PROFITS FROM EGGS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21253, 5 August 1932, Page 17

PROFITS FROM EGGS

RECENT FALL IN PRIOES LOW RETURNS THIS YEAR • 1 BY UTILITY The rapid fall in the pirice of eggs recently will doubtless cause farmers to give serious consideration to the necessity for breeding from only the best stock obtainable, for it would be useless to breed from poor layers when the best price obtainable at auction in the second week in July is Is 3£d, and even that price is subject to commission arid freight. During tho corresponding week of last year they realised up to Is Bgd, and two years ago up to 2s 4d for the largest sizes. It is truo that all kinds of' food are cheaper, particularly bran and pollard, and tho removal of tho customs duty on barley reduced the price of that grain very considerably. The retention of tho high duly on wheat is the real trouble, except to those who can grow their own. Farmers might well work out for themselves what they are likely to make during tho coming year, before venturing to raise a lot of chickens from any but good stock." Profitable Egg Production it would be unsafe to base an estimate of the egg output from the returns at the various egg-laying competitions, which now usually average a little over 200 eggs per bird, for it must be remembered that, these birds are/the pick of, anything from 50 to 150 yards, selected not only for their appearance of general excellence in constitution and type, but also because they were just on the point of laying when the competition began. On tho other hand, nearly every flock contains a fair proportion of two-year-old birds, and also usually a fow three-year birds, which naturally will never again lay as many eggs as in tlnsir pullet year, in addition to which tho production from the whole flock will bo only from average birds, and not from the selected four or six best which put up such handsome records at the competitions. Taking the average output from an average flock it would bo unwipe to bank on more than 150 eggs in a year, or say twelve dozen, and even this average will not be produced from a flock of mediocre quality. • As tho cost of food for a flock of poor quality is almost tho same as for tho best, it will be realised that tho quality of the birds will make all the difference between working at a loss and making a reasonable profit, small though the profit must be under present conditions when eggs are forced down in prico by economic pressure, whereas food is held up by artificial enactment. The Cost of Bearing. Although tho above may be taken as tho basis for calculating the net returns on the year's maintenance of a flock of layers, always bearing in mind that the apparent average price of eggs for the year is fragged down by the fact that very few are produced when the price is high, and the majority when the price is low, 'the cost of bringing the pullets to a laying stage must bo taken into account. This varies even more than the cost of maintaining them in their laying year, for a good many farmers almost allow them to shift themselves, wandering all over the place with their mothers until they can gather their own food. They sometimes get very little extra food until the cockerels are old enough to send to market, when the latter are very often packed off without the three weeks of extra feeding that would give them a finish as table birds, and the pullets are then brought along to the laying stage as quickly as possible. The cost of this will vary_ so much, according to individual circumstances, as to make an estimate impossible, but one cannot help thinking that a great many cockerels are sold at a loss on the cost of production, in those cases where they have to subsist mainly on purchased food, and that therefore it would have been more economical to wring their necks, as soon as their sex could bo detected. As a general rule far more cockerels are reared than are profitable, the net result being that it costs all the moro to bring the pullets to the laying stage. Commercial Poultry-Keeping Whether it will bo found profitable or not to extend operations during the season now commencing, there is very little likelihood of beginners making a success of large-scale work. It seems strange to note the impression that there is little or nothing to learn in poultry farming, or that if there is anything to learn it I can all be picked up in a year by keep- I ing a dozen fowls. Nothing is further i from the truth, for all the large breeders not only started in a small way, but also increased their operations very gradually, being content to learn by experience. A beginner may study all the poultry journals and poultry books published, and yet make mistakes that he would have avoided by starting in a small way. One of the commonest errors, and yet one that would be avoided by studying almost any book or journal, is to suppose that if a certain profit has been made from 15 fowls there will bo ten times as much from 150. There is no necessity to learn that from experience, because it can be authoritatively contradicted before the optimist incurs the liability and becomes disappointed that his expectations are not realised. However, there is no doubt that dozens of breeders have made a pronounced success of what they started as a hobby, learning little by littlo tho most useful Bteps to tako in extending their operations, not only from their own personal observations, but also by studying published suggestions and by conversing with breeders of wide experience. Uiis is tho only safe method for a beginner to adopt, especially at a time like the present, ■ when the outlook is so doubtful.