Standard Perfection Poultry Book

The Recognized Standard Work on Poultry, Turkeys, Ducks and Geese, Containing a Complete Description of All the Varieties, With Instructions as to Their Disease, Breeding and Care, Incubators, Brooders, Etc., For the Farmer, Fancier or Amateur

C. C. Shoemaker

• Publisher: Left Of Brain Onboarding Pty Ltd
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781396319839
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Technologie et ingénierie
• Subtopic: Élevage d'animaux

There are different methods of raising poultry, and every poultry farmer has theirs. However, while some farmers make a delicious profit every year, others wonder why they can't seem to breakeven.

It's even more heartbreaking when your poultry appears susceptible to more diseases than usual, regardless of your apparent and consistent care. There is a lot of profit to be made from poultry farming, the question is how. The answer? By becoming an expert poultry farmer!

C. C. Shoemaker has made that easy by outlining the basics of poultry farming, but there is nothing basic about the knowledge he provides. In this book, you will find everything you need on poultry farming including:

•How to choose the perfect site for poultry farming.

•How to build the perfect poultry farm.

•How to choose the best breeds.

•The different breeds. And, most importantly;

•The steps to raising poultry for profit.

Whether you are already grounded in the art of poultry farming, or you are an amateur farmer looking to start; this book will provide a wealth of knowledge to get you started and improve your trade.

CHAPTER I.

Raising Poultry for Profit.

Few of us realize how important a business poultry-raising is. It considerably exceeds in total market value the whole output of coal, iron and mineral oil in the United States. As a usual thing the poultry business is underestimated rather than overestimated. Thousands of people raise chickens merely to supply their own tables. They keep no record of the number of eggs they get or the chickens they kill. So this item in the total is neglected altogether, or is greatly underestimated.

The United States Census for 1890 gives the following figures for “farms only.” To complete this summary, the poultry products of towns and villages should be added:

 

 

The value of these products, estimating chickens as worth 40 cents each, turkeys and geese as worth 60 cents each, ducks at 45 cents each, and eggs at 15 cents a dozen, amounts to $241,418,660.

Small Capital Required.

The poultry business is peculiar in that a small capital will start a person, and it is a great deal better to start in a small way and gradually rise to larger things as one gets experience and comes to know just what the market is and out of what kind of fowls one can make the most money. In no other kind of stock raising can a good start be made with so small an outlay at the beginning, since full blooded stock of other kinds is very expensive.

An ordinary farm is suitable for any poultry experiment, and no expensive tools or machinery are required in the conduct of the business. In other lines the expenditure for tools is large at first, and when the business increases, the old machines must be discarded for larger and better ones in order to produce economically. With poultry, this is in no sense true. The first cheap coops may be made over into better ones, and as the business grows the equipment is added to gradually and often out of the first profits of the business.

Success Due to Skill.

Success in poultry raising is due largely to the skill and care of the raiser—more so than in almost any other line of farm production. Failure will almost inevitably be the lot of the inexperienced and careless person. The business must be learned, and learned thoroughly, and a person must have a love for it, if it is to prove a paying venture. So we advise the novice to begin in a small way, so that he cannot make costly mistakes for he is sure to have some trouble.

How Much Land is Needed.

Very little land is really required, unless you intend to raise all the grain the fowls will eat. If you can do that, of course, it will add to your profits. Chickens, even laying hens, will do well in a small yard if it is kept clean by cultivation; but turkeys demand more room to rove about in. Five acres will be sufficient for 800 hens, and allow space to raise the necessary green stuff. If the room is limited, however, the space should be divided up and the hens allowed to run only in small flocks as closely graded in size and vitality as possible.

A larger range is, of course, often useful when it can be had. Growing fowls require a great deal of exercise, and so do laying hens, especially young ones. The young fowls should have the largest possible run; old hens, which are laying, need less room, while fowls that are being fattened are not injured by close confinement—indeed they do better in confinement, if the confinement period of inactivity is not continued too long.

Poultry Gives Quick Returns.

One remarkable fact about the poultry business is that it gives relatively quick returns. Years are required for cows, sheep and horses to grow, and pigs require a considerable length of time; but even if poultry-raising is begun by selecting eggs for hatching, the product in the form of broilers, capons or mature fowls should be ready for the market in from five to eight months.

Again, poultry raising is a business in which women may engage successfully; and many men who are not strong enough for more active farm work, or who need outdoor employment, after long confinement in the city, will find poultry raising a superior occupation. Even persons of leisure often find this a pleasant and healthful employment, which yields a large return in something beside dollars.

Choose Your Specialty.

Success in poultry raising depends to a considerable extent on the selection of the proper branch, for it offers a variety of specialties. Persons about to engage in the business should study well their own tastes and capabilities, and also their situation and means. Some will choose egg production, others will make a specialty of raising broilers, and still others will choose the raising of fancy fowls, or breeding. Thus if the space is limited, so that only a few hundred fowls can be kept, it will be advisable to confine oneself to egg-production (especially during those months when eggs are high in price), or to breeding fowls which will command a high price. Thus a profitable business may be done in the small space available. So, too, the various kinds of fowls, such as chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, pigeons, etc., allow the poultry raiser a selection which he should make with care and reflection.

Poultry Easy to Market.

Poultry products are among the easiest to market of all farm produce. Eggs may be shipped hundreds of miles by express, and yet be indistinguishable from fresh ones, when a week later they are served as food; and meat fowls may be sent by freight or express for long distances. Of course, the farther they must be sent, the higher should be their grade, if the transportation charges are not to more than offset the profits.

It may be said that in the poultry business the best products are always more saleable and more profitable than the poorer and cheaper varieties. The demand for the best is strong and steady, while that for second grades is unreliable in the extreme. It is, therefore, manifest that skill and good work are the chief sources of profit in the poultry business.

 

CHAPTER II.

Uncle Sam’s Advice to Poultry Raisers.

Extracts from the United States Department of Agriculture’s farmers’ Bulletin No. 41:

The wide distribution of domestic fowls throughout the United States, and the general use made of their products make poultry of interest to a large number of people. Breeders are continually striving to improve the fowls for some particular purpose; and to excel all predecessors in producing just what the market demands for beauty or utility; but the mass of people look at the poultry products solely as supplying the necessary elements of food in an economical and palatable form. For a considerable time each year eggs are sought instead of meat by people of moderate means, because at the market price eggs are a cheaper food than the various kinds of fresh meat.

Large numbers of the rural population live more or less isolated, and find it inconvenient, if not impossible, to supply fresh meat daily for the table aside from that slaughtered on the farm; and of all live stock, poultry furnishes the most convenient means of supplying an excellent quality of food in suitable quantities. This is particularly true during the hot summer months, when fresh meat will keep only a short time with the conveniences usually at the farmer’s command.

The general consumption of poultry and poultry products by nearly all classes of people furnishes home markets in almost every city and town in the United States at prices which are remunerative if good judgment is exercised in the management of the business.

Although fowls require as wholesome food as any class of live stock, they can be fed perhaps more than any other kind of animals on unmerchantable seeds and grains that would otherwise be wholly or partially lost. These seeds often contain various weed seeds, broken and undeveloped kernels, and thus furnish a variety of food which is always advantageous in profitable stock feeding. There is less danger of injury to poultry from these refuse seeds than is the case with any other kind of animals.

Selections of Sites
for Buildings and Yards.

Frequently the other buildings are located first and the poultry house then placed on the most convenient space, when it should have received consideration before the larger buildings were all located.

As poultry keeping is wholly a business of details, the economy of labor in performing the necessary work is of great importance. Buildings not conveniently located and arranged become expensive on account of unnecessary labor.

Visits and operations must be performed frequently, so that any little inconvenience in the arrangement of the buildings will cause not only extra expense in the care, but in many cases a greater or less neglect of operations that ought to be performed carefully each day.

To exclude rats and mice it is generally best to locate the poultry house at some distance from other farm buildings, especially if grain is kept in the latter. Provide cement walls and have the foundation below the frost line. Convenience of access and freedom from vermin are desirable points, and depend largely upon the location. Everything considered, it is safest to have the house quite isolated.

A dry, porous soil is always to be preferred as a site for buildings and yards. Cleanliness and freedom from moisture must be secured if the greatest success is to be attained. Without doubt, filth and moisture are the causes, either directly or indirectly, of the majority of poultry diseases, and form the stumbling block which brings discouragement and failure to so many amateurs. It must not be inferred that poultry cannot be successfully reared and profitably kept on heavy soils, for abundant proof to the contrary is readily furnished by successful poultrymen. The necessity for cleanliness, however, is not disputed by those who have had extended experience. When the fowls are confined in buildings and yards, that part of the yard nearest the buildings will become more or less filthy from the droppings and continual tramping to which it is subjected. A heavy or clayey soil not only retains all the manure on the surface, but by retarding percolation at times of frequent showers aids materially in giving to the whole surface a complete coating of filth. If a knoll or ridge can be selected where natural drainage is perfect, the ideal condition will be nearly approached. Where natural favorable conditions as to drainage do not exist, thorough under drainage will go a long way toward making the necessary amends to insure success.

Construction of Houses.

The material to be used in the construction and the manner of building will necessarily be governed largely by the climatic conditions.

In general, it may be said that the house should provide warm, dry, well-lighted, and well-ventilated quarters for the fowls.

These requirements are a good roof with side walls more or less impervious to moisture and cold, suitable arrangements for lighting and ventilating, and some means for excluding the moisture from beneath. Cheap, efficient walls may be made of small field stone in the following manner: Dig trenches for the walls below the frost line; drive two rows of stakes in the trenches, one row at each side of the trench, and board inside of the stakes. The boards simply hold the stones and cement in place until the cement hardens. Rough and uneven boards will answer every purpose except for the top ones, which should have the upper edge straight and be placed level to determine the top of the wall. The top of the wall can be smoothed off with a trowel or ditching spade and left until the cement becomes hard, when it will be ready for the building.

The boards at the side may be removed, if desirable, at any time after the cement becomes hard.

For the colder latitudes, a house with a hollow or double side walls is to be preferred on many accounts, although a solid wall may prove quite satisfactory, particularly if the building is in the hands of a skilled poultryman. Imperfect buildings and appliances, when under the management of skilled and experienced men, are not the hindrances that they would be to an amateur.

A cheap, efficient house for latitudes south of New York, may be made of two thicknesses of rough inch lumber for the side and end walls. This siding should be put on vertically, with a good quality of tarred building paper between. In constructing a building of this kind, it is usually best to nail on the inner layer of boards first; then put on the outside of this layer the building paper in such a manner that the whole surface is covered. Where the edges of the paper meet, a liberal lap should be given, the object being to prevent as far as possible drafts of air in severe weather. Nail the second thickness of boards on the building paper so as to break joints in the two boardings. In selecting lumber for siding, it is best to choose boards of a uniform width to facilitate the breaking of joints.

In constructing a roof for a house in the colder latitudes, one of two courses must be pursued, either to ceil the inside with some material to exclude drafts or to place the roof boards close together and cover thoroughly with tarred paper before shingling. The fowls will endure severe weather without suffering from frosted combs or wattles if there are no drafts of air. Hens will lay well during the winter months if the houses are warm enough so that the single comb varieties do not suffer from frost bite. Whenever the combs or wattles are frozen, the loss in decreased egg production cannot be other than serious.

Figure 1 represents a cheap and efficient method of building a poultry house with a hollow side wall. The sill may be a 2 by 6 or 2 by 8 scantling, laid flat on the wall or foundation; a 2 by 2 strip is nailed at the outer edge to give the size of the space between the boards which constitute the side walls. A 2 by 3 scantling set edgewise forms the plate, and to this the boards of the side walls are nailed. These boards may be of rough lumber if economy in building is desired. If so, the inner boarding should be nailed on first and covered with tarred building paper on the side that will come within the hollow wall when the building is completed. This building paper is to be held in place with laths or strips of thin boards. If only small nails or tacks are used, the paper will tear around the nail heads when damp and will not stay in place.

The cracks between the boards of the outside boarding may be covered with inexpensive battens if they are nailed at frequent intervals with small nails. Ordinary building lath will answer this purpose admirably, and will last many years, although they are not so durable as heavier and more expensive strips. The tarred paper on the inside boarding and the battens on the outside make two walls each impervious to wind, with an air space between them.

In preparing plans for a building, one of the first questions to be decided upon is the size and form of the house. If the buildings are made with the corners right angles, there is no form so economical as a square building. This form will inclose more square feet of floor space for a given amount of lumber than any other, but for some reason a square building is not so well adapted for fowls as one that is much longer than wide. It is essential to have the different pens or divisions in the house so arranged that each one will receive as much sunlight as possible, and to secure this, some sacrifice in economy of building must be made.

The writer prefers a building one story high, and not less than 10 nor more than 14 feet wide, and as long as circumstances require. In most cases a building from 30 to 60 feet long meets all requirements. If th...