| Show U T R M FINDS COST TO RAISE PULLET blames high mortality for loss to Poultry men supplied d by bv the new york state college of A agriculture service raising a pullet to the laying age of 20 weeks weeks now costs according to accounts kept by 33 38 poul thymen in operation cooperation co with the department part ment of farm management at cornell university this pays the way from a day old chick to the laying age in reaching the laying age the chick needs 12 pounds pound of grain and 19 pounds of mash about 46 per cent of the total cost is for feed 14 per par cent for labor 25 per cent is the original cost of the chick and the remainder for use of buildings equipment fuel interest and other costs Poultry men had a better year in 1935 than in 1934 the economists say the improvement was due mainly to better prices for eggs returns for each hour of labor averaged 48 cents and represent the best showing since 1930 it cost 27 cents to produce a dozen kneggs eggs in 1935 or two cents a dozen less than in 1934 this reduction in cost together with a four cent improvement pro in price made possible an average profit of three cents a dozen production on these cost account farms averaged eggs to the hen oi or about 44 more egos eggs than the average for the state one fourth of the birds died or were lost or stolen during the year high mortality say the economists is one of the th s most important causes of failure in the poultry business sex of baby chicks Is told by their markings A practical method of determining sex of baby chicks although limited to rhod rhode a island reds has been developed by poultry specialists of the united states department of agriculture in a study of more than 1100 single comb rhode island red chicks T C byerly and J P quinn of the bureau of animal industry were able to tell the sex of 81 per cent correctly female chicks were marked with spots and strips stripes of black down on the head or back males lacked such markings A total of chicks had black markings of this number r or per cent were females of the unmarked group or per cent were males thus the poultry men orter were able ia to distinguish gathe gh the sex of chicks T s or 81 2 per cent correctly c y A similar lexing sexing S study dy of chicks in m a commercial flock of single comb rhode island reds showed the same T general results resets lexing sexing of f chicks is comparatively recent in origin sin commercial poul pou thymen rth especially ally in the far west have shown much interest in Us its satt development the method used by S many hatcheries was introduced by the japanese and has growl n rapidly to avoid grass eggs hens that eat too heavily of green feed often produce eggs haying having dark yellow yolks often resembling sem bling red more than yellow these are called grass eggs says pathfinder magazine laying poultry showing such tendency should be confined until noon each day and supplied with a good mash in ash placed in open hoppers poultry experts say hens having all the mash they want seldom eat enough green food in the afternoon to give their eggs this reddish color in III the poultry yard the ordinary duck is not expected to lay more than six months pullets that are decidedly undersized for their age may well be culled as they seldom become good layers the same may be true of pullets that are very large and coarse in general the gander gande r is larger bolder and more masculine in carriage than the goose many poultry men dip eggs in a thin white mineral oil which seals the pores of the shell and helps retain the fresh quality of th egg |
