Other slightly different methods of making a start
axe by the purchase of 500 pullets in the fall of the year,
or the purchase of hatching eggs or day-old chicks in the
spring. It is usually more satisfactory to purchase
breeding stock than to buy eggs or chicks. In a first
rearing season, one is apt to have a number of minor
disasters and losses, and these are much less serious when
replacements can be hatched from one's own eggs, instead
<if being bought outside the farm.
The purchase of the first season's pullets already
reared is a quicker method of starting, as the farm can
then be established at full strength in little more than
a year. Though good pullets about to lay are costly to
buy, they may well prove a good investment when they
save a year's living expenses, the rent of the farm and
depreciation on buildings for the same period. Pullets
always cost a lot to rear the first season, and I find, on
referring back to my estimate of capital expenditure,
that it runs to nearly 10/- per bird. When purchasing
a large number, it should be possible to buy very good
pullets for roundabout 12/6 each, and the 2/6 or so saved
by rearing the stock oneself is but a poor reward for a
season's labours. Moreover there is always some un-
certainty about rearing the total number of pullets
needed, and the purchase of reared birds removes any
risk of a first season's shortage of layers.
A WORD ABOUT THE PROFIVS.
Once the farm is established, the yearlyi expenditure
and receipts should work out much as follows —



10



MODERN EGG FARMING.
EXPENDITURE.
Food for 1,000 layers

Cost of rearing 500 pullets (breeding cockerels,
hatching eggs, food, fuel, etc.) ...
