840 feet around 
 the outside, while twenty-eight partitions 1044 feet long will amount 
 to ■2,9'26 feet more, or a total of 3,766 feet. No partitions will be re- 
 quired across the center, as the building will answer that purpose. 
 The fencing may therefore be estimated at about $175, or we maj 
 fix upon SoOd as a safe estimate for the one acre, bnt we will have 
 ■210 hens instead of 80 or 100. Take a tape line and measure the size 
 of the yards, and the space allowed inside the rooms, and you will 
 arrive at some idea of what they will occupy when finished. 
 
 "SVe have so far endeavored to lead the reader by the hand, show 
 him the field and talk the matter over confidentially, like friends. 
 AVe have estimated against the beginner every time. There are no 
 theories presented, but plain possibilities, which the reader may 
 notice himself. We hold out no inducements, but endeavor to make 
 this book so plain that, though small, it may be of value to all. 
 "We wish the reader, however, to do his own thinking, and, if we 
 give an idea, that it may take root and become the foundation upon 
 which something better may be established. Having assisted to 
 arrive at the outlay required, let us begin duty and see how we 
 should manage. 
 
 THE BEST BREEDS FOR PROFIT. 
 
 Much depends upon the breed. Among live stock we find the 
 Jersey cow adapted for butter, the Holstein for milk, and the Short- 
 horn for beef. The thoroughbred horse is capable of great speed, 
 the trotter of quick di-aught, and the Percheron of drawing gi-eat 
 weights. Among swine the Berkshire is noted for its hams, the 
 Essex for its flitches, and the Yorkshire for early maturity. The 
 Merino sheep gives us our fine wool, the Cotswold our combipg 
 
22 POULTMY FOl. PROFIT. 
 
 ■wool, and the Southdown our inarbl<3d mutton. As with cattle^ 
 horses, swine and sheep, so with poultry. There are a large num- 
 ber of breeds, but no single breed possesses more than one talent, 
 or dominant quality, nor can' the crossing of any two breeds unite 
 all the characteristics of both, though the offspring may combine, 
 to a limited degree, the merits of its parents, and, while not being 
 equal to either parent in some respects, maybe superior to them 
 in others. 
 
 The choice of breeds depends upon several conditions, among- 
 them being the location of the poultry farm, the climate, and the 
 purposes intended by the poultryman. If eggs only are the desider- 
 atum, we inay name, as the best layers, the Leghorns, Houdans, 
 Hamburgs, Polish and Black Spanish. These breeds are small in 
 size, are non-sitters, lay purely white eggs, and mature earlier than 
 the large breeds, but, as we stated, each has its merits and each may 
 be objected to iij certain respects. 
 
 The Leghorns, of which there are four varieties — the Black,, 
 Brown, White an4 Dominick — are alike in nearly every particular 
 except color of plumage. They mature very early, often beginning- 
 to lay before they are five months old, and probably lay a larger 
 number of eggs in a year, under favorable conditions, than any 
 other breed. The Black variety is but little used, as they have dark 
 legs. The others possess yellow skin and legs, and present an 
 attractive market appearance. The objection to the Leghorns is 
 that they have large combsand wattles, which are liable to freeze in 
 -winter, and although we have the single and rose combed breeds, 
 yet the rose-combed varieties are not exempt from the difSculty. 
 They feather very rapidly and are very sensitive to dampness, the 
 loss of chicks being greater on damp days than when the weather 
 is dry and cold. In fact, all of the non-sitters are tender when 
 young, though hardy when nearlj' grown. Of course the eggs must 
 be hatched under hens of a sitting propensity, or in incubators, it 
 young chicks are desired. 
 
 The Hamburgs are also small, have rose combs, and are very 
 handsome in shape and beautiful in plumage. They possess no 
 advantage over the Leghorns, nor are they as hardy. 
 
 The Polish are beautiful in plumage, but as there are eight 
 varieties of them a complete description is not necessary. They are 
 omamentedl with beautiful crests, and are excellent fowls when 
 matured, but in the h^nds of a novice there is usually a large 
 loss of chicks, as they are very tender when young. 
 
 The Black Spanish lay larger eggs than any other breed, but 
 the fanciers have bred them so closely for the desirable white face 
 
."Oi'LTIiY FOB PROFIT. 23 
 
 <one,ol the lirominent points) that the breed does not now possess 
 the vigor und strengtii nsual to many pthcr.s, while the legs are 
 dark and tlu' skin a blui.sh ^^■llit('. 
 
 The Houdan i.s thc> largest of the non-sitting breeds, and is a 
 favorite with the poultry breeders of France, it being one of 
 the French brtHuls. From the fact of its being ornamented with a 
 crest, as well as possessing five toes on each foot, it was no doubt 
 produced by crossing the Polish with the Colored Dorking. The 
 body is long and heavy, and the bird very compact. The hen 
 lays a lai-ge white egg, and the chicks are hardier than those of any 
 other breed of non-sitters. Though larger than the Leghorn, we 
 doubt if the chicks weigh heavier up to the time they are two 
 auouths old, and although the Houdan lays well it does not mature 
 as early as the Leghorn. 
 
 Having given a brief description of the five prominent non- 
 pitting breeds, let us now compare them. The Leghorns are early 
 in maturing, but are too large in the comb. The Hamburgs have 
 Tose combs, but are not as hardy as the Leghorns. The Polish are 
 large in size, but do not mature early, and are too tender when 
 young. The Black Spanish lay large eggs, but do not grow rapidly, 
 and are not good table fowls. 'The Houdans are- splendid table 
 fowls, but do not mature early, while their crest and fifth toe are 
 objectionable, the crest often becoming watersoaked, thus inducing 
 roup, while the fifth toe is an incumbrance and a nuisance. And, 
 it must not be overlooked, all the non-sitters are excellent flyers, 
 and must be confined with high fences. 
 
 If we have puzzled the reader in the endeavor J;o enlighten him, 
 it is not our fault, for no breed, as we stated before, will fill all 
 the requirements, but as we discuss the subject further we will 
 endeavor to partially solve the difflcillty and thereby determine 
 upon the breed which may be most suitable. We again allude to 
 our reminder that the climate must infiuence you in selecting the 
 breed. In cold, dry climates, the roup (the dreaded winter disease) 
 is not as prevalent as in those sections whei-e the weather is damp, 
 but the winds are very severe on the combs of the cocks. In the 
 Southern States the Leghorns answer admirably, while the 
 Houdans are preferred further north. As the non-sitters are very 
 active, and forage over a large surface, they do not bear confinement 
 well, and the consequence is often a diminished number of eggs, 
 ■with the acquired vice of feather pulling. These difficulties, how- 
 ever, may be partially avoided by judgment in feeding and caring 
 for the fowls. 
 
 The above is intended more for those who believe there is a 
 
24 PO UL TRY FOE Pli OFIT. 
 
 greater profit in eggs than in eggs and chicks combined, a matter 
 to which we shaU again allude. As to which is the best fowl for 
 eggs, chicks and carcass, let us examine a few more of the principal 
 , breeds. - • 
 
 There are more than a hundred breeds, including the sub- 
 varieties, but the most prominent are the Brahmas, Cochins, 
 Plymouth Rocks, Dorkings, Wyandottes, Dominicks, Games, Java? 
 and Langshans. Here we have quite a large number from which to 
 make our selection, but again we will find it a difficult matter to 
 render a decision as to which breed may be denominated the heist. 
 In order to make poultry profitable, we wish to get as many eggs as 
 possible, to secure good hatches of hardy, quick gi'owing chicks, 
 to produce pullets that begin to lay very early, and to avoid many 
 of the vexations of frozen combs, flying over fences, and diseases. 
 
 The Brahmas consist of the Light and the Dark varieties.. 
 With the exception of color of plumage, they are very similar, 
 having small triple (or pea-shaped) combs, yellow skin and legs,, 
 heavily feathered bodies, and attain a large size. The Cochins, 
 consisting of the Black, Buff, White, Partridge, and Pea-combed 
 Pa;rtridge, are large fowls, with single combs, and are, like the 
 Brahmas, heavily feathered, but inore compact in shape. The 
 Plymouth Kocks have clear yellow legs and skin, heavj', compact 
 bodies, and single combs. The Wyandottes have yellow legs and 
 skin, compact bodies and very small rose combs. The Dorkings, of 
 which there are several varieties, have single combs (sometimes a 
 rose comb), white or flesh-colored legs, with heavy, long, compact 
 bodies. The Donjinick has a rose comb, and otherwise is similar 
 to the Plymouth Bock, though smaller. The Games are very 
 numerous, but the best for market, or for crossing on, common 
 fowls, are the pit Games. The Javas consist of the Mottled and 
 Black, and somewhat resemble the Plymouth Kocks in shape and 
 size. Like the Games they also have single combs, but, wjaile many 
 of the Games have yellow legs, those of the .Javas are dark or bluisli 
 yellow. The Langshans have white skin, dark legri (wiUi pink 
 between the toes), black plumage, and grow to a large size. 
 
 A comparison of the breeds will now enable us to judge of their 
 merits more satisfactorily, in order that some particular breed may 
 be determined upon for the purpose of securing the gi-eatest profit. 
 Here we may point out the merits and defects of each by stating 
 that the Brahmas make good winter layers (owing to their heavy 
 feathering), are large, but do not mature early, while the chicks 
 are not very attractive. The small pea-comb is secure from thp 
 attacks of winter, but the heavy leg feathering is objectiona- 
 
POULTRY FOR PROFIT. 25 
 
 ble. ;is the feathers bei-cime wet in damp weather. The Cochina 
 po^^ess ueurly all of the adviiutanes of Brahmas except the eomb. 
 They are the mcist persistent sitters of all breeds, and tlie most 
 difficult to "break up." The Plymouth Koclcs mature a little 
 earlier than the Cochins or Brahmas. and are not troubled with 
 leg feathering. They lia\e rather tall combs, however, which are 
 liable to freeze in AViiiter. Being well fi^athered, they stand the 
 cold well, and are good table fowls, while the chicks gi-ow com- 
 pactly and always ;>ell well in market. AVe should, but for two 
 objeetions, consider them as perfect fowls, which are that they can 
 fly over a five-foot fence, and have too much comb, while the 
 Brahmas and Cnohins can be confined with a very low fence. The 
 latter are also better contented when in confinement, while the 
 Plymouth Kocks prefer to forage. All the large breeds are liable 
 to become too fat when confined, due to lack of exercise. The 
 Wyaudottes are a new breed and seem to jjosseas a gxeat many 
 advantages. They are well feathered, and consequently should 
 make good winter layers, while their small combs are greatly in 
 their favor. They are very comiDact, and their .skin and legs are 
 of a golden yellow, while the i^Jumage is beautiful. They have not 
 proved themselves equal to the Brahmas or Plymouth Rocks as 
 layers, and are rather closely inbred, but, no doubt, in a few years 
 they will be more valuable. The Games are hardy when matured, 
 but are more liable to roup when young than are some of the 
 other breeds. The Dorkings are the most compact of aU the 
 breeds, but do not thrive as well in this country as they do in 
 England. The Javas are excellent layers, but their dark legs and 
 single combs give them no advantage. The Dominicks are 
 moderate layers, and do not suffer from the frost as much as the 
 Plymouth Rocks, but are r ather small when matured. The 
 Langshans have the objectionable tall combs and dark legs, but 
 they begin to lay sooner than any of the large breeds, are hardy, 
 and are destined to be one of the best breeds we have. 
 
 If you contemplate raising poultry in a cold climate, the 
 Brahmas, Plymouth Eocks and Wyandottes are equal to any Of the 
 breed.s, for they will often lay in winter when other breeds find 
 it difficult to exist. The small combs of the Bfahinas and 
 Wyandottes do not suffer from frost, and those of the Plymouth 
 Eocks should be dubbed when they are three months old. Having 
 selected. the three breeds we deem most worthy, it is next to be 
 considered whether the fowls are to be confined or allowed to 
 roam at will. If confined, the Brahmas vidll answer best, as they 
 ■do not require high fences. If they are to forage, the Plymouth 
 
26 , POTJLTRY FOR PROFIT. 
 
 Rocks are best. In winter, however, very little foraging is d'one by 
 any class of fowls, but early spring is sometimes rendered severe 
 by cold northeast winds, and roup is liable to occur, while the 
 damp ground is not well adapted to feather-legged fowls. Taking 
 all things into consideration, however, the Light Brahma possesses 
 a greater combination of advantages than any other breed, which 
 is demonstrated by the fact that they have been in existence for 
 about thirty years, aad- are still great favorites. Being contented 
 in confinement, nOt tiddicted to rambling, well feathered, hardy^ 
 not liable to frosted combs, and easily fatted for market when 
 matured, the Light Brahmas will long hold a high position, but the 
 chicks do not present as attractive an appearance as the cliicks. 
 from Plymouth Eocks, and in that respect are somewhat inferior, 
 but the Light Brahma chicks are very hardy, as they feather slowly,. 
 and grow faster tham do those of any other breed. South of the' 
 Potomac and Ohio rivers no doubt the Plj'mouth Eock is a better- 
 breed than the Brahma, while south of Cape Fear the Houdan, as u 
 market and egg producing fowl, is superior to either. For early 
 maturity, table qualities, good laying, and rapid growth of chicks, 
 (if the combs are dubbed), the Langshans answer well in nearly aJL 
 ■ sections, but they do not possess the yellow legs and skin of the 
 Brahmas and Plymouth Eocks. The Cochins are excellent fowls, but 
 we can best use them for crosses, in which respect they cannot be 
 excelled. The reason why the poultryman should avoid too much 
 comb on a hen is that if her comb becomes frosted she will not lay 
 until the injured part has healed, which makes such difficulty a. 
 very serious one. 
 
 Crossing the Breeds. 
 
 We have attempted to familiarize the reader with the character- 
 istics of the pure breeds, but in raising poultry for market a good 
 foundation may be laid by beginning with common hens. The in- 
 fluence of the male is such that the thoroughbred almost obliterates 
 every trace of the common blood,and for that reason only pure-bred 
 cocks should be used, as the chicks will not only be uniform in size 
 and color, but the poidtryman may breed his flocks to any desirable 
 characteristic, and with but little expense. By crossing a pure-bred 
 Plymouth Eock cock on common hens nearly all the chicks will 
 apparently be Plymouth Rock, but although the poultrj'man may 
 select from the crossed fowls a few hens and a cock for breeding, 
 the progeny of such crossed fowls will revert in color, and resemble 
 their grandmothers, the common hens. For this reason we advise- 
 
POVLTIiY fCR PROFIT 27 
 
 mever to mo a cock that is a mongrel, or that is not strictly pure in 
 blootl, for if this rule is not oi)«(5rvecl your chicks will be of all 
 ■colors, sliapes, and sizes. 
 
 By a jiidiciovis n.so of the pure-bred cocks g, single season will 
 make a marked improvement on a common flock. The first considera- 
 tion is hardiness, then early riaturity, and next prolificacy. What 
 is meant by hardiness is cauRcity to emlure a severe winter, for we 
 Jaave foimd that a fowl that endures the winter thrives weU in 
 ■summer. Breed also for small comb, and early maturity. It is not 
 easy to breed a small comb on an early maturing fowl, as the breeds 
 possessing small combs require a longet period for growth than do 
 those with tall single combs. Among the common fowls, however, 
 will always be found a few large vigorous hens. These may be 
 mated with a Dominick or Wyandotte cock, or, if the climate is not 
 too severe, with a Leghorn cock. A cVoss of any breed with the 
 Xeghorn give early maturity, and also make a good market chick 
 up to the age of ^wo months. As a rule, however, we might 
 suggest the following rotation for crossing on common fowls, 
 ■which necessitates an entire change of cocks every year. First, 
 begin with a Light Brahma cock, which reduces the comb, and 
 ^ves size and hardiness. Then use a Dominick cock on the 
 Ijroduce, which will not greatly reduce the size, and give greater 
 .activity. Now follow with the Leghorn, which though adding 
 jnore comb, and even reducing the size some, hastens maturity, 
 iand the Leghorn blood will last for several generations. In fact, 
 .always endeavor to get in a dash of Leghorn blood. Now breed to 
 •the Plymouth Kock, to get back the size, and follow with a Houdan. 
 The Langshan will be found serviceable next, and then the 
 "Wyandotte, when the Light Brahma may again be resorted to. 
 Jlere, it may be noticed, there is a continual change of blood, and 
 'during the experiments the poultryman will hit upon some 
 particular cross that suits best, according to the section in which 
 he lives, and he may stop at any one of the crosses, and produce 
 the hens of that particular cross alone, by breeding for such, 
 instead of continuing with the rotation. We wish to state here 
 that care should be exercised in selecting the best hens as breeders. 
 Always choose the healthiest, most contented, and best layers, and, 
 whenever possible, select a cock bred from a good laying hen. In 
 that manner, as with Jersey cows, quite an improvement may be 
 jnade. * \ 
 
 Among the pure breeds many excellent crosses may be made, 
 $he Cochin hens being excellent for that purpose, or hens from a 
 ■cross of the Cochin on common fowls may be used if preferred, as 
 
28 POULTRY FOE I'H OF IT. 
 
 « 
 
 such hens will partake more of the characteristics of the sire than 
 of the dam. A Brown Leghorn cock crossed on Partridge Cocliin 
 hens, or a White Leghorn cock on "White Cochin hens produces 
 hens that possess - medium size, beautiful plumage, and heavy 
 bodies. The advantages from such crosses are that the Brown 
 Leghorn and Partridge Cochin are sorhewhat alike in color, while 
 the same may be said of the White Leghorn and White Cochin. 
 The offspring possess the activity of the Leghorns, the compactness 
 of the Cochins, and do not crush the chicks as do the pure- bred 
 Cochins, while they inherit largely of the lajang qualities of the 
 Leghorns. The produce may then be bred to a Game cock with 
 advantage, the next season using the Cochin again. Always try to- 
 breed fowls of the same color and structure of comb together, 
 when possible. A Leghorn makes a better cross with a Cochin than 
 with a Brahma, while a Black Spanish or Black Leghorn does well 
 with Langshan hens. 
 
 For capons there is nothing equal to a cross of the Colored 
 Dorking on Partridge Cochin or Dark Brahma hens, and a very 
 large fowl may be produced by crossing the Houdan with either the 
 Cochins or Brahmas, and then breeding the offspring to a 
 Plymouth Kock. Crossing the Hoiidan on a Langshan produces an. 
 excellent fowl, and a cross of the Wyandotte on Brahma hens is also- 
 a good one. A good cross for laying hens is a Dominick Leghorn 
 on Plymouth Eock hens, the pullets to be kept for laying. If they 
 are mated with a Plymouth Eock or Dominick cock the chicks will 
 be very desirable for market. Here we may make a suggestion in. 
 regard to crosses. Mate a Plymouth Eock cock with a Partridge 
 Cochin hen. Then mate the pullets from such cross with a 
 Dominick or Brown Leghorn cock. Keep the hens for layers, but 
 mate them with a Plymouth Eock cock, and you wiU have good 
 market chicks from good laying hens. Cross a Houdan cock with 
 Cochin or Brahma hens, and mate the offspring with a Langshan 
 cock, and the result will be good layers and fine market chicks, la 
 aU crosses let the foundation be large hens, using a non-sitting 
 breed for crossing with them, if compatible, followed by a larger 
 breed, but keep as close to small combs and heavy fluffy feathering 
 as possible. 
 
 Always endeavor to use only active, vigorous cocks. Do not be 
 tempted to select the largest and heaviest cocks, unless of the small 
 breeds, for they are usually too clumsy. The rule should be to use 
 the smaU cocks of the large breeds, and the large cocks of the small 
 breeds. Mate early hatched cockerels with old hens, and two year 
 old cocks with pullets. Use no deformed or Veak fowls for breeding- 
 
POVLTHY FOR I'liOFir. 2D 
 
 piupposes, and do not lu'cp the samo I'ocks more tliau ii single season. 
 As we remarked, trim off the combs of the cocks and hens of 
 tlie tall combed breeds. Cut them off when they are three 
 months old, with a sharp implement, wash the heads witli alum 
 water, place a little tar on the head, uud they will not )x" injured. 
 
 How to Manage. 
 
 What is most desired is for the hens to lay. and the eggs to hatch 
 strong, healthy chicks. It is important, therefore, that the eggs for 
 hatching be selected from the healthiest and most active hens. 
 Hens in their second year are better for this pui-pose than i^uUets. 
 See that the cockerel (which should not be less than ten months 
 old) is heavy boned in the legs, broad across the breast, compact 
 in body, and, above all, utrong, rigorous, and active, for upon the 
 vigor of the parents will depend the vigor of the chicks. 
 
 There is a point in jjoultiy raising which should be carefully 
 noted. It is that it you can manage to get your first pullets hatched 
 in ilarch, or even April, they w-ill mature before winter set* in and 
 beginjo lay, but if hatched late, and they are overtaken by an 
 early winter they will i^ostiDone laying till spring. If a pullet begins 
 to lay she 'vrill keep it up until her clutch is finished, and then 
 begin to sit. Consequently if she is an early pullet her chicks will 
 also be early, but if she does not lay before the cold weather begins, 
 no matter how well grown Khc maybe, she will simply kill time by 
 doing nothing, but will begin to lay early in spring, however. Such 
 a pullet will also begin to moult early in the fall, and lose time 
 again when eggs are high. Therefore, endeavor to get your pullets 
 hatched as early as possible, but it you find you cannot do so you 
 may try another plan, which shows the impoi-tance of a knowledge 
 of the breeds. Suppose you find Ajiril passing over and no hens to 
 sit, your chicks will not be hatched tiU May. You therefore remove 
 your cockerels, should they be of the large breeds, and put 
 Leghorn cockerels with yoiu- hens. As the Leghorns begin to lay 
 when they are about five iponths old, the oflEspring from your hens 
 will partake largely of the Leghorn characteristics, and will begin 
 to lay before they are six months old, and such crosses will make 
 excellent layers and good sitters. In fact, the eggs from a yard in 
 which there is a Leghorn cock will in nearly aU cases hatch, and it 
 would not be a bad plan to have a yard especially for raising 
 pullets. In that case cross a Brown Leghorn cock with Partridge 
 Cochin hens. Then get a vigorous, strong, yellowjlegged Pit Game 
 cock (let him be as large as possible), and cross him upon your 
 
30 FOUL TRY FOB PBOFIT. 
 
 Xeghorn-Cochin 'pullets. It is the cross of the Leghom-Cochin- 
 Game that makes flrst-class hens, and. the reason why we suggest 
 such is that the hens will possess the early maturity ol the 
 Leghorn, the hardiness, feathering, and partly the size of the 
 Cochin, and the courage, fine bone, and good table qualities of the 
 Game, they being one-fourth Leghorn, one-fourth Cochin, and one- 
 half Game. But if the climate is a cold one it will be better to use 
 hens, one-fourth Leghorn, one-fourth Game, and one-half Cochin, 
 as one-fourth Leghorn blood is enough, owing to their small size 
 and large combs. Cross a Leghorn cockerel on Game hens, then, 
 and next cross with a Cochin, which will make the breeding about 
 correct if your Cochins are pea-combs. Breed so as to hatch pullets 
 of such crosses every year, as you can easily do by having so many 
 yards. 
 
 Having decided upon your hens, we must not forget that we 
 admired the small combs of the Brahmas, so we may suggest that 
 you may still carry the cross one degree further by breeding your 
 crossed hens to a Brahma cockerel, and use the pullets as your 
 layers, thus making them one-eighth Leghorn, one-eighth Game, 
 one-fourth Cochin and one-half Brahma. The next point Is the 
 cock. Your hens will not only be good layers, courageous, hardy, 
 and large, but you desire theif eggs to produce good market 
 chicks. We believe a vigorous Plymouth Eock will answer 
 -admirably, but sell all the chicks, and do not attempt to 
 keep any hens except the cross decided upon— Leghorn-Game- 
 Cochin-Brahma— as the chicks will be one-half Plymouth Kock. If 
 the Plymou.th Bock is clumsy, or inactive, use a Dominick instead. 
 
 Kemember that the earlier a pullet is hatched, the earlier she 
 will moult, and eggs are sometimes high in the fall. But she will 
 not moult her first fall, and will begin to lay early the next winter, 
 so keep the hens that begin to moult about August. Three months 
 is the time usually required for moulting. If you fail to get 
 your pullets early, then hatch them late, say in August or Sep- 
 tember, and they wiU begin to lay in May, and keep it up till the 
 -winter of their second year, or they may be sold when they begin to 
 moult, if it is in January. 
 
 The quarters must now receive attention. Make the roosts all 
 of one height, and have them so that you can take them outside to 
 be cleaned. A good plan for a roost is to make a bench two feet 
 wide, by using two boards a foot wide each, and six feet long. Put 
 four legs to the board, the legs not to be over one foot long. Now 
 make a roost six inches above the center of the board, fastened to a 
 projection extending above the ends. This roost will, of course, be 
 
POUl.THY FOH PHUFIT. 31 
 
 fastened to the bench, nt the ouds. AVhoii the hens go to roost they 
 will fly upon the bench, which will bii only a loot high, and then 
 upon the roost. The object is cloanliness, for you will then have 
 only to pass along crov/ Hi(icH/»f/ and hriiah oS the droppings from 
 the boiu-d, soattcring some dry dirt upon the board after brushing. 
 Whenever you so dosirc, ciu-ry the bench outside, which of course 
 Includes the roost, it being fastened to it, and give it a swabbing 
 with coal oil, whicli will prevent lice. The floor will, us a rule, be 
 aJways clean, as the board will catch the droppings. Make two 
 benches, which will givi> your fowls iilenty of room on the roosts, 
 or what is better, make your bench a yard wide, and fasten two 
 roosts to it, which will be more convenient. You can then place 
 your roosts anywhere you desire inside the house, as the bench 
 will be movable. Clean out the henhouse (floor) twice a week, 
 and under the roosts every day, alwaj's sprinkling dry earth after 
 each sweeping. Once a month give a thorough washing, but do so 
 on a dry daj'. ChanUncKx is the kcij to Kucvit<t<. 
 
 Six nests ^^■ill be siifflcient. They may be made of soap or 
 candle boxes, one end being open, with the top, sides, back end and 
 bottom imtouched, with a strip in front to prevent the eggs from 
 falling out. Such nests can be taken out and cleaned, which should 
 be done at least once a week. Cut straw or hay is excellent for 
 nests, and glass eggs should be used as nest eggs, as rotten or stale 
 eggs breed lice should they be broken. The interior is now ready, 
 and the yards must be considered. 
 
 The yards are the places from which the diseases come. They 
 should be as dry as possible, and a sandy location is therefore best. 
 If wet, run a tile drain under tliem. It is Impossible to thoroughly 
 clean a yard except by spading or plowing it, and this should be 
 done as often ais possible. While your hens are occupying the 
 yards marked A. if it is early in the year, sow the yards marked B 
 with mustard, lettuce and kale seed, mixed, or you may add a little 
 orchard or lawn grass. As soon as it is an inch or two high turn in 
 the hens, and sow seed oii those marked A. There are a great many 
 vegetables that may be utilized for their tops, such as radish, 
 kale, mustard, lettuce, and you will find oats and rye good, as such 
 crops are required to gi-oM' only two or three inches. Along in the 
 summer try Hungarian gi-ass, which gi-ows very fast, while sorghum 
 is also excellent. Remember, you do not have to mature your 
 crops, which gives yon an advantage. The first thing to do is to 
 set out fruit trees, and no better tree can be used than the peach, 
 which wiU give shade the second year, while it is a tree that thrives 
 well under cultivation, thereby enabling you to secure a crop of 
 
32 POVLTBY FOB PROFIT, 
 
 fruit from tile same land that you raise poultry upon, while grape 
 vines along the fences will be valuable assistants. Should you wish 
 shade the first year plant squash seed along the fences, which grows 
 quickly and gives excellent shade, especially for chicks. 
 
 The feeding should be done intelligently. Find out what you 
 are feeding for, and reason the matter over in your mind while 
 doing so. Let us go out together and feed them. "We do not want 
 the hens too fat, for they will not lay, nor do we desire them to be 
 lazy, as they should exercise. We know that it requires certain 
 material to make an egg, and that the hen will not produce any- 
 tliing except from the material that goes down her throat, and that 
 material miist be of the proper kind, and unless of the right pro- 
 portion much of it will be useless. She is an egg machine, and we 
 must ijrovide the material. We use corn, because it is rich in 
 carbon, as carbon is in large quantities in the yolk. AVe also need 
 nitrogen for the white, and phosphoric acid, as well as Ume. All 
 the grains contain carbon, nitrogen, phosphoric acid and lime, but 
 some contain certain elements or minerals in larger proportions 
 than others. We know also that when a fowl has been on the roost 
 all night it comes off in the morning with an empty crop, and 
 should have food that will be quickly digested, while at night 
 something solid is better. Now let us mix up a morning meal. We 
 take one pint of corn meal, one pint of ground oats, one pint oi 
 fine bran (shipstuff), and mix it by scalding it, feeding it some- 
 what warm. If milk is plentiful put some in also, no matter 
 whether it is skim milk or buttermilk. , Than we add a handful of 
 ground meat, if possible, and two spoonfuls of fine ground bone. A 
 little ginger, cinnamon, or red pepper, will give it a relish, and we 
 must not forget to add enough salt to make it somewhat seasoned, 
 as fowls as well as stock need salt, but not too much. It -would have 
 been better, however, to have begun the preparation of the morning 
 meal the day before, so we use a kettle and put in some water tc 
 boil. If the weather is cold we may cook a large quantity, as it wiU 
 keep. In the water we put turnips, potatoes, finely chopped clover 
 liay, an onion, or anything that answers as cooked food for poultry, 
 and in the morning we take out enough for a meal and thicken it 
 while it is being boiled, or heated, over again, with the mixture of 
 ground grain spoken of. The food, therefore, wiU be cheaper and 
 will consist of a rarie.ty. While feeding we do not limit so much 
 feed to a certain number of fowls, but throw down the food as long 
 as they.wiU eat it up clean, but no more, nor do we throw it on the 
 dirty ground, but in-a trough, which should be long and shallow, 
 so that every hen wiU be able to help herself without being 
 
POVI.TRY FOR PROFIT. 33 
 
 compelled to fight for it, and when they have eaten we clean the 
 trough. We give no more till night, as we wish the hens to get 
 hungry, so as to make them hunt about, or they will get lazy or too 
 tat, and in order to induce them to scratch we throw in some leaves 
 or cut straw, and into this, about noon, we scatter a very small 
 quantity of wheat, oats, or millet seed. Anything that they will 
 liunt for will imswer. At sight we give them all the corn they will 
 t'at, changing to wheat one night, then oats, and then com. 
 
 The wattn- is very important, and should be where they can 
 jilways get enough, and it should be clean. In winter it will require 
 some care, as it often freezes. In summer it should be in a cool 
 place. There are di-inking fountains that hold a gallon, which let 
 out only as much water as is used. We fill the drinking fountain 
 •evei-y morning, and add to each gallon of water a tablespoonful of 
 Douglass mixture, which can be made by dissolving a pound of 
 copperas in two gallons of water, and adding to the copperas water 
 a giU of sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol). We may occasionally add a 
 little charcoal to the soft food, as well as a little sulphur, or some 
 ■condition powder. Once a week a feed of parched corn, oats or 
 wheat wiU be found excellent, and as lime is required for the shells 
 ■of the eggs, ground oyster shells, old mortar, or something of that 
 kind, should always be within reach, as well as plenty of sharp 
 gravel. Keferring again to the food let us say something about 
 meat. We know that meat is an expensive food, but it can be 
 procured in a dry ground condition, but if that is not possible the 
 liver and lights of a sheep or hog may be boiled with the soft food. 
 Fresh blood from the slaughter house, cooked with the soft food, 
 is excellent, and to show the importance of feeding meat we know 
 ■of a poultryman who sold eggs at a time when the price was 
 sixty cents a dozen, who stated that at that price he fed fresh beef 
 at twenty cents a pound, and it paid him well. 
 
 A head of cabbage, or an onion or two, will materially assist in 
 furnishing new green food in winter, and good tender hay, 
 especially of clover, cut fine, and scalded with boiling water to 
 soften it, answers well. The object in feeding a variety is to prevent 
 bowel disease, and to keep the fowls in good health. 
 
 An excellent egg food for hens may be made as follows: Take of 
 buckwheat, eight quarts; Indian corn, well parched, eight quarts; 
 oil cake, eight quarts; oats, well parched, sixteen quarts; Egyptian 
 rice com, or wheat will do, eight quarts. Get the buckwheat, corn, 
 oats, Egyptian corn or wheat ground together, then mix the oil 
 cake In and add one Dint slaked lime, one pint ground bone, five 
 
34 PO UL TJi Y FOR PROFIT. 
 
 tablespoonfuls capsicum. Put all the above ingredi'ents together 
 and thoroughly mix. This -will make about two bushels of feed 
 after being ground. Cook as much of this feed as your fowls will 
 eat up clean at one time, and feed it in the morning, warm. Do not 
 put in so much water that the feed will be sloppy, but have it dry 
 enough that when thrown down it will break apart. Feed this food 
 three times a week and not oftener. . •' 
 
 If you have no milk for your fowls we will give you a substitute, 
 which, though not exactly the same, may be said to be equally as 
 valuable. Boil a quart of beans till thoroughly done to the con- 
 sistency of a thin soup. Add a little salt, tallow and mashed 
 potatoes while boiling; then thicken a little with a mixture of flour 
 and oat meal. If the fowls do not drink it readily, thicken it to a. 
 dough with bran and corn meal, and feed. Milk contains nitrogen- 
 ous matter, and so does bean soup. It also contains the phosphates, 
 which is also a quality of oat meal. It is not always absolutely 
 necessary to feed particular substances while we are able to procure 
 the needed material in forms that bring them more easily within 
 access. i 
 
 In feeding, the poultryman has two obstacles to contend with, 
 which are overfeeding and underfeeding, and let us first consider 
 overfeeding. The large breeds, such as the Cochins, Brahmas, 
 Plymouth Bocks and Langshans, grow for quite a long period 
 before reaching maturity. While in the growing condition they do 
 not take on fat very readily, but as soon as they arrive at tlie stage 
 which is the turning point between the chick and the adult, it is a 
 critical period with the breeder. They will then begin to fatten, 
 and if they become too fat cannot nor will not lay. If they begin to 
 lay before they get very fat, the service of egg production calls for 
 nutrition, and the food is diverted in that direction, consequently 
 the young hen will not fatten so easily after she begins to lay as. 
 if she had not commertced, but should she become over fat 
 without laying it is a puzzling matter to the breeder how to reduce 
 her in flesh again without injury. An over fat fowl is a nuisance, 
 for, should it lay at all, the eggs rarely hatch, and if a few chicks 
 come from them they will be weak and hard to raise. The hen 
 herself becomes diseased, soon breaks down, and is an eyesore to 
 the whole flock. The cocks are not exempt. When too fat they are 
 unserviceable, impotent and sterile, and might as well be cooped 
 up for all they are worth. In fact they really do damage by 
 injuring the hens, and in no manner are they profitable except for 
 market. 
 
 Underfeeding is another evil, not that we mean to infer that the 
 
PO ri TR r FOR PR OFIT. 35 
 
 fowls are usually not supplied -w-ith a sufficiency of food, such as it 
 is. but they may be underfed while reveling appai'ently in the 
 midst of plenty. Exclusively corn is a terrible infliction to a flock, 
 and actual phj-sical suffering is the consequence when certain 
 elements are lacking in the necessary requirements of the system 
 when it is forced to produce a particular article from materials not 
 lulapted to the purposes intended. Xo kind of machinery is 
 capable of weaving silk goods from hemp, nor can st*am engines be 
 built of cotton. A hen ovnnot produce eggs if lime is lacking, nor 
 can she supply the gro\N-th of her own body when her product takes 
 possession of that which should support herself. Xatuie gives her 
 what we call an appetite, which is only an indication of that which 
 she requires, and we are all familiar with the habits of most fowls, 
 and notice that when we change the food they accept the new 
 variety readily. Feeding is the ai-t of supplying the proper food, 
 not so much in quantity as in qtialHy. If we watch the fowls they 
 will easily tell us what they desire. If yoii are feeding com throw- 
 down a handful of oats. If they greedily take the oats and leave 
 the com it indicates that they require something else. Trj- grass, 
 meat, ground bone, pounded oyster shells, cooked vegetables, all of 
 which they will accept or reject according to their requirements. 
 Feed regularly, and never feed more than they vrill eat up clean. 
 They will walk away from the food as soon as they have enough. 
 Never leave it on the ground. Feed early and late, and let them get 
 hungry, that is. have regular intervals between meals. The practice 
 of keeping feed by them all the time promotes an excess of fat. 
 AUow as much eiercise as possible. Throw hay on the floor or in 
 the yard, place in it a few handtuls of some kind of grain that they 
 do not receive often, and let them hiint and scratch for it. Feed 
 growing chicks liberally, avoiding too much corn. Oats ground 
 and ted warm in the moming. is one of the best feeds that can be 
 given. And we repeat, always give whole grains at night. In 
 summer give no com except once or twice a week. Vegetables and 
 grass is much better for them. Laying hens must have meat or 
 milk. Eggs cannot be produced without nitrogenous material in 
 some shape. Bones are almost absolutely essential. Above alt 
 -however, give pure, clean, fresh drinking water. 
 
POTILTBY FOB PROFIT. 
 
 HATCHING YOUNG CHICKS. 
 
 Wlien the hen begins to sit keep her on nest eggs, after remov- 
 ing her to the sitting house, until you are satisfied she Tvill not 
 leave. Then give her the eggs, and always endeavor to have 
 several hens begin at once, so that should but few chicks be 
 hatched they may be given to one hen. 
 
 In setting a hen her nest should be warm in winter and cool in 
 summer. Select medium size eggs, not too large nor too small, and 
 the fresher the better. Ten are enough for the hens to cover in 
 winter, and, in fact, at any time, as they will hatch as many chicks 
 from ten eggs, on an average, as they will from thirteen, for they 
 can cover them better. Do not place her in among the laying hens, 
 but select a location for her where she will not be disturbed, and 
 where she can eat and drink whenever she pleases, and provide also- 
 a dust bath, which is a very essential requirement of a sitting hen. 
 Do not sprinkle or disturb the eggs, but let the hen attend to aU 
 the details herseK. Only see that she has a nice clean nest, and shs 
 will know what to do. Here is a coop and' inclosed yard which 
 
 answers well for the hen and her brood. If preferred, and the hen 
 will agree to it, you may make her nest in the coop, placing her 
 food, water, and dust bath in the little yard, but the coop should be 
 under a shed, or protected from rains. 
 
 We also show a few designs of smaller coops. In Fig. 1, a frame 
 |is made of 2x4 inch light stufiE for rafters, spreading two and a half 
 ifeet at the bottom. The ends and rear are boarded, and the front 
 has a foot- wide board at the top, with slats two and a half feet long 
 covering the lower one and a half foot. The slatted side is turned 
 toward the sun, but from it in very warm or hot weather. We add 
 sketches made from a variety of other forms which we have seen at 
 
t FOTJLTRT FOR PROFIT. 37 
 
 various times in different places. Fig. 2 oonsisti^.of boards two feet 
 wide nuiniug a little over two similar boards on the other side to- 
 shed rain. The rear is boai-ded, and the front also about one-third 
 the way down; the rest has lath- nailed across at proper distances. 
 A narrow cleat across the bottom and to]D holds each pair of sido^ 
 boards together. They should fit closely, or be tongued and 
 grooved or battened to shed water. This is preferable to Fig. 1, as 
 rains will drive in less. It is quickly cut and nailed together 
 
 Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Fig. 3. 
 
 > 
 
 
 Fig. 4. Fig. 5. Fig. 6. 
 
 without any frame. The engravings show different methods < 
 closing and slatting the fronts. Fig, 6 is similar to Fig. 2, but ^t> 
 boarded at the lower front corners, «,nd a hinged cover, shown 
 turned up, is let down during very cold nights and in storms. The 
 hinges may be bits of leather. The size in all these forms will 
 depend upon the breed or size of the hen and room required. 
 When skunks are troublesome, a bottom board will be needed, 
 and strong slats. For ordinary use common lath will answer. An 
 hour's work will make almost any of these forms. 
 
 When the chicks come out of the shells, clean the coop, putting 
 in some finely cut straw. They will be safe from cats, hawks, and 
 rats, and the yards may be made of any size desired. If the weather 
 is cold, but dry, they will run in and out without injury, but the 
 yard and coop must be scrupulously clean, and you will have no 
 gapes or lice. In damp weather remove the yard, fasten the hen 
 and chicks in the coop, and place the coop in a warm place, or you 
 may take the coop and yard to a shelter. Dampniss is fatal to 
 young chicks— more so than cold. If you prefer it, you may make 
 your yard still more comfortable, by stretching over the tops and 
 down the sides a piece of bleached muslin, which will protect 
 against winds and yet admit light. 
 
 Chicks raised in brooders are thriftier and grow faster than 
 when they are raised by hens, but we will explain the matter some- 
 
•38 ' POTTLTEY FOR PBOFIT. 
 
 What, and show that they may be raised as successfully under hens. 
 In the brooder the chicks are tenderly and carefully watched. They 
 are fed and watered regularly, and they have a warm place to run 
 into whenever they wish, while- dampness never reaches them. 
 When a hen has a brood she is allowed to go where she pleases, and 
 the hawks, cats and rats have banquets upon the carcasses of the 
 chicks. Then, again, there are always one or two chicks stronger 
 than the others, and the hen will follow them in their active 
 rambles. In the meantime those that are weak perish simply 
 because the hen is too much occupied with the strong chicks to 
 nestle her brood. The consequence is that a hen may hatch eight 
 chicks, which for a day or two, when kept under the eye of the 
 mistress, seem strong and bright, but when the hen begins to carry 
 them about she comes up with a chick missing; then, in a day or 
 two, with another one gone, and so on until the three or four 
 stronger ones, which now have no competition, and can get all the 
 heat, battle through the difficulty and are sent to market. What 
 :you sliould do Is not to allow the chicks to range until they have 
 -changed the down to, feathers, or rather, until they are at least a 
 month old. Do not allow the hen to get out of the coop, but make 
 her stay there so that each chick may get under her whenever it 
 wishes to do so. On damp days they must only be allowed in the 
 Jittle yards or runs long enough to feed. Keep them in, for the 
 4amp chilly atmosphere is equal to a rain, and worse than dry cold. 
 iKeep each brood separate from the others as much as possible. - 
 
 One of the difficulties with young chicks is that, though they 
 ■are fed on a variety of food, and all the conditions are observed, 
 tthey become constipated or have the diarrhoea. This is because at 
 :Some time or other they have become chilled. If once a chick 
 -becomes in the least degree chilled, even for a few moments, and 
 especially from dampness, the bowels become affected. The vent 
 becomes clogged with adhering matter sometimes, which makes it 
 difflcTilt for them to pass the refuse. Clean, them by washing in 
 ■warm water, wipe the parts very dry, and grease with a drop of lard. 
 Do not grease too much, as grease is injurious to chicks, and once 
 again, remember, the coops and yard must .be cleaned every day. 
 By so doing there will be little or no loss, and instead of estimating 
 on fouV chicks from a hen we may probably average seven, which 
 nearly doubles the profit, making a large difference when we 
 ■ calculate for one hundred hens. 
 
 The gapes is the worst disease among chicks. It never appears 
 when the chicks are fed from little troughs, and their coops and 
 .runs are clean. Damp and cold days sometimes assist it. The best 
 
PO UX, TR Y FOR FR FIT. 39^ 
 
 cure is to put a tablespoonful of spirts of turpentine in a pint of 
 corn meal, mix with warm water, and feed. If the chick is too sick 
 to eat put a drop on a pinch of meal, mix to a soft consistency and 
 cram it down the throat, «- put a drop in a few drops of milk and 
 pour down the throat, but handle the chick gently. One or two 
 doses will generally ciu'e, but if not, then it will be necessary to try 
 a last resort — life or death. Get a little box, such as a pill box, and 
 cut a hole so that the head of the chick may get in the box with the 
 body outside. Now take a sulphur match, stick the end in brim- 
 stone, light it, and burn it in the box, closing the top so that the 
 fumes of the sulphur will be breathed by the chick. Keep the head, 
 in the fumes, but not too long. Put the chick in fresh air, in a 
 warm place, and it will begin to improve. The same may be done 
 with a mixture of pine tar and turpentine. 
 
 Although we have made the statement before, we will repeat here- 
 that the earlier chicks, that get into market in January, February, 
 March aud April, are known as "broilers," and sell best when not 
 over a pound in weight. The price is then anywhere from sixty 
 cents to $l.per pouncl. Sometimes even three-quarters of a pound, 
 is a better weight than a pound. They seem to remain at that 
 uniform price for the entire chick until grown fowls reach the- 
 market. That is, they seU at about seventy-five cents per pound. 
 when a pound in weight. Then, afterward, along in May, the- 
 preferred weight is one and a half pounds, the price being usually 
 about fifty cents per pound, or seventy-five cents for the chick. As 
 June approaches those of two pounds weight become more saleable, 
 the price being in the neighborhood of thirty-seven and one-half, 
 cents per pound, the seventy-five cents per chick still being; 
 maintained. And so the iig-ui-es and weights keep apace, in", 
 contrary directions, until late in the fall, when the grown fowl of. 
 eight or nine pounds goes to market and brings about seventy-flve- 
 cents. Of course, we may not be very exact in regard to the figures,, 
 as locations, markets and other causes may vary them in eithei- 
 direction, but it requires only a glance to show that the profit is im 
 the early chicks. It is safe to state that one hundred chicks, when 
 hatched, wiU weigh (together) five pounds, and they double in, 
 weight every ten days. Thus, at the end of ten days one hundred, 
 chicks, weighed together, should weigh ten pounds; at the end of 
 twenty days, twenty pounds; thirty days shotilsl make forty pounds,, 
 and at the end of forty days, eighty pounds. After forty days they 
 do not double, but grow rapidly, and sometimes weigh two pound* 
 each when ten weeks old. The one hundred chicks will eat as many 
 quarts of cracked corn, or its equivalent, per day, as they are weeks; 
 
40 POULTRY FOR PROFIT. 
 
 old. Or, in other words, tbey will consume one' quart daily the 
 first week, two quarts the second, three quarts the third, and so on 
 to the tenth week, when they will have reached ten quarts. Thus, 
 wehaveaboutthirty-eight quarts of fee* for ten chicks ten weeks 
 or a little more than a bushel, which we may value at $1. The cost 
 of a chick, then, is one cent a week for ten weeks, or ten cents. As 
 the earlier ones are sold before they reach the age of ten weeks, the 
 •cost is-less. 
 
 Chicks come from the shells weU fed by nature, as they absorb 
 the yolks a fow minutes before coming out; They therefore need 
 no feed for twenty-four hours, and even thirty-six hours. It is best 
 not to feed them until they are about thirty-six hours old, as the rest 
 and warmth will by that time have given them strength and, 
 activity. The first meal should be the yolks of hard boiled eggs, 
 and the eggs should not be too stale. Lay the whites of the eggs 
 aside and feed to them for a change the next day." Be sure that the 
 pieces are fine, in order that the chicks may easily pick them up. 
 When the chicks are two days old, change the food to bread crumbs, 
 moistened with milk, and allow coarse oat . meal also, Continue 
 this feed until they are a week old, givjng a little chopped lettuce , 
 or cabbage once a day. If bread crumbs are not convenient, which 
 is often the case when there are large numbers of chicks, make a 
 thick porridge of oat meal and rice, mixed, cook well, and let it 
 become old. Now beat up an egg in milk or buttermilk, or even 
 hot water, and add to the porridge. Thicken the porridge, while 
 being warmed, with corn meal and feed to them. It must be borne 
 in mind that no food is good for young chicks if continued, and 
 hence it should be varied. After they are a week old they should 
 be given screenings, coarse oat meal, cracked com, millet seed, 
 fiorghiun seed, broken rice, or any other hard food that they can 
 eat, but the soft food should also be given at least twice a day. Be 
 •cautious about feeding too much hard-boiled eggs. Give them 
 plenty of clean water to drink. Twice or three times a week, if 
 convenient, after the first week, feed finely chopped meat of some 
 kind, avoiding salt or pickled meats, but always put a little salt in 
 the food; feed the meat cooked. When green stuff is not procur- 
 able, a few onions (with tops)', lettuce, . cabbage or young rye, 
 chopped fine, will be relished. Once a week parch some wheat, 
 screenings, ground oats, or even corn meal, and feed to them, the 
 meal being moistened. Allow them also some fine sand and gravel. 
 The chicks should always be induced to scratch, by placing fine 
 dirt, co.-'l ashes, or something in which they can work, in the runs 
 lor thc'A. 
 
POULTJiV fOR PROFIT. 41 
 
 When giving them water, add twenty drops of the Douglass 
 ixture to every gill of water, and iilso put some bone meal (about a 
 jspoonfiil) to each half pint of food. Ground oyster shells, sand, 
 d gravel should also be convenient. As a chick, when growing, 
 ,s to furnish materials for feathers, which appear rapidly on the 
 idy, a neglect of a single meal is sometimes fatal, therefore feed 
 iir or five times a day, but do, not leave food to ferment, as it will 
 eed gapes and bowel disease. Milk, either sweet or sour, is 
 cellent for them, but should be changed at least once a day, and 
 e vessel cleaned. Whitewash the inside ' and outside of the coops 
 d runs once a week with whitewash, to which has been added 
 rboiio aeid, eoal tar, or coal oil. Weak legs in chicks is caused by 
 eir rapid gi-owth . It is not dangerous. Warmth, a little meat 
 d bone meal, with milk in the soft food, will soon bring them 
 ound safely. 
 
 The best breeds for broilers are the Plymouth Eocks, which are 
 ry compact, the Brahmas, which grow very rapidly, and the 
 )chins and Leghorns. All of these breeds, including also the 
 yandottes, have yellow legs, which a large number of buyers 
 efer, but which is only a notion. We find young Brahmas which 
 ve been well fed to weigh three-quarters of a pound at four 
 ieks old (one weighed a pound), the Plymouth Rocks averaged an 
 nee less, and the Leghorns an ounce less than the Plymouth 
 )cks, but the Leghorns often look nicer than the others, because 
 being so well feathered, and our opinion is that they make as 
 od broilers as any, despite all claims to the contrary, and up to 
 B weight of a pound are but little smaller than larger breeds of 
 e same age, though they may hot increase as rapidly as the others 
 ;er that period. A good plan to hatch early broilers when the 
 iather is favorable is to do so in the fall, and in order to prevent 
 em growing too fast, use Game Bantam cockerels with small com- 
 m hens. The cold weather will also prevent them from growing 
 ich, and they can be placed in market almost at any time. For 
 icks use pure-bred males at all times. Never attempt to raise 
 irket chicks from crossed or scrub cocks. It is a costly and 
 pensive wayof breeding. The hens may be common, crossed, 
 •ge or small, but use only the purest-blooded Plymouth Kock, 
 ghorn, Wyandotte, Brahma, Dorking, Cochin, Langshan, Game 
 Houdan cocks. Black Hamburgs, Black Spanish and such like 
 3 not suitable for broilers. 
 
 In regard to early chicks we will state that we priced them in. 
 3. rntn.il markfits nf fihic.fl.fi'n the latter tiart of Anril and first narfe 
 
42 POULTEY FOR PROFIT. 
 
 pound broilers. This is at the ratio of $1.50 per pound, 'and the 
 chicks were not over six weeks old. They should have weighed 
 more than half a pound at six weeks of age, but they were scrubs, 
 and consequently cost more than would have been the case with 
 more highly bred chicks. We weighed a few chicks hatched in an 
 incubator, and they averaged three-quarters of a pound when 
 twenty-eight days (four weeks) old. As the season advances, how- 
 ever, such small sizes are not saleable, those of one and one and a 
 
 ; half pounds being preferred. As we stated, it costs only one cent a 
 week to raise a chick to the age of ten weeks, and as we have known 
 them to weigh two pounds each at ten weeks of age, they return a 
 profit even when hatched in the summer. A good way to get them 
 early is by the doubling up process, which is easily done where 
 there are so large a number as one hundred hens. It is to make 
 the hens sit a week longer in order to get more chicks. When a 
 
 "number of hens are inclined to sit about' the same time (for instance, 
 three), put ten eggs under a hen, especially in winter. You will 
 thus have thirty eggs under three hens. At the end of a week or 
 ten days test them, throwing out every egg that will not hatch. 
 You inay have, after discarding the bad eggs, say twenty good eggs. 
 Place them under two hens, and start the deprived hen again with 
 two new sitters, repeating the process at the end of another week, 
 care being taken not to deprive the same hen but once. By this 
 plan the majority of the hens will be four weeks instead of three on 
 the nests, and nearly al the eggs will hatch. It is not as cruel as 
 making them stay on the nest six weeks, to hatch two broods, 
 whether the eggs are fertile or not. 
 
 To test eggs use an egg tester. Make a square box of wood or 
 pasteboard, with the bottom left ofif. Cut an oval-shaped hole the 
 size of an egg on one side, and out a hole in the top so as to allow a 
 lamp chimney to pass through. Put the box over a lamp, the 
 chimne^y passing through the hole on top, and carry the eggs and 
 lamp into a dark room. Hold each egg to the oval-shaped hole, 
 excluding all light except that passing through the egg. If the 
 egg is perfectly clear it contains no chick. Jf dark it has a chick 
 
 •within. 
 
 The reason why eggs sometimes fail to hatch is because the 
 
 ' difficulties are of a character that cannot be discovered, but much 
 depends on the conditions regarding the management of the laying 
 hens. If a hen is very fat, she will lay but few eggs, and the eggs 
 from such a hen will often fail to hatch. When cocks are allowed to 
 range with too many hens, the vitality of the chicks is lessened, and 
 they die in the shell. Fowls that are fed under a forcing process 
 
POULTRY FOR PROFIT. 43 
 
 produce weak offspring, and those that have been bred in-an-in are 
 not to be relied upon to give good hatches or produce healthy 
 chicks. The hen that steals her nest is generally successful, but 
 ■why this is so has been a puzzle, not only to the farmers but to 
 scientific men as well. One thing we know is that her eggs are 
 never disturbed, and they are surrounded only by the pure and 
 uncontaminated atmosphere. When we place eggs under a hen, we 
 know nothing of them, as a rule, and if they contain fertile germs it 
 is only a matter of guess with us In selecting the best, but the 
 hidden hen's eggs are always impregnated. The nest^ should be 
 secluded and in a place which will be secure from the approach or 
 intrusion of man or fowl, with the suri'oundings free from all 
 impurities or oaors, and every convenience afforded in the way of 
 dusting, food and water. "We handle eggs too freely, approach the 
 nest too often, and disturb the sitting hen when she should be easy 
 and quiet. There are birds that abandon nests after the eggs have 
 been disturbed, and this may partly teach us to place the sitting 
 hen alone by herself, with freedom of action, the eggs being from 
 good, strong htens, of which only a few have been mated with 
 a vigorous cock. Avoid setting hens that are nervous or quarrel- 
 some. Such hens are never careful, and break their eggs, as well as 
 trample the young chicks to death. A jnedium-sized hen is the 
 best, and, of the different breeds, the Brahmas and Cochins are the 
 most persistent sitters. 
 
 ■ One • of the curious problems with some breeders is that late- 
 hatched chicks do not thrive. It is because they take advantage of: 
 the fine weather and put too much confidence in the hen. We 
 therefore repeat that when the earlier chicks come the weather is 
 cold and they receive more care. Another reason is that in the 
 early spring but little grass is up and the gi-ound is clean, the- 
 cMcks not getting wet so easily. Cold does notinjure young chicks ; 
 in winter or spring as much as the damp grass in summer 
 Dampness is fatal to young chicks, even in the month of July. It 
 does not necessarily cause them to appear droopy at first, but 
 about the next day the bowels will show indications of being 
 disordered, and the chick will appear as if having been wet and 
 partially dried, though the true ailment is cold in the bowels. The- 
 best remedy is a teaspoonful of castor oil, mixed with one- 
 fourth of a teaspoonful of coal oil, to each dozen chicks, in soft 
 food, if they will eat, and if they refuse, mix with a little milk, 
 two or three drops of castor oil, and one of coal oil, for each chick,.. 
 and pour down the throat. 
 
 We will not omit calling attention to the fact that when hens. 
 
•44 POULTRY FOR PROFIT. 
 
 are kept in large numbers in one apartment they cannot be counted 
 except with difficulty, and the same may be stated In regard to 
 chicks. By dividing into flocks, however, and also keeping each 
 brood of chicks separate from the others, we can arrive not only at 
 a knowledge of the loss, but discover the cause, and we assure you 
 that this advantage alone is a very important one in raising poultry. 
 
 J^aiSCELLANEOUS POULTRY. 
 
 Turkeys. 
 
 Cross a Bronze gobbler with common hens, and allow six hens 
 Ti^ith each gobbler as a limit, though fewer are better. Each hen 
 wiU lay from twenty to forty eggs, according to management. The 
 period of incubation is thirty days. Sixteen eggs constitute a 
 sitting for a hen. Aflow the young ones no food for twenty-four 
 hours. Then feed often (but avoid overfeeding), (giving food at 
 least every two hours until they feather. The reason of this is that 
 the growth of feathers on young turkeys is very rapid, and demands, 
 a constant supply of nutrition, hence a single omission of food, for a 
 few hours sometimes proves fatal. The feed, at first should be coarse 
 com meal, which is added to a mixture of milk and eggs. This 
 ,should be cooked, and an onion chopped up and added tO' it. 
 jAfter they are three days old, feed mashed potatoes, chopped onions, 
 ground oats and egg, well mixed with milk, and cooked. Milk is 
 always excellent. After they aye a week old the egg may be 
 omitted, but a proportion of cooked meat and a little ground bone 
 should be allowed; They may then be allowed grain q_f all kinds 
 (com being ground) cooked vegetables and milk. The water 
 should be fresh and clean, one-quarter of a teaspoonful of tincture 
 of iron to be given in every pint of water. 
 
 One of the secrets of raising young turkeys is never to allow 
 them to get wet, or chilled. The damp grass is fatal. Keep them 
 in a coop with the hen for three or four days, and then allow them 
 to ramble with her on dry days only, keeping them in a roomy place 
 on the approach of damp weather. They cannot be confined like 
 chicks, as it is not their nature, but if carefully watched until they 
 are beyond danger they are very hardy and can take care of them- 
 selves. Do not attempt to raise turkeys unless you have ample 
 room for them to forage upon, as they are fond of straying off to 
 long distances, and easily fly over the highest fences. Keep the 
 
PO rjL TE Y FOR PR OFIT. 45 
 
 male away from the hens while the latter are sitting, or he will eject 
 them fi-om the nests. When on the nest the hen sticks closely, and 
 will nearly starve before she will leave it, consequently her food 
 should not be neglected. Turkeys are subject to the same diseases 
 as chickens, and the remedies in the case of one apply to the other. 
 There are seven varieties of turkeys— the Wild, Bronze, Narra- 
 gansett, White, Black, Buff, and Slate, the Bronze and Nan-agansett 
 being the largest in size, sometimes attaining the weight of forty 
 pounds. AH varieties prefer to roost in trees, but may, by being 
 hatched under barnyard hens, be taught to roost in the poultry 
 houses. 
 
 Geese. 
 
 A goose wlU lay about twenty eggs, but may be induced to lay 
 as many «s thirty if she is removed from the nest, and with good 
 management wlU hatch two broods. A large goose will cover at 
 least a dozen eggs, and she usually begins to lay about the middle 
 of February or during March. The gander is a faithful attendant, 
 sometimes, keeping close to his mate while she is incubating, for 
 the purpose of driving away intruders. The period of incubation 
 Is about twenty-nine days. Grass is highly relished by geese, and 
 they may be pastured, but such locations should be of a character 
 suitable for close cropping, as geese endeavor to eat tops and roots 
 together. They are very voracious, and eat of anything that is fit 
 for food. 
 
 They may be plucked for feathers two or three times during the 
 summer, and will yield about a pound of feathers per annum, worth 
 from sixty to seventy-five cents. Geese will pair if the proportion 
 of sexes is equal, but three geese may be permitted with one 
 gander as a limit. They are easily restrained within enclosures by 
 clipping their wings. 
 
 There are eight varieties of geese — the WUd, Touloiise, Embden, 
 African, White Chinese, Brown Chinese, Egyptian, land Sebastopol. 
 The Toulouse and Embden are the largest, and sometimes weigh 
 sixty pounds per pair. The latter is entirely white, and also more 
 prolific than some other breeds. A cross of the Toulouse gander 
 with the Embden goose makes the largest bird for market. The 
 other breeds are more ornamental than useful. The riianagement 
 of goslings should be similar to that of young ducks. 
 
 Ducks. 
 
 The breeds of ducks consist of the Aylesburg, Kouen, CaU, 
 Cayuga, Muscovy,. Crested, and Pekin, though the Call and Muscovy 
 
46 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 
 
 are of two colors, divided into AVhite and Colored Muscovy, and 
 Gray and "White Call ducks. The largest is the Pekin, which 
 averages about twenty pounds per pair, and the Kouen, which often 
 weighs eighteen pounds per pair. Ducks derive fish and aquatic 
 plants from the water, and worms, seeds and grains on the land, and 
 consequently are not vei-y dainty, grass also being accepted. One 
 drake with three females may be allowed. The period of incuba- 
 tion is four weeks. The Pekins may be kept in yards with no 
 running water, provided a trough be allowed them for bathing 
 purposes. Ducks will average from seventy to one hundred eggs 
 per annum, though instances are known in which they have laid as 
 many as 150. They do not lay as well in confinement, however, as 
 when in freedom. 
 
 The ducklings should not be allowed near the water until the 
 down has changed, nor even in the wet grass, as dampness is 
 injurious to young ducks If allowed on ponds where turtles exist 
 they wiU be destroyed. "When hatched feed nothing for twenty- 
 four hours. Then give boiled oat meal and corn meal, mixed with 
 milk and eggs. After the second day a piece of meat, boiled to 
 pieces and thickened with oat meal, should be given three times a 
 week, adding to the mess chopped grass, cabbage or onion. Cooked 
 vegetables are excellent, as also bread soaked in milk. Feed on 
 clean places, and give the food and water in shallow dishes. Aftei 
 they are two weeks old give anything that they will eat. 
 
 Ducks will lay in the water, while swimming, but in the house 
 usually lay at night. The best cross is the Muscovy drake with 
 large common females, but the offspring will be sterile. The Pekin 
 is the most domesticated, and lays the largest number of eggs, while 
 the Aylesburg is the next in prolificacy. Both bl-eeds are white, the 
 biUs of the Pekin bding yeUow and those of the Aylesburg flesh- 
 colored. The Kouens are the most beautiful. Young ducks grow 
 very fast; and are very saleable. "When they have eaten full meals, 
 at evening, care must be taken that they do not go into the house 
 until they have been provided with plenty of water. In fact they 
 must never be in any enclosed place without plenty of water being 
 within reach. As they often lay for awhile before showing any 
 inclination to sit, the hens may be used for hatching the early 
 broods. Seven eggs are sufScient for an average-sized hen. 
 Sprinkle the eggs daily during the last two weeks of incubation. 
 Nine eggs are sufficient for a duck when she begins to sit. Set duck 
 eggs in nests on the ground always. Eggs from young ducks do not 
 hatch as well as those from older ones. As ducks do not scratch 
 they do but little damage in a garden, unless they have been 
 
POULTRY FOB PB OFIT. 47 
 
 deprived of green food for awhile, -vhen they will then eat the ' 
 young plants. They may also be plucked for their feathers as with 
 geese. 
 
 Guineas. 
 
 There are two kinds, the Pearl and White Guinea. The Guinea 
 is a great rambler, and does not desire her nest to be known, which 
 may also be said of the turkey. They do not roost in the fowl-house 
 if they can find trees, and if frightened, or treated unkindly, become 
 very shy. A Guinea hen usually lays about one hundred eggs per 
 annum, and the period of incubation is four weeks. Young Guineas 
 are fed in the same manner as young turkeys, but, as they feather 
 very rapidly, must have their meals often, an omission being some- 
 times fatal. They cannot be confined, and should have their 
 liberty as soon as possible, but must not be permitted on the damp 
 grass. The eggs are claimed to be very rich in flavor, and if one 
 has plenty of room, they are very profitable. They are monogauous, 
 and mate, but two or more females may be allowed to one cock. 
 They do not scratch, and inflict no damage in gardens. They create 
 an alarm on the approach of intruders at night. 
 
 PRESERVING EGGS. 
 
 As many persons would like the recipes for preserving eggs 
 :given in a book form, we present them here for a reference. There 
 are a great many methods suggested for this purpose, and we wiU 
 give not only the plan we pursue, but the experience of others. 
 The best of all preservatives is sulphur, but as sulphur will not 
 dissolve in water we convert it into a gas by combining it with 
 oxygen, forming what is known as sulphurous acid gas (not sul- 
 phuric), which is done by simply burning it. In order to test an 
 experiment take one dozen eggs and break one fevery month, which 
 will enable you to know exactly how long they will keep under any 
 process. We wiU say this much in the beginning,' however, which 
 is that eggs so packed in a box as to permit them to be turned over 
 daily will keep twice as long as those not so treated. By packing 
 them in a box with oats as a filling, and then turning the box upside 
 down, a large number can be turned at once. Another point is that 
 eggs from hens that are confined in yards without the companion- 
 ship of cocks keep better than under the reverse conditions, or 
 rather, infertile eggs keep better than those that are fertile 
 
A8 TOULTJSY FOB Pit FIT. 
 
 ■ Supposing the reader intends to try one dozen eggs as an experi- 
 ment, one of which is to be broken each month lor a year (of course 
 a larger number may be used if preferred), we will give 
 
 The Sulphur Process. 
 
 Take a common starch box with a sUding lid. Put the eggs in 
 the box, and upon an oyster shell or other suitable substance, place 
 a teaspoonful of sulphur. Set Are to the sulphur, and when the 
 fumes begin to rise briskly, shut up the lid, making the box tight, 
 and do not disturb it for halt an hour. Now take out the eggs, pack 
 in oats, and the job is done. If the oats or packing materal be 
 subjected to the same process it will be aU the better. If a barrel 
 full is to be preserved place the eggs in a tight barrel two-thirds 
 full, with no packing whatever. Fire a pound of sulphur upon a 
 suitable substance, on top of the eggs in the vacant space over them, 
 shut up tightly, let stand an hour, and then take out the eggs. As 
 the gas is much heavier than the air it will sink to the bottom, or, 
 rather, fill up the barrel with the fumes. In another barrel or box 
 place some oats, and treat in the same way. Now pack the eggs in 
 the oats, head up the barrel, turn the barrel every day to prevent 
 falUng of the yolks, using each end alternately, and they will keep 
 a year; or, according to the efficiency of the operation, a shorter or 
 even a longer time. It wiU be seen by the above that the process is 
 a dryand neat one, and very inexpensive, sulphur beiuK a verv 
 cheap article. ^ ^ 
 
 s„lnw*'.' .f ^' n""*' '''''^^«g«*^l>le« may also be preserved with 
 sulphur m the foUowing manner: Take a piece of fresh beef a fish 
 or anything that wiU quickly decay. Place it at one end of 'a clos^ 
 box and burn a httle sulphur at the other end. The beef or fish 
 wall absorb the sulphur fumes. Keep the box closed half L hour 
 then take out the beef or fish, hang it up somewhere (cellar, out o 
 doors, or aiiywhere) and our word for it that you can let it hang up 
 a year withou he slightest odor or signs of decay. The first tLee 
 days there will be a slight odor of sulphur, which passes away. The 
 meat may dry up graduaUy, but will not spoil. Placing it fn a pot 
 of boiling water at once disengages the sulphur, and ft passes off. 
 It IS perfec lyiarmless. In fact it is best to treat all the meats used 
 m the familyia that manner, even when wanted for immediate use 
 as the meat, even if from diseased animals, will be purified from 
 disease germs. '^^ui 
 
 th. ^''^^^'■^^-^^1: '■'^^^ «« "leats, fish, eggs, etc., are preserved with 
 the sulphur without water. If you wish to preserve peaches, 
 tomatoes, or other fruits aoid vegetables, do it in this way Take 
 
POVLTRY FOB PROFIT. 49 
 
 say peaclies, and put the peaches in one end of a box, and a wide 
 bo'wl of water at the other end. Burn the sulphur as before. Water 
 absorbs sulphur gas rapidly, and the bacteria are destroyed. In the 
 meanwhile the peaches will also absorb it. Shut up the box, keep' 
 it closed fifteen minvites, then repeat the process, allowing the box 
 to remain closed the same length of time. Now place the peaches 
 in a jar, pour the sulphurized water over them, tie a piece of paper 
 over the top to keep out the dust (no sealing is necessary) and your 
 peaches -n-ill keep till the next crop comes and even longer. 
 
 Fruit i« not affected by the gas, and with the exception of a 
 partial absorption of water, may be had thereby in the natural con- 
 dition, though a few highly colored berries (such as blackberries) 
 may be bleached a little. Cider may be kept sweet for years by 
 burning sulphur on a floating piece of wood on the top of it, and 
 dried fruit may be made white, and will keep better from its use. 
 A corpse may be kept a year by the dry process, and the clothes of 
 smaU-pox, yellow fever, or cholera patients may be worn with 
 impunity after being submitted to the process. AU forms of fer- 
 mentation, germs of disease, bacteria, or invisible organisms yield 
 to its power, and if the water which has been used to absorb sulphur 
 gas be used as a gargle, or drank, it will be found a splendid specific 
 for diphtheria, or other contagious diseases, besides being excellent 
 in cases of roup and cholera in fowls. Its wonderful powers of 
 preservation entitle it to be named the destroyer of diseases, for 
 decay and putrefaction are the same as diseases. Should you have 
 any difficulty burning sulphur, melt it in a small pot or crucible, and 
 then draw a lamp wick through it. When wanted for use cut off a 
 piece of the wick. The reason why sulphur does not burn freely at 
 times is because it melts and smothers the flame. 
 
 The Pickle Process. 
 
 Take twenty-four gallons of water, put in it twelve pounds of 
 unslaked lime and four pounds salt. Stir it weU several times a 
 day, and then let it stand and settle until perfectly clear. Then 
 draw off twenty gaUons of the clear lime and salt water. By putting 
 a spigot in the barrel about four inch6s from the bottom you can 
 draw off the clear water and leave the settlings. Then take five 
 ounces baking soda, five ounces cream of tartar, five ounces salt 
 peter, five ounces borax and one ounce alum; pulverize these, mix 
 and dissolve in a gallon of boiUng water, which should be poured 
 into your twenty gallons lime water. This will fill a whisky barrel 
 about half full, and a barrel holds about 150 dozen eggs. Let the 
 water stand one inch above the eggs. Cover with an old cloth, and 
 
^0 POULTRY FOB PROFIT. 
 
 l)ut a bucket of the settlings over it. Do not let the cloth hang over 
 the barrel. Alter being in the Uquid thirty days the eggs may be 
 taken out and packed in boxes and shipped. Do not use the same 
 pickle but once. You need not wait to get a barrel full but put in 
 the eggs at any time. As the water evaporates add more, as the 
 ■eggs must always be covered with the liquid. It does not hurt the 
 eggs to remain in the pickle. It is claimed that this process will 
 keep them a year. 
 
 The Scientific American Process. 
 
 Having filled a clean keg or barrel with fresh eggs, cover the 
 ■eggs with cold salicylic water. The eggs must be kept down by a 
 few small boards floating on the water, and the whole covered with 
 cloth to keep out dust. If set in a cool place the eggs so packed 
 will keep fresh for months, but they must be used as soon as taken 
 •out of the brine. To make the salicylic solution, dissolve salicylic 
 .a,cid (which costs about $3 a pound) in boiling water, one teaspoon- 
 Jul of acid to the gallon. It is not necessary to boil all the water, as 
 the acid will dissolve- in a less quantity, and the rest may be added 
 to the solution cold. The solution or brine should at no time come 
 in contact with any metal. In a clean, airy cellar one brine is 
 sufloient for three months or more, otherwise it should be renewed 
 oftener. For that purpose the kegs, etc., should have a wooden 
 spigot to draw of liquid and replenish the vessel. Butter kneaded 
 in the same solution and packed tight in clean stone jars will keep 
 fresh the whole winter, but must be covered with musUn saturated 
 in the water, renewing it sometimes. Cover the jars with blotting 
 paper saturated with glycerine. SaUoylic acid is harmless and yet 
 one of the best and certainly most pleasant disinfectants in exist- 
 ence, with no color nor taste. The water is an excellent tooth wash 
 ■and the best gargle to prevent diphtheritic contagion. 
 
 The Boston Globe Process. 
 
 An nUnois correspondent writes: "Last summer I was induced 
 to try packing down eggs for winter use. I had in seasons previous 
 limed them, but a limed egg is not altogether to my taste. Last 
 summer I took sweet, clean kegs, set them in a cool, dry place, with 
 a barrel of powdered dried earth near at hand. In the kegs I placed 
 a layer of this earth, then a layer of eggs, small end down, then a 
 layer of earth, and so on until the kegs are filled. These eggs were 
 quite good six months after packing down. By placing the eggs 
 «mall end down the yolk is prevented from dropping down on the 
 
POULTRY FOR PROFIT. 51. 
 
 end and settling on the shell, while the dry, fine earth keeps them 
 Irom the air. I suppose that ashes, or bran, or any other fine, dry 
 substance, is as good as the baked earth, but I write only of what I 
 have actually experimented with." Eggs will also keep well if salt, 
 instead of dry earth, be used. 
 
 Eggs For Hatching. 
 
 To preserve eggs for hatching purposes is a risk, as fresh eggs 
 ai-e always best. They should never be greased or placed in any 
 compound that closes the pores of the shells. Put the eggs small 
 end downward, in layers, no egg touching the other, using a 
 plentiful supply ot clean, dry wheat for packing. By turning over 
 the box in which they are packed three times a week they will keep 
 better. Each egg may be wrapped in tissue paper with advantage. 
 Keep them in an even temperature. 
 
 DISEASES OF POULTRY. 
 
 The two diseases that cause the greatest mortality among fowls 
 are cholera and roup. The former seldom appears where strict 
 cleanliness is observed, and especially if the yards are frequently 
 spaded. The latter comes from dampness. When the fowls seem 
 chiUy and cold, especially on damp days, roup will be the result. 
 It is to fowls what heavy colds are to human individuals, and as we 
 may have cold in the head, cold on the botvels, sore throat, and 
 other disturbances from cold, the term "roup" covers them all. 
 Koup in some forms is contagious, while in other shapes it may 
 exist in a flock without affecting any but those of weak constitutions. 
 The first thing to do with the affected fowl is to clean out the 
 nostrils, and every breeder should have on hand a small syringe, 
 or sewing machine oil can, which should be put to use early. Koup, 
 when malignant, makes known its presence by a peculiar, disagree- 
 able odor. The sick fowl looks droopy, and a slight pressure on the 
 nostrils cause a discharge, which is very offensive in smell. Make a 
 strong solution of copperas water, and put a teaspoonful of the 
 solution to a gill of water, and with the syringe or oil can inject 
 some of it into the nostrils, and also down the throat. Another 
 excellent wash which maybe used in place of the foregoing, in the 
 same manner, and without fear of injury to the eyes, is the solution 
 of chlorinated soda (Labarraque's solution) diluted with four times 
 its bulk of water. In this and aU other diseases, much is gained by 
 
'52 FOULTHY FOB PROFIT. 
 
 taking the case in hand at the earliest stage. If the bird is no 
 better in a few hours, try a severer remedy, which is the injection 
 of a mixture of coal oil and carbolic acid. Mix ten drops of 
 carbolic acid, a teaspoonful of coal oil and a tablespoonful of lard 
 together. While warm force a small quantity (about a drop) into 
 each nostril. This will cure when all other remedies fail. Night 
 and morning give roup pills (or powder) either in the food or by 
 forcing it down the throat. Add some, also, to the food of those 
 that are well. 
 
 To make roup pills take one teaspoonful each of the tinctures 
 ■of iron and red pepper, and to this add half a spoonful each of 
 ginger, sa£Eron, chlorate of potash, salt and powdered rhubard, with 
 two teaspoonfuls of hyposulphite 'of soda. Mix together well. 
 Incorporate this with one ounce of asafoetida, working it together 
 until the whole is completely mingled, occasionally softening it, 
 whenever necessary, with castor oil. This may be made into piUs, 
 or when dry, into a powder. 
 
 Cholera is a bacterial disease, the germs of which enter the 
 system and rapidly multiply, causing blood poison. The liver is 
 the part principally affected, and the disease is highly contagious, 
 for the reason that the bacteria are ejected in the droppings and in 
 other ways, the healthiest and most robust being equally subject to 
 the disease with those that are feeble. It may be brought into the 
 yards, or may arise from filth. The first thing to do when the 
 disease makes its apperance is to disinfect the premises. This may 
 be done by adding an ounce of sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol) to a 
 gallon of water, and sprinkling it freely over the yards, roosts, 
 nests and the floors. Chloride of lime is also excellent and may be 
 used freely. It will affect the fowls slightly, but will be more 
 beneficial than otherwise. A solution of chloride of lime in water 
 may be used in place of the acid if preferred. , The sick fowls should 
 be at once removed from the others. They may be known by 
 evii;icing a nervous, anxious look, drooping spirits, great thirst, 
 and greenish droppings. There have been many remedies, but it is 
 conceded that hyposulphite of soda is the best agent as a cure for 
 cholera, and therefore one of the best remedies for cholera in severe 
 cases is hyposulphite of soda, four parts; boracio acid, two parts; 
 extract logwood, two parts; mandrake root, one part; red pepper, 
 one part; rosin, one part; pulverized rhubarb, one part. The above 
 is a combination of substances that have been tried and found 
 excellent. Give each fowl a teaspoonful, and repeat every hour 
 until relieved. It is a strong purgative, and as soon as the fowl 
 appears better give it a few drops of tincture of iron, with a pinch of 
 
POULTR Y FOB PR OFIT. S3 
 
 •quinine, in ii spoonful of warm water. As soon as it begins to eat, 
 feed at first on stale bread and milk, with a small quantity of con- 
 dition powder. We must not omit to mention that we have known 
 many instances in which a half teaspoonful of coal oil mixed with 
 the same quantity of castor oil proved an excellent remedy. 
 
 An excellent condition jiowder and egg food may be made as 
 follows: Take four pounds ground dry meat, two pounds ground 
 bone, one pound ground oyster shells, one pound fenugreek, one- 
 half pound of salt, one-half pound of ground cinnamon, ginger or 
 black pepper (any kind of spice will answer). Mix the above 
 thoroughly. Now mix in a separate dish one ounce each of sulphur, 
 copperas, bread soda, saltpeter, hyposulphite of soda and red 
 pepper. When these are well mixed add to the above, well mixing 
 the whole. Now parch two pounds of ground oats and two pounds 
 cracked corn, mix and add to the above. You will then have about 
 fifteen pounds of poultry food, at a cost of about fifteen cents. 
 Feed a tablespoonful daily to each fowl. 
 
 To rid chicks and fowls of lice provide a good dust bath. If the 
 qiiarters are kept clean the fowls will keep themselves clean with 
 dust. For dusting on the bodies take flowers of sulphur, five 
 pounds; carbolic acid (liquid), one drachm. Eub the acid in the 
 sulphur thoroughly with a small paddle, and apply through the 
 fluff and feathers of the hen with the hand, and it will effectually 
 remove all kinds of vermin from your fowls. It is thoroughly 
 effectual, and at the same time, a safe application, as it will not 
 interfere with the -hatching of eggs nor, endanger the life of the 
 chicks. Persian insect powder is also excellent. 
 
 Scurvy legs may be cleaned by rubbing the legs two or three 
 times (once a week) with lard and sulphur, to which a few drops of 
 carbolic acid have been added, or with a mixture of lard and coal 
 oil; but do not grease sitting hens in any manner, as it injures the 
 
 A tonic for general debility may be made by dissolving a tea- 
 spoonful of tincture of iron in a gill of water, adding a teaspoonful 
 of quinine, and the same each of spirits of camphor, brandy and 
 tincture of red pepper. Shake well and give four or five drops on c 
 small piece of bread to a chick, and half a teaspoonful to an adult. 
 For diarrhoea add a drop of laudanum to the dose for a chick, and 
 three drops to that for adults. 
 
 One of the best remedies for all diseases is warmth. Whenever 
 a fowl is sick remove it to a warm place, near a stove, or in a sunny 
 location. There is nothing so invigorating to a sick fowl as heat. 
 
54 POULTRY FOR PROFIT. 
 
 and give rich food, tonic and condition powder to hens that are- 
 moulting, keeping them warm especially. 
 
 CONDENSED ITEMS OF INTEREST. 
 
 Under this heading we have undertaken to crowd a large 
 amount of valuable information in a small space, intending it as a 
 means of reference, and in so doing we thereby present that which 
 is to be found in large-sized volumes. We do not claim that it is 
 complete, but believe the reader will gain many practical hints and 
 ideas, a single one of which may be worth ten times the value of 
 this little book:— 
 
 Don't crowd too many fowls together. Allow at least three 
 square feet of room in the poultry house for each fowl. Thus, ten 
 hens will require thirty feet, or a house 5x6 feet. 
 
 Ten hens maybe mated with a cock of the small breeds, and 
 eight, or Jess, with the larger breeds. 
 
 A YAED sixteen feet front and one hundred feet deep wiU' 
 accommodate a flock of ten. 
 
 Cleanliness is absolutely essential to success, as disease will 
 thereby be avoided. 
 
 To SECURE strong chicks use a cockerel of medium size, at least 
 one year old, and mate him with gix large, healthy, two-year-old 
 hens. 
 
 Eggs from pullets do not hatch as well as those from hens. 
 
 If pullets are used mate them with a two-year-old cock. 
 
 In setting the hens let the nests be on the ground, in a cool, 
 moist place in summer, but in winter have it as snug as possible. 
 
 Ten eggs under a hen will give better results than a larger 
 number. 
 
 Select small or medium-sized hens for sitting, as they will not 
 break the eggs so easily as will large hens. 
 
 Always make the nests so that the hens can walk in upon them, 
 asd never in a barrel, or where they will have to jump down upon 
 the eggs. 
 
 The roosts should be upon a level with each other, and low, and 
 not with those at the rear higher than those in front, or the hens 
 will crowd, as each wishes to get as high as possible. 
 
 Do NOT feed hard-boiled eggs to chicks more than two days at. 
 any one time, as it will cause diarrhoea. 
 
POULTRY FOR PROFIT. 5Sj 
 
 In selecting the breeding stock, first cull out the inferior fowls, 
 then cliooae from the remainder. Be guided by small combs, heavy 
 feathering, bright eyes, red combs, clean, strong limbs, activity, and 
 early matnritj'. 
 
 Heavy cooks ■will sometimes injure the hens, which may be 
 known by observing that the hens gradually droop, refuse food, 
 and finally die without any apparent cause. 
 
 When a hen is egg bound, or "baggy" at the rear, the best thing 
 to do is to kill her. If cure is preferred give a dose of castor oil, 
 isolate her from the flock, and anoint the parts with castor oil to 
 which a few drops of carbolic acid have been added. 
 
 Keep carbolic acid solution always ready for use. Put a tea- 
 spoonful of carbolic acid in a pint of water and bottle it. It is an 
 excellent wash for roup, and a good remedy in the soft food for 
 cholera. For cholera give each fowl half a teaspoonful of the 
 solution once a day. For roup wash the beak and nostrils clean, 
 and pour ten or twelve drops of the solution down the throat. 
 
 The safest and one of the best remedies for roup and catarrh 
 is to put a gill of liquid coal tar in a quart bottle and fill the bottle 
 with waterl Use it as a wash, and give a teaspoonful to all birds 
 having roup, cholera, or any other violent disease. 
 
 A GOOD clean yard is better than a grassy lawn, provided the 
 fowls are provided with green food, but it must be frequently 
 .spaded, and also should be weU drained. 
 
 To ALLOW fowls to run where there is tall grass, which is wet at 
 times, will cause roup, but a piece of ground in short, tender grass 
 -will be an advantage. 
 
 Depeiving the fowls of green food, and then giving them a large 
 ■quantity at once, conduces to bowel disease. 
 
 Nevee allow a hen from another yard to be brought among your 
 flock until you are satisfied that the flock from which she came is 
 perfectly healthy. This is very important, as contagious diseases 
 are incurred by not observing such precaution. 
 
 Gapes are more prevalent on old farms, where the soil is the 
 result of decayed matter, than on new locations. The disease is in 
 the dirt. Hence always feed young chicks on clean surfaces. 
 
 Fkesh bullocks' blood, put in a woolen bag and boiled, then 
 mixed with the soft food and fed to fowls, is the best egg producing 
 food known, as it is exceedingly rich in albumen. 
 
 Bones are phosphate of lime, or phosphoric acid and lime. 
 They therefore provide lime for the shell and phosphate for the 
 system. Grind or crack them and feed to all classes of poultry. 
 
 When fatting a turkey in confinement it will gain in flesh very 
 
56 POULTRY FOB Pli OF IT. 
 
 rapidly for ten days. After that time it will begin to lOse in weighty 
 owing to tlie restlessness occasioned by the confinement. Fatten, 
 them quickly, and give them plenty of charcoal while so doing. 
 
 When you find a hen, that was apparently healthy, dead under 
 the roost in the morning, you may attribute it to apoplexy, which 
 results from overfeeding. This disease sometimes causes the fowls 
 to spin around in a giddy, crazy manner. 
 
 Veet oftfen defonned chicks are hatched in incubators, due to 
 their receiving too much heat. Weak and sickly-looking chicks 
 result from insufficient heat. 
 
 An acre of land may return a profit, if devoted to poultry, of 
 $200 or $2,000. The result depends upon the management. , 
 
 The poultry business cannot be monopolized. Every man, 
 woman and child can raise poultry without depending upon large 
 amounts of capital. 
 
 Exhibition fowls are not always the best for breeding purposes. 
 Show birds are often prepared, and though possessing the points — 
 comb, wattles, color, etc. — may be lacking in vigor. Always- 
 sacrifice points for vigor when raising poultry for market. 
 
 In buying "fancy" eggs remember that the dealer canfiot teU in 
 advance what the result of the 'hatch will be. Always endeavor to 
 be charitable with him. He receives quite an amount of abuse 
 although innocent. 
 
 If a hen only lays one egg a week for a year it will pay for her 
 food, and every egg additional is clear pr'oflt. If ^ hen lays three 
 eggs a week she wiU give double the profit derived from a hen that 
 lays two .eggs. The greater the number of eggs the, cheaper the 
 cost of production in, proportion. 
 
 A Stbict account should be kept with the fowls. In no other 
 manner can busineaa be transacted. Every item of profit and loss 
 should be known. Charge the family, also, for the eggs and fowls 
 used on tte table. 
 
 It is an utter impossibility to overstock the markets with fowls 
 and eggs. If aJl the farmers in the country doubled their produc- 
 tions of poi*try and eggs, the demand would increase proportion- 
 ately. 
 
 Kemembeb when you buy a sitting of "fancy" eggs from a 
 breeder you do not want the eggs really, but the stock. Therefore, 
 i&you are asked to pay $3 a sitting for such do not compare the sum 
 thus expended with the prices current for eggs used for table 
 purposes. The transactions are very different matters. 
 
 Gkavel, ground oyster shells, pure water and a dust bath are 
 as important as regular feeding and warm shelter. 
 
PO UL TR Y FOR PROFIT. 57 
 
 In building a uen liouse try and have the sun to send light and 
 warmth into it 11'om the front and at both ends. Let it always lace 
 the south. 
 
 Dt'RiNG damp, slushy weather in winter, cut off the feathers 
 from the legs of the Asiatics — from the knees to the ends of the toes 
 — as wet feathers cause disease. 
 
 Keep your hens closed up on stormy days, but give them some- 
 thing to scratch in. 
 
 If you pull out the feathers of a fowl new ones will grow in 
 place, but if they are cut off, however, such will not be the case till 
 next moulting. 
 
 A GOOD substitute may at times be used in place of boards. 
 Thick paper, if painted with linseed oil and litharge, will be water- ' 
 tight. Such paper is usually a yard wide, and sells by weight at the 
 rate of about one-third of a cent a yard. Secure it with lath strips. 
 
 Hen manure is very valuable, and should be carefully saved. 
 Mix it ^•nth. twice its bulk of dry dirt, adding a quart of plaster to a 
 bushel of mixture. Keep it in a dry place. 
 
 If eggs are packed with the small end downward, and in layers 
 without touching each other, with plenty of wheat or com as a 
 packing material, they will keep for hatching purposes for two 
 months. 
 
 Neveb let eggs get chilled that are to be used for hatching pur- 
 poses. They should be collected during cold weather every time a 
 hen is heard to cackle. The rule is — early aild often. 
 
 The hens that lay white eggs are of the following breeds: 
 Hamburgs, Leghorns, Polish, Houdans (aU the French breeds) and 
 Black Spanish. The largest eggs are laid by the Black Spanish. 
 Very dark eggs are laid by the C(;)chins and Brahmas. Medium dark 
 eggs are laid by the Plymouth Kocks, Wyandottes, Langshans, 
 Games, Dominieks, and their crosses. Sometimes there may be 
 exceptions, however. 
 
 The symptoms of cholera are sudden and violent thirst, 
 diarrhoea, greenish droppings, which becpme thin and whitish, 
 extreme weakness, and a nervous, anxious look about the face. 
 Death ensues in about from twelve to thirty-six hours. 
 
 The symptoms of roup are discharges from the nostrils and a 
 foul odor, sometimes hoarse breathing, dirty face and nostrils, pale 
 •or dark comb, and a general appearance of droopiness. 
 
 A HEALTHY fowl always possesses a bright scarlet comb and 
 wattles, and any deviation from this color indicates ill health. 
 When a young pullet is about to lay her comb enlarges and 
 
58 POULTRY FOR PROFIT. 
 
 becomes very red, and this may be noticed for a week or two befori. 
 she begins. 
 
 If you wish to purchase a number of old hens in the fall see If 
 the plumage is new. If so they have moulted and will soon lay. If 
 the plumage is smoky, or dirt-colored, with straggling feathers that 
 pull out easily, they have not moulted. See that the combs and 
 wattles are red, and the legs clean. Examine the nostrils for roup 
 by pressing gently against them. If a discharge is noticed do not 
 take them. Use your nose for the detection also, as roup emits a 
 foul odor. 
 
 A HEK requires about three months for moulting, but you can 
 hasten the process with stimulating food. 
 
 It is not natural for fowls to run together in large numbers. 
 They always divide into flocks of smaller size and select different 
 feeding grounds. 
 
 If two hens are sitting in the same neighborhood it very often 
 happens that both wiU go upon the same nest, thus permitting the 
 eggs to be exposed too long. Always try to keep a hen alone when 
 she is incubating. 
 
 A COOP for shipping a trio of fowls should be two feet long, 
 eighteen inches wide, and twenty inches high. Always provide a 
 cup for water and a box for food, filling the box with wheat and 
 com. Make the shipping coop with unbleached muslin, and as 
 light and strong as possible. 
 
 Hens often pull out their feathers when they are infested with 
 lice. If closely confined they pull feathers from each other. The 
 vice is not easily cured, but instances are'rknown in which smearing 
 them with tar has been effectual, which disgusts the fowls that do 
 the mischief. 
 
 Fowls will not fatten quickly while growing, as the process of 
 growth prevents it. Some chicks grow off to legs at first, but when 
 they have reached their proper height they begin to thicken out, 
 and usually make fine, compact, large birds. 
 
 If you have a number of young cockerels of the same age the 
 one that looks the most like an overgrown chicken will usually be 
 the largest. That is, the ones that develop the comb and tail 
 feathers are nearly matured, and will be but little larger. While the 
 young-looking one will grow until he is much larger before 
 developing. 
 
 The cost of a poultry house is about fifty cents for each hen, 
 but a better and more permanent structure may be put up at a cost 
 of $1 for each fowl. 
 
POULTRY FOR rROFlT. 59 
 
 Keep the hen on nest eggs until you are assured it is safe to 
 give her those intended for hatching, and do not give a sitting hen 
 much soft food. Cornand wheat, with plenty of water, is sufficient. 
 Once a day will be often enough to feed her. 
 
 Muslin may be made water-proof in many different ways, and 
 is very useful for covering the runs of the hens and chicks. They 
 are: Xo. 1. Soak the muslin twenty-four hours in a decoction of one 
 pound of oak bark with twelve pounds water. Pass it through 
 running water and let it dry. No. 2. Into a pint of linseed oil 
 (unboiled) beat the whites of two eggs. With a clean paint brush 
 .give a coating to both sides of the muslin. No. 3. Mix bullocks' 
 blood and lime to a consistency for application, and paint the 
 muslin. Xo. i. Dissolve a pound of glue in hot water and add half 
 a poiind of bi-chromate of potash and coat the muslin. No. 5. 
 Immerse the muslin in a strong solutiun of soap and let it dry in 
 the shade. Then immerse it in a strong solution of alum and let it 
 dry as before. No. 6. Steep muslin in a strong solution of sugar of 
 lead, and when dry steep in alum water. Any of these processes, 
 are good, but the best are Nos. 3 and 5. 
 
 A GOOD silo for preserving green food may be made of a strong 
 keg or barrel. Cut into fine pieces cabbage, , grass, or any other 
 green matteV, and subject it to the sulphur process which we give in 
 the items on preserving eggs. Then pack and press it firmly and 
 allow it to remain till required. 
 
 Pbof. Gebhakdt, of Germany, states that persons can become 
 infected with diptheria from fowls, as many forms of roup and 
 diptheria are the same. 
 
 When poultry run at large they procure insects. In confinement 
 this is not the case. Feed plenty of meat as a substitute. 
 
 Never let a fowl for market go back in flesh, even for a day. It 
 is necessary to hold on to the first pound of flesh gained while the 
 second is forming. Animal tissue is always changing. A bird is 
 either losing or gaining. 
 
 A TURKEY hen is a good incubator. She is accustomed to 
 vremaining on her eggs four weeks. Give her twenty-five hen's eggs 
 and she will bring them out in three weeks. Give these to hens, 
 or put them in a brooder, and the turkey hen will hatch and bring 
 off twenty-five more, an(l only remain on the nest two weeks longer 
 than her usual time. 
 
 Plymouth Bock chicks which show a preponderance of white 
 in color of back and body will usually be light-colored, with white 
 in the tail. A dark chick, with a little white on the tips of the wings, 
 .is usually a female. 
 
60 POULTRY FOR PROFIT. 
 
 In using poultry in the family the cleanest, best and easiest . 
 mode of getting rid of the feathers is by scalding. 
 
 In breeding for early market, it is important to have a breed 
 that grows rapidly and fleshes up young; the skin should be yellow, 
 and if the feathers are all white, both the chicks and old fowl will 
 look much better when dressed than those with colored feathers. 
 The color of the skin is important, yet half of the fowls that are sent 
 to market have anything but a yellow skin. Small bone, short legs 
 and a well rounded form are also desirable, and a size, when full 
 grown, not less than five pounds, and not over six before dressed, 
 gives the best early chick for market. None of the qualities are an 
 injury to a laying hen; and if to them are added good layers, hardy 
 and quiet, we have combined the points necessary for both meat 
 and eggs. 
 
 To MAKE a fountain take a jar of about four or five gallons, 
 capacity, and with the aid of a small point of steel (say a three- 
 cornered file broken off) and a hammer, make a hole about two 
 finches from the top of jar (it should be an earthen one); the hole 
 should be only about as large as a pea. This jar shoidd be filled 
 with water and covered with a pan (I use a wash basin), and the 
 whole by a quick motion turned bottom side up. The hole in the 
 jar or crock should be a little below the top of basiii! When the 
 fowls drink out the water the hole is above the water line; in rushes 
 thejair through the hole and down drops the water in the jar, 
 raisinig the water in the basin up to the hole and no farther. They 
 cannot fill up this fountain with dirt. 
 
 One of the best canker cures is Labarraque's solution of chloride 
 of soda, using one part solution to two of water. Wash the throat 
 thoroughly, allowing the fowl to swallow a portion. 
 
 It has been recommended, in order to prevent "hens from eating- 
 eggs, to put two tablespoonfuls of fine salt and one-half pint of 
 ashes (wood) in one quart of corn meal, or in that ratio, and mix 
 with boiUng water; feed once a day until they leave off eating their 
 eggs. But if a little salt were put in food every day, and ashes put 
 where they can have access to them, they weuld never eat their eggs 
 unless the eggs freeze and the shells crack open. Hens seldom eat 
 their eggs except during the winter months. 
 
 Young chicks that are subject to weakness in the legs should 
 receive a small' allowance of fine bone meal in their food. Weak 
 legs come from forced growth, high feeding and close confinement, 
 but are not necessarily dangerous. 
 
 Like milk, an egg is complete food. If fed on eggs alone young 
 animals are furnished all necessary elements for growing bone,. 
 
FO VL TR y FOB Pli OFIT. 61 
 
 muscle, and all that goes tp make a perfect animal of its kind. A 
 hen may lay 200 eggs per year, but ought certainly to produce 120. 
 Eight eggs -will -weigh a pound, and 120 will weigh about fifteen 
 pounds, at a cost of about one bushel of corn worth on an average 
 say fifty cents; at this rate the eggs cost, so far as food is concerned, 
 about 34 cents per pound, or 4.16 cents per dozen. 
 
 A rorND of meat contains water, 8 oz.; fibrine and albumen, 1 
 oz. 122 grs.; gelatine, 1 oz. 62 grs.; fat, 4 oz. 340 grs.; mineral, 350 
 grs. A hen may be calculated to consume one bmshel of corn yearly 
 and to lay sometimes twelve dozen, or eighteen pounds, of eggs. 
 This is equivalent to saying that thirty-one pounds of corn will 
 produce, when fed to the hen, one pound of eggs. A pound of 
 pork, on the contrary, requires about 54 pounds of corn for its 
 production. \\'hen eggs are twenty-four cents a dozen and pork, 
 ten cents a pound, we have the bushel of corn fed producing $2.88 
 worth of eggs and but SI. 05 worth of pork. Judging from these 
 facts, eggs must be economical in their production and in their 
 eating, and especially fitted for the laboring man in replacing meat. 
 
 A BEOODT hen should not be allowed to indulge her propensities 
 unless both she and her owner mean business. Sitting is exhaustive 
 of vitality, partly because the hen at this time is so absorbed by her 
 duties that she will not take time from the nest to eat or drink. If 
 allowed to sit even three or four days they lose enough flesh so that 
 they are not quickly got into condition for egg production again. 
 As soon as the first broodiness is noticed, shut the hen up in a room 
 where she has no chance to make a nest; feed liberally with wheat 
 screenings and thickened milk. After two or three days she will 
 begin to lay eggs on the floor, which is a sign that the time has 
 come for setting her at liberty. 
 
 An experienced breeder gives the following information in 
 regard to the fertility of eggs. A single meeting of a gobbler and 
 hen turkey renders all the eggs fertile for the entire season. Eggs 
 from the barnyard hen, unlike the turkey, become fertile on the 
 fifth day after the introduction of the cock, and on the removal of 
 the cock the eggs have proved fertile for two weeks afterward. 
 
 The reason why chicks die in the shell during incubation Is 
 that they do not procure suflicient.moisture. 
 
 A TEASPOONFUii of turpentine in a pint of corn meal, made into 
 a dough with water, is one of the best remedies for gapes. 
 
 Persian insect powder dusted into the feathers is the best 
 remedy for Uce. Tobacco stems in the nests are also excellent for 
 keeping sitting hens free from them. Coal oil the roosts, and white- 
 wash the buildings, and see that a good dust bath is provided. 
 
62 POVLTBY FOB PROFIT. 
 
 Foe scabby leg use a mixture of sulphur and lard, or coal oil 
 and lard twice a week till it disappears. 
 
 The Douglass mixture is one pound copperas, one gill of sul- 
 phuric acid, and two gallons of water. The acid may be left out if 
 preferred. Put a teaspoonful in the drinking water whenever it is 
 changed. 
 
 A MixTTjKE of one part turpentine and one of castor oil is 
 excellent for roup, canker, and chicken-pox. Give each fowl ten 
 drops, and inject the nostrils also. 
 
 Do NOT feed raw com meal dough to a sick fowl. Let it be 
 steamed or scalded. 
 
 A GOOD tonic for weak, debilitated fowls is three parts ground 
 cinnamon, ten of ginger, one of gentian, one of saffron, and ten of 
 carbonate of iron. Mix well and give a tablespoonful to a pint of 
 food, for as many fowls as will eat it. 
 
 The best preventive of cholera, and something which is 
 harmless, is extract logwood. Put enough in the drinking water to 
 redden it a little, and also put some in the food. 
 
 A CHICK that seemingly appears dead, after a hard rain storm, 
 may often be restored by plenty of warmth. 
 
 In attempting to destroy rats about a poultry house never try 
 poison until you have baited them with food for a week. After they 
 have been accustomed to the food put in the poison. 
 
 The smallest breed is the Black African Bantam, and the largest 
 the Light Brahma. 
 
 The best market chicks, of pure breeds, are the Plymouth 
 Bocks, and next the Wyandottes, but crosses of these breeds on 
 large Asiatic hens are better. 
 
 If you cannot hatch your pullets before the first of May defer it 
 till September, as all pullets hatched between May and October will 
 lay in the spring. 
 
 The earliest maturing of the large breeds is the Langshan, 
 which begins to lay when seven months old. 
 
 The fancy Games, such as Black Breasted Beds, Yellow 
 Duckwing, etc., are not intended for the pit but for beauty and 
 ornament. 
 
 Pit Games are selected from well known tried and tested 
 strains, and are of no particular color, crossing of strains being the 
 rule. They are not recognized in the Standard of Excellence. 
 
 All breeds that lay white eggs are good flyers, and require tall 
 fences for confinement. 
 
 The smallest-comb breeds are the Wyandottes and Brahmas, 
 and the tallest-comb breeds the Leghorn and Black Spanish. 
 
POVLTEY FOR PEOFIT. 63 
 
 The fowls that possess legs entirely yellow are the Wyandottes, 
 Leghorns, Brahmas, Cochins, Plymouth Rocks and Dominioks. 
 
 The Bantams lay the largest eggs in proportion to their size, 
 and give as large profits compared with the larger breeds, in pro- 
 portion to cost of quarters and food. 
 
 The most important point to be observed, when keeping fowls 
 in confinement, is to keep them industriously at work. This is the 
 golden rule of managing poultry in large numbers, and is the key 
 to success. 
 
 YofNG chicks are partial to artificial heat, even in summer, and 
 especially in damp weather. 
 
 In shingling a poultry house, 1,000 shingles, laid four inches to 
 the weather, will cover one hundred square feet. One bushel of 
 lime and two of sand will make sufQcient mortar to spread over ten 
 square feet. 
 
 Gkotjnd meat (commercial) is the refuse of lard factories ground 
 into powder. 
 
 In using ground bone from factories endeavor to have it as free 
 from odor as possible, as ammonia is disagreeable to poultry. 
 
 Food to which a flock has not been accustomed, such as sun- 
 flower seed, will be refused at first. If so give them nothing else 
 till they learn to eat it. 
 
 A TOBACCO cutter is a splendid instrument for cutting young 
 grass into convenient lengths. A strong coffee mill will grind 
 poimded oyster shells to powder for young chicks. 
 
 EiCE cooked in milk is the best food that can be given fowls and 
 chicks that suffer from bowel diseases. 
 
 A FEW drops of laudanum, camphor, or other medicine used in 
 the family, wiU often be found serviceable when given to sick fowls 
 for disorders requiring such treatment. 
 
 Hens, ducks, geese, turkeys and guineas will not thrive if kept 
 together. 
 
 COAi oil is one of the most useful remedies for contagious 
 diseases. It has been known to cure cholera and roup when 
 administered with an equal proportion of castor oil. 
 
 Never handle eggs for hatching with greasy hands, and disturb 
 a sitting hen and her eggs as little as possible. 
 
 Always remove a sitting hen to a new location, when desirable, 
 at night, and place the nest in a somewhat dark and secluded 
 location. 
 
 The young cockerel that is "cowed" by another will, in a 
 majority of cases, grow the faster and make the best bird when 
 matured. 
 
64 POULTS r FOR PROFIT. 
 
 IN building a poialtry house always endeavor to get as muoh 
 room on ths floor as possible^ 
 
 The Light Brahma possesses a greater combination of desirable 
 qualities than any other breed. Then follow the Plymouth Kocks, 
 Langshans, and Wyandottes. 
 
 The Cochins are the most inveterate of aU sitters, and next the 
 Brahmas. The Langshan is the nearest approach to a middle line 
 between the sitters and non-sitters. 
 
 If two non-sitters are crossed, such as the Hamburgs and 
 Leghorns, the progeny will be sitters. The tendency to avoid 
 sitting is lost whenever a cross is made. Hence a crossed fowl will 
 always sit. 
 
 Despite all belief to the contrary, Bantams can cross with the 
 larger breeds. Never keep Bantams in yards with other fowls. 
 
 Guinea fowls and hens should not be kept together, as crosses 
 have been known to occur from such association. 
 
 Always use dry dirt or sifted coal ashes for a dust bath. Wood 
 ashes are caustic, and sometimes do damage. 
 
 Nevek mix wood ashes with your poultry manure, as potash 
 liberates the ammonia, nor should lime be used in any form, except 
 as plaster, for the same reason, but there will be no -harm done from 
 the use of coal ashes. 
 
 The drinking water is a source of contagion unless sick fowls 
 are separated from the healthy ones. 
 
 The best table fowl is the Game, and the next is the Houdan 
 and Langshan. 
 
 The most beautiful and ornamental fowls are the Polish, and 
 aext the Hamburgs. 
 
 When using Leghorns for crossing on Brahmas select the rose- 
 combed varieties. 
 
 Never keep a fowl for show unless you make a business of such. 
 Profit should not compete with beauty. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 With the close of this number we trust we have given the 
 greatest amount of information possible in a small space, and our 
 future numbers will be published with the same object. This being 
 No. 1, the succeeding issue (No. 2) will be devoted entirely to 
 incubators, brooders and chicks. Other numbers in this series will 
 ioUow and will be of interest to all. 
 
IHCUBATORS AND BROODIRS. 
 
 This book is intended to give information in regard to Incubators 
 and Brooders, and is by P. 11. Jacobs, wlio has given incubators his 
 attention for many years. Its price is 25 cents. Printed in Brevier 
 type, and full of designs and illustrations. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 How to Make a Home-made Incubator. Hot Water Incubator. 
 Lamp Incubator. Monarcli Incubator. Pacilic Incubator. Ther- 
 mostatic Incubator. Success Incubator. Other Incubators. Hot 
 Water Brooder. How to Make a Brooder. Strong's Brooder. Ren- 
 wick's Brooder. Croton Brooder. How to Manage an Incubator. 
 How to Manage a Brooder. Temperature for Hatching. Moisture. 
 Wh^ lOggs Fail to Hatch. Temperature for Brooder. Managing the 
 Chicks. Hints for Avoiding Mistakes, and many other valuable 
 suggestions. This book should be in the hands of all interested. 
 Address, PouiiTRY Keeper Co., Parkesburg, Chester Co.,' Pa. 
 
 Management of Young Chicks» 
 
 This is No. 3 of our Series, by P. H. Jacobs, editor of the "Poultry 
 Keeper " and is intended for those interested in raising chicks fu 
 large numbers. The price of the book is 25 cents. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 The Egg and the Chick. How the Chlek Grows in the Eiig, Tlie Yollc and the 
 Albumen, The Hen on the Nest, The Demand for Chicks, Over-stocking the 
 Markets, Quality for Market, The Foundation ol Success, Tlie Breeds for Broilers, 
 Feeding Chicks, How to Prepare the Food, Bill of Fare, Hints During Feeding, 
 Soft Food, Brooders, Bowel Disease, Lice, Dami)ness, Pj-oper Temperature for a 
 Brooder, Chicks with Hens, The Kind of Food, its nutritive value, and whether 
 Eaw or Cooked, How Fast will a Chick Grow, Weight at Different Ages, How 
 Much a Pound of Chick Costs. What it Should SellFor, the Profit to Expect, Late 
 Hatched Chicks, Pure-Bred Chicks, Cross-Bred Chicks, The Breeds to Use. Leg 
 Weakness, Feathering, Gapes, Other Diseases, Condition Powders, Eeceipts, 
 The Runs, Young Turkeys,. Young Ducks, and over 100 other important hints. 
 
 This is the only book devoted exclusively to young chicks. All 
 these books are printed in Brevier type and are full of reading, no 
 space being wasted on advertisements. The book is well illustrated. 
 Address, PotrtTBY Keeper Co., Parkesburg, Chester Co., Pa. 
 
MONEY IN THE BACK YARD. 
 
 All who live on a farm or have a backyard in the village, 
 want to make money, and can do it if they go at it right. 
 There is probably nothing else on which so much money can ' 
 be made with a small space of ground as by attention to 
 poultry; and it don't need to interfere with your other business. 
 In a small town in New Jersey (Hammonton) thousands of 
 dollars are annually laid by from the sale of poultry. One 
 man, with less than an eighth of an acre of ground, annually 
 clears over $1000; but., of course, he makes it his only busi- 
 ness. There are forty broiler farms there, the whole, work 
 being inaugurated by P. H. Jacobs, editor of the Poultet 
 Keeper, who lives at Hammonton. Now, to do these things 
 you must study the question in all its phases and know 
 what othei's have done and are doing, and to do this there .is 
 probably no better or more complete way than to read the 
 PouLTET Keeper, which is acknowledged to be the leading 
 poultry paper of the world, being read by many thousands of 
 people. It is published monthly, at only fifty cents per 
 year by the Poultry Keeper Co., Parkesburg, Chester Co., 
 Pa., and you can get a sample copy free, by writing a postal 
 card to them. It is filled up with the experiences of those 
 who are making the business a success. Tells how to muke 
 and manage incubators and brooders ; how to build " poultry 
 houses ; how to take care of poultry ; how to cure diseases j 
 how to preserve eggs ; and has special articles on ducks, geese, 
 turkeys, with hundreds of illustration^. - Even the sample 
 copy you receive will be worth a dollar. Try it. Sample 
 copy free to all by addressing as above. 
 
 330T7Z«r33 'VOXjXTI^X:^. 
 
 We have bound volumes of the PouiiTRy Kesper from its start, 
 April 1884, which make a valuable library for poultrymen. Price, 
 ¥1.25, postpaid, for any one year. 1885-86-87-88 are bound in one 
 volume ; price $2.60, by express, at buyer's expense, or $3 by mail, 
 postpaid. TJhey are substantially bound in black cloth, with gilt 
 stamp on front. Handsome and useful.