The Dollar Hen

by Milo Hastings

The flock is kept in the corn field until the corn is ripe. The Kaffir corn and sunflowers are knocked down where they stand and are threshed by the hens. As soon as the corn crop is ripe the houses are run back and the corn cut up or husked and the wheat planted in the corn field.

The next year the lots are transposed, the young stock being grown in the lot that had the hens the previous year.

If the ground is inclined to be at all damp when the fields are broken up the plowing is done in narrow lands so as to form a succession of ridges, on which are placed the coops or houses. The directions of these ridges will be determined by the lay of the land—the object being neither to dam up water or to encourage washing. The location of the ridges are alternated by seasons, so that the droppings from the houses are well distributed throughout the soil.

This system with the particular crops found that do best in the locality, give us an ideal method of poultry husbandry. We have kept hens and young stock supplied with green food the year round; we have utilized every particle of manure without one bit of labor. We have a rotation of crops. We have the benefits to the ground of several green crops turned under. We have raised one grain crop per year on most of the ground. We have no labor in feeding and watering except the keeping of the grain, beef and grit hoppers filled, and the water system in order.

The number of fowls that may be kept per acre will be determined by the richness of the soil. The chief object of the entire scheme is to provide abundant green pasture at all times and to allow the production of a reasonable amount of grain. With one hundred hens per acre on the entire tract, and with houses containing eighty hens each, it will be necessary to set the houses ninety-five feet apart. This will give the flock a tract of 95 by 330 feet in which to pasture.

The above estimate with a little land allowed for house, garden, orchard and a little cow and team pasture, will permit the keeping of two thousand hens on a twenty-five acre farm. In regions where grain is to be raised most farmers would want more land. They may also wish to own a few extra cows, hogs, etc., or to alternate the entire poultry operations with some crop that will, on such highly fertilized land, give a good cash profit. Forty acres is a good size for such uses.

The cost of land when purchased in large tracts in Virginia is very small, but the cost of clearing is often much more than that of the land. Twenty-five to fifty dollars an acre should secure such a tract of land and put it in shape for poultry farming.

The cost of the farm home, etc., will, of course vary altogether with the taste of the occupant. If they are constructed by a central company, from five hundred to a thousand dollars should cover the amount.

The cost of poultry buildings and equipment used on the farm will depend largely on the efficiency of the labor of construction. If constructed in large numbers by a central company, the cost would be reduced, but the company would expect to make a profit on their work.

A plot laid out for two thousand hens will require in material: 250 rods of fence with 6-ft. netting which should cost about fifty cents a rod. My estimate of this fence put up would be $150. If the neighboring field contained no other poultry, a portion of this fence might be done away with, although its protection against dogs and strangers may be worth while. Of course, if poultry fields of different owners lay adjoining, the fence must be used, but the cost will be reduced one-half.