Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 245, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 October 1915 — DO YOUR CHICKENS HELP BUPPORT YOU? [ARTICLE]

DO YOUR CHICKENS HELP BUPPORT YOU?

The Only Way to Know Accurately of Financial Btatus Is to Keep Account Book Are you keeping chickens, or are they helping to keep yon? We have heard of numerous farm women and city dwellers who have kept accurate records of their poultry work and showed a good profit on their investment and labor. We have also known some people who have thought they were not making any money, but they did not know it, and we have known some people who thought they were getting rich fast, but were losing money. The only way to know Accurately Just the financial status of the poultry business Is to keep records, and the work is not arduous or disagreeable If done in the right way. In fact, the account of bok of a small back yard poultry flock should among ten states in different sections be as interesting as a popular novel to anyone who really ikes to work with poultry. If a new flock Is being purchased Its cost should be charged to "stock." If you have some fowls on -hand and want to start an account they Bhould be inventoried as "stock." The cost of house/, incubators and other equipment should be charged to “buildings and equipment," and a reasonable amount credited to that account each year for depreciation. Too many people make the mistake of charging all new equipment to operating expense of a small flock, and then declare that the business is losing money when the fowls are not able to show a profit over total cost the first year. All of the feed should be charged to “feed" account, ,bo that the cost of feeding the flock can be ascertained at any time. The cost will vary In proportion to the amount of table scraps and other free material which Is available.

If the flock is large enough to justify setting eggs or breeding stock, and they are disposed of by advertising, then that cost should be kept separate. Those accounts cover the most Important expenditures, and will be sufficient for small flocks, unless the owner wishes to have a,number of accounts and charge cost of lncnbat* lng chicks and special feed accounts for them. All of the eggs produced should be credited by number and value either for actual sales or market price for all consumed at home, for the home Is the best market of all. Fowls killed for tableaus* should be credited at market priop, and those sod for delivery away from the premises should be credited for the full amount of sale. The eggs used for hatching need not be credited to the "stock,” as the chicks will be figured in the inventory at close of year, unless separate accounts are kept for the chicks. To get a fair valuation of the business at time list the stock on hand at what they would sell for as breeders or market fowls. Add the total sales of eggs and fowls, which will give the credit side of the account. Add together the cost of stock inventoried or bought at the start, the cost of feed, cost of advertising (if any), and a fair proportion of cost of houses and equipment, with Interest on the investment, and you can readily determine whether you are keeping the chickens or whether they are keeping you. No charge has been considered for labor on a small plant, as the value of the Httle work required will bq offset by improved health gained by the outdoor exercise. This is where thfe doctor loses. No credit has been made for poultry manure produced, as it is not always possible to use or dispose of It to advantage, athough the general rule Is to allow thirty cents a fowl per year for manure produced. If it can be distributed over a garden It 1b worth more than that amount. On large plants the cost of labor will be quite an Item and cuts down the net profit per bird considerably, but on small plants the work is classed as recreation and not charged for.