dottes, the birds which win in laying competitions are of a type
distinctly different from exhibition specimens and are indeed
given a distinguishing designation such as Utility White Leghorns
in contrast to Exhibition White Leghorns. Apparently the heavy
layer develops a type of her own and if, as appears probable, the
future demand for stock poultry should be increasingly for birds
whose useful qualities, whether for egg or flesh production, have
been highly developed, it is obviously desirable that British breed-
ers of exhibition and utility poultry should take counsel together
and if possible frame their breed standards to meet present-day
requirements. Otherwise, confusion is likely to increase with
resulting loss of trade both at home and abroad.
The Irish Department of Agriculture have held annual eleven- month laying trials in Ireland since 1913, and, as the results are published in a form which facilitates comparison, Table 5 is of
interest :
the open-fronted house is very little used, a span-roofed type with windows low down near the floor being preferred. The amount of run provided for the birds also varies. One well-known poultry farmer maintains 400 layers to the ac. but divides the acre into two portions, and whilst the birds occupy one portion forage crops, such as thousand-headed kale, which the birds later on con- sume, are grown on the other portion. On another farm the lay- ing-houses are so placed on the farm and the wire fencing so arranged, that the birds can be given access to arable fields, fruit gardens or pasture, as the crops and the season permit.
In methods of feeding, too, there is also wide variation. The dry mash method is practised on certain farms whilst on others the wet mash method is preferred or a combination of the two. On some well-known egg farms large quantities of cooked vege- table food are regularly fed to the layers, whilst on other farms
TABLE 5. Comparison of Results.
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Eleven
Months ending Aug. 31
No. of Pullets
No. of Eggs Laid
Average No. per Bird
Average Value per Bird
Cost of Food per Bird
Average Price of Eggs per Dozen
Return per Bird over Cost of Food
s. d.
s. d.
d.
s. d.
1913
318
38,199
I2O-I
II 2-3
5 8
I3-05
5 6-3
1914
282
39,2i6
139-0
13 3-6
5 8-3
13-77
7 7-3
1915
264
39-764
I5O-6
17 6
7 0-5
16-75
10 5-5
1916
297
49,830
I&9-5
23 0-5
8 n-8
19-58
14 0-7
1917
210
36,660
174-6
32 7-2
13 10-7
26-89
18 8-5
1918
2IO
36,106
I7I-9
47 4
16 6
39-66
30 io- 1
1919
306
55,124
180-0
53 3-4
20 o
42-59
33 3-4
1920
354
65.840
185-08
53
19 3-0
41-62
34 5-i
Most of the so-called "commercial egg farms," which have become more in evidence of recent years, are stocked with Utility White Leghorns, White Wyandottes, or Rhode Island Reds. The main business of these farms is to produce eggs for consumption though most of them do also a certain amount of trade in supply- ing eggs for hatching, day-old chicks, and stock birds. One of the largest British commercial egg farmers, however, who maintains a flock of 5,000 layers and rears some 5,000 to 6,000 chickens every year, states that nine-tenths of his produce is sold for direct consumption and that he regards the hatching egg and stock cockerel trade as comparatively unprofitable and troublesome. All hatching and rearing on this particular farm are done with broody hens, no incubators or foster-mothers being used, and this has been the practice for many years. It has proved commercially successful in this particular case, though other egg farmers use mammoth incubators and pipe brooder houses or anthracite stove hovers with apparently successful results. There is little doubt that the capacity for rearing large numbers of chickens with a low percentage of mortality is the crucial test of the commercial egg farmers' skill and management, and much has yet to be learnt regarding the rearing of chickens in large flocks. Considerable differences of opinion exist as to the comparative merits of pipe brooder housss, anthracite stove hovers, brooder houses with small portable oil hovers, outdoor portable brooders, and natural methods. When the pipe brooder system as practised in America was first tried in England many failures were recorded. Since then, however, improvements have been introduced and there is some evidence that the improved form of pipe brooder house may yet become popular in Britain. At least one large breeder has erected a brooder house of this type with a capacity of from 3,000 to 5,000 chickens and excellent results have so far been ob- tained. The anthracite stove brooder is now in use in consider- able numbers, but opinions vary widely as to its efficiency in rearing a high percentage of vigorous well-grown chickens.
Methods of housing and feeding hens kept principally for table- egg production vary considerably. The usual practice is to keep the birds in comparatively large flocks of from 1 50 to 400 and to house them in open-fronted scratching-shed houses, the original type of which was probably introduced from America. These houses are not uniform in type, some being 14 ft. deep with special back ventilation whilst others are built only 9 ft. deep and de- pend for ventilation entirely on the open front. In Lancashire
very little green food is given beyond what the birds gather for themselves on their runs.
From all this it will be gathered that methods are far from being standardized in the poultry industry, and this is indeed not a matter for surprise when the recent development of poultry- keeping as a business is considered. Unlike agriculture, which is: man's oldest industry and has been for many years investigated both from the scientific and practical aspect by some of the best brains, there has been little scientific or even practical investiga- tion into poultry-keeping methods in the United Kingdom. For the novice therefore, who may well feel doubtful as to the best system to adopt, the soundest procedure is probably to obtain information as to the methods practised on several successsful poultry farms and then to adopt a method which appears to combine the good points of several.
The keeping of poultry in England by urban dwellers, with gardens or even small backyards, and by allotment holders, re- ceived a great stimulus during the war, owing to the falling-off in suoplies of imported eggs and the necessity for converting all the edible household and garden waste material into human food. It was soon realized that a limited number of laying hens could be maintained under intensive conditions in small backyards and gardens, at comparatively low cost. The necessary labour could be provided within the family, and first-class eggs produced at the point of consumption at much lower outlay than that involved in purchasing inferior shop eggs. Furthermore, eggs so produced were actually on the consumers' premises. Difficulties and ex- penses of transport did not affect the supplies, provided a limited amount of additional feeding-stuffs could be obtained to supple- ment the household and garden waste material. This develop- ment in urban poultry-keeping would no doubt have proceeded much more rapidly than it actually did had the supply of chick- ens, pullets, and hens been greater. Unfortunately, however, poul- try-breeders were unable to obtain supplies of feeding-stuffs freely and hence were obliged to restrict their breeding operations. Consequently the demand for laying stock by town dwellers could not in many cases be satisfied, or was met by supplies of old hens which gave disappointing results. In any case urban poultry- keeping has taken a firm hold, so much so that local sanitary authorities and town property owners are showing concern as to possible interference with the amenities of properties in urban areas, and local by-laws and clauses in leases which were more
