Imperial County CA Archives History - Books .....Chickens 1918 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 14, 2006, 5:11 am Book Title: History Of Imperial County California CHICKENS In this epoch of disturbed civilization and national conflicts, when the food supply of the world for man and beast has become scanty and apparently inadequate, as we have been led to believe, the domestic hen becomes a vital factor to some degree in the economic branch of human existence.- This docile and industrious mistress of the barnyard has suddenly been elevated to a degree of aristocratic importance unknown to her before. And yet these facts do not seem to appeal to her animal instincts to any perceptible degree. Her henship seems to pursue the even tenor of her quiet life in the usual manner, as though saying: "I am attending to my accustomed duties at the nest in the usual way; what more do you want?" Meanwhile the products of this creature are soaring in price with the speed of an aviator, and the people are calmly doing without omelettes, broiled chicken and other delicacies originating in the poultry yard. And yet this Imperial Valley is doing its share to alleviate matters in the emergency, in spite of the high price of feed required in the hen family. The poultry industry has grown materially here the last few years as the profits have become greater. It is, in fact, one of the quickest and surest means by which a man of small capital can earn a good living. The mild climate, without frost or snow, favors at least two broods of chicks each year. The abundance of succulent green fodder every day in the year, and the fine local market for eggs and young poultry, all these strongly favor the business in this region. With the improved methods now in use the careful breeder now figures upon a net profit of over one dollar per hen each year. During the past fifteen years various plans have been tried in the housing and management of the yards, and the size of separate pens, with the result that now, in most cases, open sheds built perfectly tight at sides and rear, with partitions every ten feet, having an open wire netting front, with roosts against the rear wall, is the most approved plan. The floors are either of wood, cement or dirt. The average cost of housing 500 hens is found to be from $250 to $375. While fanciers and owners keep a variety of breeds, the White Leghorn strain is used almost universally for the best business results. And yet few of these are pure-bred stock, the effort having been to increase the size of both bird and egg. The hatching of eggs is mostly done by large plants devoted to that branch of the business, having capacities from 70,000 to 120,000 eggs at a setting. When a day old the chicks are delivered to the brooder. The male birds are sorted out and fattened for market. The feed "mash" contains many ingredients ground together. In the summer and fall alfalfa and Soudan grass are also used. The theory is that a hen well supplied with nitrogenous food should lay eggs. In some of the hen-houses a powerful nitrogenous lamp is placed at every roost, with an alarm clock attachment, which is set to switch on the light at 3 a. m. Then her henship is expected to get busy, eat her breakfast and jump on the nest. While this may seem theoretical and imaginary to many, it is claimed here that the gain in egg production from a goodly flock of hens at the winter season, when eggs are high, is about twenty per cent under this early light scheme. In this way one thousand well-bred hens, carefully managed and properly fed, is said to insure the owner a return of at least $3000 a year. The Valley has also acquired a reputation for fine turkeys, which have become famous throughout the West. The absence of cold rains and wet weather, among the greatest evils in turkey-raising, greatly favors the business. And it is now claimed that some 40,000 turkeys are shipped out of the Valley every year. Additional Comments: Extracted from: THE HISTORY OF IMPERIAL COUNTY CALIFORNIA EDITED BY F. C. FARR IN ONE VOLUME ILLUSTRATED Published by ELMS AND FRANKS BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA 1918 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/imperial/history/1918/historyo/chickens225nms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/cafiles/ File size: 4.6 Kb