Kr~i; «-&a£&g£$ .:.":■' i sec^«ssa»»feK 1 A STOCKMAN-F r- ■ ' , CHICKEN MONEY HOW TO MAKE FARM FLOCKS PROFITABLE BY HOMER W. JACKSON A Poultry Editor of The National Stockman and Farmesr COPYRIGHT 1913 BY THE STOCKMAN-FARMER PUBLISHING COMPANY PITTSBURGH, PA. &3.<-< c j Z H . . to n ^^^^^"^ £ a j to w m m m oi m *• "g nOfoooS oio to^ £ _ a cb m o «j o «io C ft p. '£ a a'S/S -*o w b _ " •-; t, ai o ^f N^MCMo*S 3 CD 1 " "5 J3 '7 ©■3.2 cd- 1 - ni t, to a) c6 rt c 01 pO Ei2 ; ^■2cfl©c C r g a-a^ 9n» w o ( -rf-.„ KM K I? K HI PL, c^ into to ■gx£ rtoq . H J2, X O* •f©! !□□□□ □□□□ !□□□□ n V Pi + f : *l { =P=TT o CO »-B ■» □□□□ □□□□ □□□□ L -. ' Tizzzzzzmzzzzzz zzngzzzz : ,,v:yy.:yy,\ • ■ Z J a v///////>/////>/ Mm>7, xnxoxo CHICKEN MONEY 15 tures if protected from storms, draughts, dampness and great extremes in temperature. There is nothing, however, to be gained by exposing hens to outdoor temperatures when the thermometer is at or below zero. It is true that houses with entire open fronts may be built in such a way as to keep the hens fairly comfortable. Usually, however, this is done by reducing the height of the front to such a point that sunlight cannot penetrate to more than one-half the depth of the house, which necessitates admitting sunlight from the east and the west. Fig. 5 illustrates such a house with a front four feet high. If built 10 x 16 it will accommodate 40 fowls. There are no curtains to bother with, the front being left open at all times. This style of construction is perhaps not objectionable, but is impracticable in houses with more than one compartment. The type of house illustrated in either Fig. 4 or Fig. 6 is better adapted to average farm conditions and farm needs than any other type of house that has been thoroughly tried out. It is not prac- ticable to increase the width of the house beyond 16 feet without adding disproportionately to the expense. It may be built nar- rower if desired, in which case a shed roof may be used instead of a roof of uneven span; but all the proportions and outlines of the house here illustrated have been worked out with great care, and unless there is some special reason for modifying the plan the house should be built as here indicated. A complete bill for lumber and material is appended, and the house can be built with a dirt floor for $86 where lumber can be secured at the prices quoted in the estimate. A substantial board floor can be added at a cost of $22.50. A concrete floor with a solid six-inch concrete foundation can be laid at a cost of about $20, with concrete figured at 12 cents the cubic foot. In localities where cheaper material can be secured this house can be built for much less than the amounts mentioned above. A House for Fifty Hens. If it is desired to build smaller houses the one shown in Fig. 7 is recommended. It is designed to accommodate 50 hens. It is seldom desirable to build houses over 12 feet in width with shed roofs. A greater width than this demands inside supports, which interfere with daily work to a marked degree. A bill for lumber and materials is appended. At the prices quoted this house can be built with a dirt floor for about $50. A board floor will cost $13 additional. A cement floor with solid concrete wall can be added for $15. Other houses in practical use are illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9. The poultry house should be located on a well-drained spot with a southern exposure and in a sheltered position if possible, but should be placed with reference to other buildings, so that the 16 CHICKEN MONEY C3 aj CHICKEN MONEY Figure 6 — House for Fifty Hens — Brooder House in Summer This is a photo of two houses built on the plan given in Figure 7. In this case the houses are used as brooder houses. For description of the use of the house see page 15 Figure 8— House for 100 Hens on an Ohio Farm CHICKEN MONEY Figure 9— Open Front House with Hood Figure II — Portable Colony House— Used as Brooder House in Spring CHICKENMONEY 17 fowls may be cared for along with the other stock of the farm, avoiding as far as possible the necessity for special trips to the hen house. The house may be built very cheaply of rough lumber and covered with roofing paper, or ordinary grooved siding may be used and the house painted. If the lumber has to be bought at usual prices it will be found that the use of grooved siding is more economical than the use of rough lumber to be covered with roofing paper, while the building presents a much more attractive appearance and is more permanent and durable. The roof should be of a good grade of prepared roofing paper. Avoid the use of ordinary tarred roofing because of its lack of durability. Floors. The floor of the poultry house will be determined to some extent by the general location of the building. A dirt floor is always cheapest, and when it is raised above the ground level and thoroughly well drained it is a very satisfactory floor. However, the labor of removing the top dirt and refilling once a year, which ought by all means to be done, is an objection to this type of floor, as is also the fact that rats are likely to burrow in it. A concrete floor may be used under conditions in which a dirt floor would not be practicable, but if used it should be thoroughly insulated, as otherwise it will be cold and damp. The insulation is best effected by spreading between the concrete and the cement top- ping a layer of tarred felt, which completely prevents the water from rising from below. Insulation may also be secured by placing the cement floor on a filling of stone, gravel or sand. Care must be taken, however, to exclude rats which find such conditions exactly suited to their use. Under many conditions, however, a board floor is found to be most satisfactory. This is especially true in damp locations, where it is sometimes difficult to get good results until the floor of the house has been raised two or more feet above the ground level in order to insure dryness. Portable Houses. In addition to the laying houses there should be provided two or three portable colony houses of the type indicated in Fig. 10. These portable houses, to be used for brooding chicks and at various times through the year for the care of surplus stock, are really indispensable. If we are going to develop profitable business flocks on our farms, there must be proper conveniences provided and an opportunity to do the work as efficiently as possible, and the nondescript, miscellaneous brood- ing equipment on the average farm should have no place where the poultry business is viewed as a practical, money-making propo- sition. These portable houses, if built of light-weight lumber, like white pine or poplar, can be hauled from place to place with a 18 CHICKEN MONEY H 1 i 1*7.*. rfl r — H 7s W^O^HNIMlMN CM O £© g- c o "as 'O .s Q) 0) ft ft ' «D 00 I ,6" to o 5 ri p- cc "2 'O a u 5 2 w £ > ffi k ■aizzzzzzzzz ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ2ZZZZZ& TZZZZZZZZZZZZ^. CHICKENMONEY 19 team, and should be moved frequently during the year so that the fowls will have clean ground. This is of special importance when young chickens are being brooded. These brooder houses are most conveniently utilized with adjustable hovers of the Universal type, four of which may be placed in one house, as indicated in Pig. 11, using movable partitions to separate the flocks during the first two or three weeks of their lives, after which the partitions may generally be removed. Three of these houses will furnish accommodations for all the chickens that need be raised to keep up a 200-hen flock if brooders are used, and the temporary make-shift coops, boxes and outdoor brooders which litter the present farmyard should be dis- posed of. This will add very greatly to the efficiency with which the work may be accomplished. The matter of appearance in this connection needs more than passing mention. There is absolutely no necessity for the disreputable appearance of the average farm poultry plant, with its junk pile of odds and ends which have been given over to the poultry because no other use can be found for them. The poultry business is sufficiently profitable to war- rant the provision of decent quarters for the stock and convenient facilities for carrying on the work. The poultry yard, instead of being an eyesore, ought to be as attractive and as neat as any other part of the farm, and it may be so with a little forethought given to planning the equipment and spending a reasonable amount of money. Poultry House Furnishings. The keynote of the poultry house interior should be simplicity. Practically the only essentials are perches and nests, though some other things may be added to reduce labor or waste when special occasion demands. The perches should be of two by four material, suspended on wires or supported by cross strips. The perches should be placed edgewise, with the top corners rounded off. It Is desirable to have the perches smoothly planed. Seven to ten inches of perch room should be provided for each hen, and the perches should be about three feet from the floor and at the rear of the house, or along the north wall. This wall should be absolutely tight, and it is safer to line the wall immediately back of the perches with roofing so that there shall not be any possible chance of draught on the fowls while on the perches. A dropping platform is not a necessity, but is preferred by many and is included in the plans given. Houses without dropping platforms require more frequent cleaning and use more litter, but probably save a good deal of time in the long run, as if dropping platforms are provided they must be cleaned frequently. Nests should be provided in the proportion of about one nest to every five or six hens. The style illustrated in Fig. 16 is convenient and 20 CHICKEN MONEY practical. They should be made about twelve inches wide and from thirteen to fifteen inches from front to rear and an eight-inch board used for the front. Nests may be located under the dropping platform if one is used, but there is less danger from lice if the nests are kept entirely apart from the roosting quarters. While there is a good deal of loss from breakage in the winter time even with the best of care, water vessels of earthenware are the most satisfactory of the cheaper vessels available. A coop for confining broody hens should be provided at every house. This may be built in at one end of the perches, but on account of the danger from lice is better located entirely outside the house. CHAPTER V. BREEDING STOCK. While the farm flocks of the country are generally of mixed breeding or no breeding at all, and in spite of this fact have aston- ished the country by the magnitude of the total value of the product, there is no doubt that the introduction of pure-bred poultry marks the beginning of really profitable poultry farming for the individual breeder. I do not believe that the mongrel farm flock is unprofit- able, because the statistics of the industry in the country at large clearly prove that it is profitable. Nevertheless, the possibilities of the pure-bred flock are so much greater than the possibilities of the ordinary flock that there is no excuse for continuing to breed the latter. Doubtless extravagant claims are made for various breeds, and particularly for the so-called egg-laying strains, but there is no question about the fact that the careful breeder of pure- bred utility stock is able to furnish fowls that will mature more quickly, lay more eggs or reach greater size in a given time than will common stock. It is only necessary to consider the results of the great egg- laying contest carried on by The National Stockman and Farmer a number of years ago to find ample proof for this statement, as far as it relates to egg production. In this contest were flocks representing nearly all the popular breeds as well as many flocks of good grade and mongrel stock, the latter never at any time making a particularly good showing. One of the most important advantages in the possession of pure-bred stock is the effect on the owner himself. There are few men who take a tithe of the interest in common stock that they do in pure-bred animals, and many a man's real interest in farming or stock growing dates from his acquisition of purebred cows, horses, pigs or poultry. The well-bred poultry flock operates more or less directly on the sym- pathy of the owner so that the housing, food and care that seem good enough for the barnyard fowl are seen to be clearly inadequate when better stock directs more attention to these things. As a result pure-bred flocks usually have a better chance and the results are correspondingly better. Quite probably the superior results often secured with pure-bred flocks are due as much to this better care and attention as to the stock itself. Whatever the cause may be, however, the fact remains that a pure-bred flock is almost invariably a better money-maker than the scrub flock — and that is reason enough. Two Strings to the Bow. Even if the pure-bred flock were not any better from a produ- cing point of view than the common flock, the opportunity to sell 21 22 CHICKENMONEY eggs for hatching and stock for breeding at double or twice double the ordinary market value opens up unusual opportunities for additional profit, and no one who is in the poultry business for profit can afford to ignore or neglect them. It is not necessary, nor desirable perhaps, that the average breeder should have the show-room in view. There is a growing demand for just good stock, suitable for foundation stock for farm and com- mercial poultry plants, where the extremes of the show-room are of no consequence. This does not justify the purchase or breeding of low-grade stock, as, for example, the culls from the yards of the show-room breeder. Just as every farm flock should be pure-bred, so every pure-bred flock should be well bred. One of the most important things to be settled in our minds in buying foundation stock is the fact that good stock can be secured only by paying the price. Our general standard of prices for commercial breeding stock is entirely too low. Only under exceptional condi- tions can one buy cheap birds that are worth breeding from. Good prices must be paid if a reasonably high standard is maintained. Day-Old Chicks. The man who has decided to invest in pure-bred poultry is confronted with the problem of how to invest his money to the best advantage and to secure the quickest returns. A great many are starting by buying day-old chicks, and often this seems to be the most satisfactory way to start. No chances need be taken with hens that will not sit nor with incubators that may not hatch well. On the other hand, the buyer of day-old chicks takes something of a chance in buying, especially early in the season, as many shipments of chicks get caught in changing weather while enroute and are injured and weakened before they reach the purchaser's hands. It is unfortunate also that many breeders and incubator operators are selling day-old chicks at prices too low to warrant furnishing stock of the grade that ought to go into breeding pens. So long as the purchaser understands what he is getting there can be no objection to this. Excellent lay- ing stock may be raised from chicks bought at 10 to 15 cents each, but they are not of the grade that we ought to get for breeding purposes. The purchaser should realize that in the purchase of day-old chicks, as in other things, he is not going to get more than he pays for. Breeders are not, as a rule, selling day-old chicks from their best pens at low rates. It is only the cheaper stock that is utilized in this low-priced trade. Buying Eggs for Hatching. Where money for the venture is limited, probably the best way to start under present conditions is to buy eggs for hatching. There are often special reasons why eggs from very good stock CHICKEN MONEY 23 are selling at low prices, but generally it is necessary to pay what seems like an extravagant price to be sure of getting just what one wants. The modest few-line advertisements often announce eggs from flocks of small or unknown breeders who have stock of excel- lent breeding and at half the price of similar quality from breeders of established reputation. Except in such instances, however, and when buying without personal knowledge of the stock, it is better to pay several dollars a sitting than to lose the opportunity of an entire season through false economy. It is well to buy from those breeders who are at no great distance from the buyer's home. Eggs usually suffer more or less from long shipment, and hatches from eggs purchased from nearby breeders are much more likely to be satisfactory. Buying Breeding Stock. A quicker and more expensive method of getting a start is to purchase a trio or a breeding pen from which the buyer can produce his own eggs for hatching. He may in this way know more about what he is getting. The mere fact that one has paid $5 a sitting for eggs is no guaranty that the chicks hatched will be good breeders when they are raised. We often have the experience of buying eggs for hatching at long prices only to find when the chickens have matured that they are useless as breeders. This is not always the fault of the breeder. He cannot know certainly what is going to be the result of a mating, and it often happens that his matings, made in the best of faith, do not "nick" and he has lost an entire year and perhaps his reputation as well. The buyer of a breeding pen has this same risk to take, but at least he has a better chance to see what he is getting. On account of the expense, trouble and uncertainty associated with establishing a pure-bred flock by either method, many take the alternative of buying pure-bred males each year and mating with their original mixed or mongrel flock and gradually grading it up. This is a cheap and quick way of securing improve- ment, but it never results in securing a really pure-bred flock. While it is often practicable to grade up the general commercial flock in this way it should be looked upon only as a temporary expedient and every effort should be made to put the entire flock on a pure- bred basis as promptly as possible. The Fallacy of Cross-Breeding. A common and curious fallacy among many is that while pure- bred fowls should be secured for the flock it is better to cross- breed on the commercial farm than to stick to the same breed all the time. It is true that sometimes surprising results are secured by crossing breeds. It is also true that the advantage is temporary and the ultimate effect on the cross-bred flock is to 24 CHICKBNMONEY lose all uniformity of characteristics, and the last state of that flock is worse than its first. It is a fair presumption that whatever advantages may arise temporarily from cross-breeding are due to the introduction of new blood into a neglected or inbred flock, a result which could probably be secured just as well by the use of unrelated males of the same breed, leaving the flock still unim- paired from a breeding point of view. The breeder who has been fortunate in securing his foundation stock is confronted with the problem of how to maintain the high quality which he may have secured and at the same time avoid the dangers of inbreeding on the one hand and on the other the danger of losing all that he has gained by the introduction of new blood which may not be as good as his own besides adding greatly to the expense of keeping up his flock by continual pur- chases. It should be understood that while inbreeding is not a matter which can be trifled with, and in the hands of inexperi- enced breeders is likely to result in deterioration, it is not true that inbreeding is in itself injurious, and with proper care to avoid the use of any but the strongest and most vigorous specimens in the breeding pen, inbreeding may be used to a considerable extent in the improvement of the flock without in any way injuring it. The usual objection to the purchase of high-grade males is that when their usefulness is limited to a single season it is not practical to pay the prices that are now being asked for really desirable breeders. For this reason the breeder should rather make up his mind to follow inbreeding to the extent, at least, of keeping good male birds for two or three years, and by thus increasing their period of usefulness be able to afford better stock than will be practicable if new males are purchased each year. Farm Breeding. While the extreme development of show points demanded for winners does not need to concern the farm breeder, he should have a clear conception of the special characteristics which are associated with the fowls which he is breeding, and he should study poultry breeding problems as seriously, at least, as he studies the breeding of his sheep, hogs or cows. Skill is a matter of ex- perience and time, and it is entirely outside the province of this work to give specific instructions along this line. Of almost equal importance is the study of the more practical problems connected with breeding, such as constitutional vigor and the proper feeding and management of the breeding stock. Under the conditions which characterize most commercial plants the con- stitutional vigor of our fowls needs careful attention. The constant tendency among most, breeders is toward deterioration in this re- spect, and the continual complaints of losses in breeding stock, poor hatches and the appalling prevalence of chick diseases are all CHICKEN MONEY Figure 12 — Portable Brooder Houses— Heated by Coal Stoves. From 300 to 500 Chicks are Brooded in One Flock in Each House Figure 13— Portable Colony Houses— Used as Laying Houses in Winter, and Brooder Houses in Spring CHICKEN MONEY Figure 14 — Portable Brooder Houses Figure 15— Colony Houses Used in South Shore Districft, Mass. CHICKENMONEY 25 largely due to lack of attention to the constitutional vigor of our flocks. At the beginning of the breeding season all the fowls that are to go into the breeding flock should be carefully examined, and those which show any indication of physical weakness should be removed, regardless of their desirability in other respects. Fowls with dull eyes, pale combs, flat, narrow breasts, unusually long legs or necks, narrow faces, hawk-like bills, awkward in their carriage, unsteady on their legs or presenting any indica- tions of weakness or lack of vigor such as would be apparent to any breeder on a careful examination, are not birds that should be continued in the breeding pen. Neither should any fowls be included in the breeding pen that have ever given any indication of weakness or lack of thrift at any time either as chicks or adults, regardless of how they may appear at the time the breeding pen is b use brooders of this class to advantage in emergencies, and in warm weather, but the tendency on the part of many to substitute cold brooders for heated brooders at all seasons should be discouraged as the result of so doing is likely to be disastrous. Stunted growth and susceptibility to. disease are common tendencies among chicks so brooded. Lowered vitality and loss of constitu- tional vigor are almost inevitable. Young chicks need some sup- plied heat, and the effort to keep them warm by confining their own heat under the hover results generally in insufficient ventilation, damp brooders and mouldy hover cloths— each a most prolific source of disease. The labor cost of raising chicks in lampless brooders 34 CHICKENMONEY Is even greater than with hens and results are much less satis- factory in the long run. Feeding Chicks. The precise method of feeding young chicks and the choice ■ \ Millet 12 10 57 4 Sunflower seed 16 30 ^l ti Linseed meal or oil meal, o. p 33 » ao » Linseed meal or oil meal, new pro 33 10 38 3 Peanut meal 48 5 24 8 Green bone 22 i < ♦Meat scrap 55 »« Dried blood 84 ? Skimmilk (gravity) 3 J Buttermilk 4 * ' Whey 1 * * Clover hay 12 25 3 Alfalfa hay 14 , 25 « & Silage 2 6 11 1 Beets, mangel 1 y Cabbage 2 * Meat scrap varies widely in composition; in practical feeding the analysis on the bag must be adopted. 44 CHICKENMONEY Ration No. 1. A whole grain ration. Not likely to give as good results as one providing a mash but meeting all the theoretical requirements. Protein Fibre 200 pounds of corn 20 4 200 pounds of wheat 24 4 100 pounds of oats 12 9 60 pounds of meat scrap 33 Per cent of protein, 15.2; fibre, 4. Ration No. 2. A simple formula offering little variety. A little high in fibre. Protein Fibre 200 pounds of corn 20 4 50 pounds of buckwheat (or oats) 5 4.5 150 pounds of mash 36 8 Per cent of protein, 15.2; fibre, 4. Mash formula: 200 pounds of bran, 150 middlings, 100 meat scrap. Ration No. 3. A better ration under most conditions. Protein Fibre 200 pounds of corn 20 4 100 pounds of wheat 12 2 150 pounds of mash 37 9 Per cent of protein, 15.3; fibre, 3.3. Mash formula: 100 pounds each of bran, middlings, ground oats and meat scrap. Ration No. 4. A more complicated ration but better for fowls in confinement. Protein Fibre 200 pounds of corn 20 4 200 pounds of wheat 24 4 50 pounds of oats 6 5 250 pounds of mash 54.7 13.3 Per cent of protein, 15; fibre, 3.5. Mash formula: 200 pounds of bran, 100 pounds of middlings, 100 pounds of buckwheat middlings, 100 pounds of corn meal, 100 pounds of gluten feed, 50 pounds of meat scrap, and 50 pounds of oil meal. Pounds of protein in 100 pounds of mash, 21.5; fibre, 5.3. Is It Practical? The foregoing discussion of feeding should enable any one to feed with a pretty accurate knowledge of what he is doing if he will take the trouble to work out his rations along the lines suggested. Whether he will be any more successful than before depends upon the amount of practical judgment he combines with his figures. Many will doubtless think that all this is too elaborate and the- CHICKENMONEY 45 oretical for the practical man, but the more practical the poultry- man is the more willing he generally is to use all possible aids in his feeding. It would be foolish to rely entirely on food tables and mathematics in working out rations, and it would be just as foolish to shut one's eyes to all that food experts have learned. Undoubtedly some are doing just this and getting good results, but the great majority are getting the worst of results and would be much abler to understand why if they would sit down and work out the real feeding value of the rations they are giving. For example, the man who is feeding his hens whole corn and nothing else would find that his hens, in order to get the .60 of an ounce of protein that they need daily, must eat at least six ounces a day. This is considerably more than the average hen will consume and more than she can digest if fed for a considerable length of time. Average hens get little more protein than is needed solely for maintenance in the proportion in which they will take such a ration. There is no possibility of their producing eggs. The addition of a small amount of animal food in the form of meat scrap, if fresh meat is not obtainable, will make it pos- sible for the hen to get all the protein she needs without . eating more than three and one-half to four ounces a day, and such an addition will usually result in a prompt increase in the egg pro- duction. On the other hand, the man who reasons that if a little protein is good a good deal better, would learn, if he would care- fully work out his feeding values, that his ration is not only unnecessarily expensive but that it is also so low in fibre that his hens are falling far short of the amount necessary to enable them to digest their food properly, as a direct result of which they must suffer sooner or later from digestive disorders, or at least become valueless as producers. It is not entirely safe to assume that the hens know best what they need and the proportion in which they need it. It is desirable and practical to allow them some measure of liberty in choosing what they will eat, but as things go on most farms we can more certainly protect the health of our fowls If we use a little care and forethought in selecting their feed. Animal Food. There is excellent reason for believing that animal food of some sort is a necessity in practical feeding, in spite of the fact that some experiments point the other way. Whether the value of animal food is due entirely to the protein it provides, or perhaps in considerable measure to the mineral elements contained, is a subject requiring further investigation. Whatever the reason, the fact remains that animal food in some form is considered indis- pensable in feeding the commercial flock. No doubt green cut bone or fresh meat is the best possible source of animal food, if for no other reason than that it is the most palatable form in which 46 CHICKEN MONEY animal food may be supplied. The practical difficulties in the way of securing either one of these feedstuffs and keeping in good con- dition until fed make it out of the question for more than a few to meet the need for animal food in this way. The great majority of poultrymen find commercial meat scrap or beef scrap the most practical and most convenient source of animal food. Meat scrap, which consists of butchering offal cooked, dried and ground, varies greatly in composition and analysis, and a little more than ordinary care should be exercised in its purchase. Meat scrap should carry an analysis of 50 to 60 per cent protein and as little fat as possible. It should not be particularly disagreeable in odor. The best way to test scrap in this respect is to pour boiling water over a small sample. If it smells like fertilizer under this test it should not be used. The practice of buying meat scrap from local dealers in small quantities is a wasteful way of buying. It should always be secured in hundred-pound bags to get the benefit of wholesale prices. It will keep indefinitely if stored in a dry, cool place. If by any chance it should spoil or become mouldy it should be used for fertilizer. Spoiled meat scrap is a dangerous food for poultry, and, in fact, spoiled meat in any form. In buying meat scrap the percentage of fat should be carefully noted. This generally runs as high as 30 per cent, which is probably much higher than is desirable. The dark-brown drop- pings and other evidences of indigestion that frequently accompany the feeding of meat may be due principally to an excess of fat. Other sources of animal food are blood meal, pork scraps and fresh cooked butchering scraps and may be used when price makes it an object, but are usually quite high in fat. Blood meal, while con- taining little fat, should be used with a good deal of care a8 results with it are often unsatisfactory. Milk. Milk is sometimes recommended as a substitute for meat, and during the summer time when fowls are on open range it will probably answer very well. It is not a complete substitute for meat, however, when the fowls are closely confined during the winter. In a general way it may be said that there is nothing in any of the rations that have been discussed for which something else cannot be substituted, but to this general rule corn and animal food appear to be exceptions. For the rest, so far as we now know, there is no reason why substitutes should not be made wher* ever it appears to be desirable to do so. Whatever cheapens the ration or makes it more palatable to the hens is worth feeding freely, provided its use does not materially affect the standards of feeding laid down at the beginning of this chapter. CHICKENMONBY 47 Green Food. Fowls on open range consume a considerable amount of green food and in winter or when in confinement should be provided with a regular supply in some form. It is not probable that green food so supplied plays any appreciable part in the nutrition of fowls "but undoubtedly they will keep in better health and lay more eggs if it is provided. The tender shoots of sprouting grains, grass and young clover are greatly relished. In the winter cabbage, roots of all kinds, particularly mangels or stock beets, are good. Lacking these clover hay or even silage may be substituted. Mangels, however, are so well adapted to the purpose that a sufficient quantity for winter use should be raised by every one who keeps fowls. Dried beet pulp is used successfully by many, but is more expensive. Grit and Shell. Exactly what function is performed by grit is not perfectly understood. There is no good reason for believing that grit is a necessity or that it in any way performs the function of teeth in the preparation of food. Careful experiments have shown that the consumption of grit may be very slight or may be omitted entirely without in any manner affecting the health of the fowls. Lime in some form is necessary to provide shell material. Oyster shell is usually the most convenient source of supply for this purpose, and where oyster shell is regularly supplied grit does not seem to be at all necessary either on open range or la confinement. CHAPTER IX. PRODUCTION OF TABLE POULTRY. With the exception of certain localities, here and there, where highly specialized lines of table poultry production have been de- veloped, the production of high grade table poultry has been completely ignored by farmers. Without any question there is an excellent opportunity for developing a paying business in supplying consumers who want the best in table poultry and are willing to pay much better prices for it than the ordinary range of wholesale prices would indicate. Sales of market poultry would rapidly double if poultry of good quality were generally obtainable. Those who keep flocks of general-pur- pose fowls are realizing only a part of their possible income by neglecting this branch of the business. Any of the general-pur- pose or meat breeds may be used for this purpose, as the chief secret in the production of high-class table poultry lies in the proper feeding of the fowls before they are sent to market. It is of course desirable that pure-bred fowls should be used for the sake of greater uniformity in size and appearance. Plymouth Hocks and Wyandottes have no equals in this respect in most of our markets. They have plump bodies and in an unusual degree the yellow legs and skin which are most popular. In the production of the best table poultry the fowls are handled with reference to their final market, almost from the start. They are so managed and fed that they have little occasion or dis- position to take much exercise, and in this way their flesh is kept comparatively soft until the fowls are pretty well grown and ready for final fitting. When they have reached a weight of three to five pounds they are usually in the best condition for fattening, an.l unless there is something special in the state of the market to prevent they are fattened at this time and either disposed of for immediate use or for storage. There are two general methods of fattening fowls, known as pen fattening and crate fattening. Pen Fattening. In pen fattening fowls in flocks of convenient size are confined to small house pens, crowding them so as to prevent exercise. They are fed the usual fattening rations in troughs. Fattening can be done in this way at the lowest cost for labor and equipment, and for ordinary market purposes it is most practical. Fowls fattened in pens, however, do not represent the highest quality or largest 48 CHICKEN MONEY 49 gains obtainable as there is too much opportunity for exercise and the flesh cannot be softened as in crates. Crate Fattening. For crate fattening, crates are provided similar to the one shown in Fig 24, which is 6 feet long, 20 inches deep and 20 inches high. This crate is divided into three compartments accommodating from three to five fowls, depending upon size. The bottom of this crate is slatted or covered with heavy inch- mesh netting, and the fowls are confined in them for from two to four weeks. Under such confinement, with no opportunity what- ever for exercise, the muscle fibers become quite a little softer and with the proper rations excellent quality is secured. Whether the fowls are fed in pens or in crates the rations used by the best fatteners are very similar, consisting of fine-ground grains mixed with buttermilk to a batter consistency and fed two or three times a day. Experiments have shown that there is little use in trying to fatten fowls beyond a certain point on whole grains, and the best results are always secured with the fine- ground grain mixtures and buttermilk. The ration in most common use in the Western fattening sta- tions, where this method has been remarkably developed in the lasti few years, consists of about 60 pounds of corn meal and 40 pounds of low-grade flour. About 1% pounds of buttermilk is required to each pound of grain. Some feeders use oatmeal in- stead of low-grade flour, or in addition to it, and other foods are used to some extent. A fattening ration of 60 parts of corn meal, 30 parts of low-grade flour and 10 parts of wheat middlings or oatmeal would probably prove a little more palatable to the fowls, as the mixture of corn meal and low-grade flour alone is some- times too slimy to be entirely palatable. Fowls fed in this way are known on the market as "milk-fed" and command the highest prices when marketed in good condition. Fowls so fed, however, spoil more quickly than those which are fattened without milk and care must be taken in their handling on this account. The poul- try man who contemplates making a specialty of high-grade fowls for market has to face the necessity of sending them to market dressed, because it is not practicable to ship specially fatted fowls alive, nor is it possible to get satisfactory prices for them when so shipped. Dry Picking. A still more discouraging thing to the beginner is the ne- cessity for sending the chickens dry-picked. In nearly all in- stances the best markets demand dry-picking, not only on account of appearance but also because the fowls keep in better con- so CHICKEN MONEY dition. The average poultryman who does not live near a city has little chance to learn dry-picking as it is practiced by experts. His first attempts at self-help are seldom reassuring. The expert finds it a simple matter. A couple of quick cuts with the knife, a shudder and a few convulsive struggles, a few quick motions of the hands and it is all over and the feathers in the box. There is only one way for the beginner to learn and that is to get the best possible instruction and then keep practicing until he has mastered the art. In dry-picking the expert first makes a cut in the back part of the mouth which severs the large blood-vessels lying on each side of the neck, and then the bird is "stuck" by running the point of the knife into the brain, touching the skull be- tween and just back of the eyes. When prop- erly done the fowl immediately becomes insen- sible, the muscles which control the feathers relax, the feathers loosen and for a minute or two can be removed with the greatest ease. Getting the proper stick is a matter of practice, as is also the removal of the feathers before the muscles begin to set again and tighten their hold on the feathers. In the Boston mar- ket a somewhat different method is followed. Here most of the bleeding is done with an out- side cut, running the knife through the neck back of the ears, between the windpipe and the spinal column and making a cross cut against the latter that severs both blood-vessels. This method is supposed to make the fowl bleed bet- ter. Sticking is done by inserting the point of the knife from the outside just in front of or under the eye and forcing it up into the skull, reaching the same point as in the inside stick. There are other methods of killing (fowls for dry-picking, but these two are the ones most commonly used. They are both tolerably difficult for the beginner to acquire, and even experts find some difficulty in employing these methods when they are out of practice. It is questionable, therefore, whether the farmer or the poultryman with a small flock can satisfactorily use them. Figure 25— Showing Large Blood Vessels A Simple Dry-Picking Method. Another method, which is simpler and which requires prac- tically no skill in applying, is that of clubbing the fowls. In dry picking by this method the fowl is hung up by the feet so that its head will be about even with the waistline of the picker. A cord with a slipnoose may be used but a more convenient arrange- CHICKEN MONEY 51 ment is to have the cord terminate in a wooden button about an inch to an inch and a quarter in diameter. In using, the cord is wrapped once round the fowl's legs, and the button slipped through between cord and legs. So fastened the fowl will be held securely no matter how hard it struggles but can be released instantly when the picker so desires. Holding the fowl under the left arm it is given a sharp blow on the back of the head, using a club of con- venient size and weight. A ham- mer or hatchet handle does nicely. After striking with the club the knife is inserted into the mouth and the bird bled in the usual way, the blood cup attached by a hook which runs through the lower man- dible, and the picking proceeds as rapidly as possible. This method does not loosen the feathers as completely as is done in sticking when properly done, but it never fails to give fairly good results and the beginner is not annoyed by frequent failure to get a good stick, which makes it impossible to pick the fowls at all without scalding. The requirements of the market should be carefully studied before sending fowls to it and the fowls dressed according to its particular demands. Philadelphia and Boston prefer fowls undrawn with head and feet on, and without any question, if the fowls have been prop- erly prepared by starving for 24 hours or more, this is much the better way to send them to market. Undrawn fowls keep better than drawn fowls and customers should be encouraged to purchase them in this condition. The farm poultryman who does not have a large number of fowls to dispose of will find it more to his interest to secure a retail trade or to make a contract with some retail grocer or butcher to handle his fowls for him, as much better terms can be made in this way than by trying to sell them at wholesale. Carefully dressed and put on the market clean and in neat pack- ages the price which may be secured for such fowls is very much in advance of the price paid for ordinary market stock. Scalding Fowls. Where the market does not demand dry picking the poultryman or farmer will have less difficulty in putting his table poultry on 3 m. Figure 26— Blood Cup 52 CHICKENMONEY the market in an acceptable manner. While scalded poultry never looks as well as dry picked there are some markets which prefer it dressed in this way, and with reasonable care fowls so dressed will make a much better appearance than is usually the case. The chief reason for the blotched and discolored appearance of scalded fowls is due to the unnecessary breaking of the skin in dressing. If the fowls are to be marketed with their heads and feet on they should be hung up by the feet, killed by clubbing and bled in the way which we have already described in connection with the directions for dry picking. Killing by chopping off the head is always objectionable on account of the fluttering and bruis- ing of the wings which always accompanies this method. As soon as the fowl is through bleeding it should be scalded at once. In scalding, boiling water should not be used but at scalding temper- ature only, which is 180 degrees. Plenty of water should be used for the purpose and on the farm there is probably no better way of doing it than to use the common iron kettle which should be about two-thirds full of water. Plenty of water must be used so that the fowls can be completely immersed. Heat the water to the boiling point and then pour in from one to two gallons of cold water to reduce it to scalding temperature. Hold the fowl firmly by head and feet and dip it completely under the water and withdraw as quickly as possible. Now hold it head down and shake it to loosen the feathers, then dip a second time. Usually two dippings will be sufficient to loosen the feathers. The fowl should be hung up by the feet as when being bled, and picked promptly without touching the skin. Most of the blemishes on scalded poultry are due to pinching and rubbing the skin, which may be avoided with a little care. After the fowl is plucked it should be cooled promptly and should not be handled until thoroughly cooled. If the fowl is drawn it should be allowed to cool before drawing and should be thoroughly dry when handled. If these precautions are taken the skin will not be marred and the fowl will make a much better appearance in the market. Dressed fowls should be wrapped in wax paper when marketed. This paper can be secured at a low price and the more attractive appearance made by poultry so' wrapped adds decidedly to its salability. This subject has been discussed from the standpoint of mature fowls or roasters altogether, because in most instances this is the most profitable way in which to dispose of surplus stock. Chicks that are hatched early in the season may sell profitably as broilers, but the great majority of farm-raised poultry is hatched too late to command good prices as such, and when this is the case it is a waste of opportunity to neglect their proper prepara- tion to sell as roasters. In what is known as the South Shore District, near Boston, the production of what are known locally as soft roasters has CHICKENMONEY 53 become an important industry and there many farmers depend upon their sales of soft roasters for the greater part of their income. The soft roaster business is a highly specialized industry, and most farmers will not be interested in developing it along the lines followed in the South Shore District. Every young chicken, however, is a soft roaster if it is properly handled, fattened and killed before reaching maturity, and there is a large and en- tirely unsatisfied demand for such fowls in every market. It will amply repay anyone to make the production of table poultry an im- portant part of his business at any season of the year. Even those who are not interested in the production of market poultry as a specialty should at least put their surplus stock on the market in good condition. CHAPTER X. THE HEALTH OF THE FLOCK. The losses from disease in the poultry yard are much heavier under ordinary conditions than in other classes of livestock, due in large measure to the artificial conditions under which our fowls are kept and the extreme methods adopted by many in poultry management. There is little use in doctoring sick fowls, as the value of the birds is too small to pay for the time required id treating them. Rational methods of feeding and man- agement, careful breeding and sanitation will do much to prevent the appearance of disease. The use of fowls that are low in vigor is one of the most common sources of disease and loss. An important point in the prevention of disease therefore is the use of nothing but the best and most vigorous fowls in the breeding pen. Many evidences of low constitutional vigor are ap- parent to the observant poultryman and it is only necessary to give serious attention to this matter to improve the general health of the flock. The housing and feeding of the stock are of the greatest importance in protecting health. Houses that are well ventilated, that are dry and clean, and that are thor- oughly disinfected at least once a year are essential. It is not desirable to have warm houses, particularly for breeding stock, and it is much safer to err on the side of having them too cold rather than too warm. Neither should the fowls be con- lined to their houses any more than is absolutely necessary. The, widest possible range under the most favorable conditions should be given the breeding stock, even though the rest of the fowl3 may have to be confined. Irregular and improper feeding of fowls is a prolific source of disease. Experiments, both with poultry and with other classes of livestock, indicate that the use of a certain amount of corn in the ration is accompanied usually with vigorous fertility and vitality. The condition of the fowls, however, has much to do with this matter, and obviously breeding stock that becomes over- fat on a heavy corn diet is less likely to give good results than stock in better breeding condition. Where corn is freely used care should be taken to see that the fowls take plenty of exercise, feeding grain in deep litter and compelling them to scratch for practically all grain given. Injurious feedstuffs, or those which have been spoiled or damaged, frequently cause disease and only the best and most wholesome grains should be used in feeding. 54 CHICKENMONEY 55 Soil Contamination. The soil is subject to contamination through the presence of a considerable variety of disease germs, and many poultry farms nave been seriously handicapped or ruined in this way. The danger is most common in heavy clay soils and in damp locations. With ordinary care and management sandy and gravelly soils are less seriously affected. There is no reason why fowls cannot be kept on heavy soils in safety but more care must be taken to Keep the surroundings clean and well drained, and whenever pos- sible it is well to give the permanent quarters an occasional rest by temporarily transferring the fowls to some other location and allowing something to grow on the ground. Yards should be cultivated and sown to rye or grass when they become bare, at which time also they should be treated with liberal applications of air-slaked lime. The observance of these simple precautions will assist greatly in keeping down bacterial diseases. The poultry house should be disinfected occasionally, for which purpose a variety of disinfectants may be used;, giving preference of course to those which are most readily available. The orchardist will find the lime-sulphur wash satisfactory; the stockman will get as good results with the common sheep dips or other coal tar disinfectants which are used in general disin- fection; and in the absence of anything else ordinary whitewash answers the purpose of the latter. The tendency to scale and rub off makes it less desirable for the purpose than the other preparations mentioned. Dissecting. The importance of dissecting dead chickens is not realized generally and the subject needs emphasis. If poultrymen would form the habit of cutting up their dead chickens, examining the various vital organs and learning to recognize the normal appear- ance of the organs and their appearance when diseased, it would assist greatly in protecting the health of the flock. The ability to recognize the cause and location of disease in fowls is an invaluable asset to the poultryman. The most con- venient method of dissection is to lay the bird on a board or a table, breast up, fasten the wings and feet in an outstretched posi- tion by driving nails or tacks through them, then split the skin from neck to vent and remove the breast bone and attached muscles. This will lay bare the entire body cavity and make easy the removal of the different organs and their examina- tion. In all cases of uncertainty in regard to the cause of death this method should be followed. 56 CHICKEN MONEY Some Common Diseases. It is not the purpose of this chapter to go into a general discussion of the different diseases of poultry, but a few of the more common are mentioned and such simple treatments indicated as are practicable under ordinary conditions. Fowls that have been seri- ously sick should never be returned to the breeding pen no matter how valuable they may have been before sickness, as there is no more certain way of undermining the health of the flock than by using such fowls, even though they may seem afterward to have entirely recovered their health. The value of a sick bird that has been cured is simply its value on the market and it should never be thought of in any other way. The two general classes of disease in mature fowls that prove most troublesome are digestive disorders and those of the nature of catarrh or roup. Digestive disorders are usually due to im- proper feeding caused by using extreme formulas or methods, by supplying feedstuffs that have become spoiled, or by a lack of certain things which are essential to the health of the fowl. A lack of green feed, for example, may result in liver disorders. Rations which contain an excess of fat will also cause similar disorders. Death from liver disease is easily distinguished by examination. The liver may be mottled with lighter colored tissue or it may be much darker than normal. It may be greatly enlarged and congested, or it may be wasted away. In young chicks the liver may be edged with red while the central part is yellowish In color. The gall bladder may be enlarged and the liver, where it comes in contact with it, blackened. Several liver diseases are indicated by these symptons, 'but as practically all are trace- able to improper food or methods of feeding they need not be dis- cussed in detail. Unfortunately the presence of liver trouble is rarely accompanied by external indications until it has progressed so far that treatment is of little avail. The careful and observant poultryman, however, may often save fowls by detecting liver disorder in early stages and administering a dose of one-fourth to one-third teaspoon of Epsom salts, than which there is no more simple effective remedy for any digestive or liver disorder. Acute diarrhoea and inflammation of the intestines are easily recognized and taken in the first stages are best treated with Epsom salts, as is also the case with inflammation of the crop or of the glandular stomach, commonly called gastritis. These latter troubles are due to the feeding of irritating or poisonous foods. Most cases of so-called cholera are simply cases of acute indiges- tion. Genuine cholera is a very uncommon disease and one which there is little hope of treating when it does make its appearance. On account of the comparative infrequency of its occurrence, how- CHICKEN MONEY 5? ever, It is usually safe to assume that deaths result from some other cause. Fowls are subject to the attacks of a variety of intestinal worms, but they are all more or less amenable to the same treat- ment. Where worms are suspected the proper treatment is a dose of ten grains of areca nut given after fasting, in a teaspoonful of warm milk. In all cases of internal disorders special care should be taken with the ration, giving the fowls whole grains in limited quantities, plenty of green food and open range. No matter what symptoms may be observed it is always a safe pre- caution to remove sick fowls from the flock, and every poultry plant should have a small house which may be utilized as a hospital. Diseases of a catarrhal nature, whether they are simple colds or the much-dreaded roup, usually start with cold or inflammation of the mucous membrane of the nostrils and head, and there will seldom be much trouble or loss if the fowls are isolated from the flock as soon as the initial stages of the disorder are observed and given simple treatment. The exact nature of roup is not perfectly understood, but there is good reason for believing that there would be few cases of roup if colds and catarrh were taken in hand promptly at their first appearance, when they may easily be cured. There is no rational objection to the use of fowls, in breeding flocks, that have had simple colds, but when the cold has advanced to the stage of roup such birds should be disposed of at once. The best treatment for a simple cold or catarrhal condition is thoroughly to wash out the nasal passages with a two per cent solution of boric acid or with peroxide of hydrogen or a strong solution of potassium permanganate. For this purpose the most effective instrument is a simple rubber syringe, which can be procured at any drug-store for a few cents and ought to be a regular part of the equipment of every one who keeps chickens. Frequently two or three treatments of this nature will be all that is necessary to effectually check this disorder. A somewhat simpler treatment, and one which is perhaps as effective when the disease is treated in its first stages, is the use of lamp oil. This may be applied to the nostrils of the fowl with a feather or a swab, but a better plan is to fill a quart can two- thirds full of water, pour on two or three spoonfuls of kerosene and then slowly dip the fowl's head deep into the can, and repeat the operation two or three times with short intervals between. This results in spreading a thin film of kerosene over the nasal membranes, and one or two applications will frequently cure. Where potassium permanganate is used the fowl's head may be dipped in a strong solution in the manner just described 68 CHICKENMONEY for the use of kerosene. Chronic cases of catarrh and even roup may be cured by persistent use of the means already described, but much time and patience are required. Diseases of Chicks. The diseases affecting young chickens are numerous, some of them directly traceable to defective breeding stock or improper hatching, and some to the conditions of brooding and feeding during the first two or three weeks of their lives. As in the case of mature fowls the poultryman should thoroughly familiarize him- self with the appearance of the organs in normal condition, and then dissect his dead chickens until he has in this way determined certainly the nature of the disorder. There are half a dozen gen- eral causes of disease in very young chickens, all of them accom- panied by similar symptoms, and not even those who are expert In the diagnosis of chick diseases are able to identify such diseases by outward symptoms. A great deal of misunderstanding is due to the common habit of referring to practically all diseases of chicks as "white diarrhoea." There is no such disease, properly so called. Any- thing that affects the health of the chick will cause diarrhoea, and chick diarrhoea is usually white. Dissection and microscopical examination are often necessary in order to certainly determine the cause of the disorder. A common disease in some sections is that known as baciliary white diarrhoea. This disease has been thoroughly investigated and described by the Connecticut State Agricultural Experiment Station at Storrs. A complete descrip- tion of the disease, of its symptoms and of the methods of prevention will be found in Bulletins Nos. 60 and 68, which can be secured by addressing the Station at Storrs. Another disease, known as coccidiosis, is described by Dr. G. B. Morse in Circular 128, Bureau of Animal Industry, Washington, D. C. This circular fully describes the symptoms and gives detailed methods for detecting the presence of the disease, and it should be in the hands of every poultryman. Another disease, perhaps as common as either of the two mentioned, is aspergillosis. This, is caused by mould which grows in the lung tissue of the young chick and is easily detected on examination, the lungs of infected chicks being more or less tilled with white nodules or balls of yellow cheesy matter. The usual cause of aspergillosis is the use of mouldy food, or mouldy litter in the brooder. Dusty clover hay is a prolific source of as- pergillosis and every precaution should be taken to protect the chicks from mould of every sort during the first few days of their lives. Congestion of the lungs, sometimes called brooder pneumonia, is a common disease among young chickens and is easily de- CHICKENMONEY 69 tected by the appearance of the lungs, which instead of being light pink in color are dark and filled with bloody mucus or frothy matter and indicating congestion quite plainly. This disease is common among chicks brooded in cold or "lampless" brooders; it is caused by over-heating or chilling and can be carefuly guarded against in the management of the brooder. Acute diarrhoea, due to the feeding of mouldy, sour or irrita- ting foods, is common and is sometimes mistaken for some of the various forms of disease already described. It is hardly possible to lay down specific rules for the prevention of such disorders, but careful and. conservative feeding will always prevent the appearance of the trouble in vigorous chicks. Much may be done to relieve chicks with a tendency to bowel trouble by the addition of a small amount of Cayenne pepper or ground mustard to the soft food, never using enough to make it disagreeable to the taste. Diarrhoea may frequently be checked by giving boiled milk to drink. Boiled rice fed once or twice a day is excellent. Various astringent drugs are recommended, but if the simple agencies just described do not stop the trouble It is doubtful whether there is anything to be gained by more radical treatment Gapes. Gapes is caused by the presence of a worm m tne throat of the chick and the source of infection is the soil. The gapeworm does not cause any serious injury to the young chick directly, and without question many thousands of chickens have gapes without that fact ever being noted, as there is no way to detect presence of gapeworms unless in numbers sufficient to obstruct the passage of air and in that way cause death by suffocation. Clay and lime- stone soils are particularly favorable to gape infection and fre- quently there is no way to prevent the disease except by keeping the chicks on board floors till they are past the danger point, which is about the fourth or fifth week. The only other alterna- tive is to have two or three nursery yards on which the chicks may be raised in alternate years and in that way escape contamina- tion of the soil. The usual source of infection is from earth-worms which carry the eggs of the gapeworm to the chick. The eggs probably hatch in the intestinal tract and the worm in minute form burrows its way through the body tissues until it reaches the windpipe, to the inner surface of which it attaches itself and remains there until it is dislodged or until it has matured. At maturity, which is most commonly about the time the young chick dies, the female gape- worm contains hundreds' of fertile eggs, at which time it also dies. As the body tissues decay the eggs are set free and enter 60 CHICKEN MONEY the soil. Obviously earth-worms do not cause gapes; they simply carry the infection, and if there is no infection in the soil earth- worms are entirely harmless. The chief cause of leg weakness is insufficient exercise or too close confinement to house pens. It can usually 1 be remedied promptly by allowing the chick access to an outdoor run. "Common Sense Treat- ment of Farm Animals " By DR. C. D. SMEAD 'J'HIS book, written by Dr. Smead, a noted authority in his line, tells in every-day style how to treat common diseases of cattle, horses, sheep and swine. Tells how to keep them healthy and thriving and what to do in case of emergency— chok- ing, colic, bloating, wounds, etc. The illus- trations make the book worth many times more than is asked for it, showing as they do the methods of applying different treat- ments. Animals on every farm get sick at times. The study of Dr. Smead's di- rections and quick action will save nine cases out of ten. You can't follow direc- tions without the book. Price 50 cents. Copyrighted and Published by The National Stockman and Farmer Publishing Company. 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