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THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS—POULTRY, PET AND LIVE STOCK SECTION,
P oul try Department
Poultry Accessories
(W. R. Gilbert in Farm Journal.)
A good supply of coops Is essential
for tlio chicken raiser, and there is no
better time to make them than during
the winter. They should be 24 inches
square at the bottom and be built of
stout wood, tongued, and quite water
proof. It pays in the end to have them
really serviceable. They will last many
years if the owner takes the trouble to
paint and store them in a dry place
each season when not in use. Cheap
coops let in the water in bad weather,
and the test of a coop Is that it gives
adequate protection to tho inmates
when they most need it; and this Is ex
actly what makeshift coops fall to do.
Very Important points are: The coops
when shut up should be rat-proof; the
front (every coop should have a detach
able front) should fit securely, keeping
the chickens In and the rats out; fail
ure in this respect has cost the lives of
many chickens. Ventilation, of course,
should not be forgotten. It Is best sup
plied by a few holes bored at the sides
close under the roof (which should be
built overlapping on all four sides), and
by a strip of perforated zinc let in at
the front above the bars. The floor
should be detachable. There should be
two bottom boards for each coop and
then they can be changed dally.
The next stage in the career of grow
ing chickens Is when they are trans
ferred to a chicken house—a light, mov
able house with a board floor. They
should not be allowed to sleep In coops
after they are three months old; coops
are too stuffy, and by that age chick
ens should perch at night.
Rearing artificially entails far more
outlay. We need an Incubator and two
brooders, or foster-mothers, to every
Incubator in use, as chickens should be
kept six weeks In the brooder, after
which a coop or cold brooder will serve.
The choice of an Incubator requires
some consideration. There are several
excellent patterns on the market and
competition Is very keen between rival
makers. The public benefits as It gets
the machines far cheaper than former
ly. We must not however, be guided
entirely by price. Makers charge some
thing tor their name, and rightly,, for
the best known are the best tested, and,
therefore, the most reliable. Whether
the hot air or the hot water style is the
bettor still remains an open question.
The one weak spot among the acces
sories of today Is the modern foster-
mother, or brooder. It Is far better than
thoso of yesterday, but it Is still far
from perfect; It can not rear chickens
with as small a death rate as the aver
age hen, unless the attendant Is extra
vigilant. The chief trouble Is the ven
tilation. The air has to be heated by
means of a lamp, and generally the
chickens breathe far too much hot, dry
air. Deaths thru lung troubles are very
numerous among brooder chickens;
sometimes, too, the temperature rises to
an unbealthful degree, a thing impos
sible when a hen is employed. Alto
gether. it is in foster-mothers that a
better class of goods Is badly wanted;
in other words, we can hatch eggs in
Incubators far more easily than we can
rear chickens in brooders. The cost of
the brooders, too, is often against them.
I am writing from last year’s point of
view. Let us hope a cheap and really
rellable foster-mother will be put upon
the market
Modern poultry houses are greatly
improved. For one thing, they are bet
ter ventilated, and the ventilation is un
der better control. No house should
hold more than 40 hens: It is better to
have them too big than too small.
All these appliances are necessities,
but there are so many that can only be
called luxuries, and which will not oven
be considered by the farmer. But the
domesticated barn-door fowl can not be
treated like a pheasant, and left prac
tically to shift for itself. For one thing,
the more poorly fowls are housed, the
more they "steal” their nests In the
summer; and thus there is a great
waste of eggs. Some eggs are lost en
tirely, while the hatches the hens bring
off are far from good, as the eggs have
been laid at different times. We must
keep poultry entirely under control,
wblch means using a suitable "plant,"
and unless we do this the fowls will
contribute no profit toward the ex
penses of the farm.
(Editor’s' Note—There are many good
brooders on the market now that have
stood every reasonable test to which
they have been subjected, and the
blame at failure of brooders to do their
work satisfactorily Is usually the fault
of the buyer, who is “penny wise and
pound foolish.” None but the best
brooders should be purchased; by the
best, I mean a standard, such as are
used by the successful poultry raisers
of the country. The saving of a few
dollars in first cost Is not advisable.
A good brooder Is generally worth the
price asked for it and while it may be
a few dollars higher than some other,
It Is well to remember that Just a few
more chicks raised will more than pay
the difference.)
Rose Comb Rhode Island Red
(V. M. Couch in American P. A.)
The man who has the poultry business
In his mind or is about to take up the
work, naturally la Interested in learning
how successful poultrymen feed, how
such and such a one handles his fowls
and so on. Especially if he has made
a beginning which Is not turning out
quite to his expectations. Whenever he
hears of unusually good results, big egg
records, etc., he inquires to know Just
what the hens were fed and how oared
for that he may apply the same methods.
Prince Albert Rose Comb R. I.
1911. Owned by J. R. Merideth,
Farming and orange culture have for
years been the leading industries of
Florida, but recently many new enter
prises have sprung up and are pressing
hard for the leading place in the work
of the state. ,
One of these Is poultry culture, which
has made such wonderful strides to
ward a leading position In the last two
years.
Chickens have been raised in the
state from Its first farming history. f° r
the ideal climate and soil here made
the raising very easy work, except
when Jtggers or an especially wet sea
son greatly diminished the flock.
Meat was scarce and in demand and
so “fried chicken” played an impor
tant part In the family bill of fare.
The cost of the raising of these
chickens, mostly scrub or mongrel
stock, was not considered, as they were
raised principally for family use and
fed on scraps from the table, and some
grain. The ones not needed for home
consumption were sold at very low
prices and the eggs ••traded” with the
town grocer.
Recently, however, many Northern
ers and some of our own people here
realize that poultry raising on a larger
scale and with thoroughbred stock
could be made a paying industry-
The first cost to establish a poultry
plant was not a third of what it would
be in a cold climate, the question of
“winter laying * ceased (here) to be a
problem, and this enterprise fitted lu
well with the already established lead
ing industries of the state.
Many good sised plants have already
been established, some for fancy breed
ing and ethers to produce market poul
try and eggs on a large scale.
Some well known breeders from
.. ■ F ,'. r * t R - *• R «d hen, Atlanta, Ga., 1911, owned by J. H. Perm,,
Meridian, Mies.
cockerel, Atlanta, Ga.,
Northern states have moved here,
bringing their best birds with them,
and In breeding pens, mated up lor
fancy stock this year, are some that
would be bard to beat anywhere.
With the Improvement in quality of
the stock kept the market prices for
poultry have increased. Instead of
paying 50 cents for a large old hen,
whose slow growth and extremely free
range made her so tough that an all
day's boiling was necessary to make
her edible, now for twice the price a
young quickly grown (partly confined
during growth) young roaster can be
bought. Instead of sinewy poor friers
abundant in black pin feathers, bring
ing 25 cents apiece, one now sells
plump, tender broilers for from 30 to
35 cents a pound.
An egg is an egg to most people and
the Improvement here may not be so
apparent to the buyer, tho the greatly
increased number of eggs per hen from
the Introduction of better varieties and
laying strains in the poultry yard has
made the Improvement of marked value
to the farmer.
Then the feeding of pure feeds to the
hens, confining them so that they are
kept away from places of filth, and the
regular collecting and marking of eggs
should Increase the value of the egg as
an article of food to the consumer.
That poultry culture will very soon
be among the leading enterprises of
Florida is beyond question, and in writ
ing this series of articles for The Geor
gian we shall from time to time tell
somewhat of our own experience In the
South and help to make the way tor
success clearer to the new-comer.
C. FRED WARD.
Lakemont Poultry Farm, Winter
Park, Fla.
Harwell’s White Plymouth Rocks
STOCK AND EGGS AT ALL TIMES
Visitors Welcome Every Day Except Sunday
C. O. HARWELL, 883 Seaboard Ave., Cor. Hurt St.
MAIL ADDRESS, 113 N. PRYOR ST.
methods to meet these varying condi
For example, two of ns may each have
a hundred white Leghorns. One may he
a strain bred expressly for heavy laying,
while the other may have been bred more
for exhibition or perhaps are made up by
promiscuous breeding. I might feed and
handle the same as the other man, but I
would not get the same results, for some
years at least. Different breeds and
strains vary In vlgorousness which must
be considered when following up the plans
of someone else; the amount of room al
lowed per head, the dlmatlo location,
quality of food. etc. must also bo taken
Into consideration.
You may follow tho plan of the most
successful poultryman In the country, but
that will not guarantee to you the some
success he has, until all conditions are
equal. Yet the man who makes money
on his poultry is a good guide to go by,
and he who follows such a man's sys
tem and plans, provided he makes the
proper allowance for varying conditions,
will succeed sooner or later. Good Judg
ment well applied Is a great thing In the
poultry business.
The spring chicken Is one hatched not
earlier than February nor later than
May, and Is of market weight at two or
three pounds.