THE POULTRY RUN

Southland Times, Issue 20499, 30 May 1928, Page 11

THE POULTRY RUN

BUSINESS PRINCIPLES. FOUNDATION OF SUCCESS. HOW TO AVOID MISTAKES. Poultry farming is to-day only in its infancy as a commercial enterprise, and if it is to rise to the heights that a great many of us hope, -the fundamental rules of commerce must be applied to what is in every respect ‘a thoroughly practical business, writes “G.H.” in the Auckland Herald. * I have often been asked: “Does poultry pay?” The answer is that it undoubtedly does in cases where the concern is run on strictly business-like lines. All over the country poultry farms are being established—some large, some small. Some will pay and others will fail. There is little doubt that in many cases where money is lost, thu fault is that no real business methods are applied. There are many people who open up in the business full of enthusiasm, but unfortunately, without experience, and some give up in a few years and announce that there is no money in poultry farming. Although the lack of business methods does not account for every failure, many people who fail to make a success of their enterprise do so on account of lack of knowledge. If a man who has spent his life in banking or engineering decides to spend his days of retirement as a poultprfarmer, thinking that it will add to his income, he is up against a knotty problem. The truth is that knowledge is required, and expert knowledge at that, in every walk of life. People seem to imagine that because they have kept a few hens in their back garden and have had a fair number of eggs, an increase in the number of birds will means a relative increase in the number of eggs. It does not follow that because 12 birds in a back garden produce eight eggs a day, that ten times that number of birds in a paddock will produce 80 eggs per day. No, the more birds, the lower the average will become, and the more expert handling w’ill be required. THE KEEPING OF ACCOUNTS. But to deal with the business side of the matter. First, one must keep accurate and regular accounts. It is no use making them up spasmodically. A system should be decided upon, and once adopted it should be maintained. Balance off so as to begin your year on April 1, the commencement of the winter laying season, and to all intents and purposes, the beginning of the poultryman’s year. Accounts of receipts and expenditure should be kept, and, in addition, special books should be kept for sittings, day-old chicks and stock. An address book, giving particulars of customers, or, if desired, these particulars can be kept under the card-index system. For a sittings’ account book, use the following columns: Date order received; date despatched; customer’s name and address; breed, pen and number of eggs sent; amount paid; amount due; unfertiles replaced, and any other columns that may come within one’s particular want. It is in the matter of breeding that so many mistakes are made. Six or eight hens are penned up with one cock, and, in duo course, the progeny of this pen is bred from. No attempt at a careful and systematic method of ascertaining which have proved the better birds is made, with the result that the worst birds are mated with the bast. This is where the breeding records, worked in conjunction with the trap-nest and laying records, came in. Only a few weeks ago I was talking to a man who had answered an advertisement in a certain journal. He sent his money, ten days passed and no reply was received. At last, in desperation, he wrote demanding that either his money be return-or the birds sent immediately. In the course of a few days a very dirty, badly-wr-itten letter arrived. It stated that the vendor was surprised at the letter he had received, but would despatch the birds in due course. No date of despatch was given and no proper receipt sent. METHOD OF ’ADVERTISING.

Business is business all the world over, and it matters not if one is a banker, shopkeeper, or wholesale merchant. Proper business organization is a great step up the ladder of success. Then one comes to the question of advertising. In selecting a paper, I am of the opinion that circulation is not the only point to consider. One has to think about many things, such as the class of reader it circulates among and the prestige of the paper, which has a great deal to do with the confidence which is placed in the advertisements published in it. It is also necessary to consider the most advantageous way of laying out the advertisement. A mere jumble of words will not bring such good results as a carefullyplanned, straight-forward offer. Advertising is an indispensable adjunct to the successful conduct of modern business. SOFT-SHELLED EGGS REPLY TO INQUIRERS. Several inquiries have been male concerning the cause of soft-shelled eggs. This defect is apparently causing not a little concern in the part of poultry-keepers, and full details of the various causes and cure are therefore given. The first and usual cause of soft-shelled eggs is that the bird is too fat. The muscular movement of the oviduct is hindered by layers of fat, and instead of the eggs being controlled by firm muscles, it merely slips through a flabby mass without getting its shell on. The difficulty will vanish if the birds are made to scratch well in a clean, dry straw litter for all their grain. The ration given should not be over-fattening. Sprouted oats will be a valuable food; and in some cases it might be advisable for a few days to omit all mashes, especially moist mashes, from the ration. ' The second cause of soft-shelled eggs is lack of lime in the hen’s ration. In this case, the shell-secreting part of the oviduct fails to do its work because of lack of shellmaking material. It is claimed by some poultrymen that the use of limestone grit helps to supply shell material to the hen. It is often recommended that old plaster be broken up and thrown into a box in the pen for birds to pick at as a source of lime. The third cause of soft-shelled eggs is the forcing of hens for too frequent egg production. A second yolk breaks off from the ovary and drops into the funnel of the eviduct, and the first one is forced too rapidly on its way for it to be completely formed when laid. The fourth cause of soft-shelled eggs comes from scouring; that is, from supplying a too loosening ration to birds. Beets or mangels will sometimes produce this result. The droppings, normally, should be of a dark slate or dull black colour.