ANALYZING A POULTRY ENTERPRISE. PURPOSE. This bulletin is intended for the use of vocational agricultural teachers, teacher-trainers, and others who are responsible for the selection and organization of the content of vocational agricultural courses of less than college grade. It is designed as a guide to vocational teachers in making analyses of specific things to be taught in specific situations where poultry is raised and marketed. The scope of poultry production taken into consideration in the preparation of the bulletin is thought to be sufficient in extent to cover all the conditions under which poultry is produced in the United States. However, no attempt has been made to give technical facts nor to recommend definite practices. The jobs set forth have been found to be actually practiced in the United States, but it is not probable that all of these 48 jobs are practiced on any one farm, or even on the several farms in any given community. Therefore all of these jobs and practices should be considered, some merely to the extent of justifying their omission in the particular locality, others thoroughly and in detail as they are adapted to local needs. The more comprehensively the teacher analyzes his proposed work the better will be the opportunity for pupils to select, reject, and adapt farming practices intelligently. DETERMINING THE ENTERPRISE JOBS. Farm commodities such as poultry, fat hogs, and eggs are produced and marketed by the farmer performing a series of operations which may be classified so as to be designated as different jobs. A job is here considered to be what a farmer needs to do to accomplish a specific piece of work such as selecting seed for a given crop, culling poor layers from the flock, plowing land for potatoes, cultivating a growing crop, pruning apple trees, and finding a market for live poultry. The completion of a job involves the performance of one or more activities which are closely related and can be recognized as being distinct from those of any other job. These activities represent the centralization of efforts on the part of a farmer to bring a particular kind of work to an end, resulting in the completion of something tangible in one of his enterprises and leaving him free to divert his attention to some other line of work. The scope of the job and the time required for completing it may vary, since a job may be performed under different situations. The activities in doing certain jobs may be wholly mental, but in most jobs the mental and physical activities must be combined in the use of tools and equipment. A job should result in a conclusive determination by mental processes or in a finished operation involving both mental and physical effort in the course of developing and marketing a farm product. A series of jobs performed in the order of development in producing and marketing a farm commodity constitute an agricultural enterprise, the unit of organization on the farm. In general, farmers are engaged in producing more than one commodity, that is, a farming occupation usually consists of coordinating two or more enterprises in such proportions as is consistent with securing the greatest average annual net returns from the farm as a whole for a long period of time. There are several economic factors influencing the proper selection of animal and crop enterprises for a given farm, also the systematic organization of the enterprise jobs, all of which give rise to general problems in farm management. The larger problems relating to the operation of the farm as a whole are given only minor consideration here in dealing with the producing and marketing of a single farm commodity. In analyzing an enterprise it is found that there are certain jobs which are strongly managerial in nature, requiring little or no manipulative skill on the part of the farmer, but it can be said that all of the work on the farm is related in some measure to the general system of management on that farm. Operative skill alone. however highly developed, will not bring satisfactory ultimate results in a farming occupation. The man who is responsible for securing the largest net returns for his commodities will need to exercise his managerial ability all through the process of production and marketing. Managerial activities are usually coupled with ownership responsibility whether the individual farmer does all the work himself or simply directs employed help. Training for agricultural efficiency should be such as will develop managerial ability as well as manipulative skill. The farmer's success depends largely upon how well he can do the jobs necessary to produce and market his commodities. If efficiency in doing the jobs on the farm is the basis for success, then the farm jobs should be made the basis for vocational training in agriculture; in other words, the job should be taken as the teaching unit. With the above consideration in mind the writer conferred with specialists in various bureaus of the United States Department of Agriculture and also with practical poultry raisers with reference to the jobs and training content. The jobs as determined are the jobs which are connected directly with poultry raising as practiced in the United States in accordance with approved methods and not the jobs of any particular local group of poultry raisers. In organizing instruction in the poultry enterprise for a given community teachers should stress those jobs which are found to be practiced in the locality. JOB GROUPS. Certain of the jobs in the poultry-raising enterprise are so related with reference to the season in which they must be done, the equipment used, the stages in the development of the flock, and the kind of skill and knowledge needed for their performance, that they readily fall into groups. Based upon the above relations the jobs. in the enterprise have been arranged into the following job groups: JOB GROUP I. Determining where a poultry enterprise may be successfully conducted. Job 1. Determining the adaptability of the locality for poultry production. Job 2. Determining the adaptability of the individual's farm for poultry production. Job 3. Securing capital for the poultry enterprise. JOB GROUP II. Keeping records and accounts for the poultry enterprise. Job 2. Taking the inventory. Job 3. Keeping the records. Job 4. Summarizing the records. JOB GROUP III. Establishing a flock. Job 1. Choosing the breed and variety to raise. Job 2. Buying eggs for hatching. Job 3. Buying baby chicks. Job 4. Buying mature standard-bred fowls for breeding. (Males, females.) Job 5. Selecting breeding stock from the home flock. (Males, females.) JOB GROUP IV. Caring for the breeding stock. Job 1. Housing. Job 2. Feeding. Job 3. Handling during the mating season. Job 4. Protecting breeders from diseases and parasitic pests. JOB GROUP V. Incubating the eggs. Job 1. Selecting eggs for incubation. Job 2. Caring for eggs for hatching. Job 3. Hatching with hens. Job 4. Hatching with incubators. JOB GROUP VI. Brooding chicks and rearing young stock. Job 1. Brooding chicks with hens. Job 2. Brooding chicks artificially. Job 3. Feeding baby chicks. Job 4. Combating diseases and insect pests of baby chicks. Job 5. Housing and sheltering the growing flock. Job 6. Feeding the growing stock. Job 7. Protecting growing stock from diseases and poultry pests. Job 8. Separating the cockerels and pullets. Job 9. Caponizing cockerels. 108857-22-2 JOB GROUP VII. Producing and caring for eggs. Job 1. Housing the laying hens. Job 2. Feeding the laying hens. Job 3. Protecting laying hens from diseases and parasitic pests. Job 5. Collecting and storing eggs on the farm. Job 6. Preserving eggs on the farm. JOB GROUP VIII. Showing birds and selling breeding stock. Job 1. Selecting birds for exhibition. Job 2. Getting the birds ready for exhibition. Job 3. Putting birds on exhibit. Job 4. Selling fowls to be used as breeders. JOB GROUP IX. Marketing poultry and eggs. Job 1. Fattening chickens on the farm for market. Job 2. Finding a market for live poultry. Job 3. Shipping live poultry. Job 4. Dressing poultry for market. Job 5. Marketing dressed poultry. Job 6. Finding a market for eggs. Job 7. Shipping eggs. Job 8. Finding a market for eggs for hatching. The related jobs have been grouped merely to make it possible to suggest laboratory exercises, to list equipment and supplies, and to classify the publications of the United States Department of Agriculture under each job group rather than under each job. It is not intended that the job group be taken as a unit when giving instruction for the various jobs. The job forms a more favorable unit for instruction. The suggested aids for teaching, consisting of exercises. equipment and supplies and United States Department of Agricul ture reference material, will be found following the jobs under each job group. THE TRAINING CONTENT. The man who raises poultry successfully must possess knowledge and skill which relates directly to his jobs in the enterprise to enable him to perform them in the best possible way. After the jobs have been set up, the next step in the training process is to determine the technical knowledge and manipulative content of the jobs. The proportion of manipulative skills to technical knowledge needed for doing a job varies with the nature of the job. Some jobs require a large amount of manipulative skill and a comparatively small amount of technical knowledge; others require a large accumulation of technical knowledge and little ability in manipulation. Between these two extremes may be found jobs requiring various ratios between the manipulative procedure and technical knowledge in a man's training. Certain other jobs in the enterprise require no manipulative action and may be called mental jobs or managerial jobs. However, such a classification of jobs is unnecessary and confusing and has not been made in this bulletin. Under each job in the enterprise is listed what has been determined to be guides to the essential training content. Under those jobs which require little or no manipulative skill are listed points calling merely for technical knowledge which is thought essential for the respective jobs. Under those jobs which require manipulative skill are listed the manipulative activities in which skill must be acquired and the points calling for technical knowledge which is thought to function in making possible a more intelligent application of skill. In addition to the manipulative skills and technical knowledge necessary for doing a job, related information which will contribute to better understanding and appreciation of the work to be done should be regarded as an important part of the training content. SUGGESTIONS FOR ANALYZING AND TEACHING A POULTRY ENTERPRISE. JOB GROUP I. Determining where a poultry enterprise may be successfully conducted. Job 1. Determining the adaptability of the locality for poultry production. Guides to technical knowledge content 1. What conditions to investigate relative to an economical supply of poultry feed. 2. What information to secure relative to accessible markets for poultry and poultry products. 3. What to know of the condition of the public highways throughout the year. 4. What consideration to give to local shipping facilities. 5. What consideration to give to the volume of local poultry products with reference to efficient marketing. 6. How to evaluate the factors in poultry production for the lo cality. Job 2. Determining the adaptability of the individual's farm for poultry production. Guides to technical knowledge content 1. How to compare the probable net profit from poultry production with that from other enterprises on the farm on the basis of labor and capital required. 2. What things to consider with respect to engaging in poultry production as a specialty or as a supplement to general farming or other business. 3. What consideration to give to the possibility of growing feeds on the farm for poultry. 4. What consideration to give to the accessibility of the farm to a good public highway. 5. What soil conditions on the farm to consider. 6. How to evaluate the factors in poultry production on the given farm. |