POULTRY NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 178, 29 July 1932, Page 12

POULTRY NOTES.

A PROMISING SIDELINE. THE SMALLHOLDER'S CHANCE VARIETY OF ACTIVITIES. (By ORPINGTON.) Undoubtedly one of the most profit- j ible lines for any smallholder to take ip nowadays is poultry-keeping. Poultry field more profit for capital outlay than tny other livestock; they provide a •egular source of income and there is lot the possibility of a cutting loss large mough to cripple the whole undertaking. As with all other trades or businesses, >oultry-keeping is divisible into several >ranches, each of which is profitable, and 2ach one being adapted to different circumstances. Thus we have: (1) Egg production; 2) eggs for hatching; (3) day-old hicks; (4) "custom" hatching; (5) table raultry; (6) pedigree stock; (7) tur;eys; (8) waterfowl; and (0) exhibitng. All of these, if carried out in a msinesslike way, are capable of yielding irofite, and below I give the main lecessities for the success of each. Egg Production. Egg production means the production if new-laid eggs for table, and is the •ranch which requires. the least capital if any. Smallholders can feed the fowls or high egg production on home-grown ind ground wheat, barley, beans, peae >nd grass; the poultry can live on and vill improve the worst meadows; and .tubblo provides free food, while the ango cheapens housing costs. Average egg production gives us 20/ >cr annum. Cost of .feeding will not i.xceed 10/ per annum. Thus, gross proit of eggs over food is 10/ approxinately per bird, and, allowing for eplacemcnts, labour, rent, depreciation, i. net profit per bird of from 5/ to 7/ s easily possible. With 500 birds on hrce acres, in decent houses, a net neome of £3 per week can be realised. Eggs For Hatching. This means the production of good 'ggs from generally well-bred 6tock for clling to folks for hatching to improv heir own stock. This is a specially profitable line, an iften when adopted the sales are rnuc lighcr than were ever hoped. The price if best pens of purebred (not traj icsted) stock range from 5/ to 10/6 pc itting, and even if you only sell at tli ow price of 3/6 the undertaking offer , lot more profit than eggs sold as new laids at one penny each. The outlay is rather higher, in tha severe culling must be done, really well bred males used and boxes provided fo the conveyance of sitting eggs. Often printed mailing list is necessary an generally points a means to highest pre fits. It is wise to have all breeder blood-tested as a safeguard agains B.W.D. Day-Old Chicks. This is merely an extension of th eggs-for-hntehing trade, and is. evei more profitable because of the fa greater demand for something mor tangible than eggs. Day-old chicks are generally quotci at double the price of the same quality eggs for hatching, but an average prici for purc-breds is 1/ each. A liiO-cgg incubator costs £0 10/ and will produce, in the five months season, 700 chicks at a selling price o £30. "Custom" Hatching. There is plenty of 6cope here, am splendid opportunities arc offered when there is some good room for working incubators on the holding. The idea if (hat you hatch your customers' eggs foi them at a charge of from 17/ to £1 pei 100. Judicious advertising and the send ing out of leaflets to poultry-keepers will soon build up a regular conncctioi which can easily be kept by conscien tious work. The running costs to hatch 100 eggs arc 2/0 for paraffin and 9d for chid box. All you have to" do is to draw u] a very simple plan of working the machines, receive in the eggs, mark them off to distinguish them, hatch them off keeping them separate by pedigree tray* or running them in different incubators box the chicks properly when they hatcli out, and send them off by train. Table Poultry. There is abundant scope for this, because of the i>oor quality stuff which it being marketed to-day. Any out-housc can be kept for the fattening crates, and plucking, etc., can be" done in the same shed. The best breed for this purpose is the Light Sussex, and these should be bred on the farm. Markets can be easily worked up so that a regular income is obtained all the year round. In regard to profit, table birds cost about 2/0 a head to produce, up to 14 weeks of age, and then they will weigh 31b (plucked), and will sell from 1/S per lb. Pedigree Stock. This is the, most profitable branch of all, but by far the hardest to work up. Only the very best birds must be tolerated, and you must prove you have the best by (1) winning at laying tests, or (2) by winning at shows. Do this and advertise the fact, and you are well away to high profits. Sittings of eggs can then be sold from 21/ to 42/ per sitting, day-old chicks to £3 per dozen, stock eire-s to £3 each, and pullets to £2 each. Trap-nesting must be carried out, and records of number of eggs, size of egg, breed type, hatchability, etc., carefully kept. There is much work and more labour required, but higher profits to make it worth while. Turkeys. If you have plenty of fresh, untainted, sheltered grassland, turkey-rearing is a very profitable line, provided that the stock purchased is from stock known to be free from Blackhead, and able to be reared easily. You must be prepared to spend freely on feeding when the young turkeys are about seven or eight months old, but full advantage should be taken of natural food. Waterfowl. Geese don't pay much unless they can range free on common or waste land, but ducks, on the other hand, of breeds like the Khaki Campbell and Indian Runner, are marvellous layers, and can make? the utmost profitable use of farm ponds. If a river is available, they pay better still as they thus obtain twothirds of their living free. Ducks must be bred from proved layers. Aβ for housing, that is practically one-tenth the cost of housing laying fowl. Exhibiting. This is another profitable line, akin to pedigree breeding, in that only the choices stock is kept, which is well ■advertised and proved tip-top by success on the show bench. Prices of sittings i overage from two to three guineas.