A Different Kind of Poultry Farm

 A Different Kind of Poultry Farm 

A CHICKEN farm, organized along factory lines, has been a great success in the East. This poultry farm near Cockeysville, Maryland, covers only one acre of ground. The 61,000 chickens handled by this farm would require 610 acres if they were being raised and fed in the usual manner. On this farm, however, the chickens never touch the ground—never go outdoors. They live in tiers of wire cages, in large, air-conditioned, disinfected, thermostatically heated and cooled, photoelectrically-lighted rooms. There are no nests for the 2,500 laying hens, as the cages are so arranged that eggs, when laid, roll down into a little rack outside. Here the eggs are picked up by attendants on hourly collection rounds. Under these conditions, the daily production of laying hens is 58 per cent as against the usual 50 per cent figure. The chickens’ food is within easy reach of each cage, being supplied on a conveyor belt which runs on each tier. A constant drip of water is provided from a metal nipple at the top of the cages. A second conveyor belt, running under the cages, catches the waste matter which is carried to a bin and there removed periodically to be used in making a highgrade fertilizer. As any infection would be disastrous to the entire flock of 61,000 chickens, the utmost cleanliness prevails. Each room is disinfected once a day and, at short intervals, all cages are subjected to live steam. The twentyone employees wear spotless uniforms—the women being dressed in white and the men in striped linen trousers and coats. This factory-operated farm has created such interest that not only have farmers in adjacent communities made trips to the farm, but those from distant lands, such as Egypt and Africa. In fact, so numerous are the visitors during the week-ends, that the cages have been separated from the onlookers by walls of glass in order to minimize the danger of infection.