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Show Farmers Should Start Chicks For Fall Eggs Despite the recent decline in egg prices, It is still good business busi-ness for farmers to start baby chicks this spring, E. B. Powell, ! director of research for. Purina, 'stated this week. I 'This drop In prices may cause ! some farmers to give up on baby ! chicks this year," Powell stated, I "and we may wind up with an egg shortage next winter." Powell pointed out the population popula-tion growth since the last "baby chick season" will swell the normal nor-mal demand upwards of a billion bil-lion eggs next fall. The present market seems to be having the tendency to decrease production too much. "The logical result of a heavy decline in replacement chicks," he continued, "will be fewer eggs next fall when the chicks put down now will be laying best." He reminded farmers of a similar sim-ilar market condition a couple of years ago, when the egg market mar-ket broke sharply in the spring, but bounced back to new peaks the following fall. "Good weather, better breeding and better feeding have combined combin-ed to make a temporary egg supply sup-ply larger than usual," he explained. ex-plained. "Obviously, this has forced the egg prices down. But the situation offers an unusual opportunity for egg profits next fall, according to most market experts. And here is their rea-son rea-son some poultry keepers will not raise chicks this spring. So, there should be fewer pullets and fewer eggs next fall and winter. In theast, this has made extra high eggs prices during that time of the year. "Don't be misled Into cutting down on chicks this spring," he cautioned, "let the other fellows fel-lows quit." Some poultry flock owners were panicked into getting out of the egg business in 1950 when egg prices dropped to 30.7 cents that spring. Yet in the fall and winter win-ter of '50, prices hit 57.7 cents per dozen, Powell stated. "The farmer who has chickens in production next fall should have some mighty good proper-' proper-' ty," he concluded, "and he stands ja good chance to show a satisfactory satis-factory poultry profit." |