POULTRY YARD

Taranaki Daily News, 28 December 1929, Page 28 (Supplement)

POULTRY YARD

BY

G. H. AMBLER

“OPEN DOOR” TO POULTRY WORK.

; .Christmas is the time for peace:and goodwill, pleasure and good cheer. In the spirit of the Babe of Bethlehem all misunderstandings and strife should be forgotten, and all errors and. failings forgiven.’ During the year just closing we have all had our hurts and our grievances. Let them be forgotten. In the true sporting and fancier spirit let us 'hold • the hand of fellowship to every man, then the keener will our hearts be to enjoy the play arid good cheer which Christmas brings to us but once a year. ‘ The poultry industry is a. very curious one. In almost every trade or profession a long apprenticeship is usually’served, followed by a further lengthy period in gaining additional experience before one ventures to go into business on one’s own account. Quite a number, to-day, however, are commencing poultry farming with very little training and often less experience, and, while many succeed, unfortunately many fail, and even those who succeed would have done far better had they obtained more experience before they took.the risk.. It must never be overlooked that every failure does harm, and the. strength of any industry is the number who enter it and make good.

AMOUNT OF CAPITAL NECESSARY.

One of the great, problems of the .prospective poultry farmer is what amount of capital is required, and most people appear to think that the more capital they have the greater possibility'of success. This, however, is an absolute fallacy, for few seem to realise that the principal'thing that matters is the capacity of the individual. The more capital one has the greater must be one’s capacity, and as business grows capacity must grow. With £lOOO when I was 21 years old I feel that I should have been a failure.

There are, of course, many businesses which cannot be started without cap-, ital in the way of hard cash, and in some cases a lot of it, but poultry farming is not one of those, for by commencing it as a hobby one can gradually develop into a poultry farmer on quite a fair scale before giving up one's usual occupation. I am a great believer in people having a hobby, and everyone should have some interest apart .from their daily labours so as to provide recreation for one's mental and physical powers., I believe that the number of head of poultry maintained by small poultrykeepers in England is far greater than that of all other classes of poultry keepers put together, and really, when one considers the numbers who keep fowls in their gardens, there is no question but that poultry keeping is the greatest hobby of all. HOBBY MINIMISES THE PLUNGE. In the ordinary way, when starting in business, it is without doubt a tremendous plunge, but with regard to poultry, one can minimise the plunge by drifting into it through the side door of a hobby. Thus one knows the habits of the birds, methods of feeding and rearing, and will also be able to recognise when a bird is going sick. Most poultry-keepers can recognise a bird which.is actually ill, but it is frequently' too late to prevent contagion. THE BUSINESS SIDE. A point which will have considerable weight with the beginner is the manner of disposing of eggs and fowls. He should cultivate a. private trade, and sell direct to the consumer, which will save two or three profits and enable him to get a far better price. A private customer .will always pay more for fresh farm produce. than for the same things from a shop, because he can rely on them, and the producer can usually count on getting about a penny more per dozen than he would by selling to the wholesale merchants. Even on a

small number of fowls this means a great deal over a year. . Whdn selecting a farm, due consideration must be given to its situation, and one near a railway station and within easy reach of town is worth twice as much as one outside. Many people overlook the cost of cartage and the time occupied in it, but as a farm develops so will the expenses in this direction.

With development will doubtless come the necessity of employing labour, but first of all everything should be planned. to save time’ and trouble. The houses and runs should be arranged so that they are easily get-at-able, for the more walking a man has to do the less work he can do. If the farm increases to the extent of requiring labour, it is well to make the work as interesting as possible. A man gets sick to death of always trapnesting, or anything else, and a large poultry farm should be a collection of small farms or units, each complete in itself. In this way every employee is interested in his particular unit, and gets a change of work, from the breeding pens to incubating, rearing and trapnesting. EFFECTIVE PUBLICITY. • It is a good thing to encourage visitors to look over one’s farm, as it advertises the place, but in this case it must be remembered that the farm is the “shop window,” and its condition will convey to the prospective customers what is for sale. Window dressing is an art which applies as much to a poultry farm as it docs to a jeweller’s shop. Make the place attractive. Advertise up to the extent of your business. It is no use spending a lot of money in the early stages—it must be in proportion to the amount of stock for sale—but whatever means of advertising is employed it should be attractive. THE STRENGTH OF UNITY. There is another way in which poultry can ba turned into business, and that is by several keen fanciers joining, and if this were done . the risk would be limited considerably. If, say, half a dozen poultry-keepers decided to work together by rearnig all the chicks possible on the limits of their respective gardens or plots for one year, they could at the end of that time draw lots and start one of their number on a good-sized farm —one which would be large enough for all in due course. He would start with all the stock which had been reared collectively, excepting that the other members of the party would retain sufficient to enable them to go on breeding. The first man will also carry on breeding, and in his spare time make appliances which will be required during the development. The one idea should be to sell as little as possible, and increase to the fullest possible extent. The other five would all keep their jobs, and should be able to spare enough to keep the odd one going, without drawing anything out of the farm. The five will continue breeding as much stock as they can, and in their spare time be building sectional houses, coops, brooders and anything else which may be required. Having got one fairly going, No. 2 will give up his job and join No. 1, and so it will go on until the whole half dozen . have such a farm' that no individualist could ever hope to compete with. Amongst the half dozen, although all would be keen on poultry, they would have different abilities, and suited to different sections of the work. One, for instance, would iio doubt excel at building; another would possibly have literary gifts and keep the public acquainted, through the columns of the Press, with the progress of the organisation; another could make a speciality of buying and selling foods; another be particularly good oh the office and business matters, and so by careful selection and working together in the true spirit a farm would be established which would make history.