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It wasn't until the 1930's that houses were designed with individual cages for the laying birds. The early models met with limited success. In later years, the individual cage system became the most common practice. It wasn't until shortly before World War II that multiple-story poultry houses made their appearance in the commercial poultry trade.. After the war, many large poultry houses were built, often holding thousands of laying birds. At this time, automatic equipment was added to the large chicken house. Tractors were used in the cleaning of the houses.. Mechanization made it so that one man could take care of thousands of birds.
1930 seems to be the year that the "Egg Auctions" exploded on the American scene in the form of farmer co-operatives being formed, primarily on the East coast. The key state seems to have been New Jersey and the number one county in New Jersey was Hunterdon.
According to an article found on the Internet titled "Hunterdon Agriculture" - By Bernard F. Ramsburg, "Though Hunterdon has been one of the leading poultry counties of New Jersey and of the United States for most of the 20th century,. The poultry shows held at county fairs were devoted to fancy birds rather than birds kept for utility. With the development of good markets for poultry products, the situation changed rapidly. This coincided with two inventions, the incubator and the brooders, which have contributed much to the modernizing of the industry.
A Hunterdon hatcheryman, Joseph Wilson, of Stockton was the first man to ship day-old baby chicks. The poultry industry grew rapidly thereafter, and hatcheries developed in the county until millions of chicks were produced annually. White leghorns were raised for eggs, Barred Plymouth Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, New Hampshire Reds were grown for meat and eggs. Later, cross breeds were developed. Since most of the eggs from the county went to New York City and its vicinity, where white eggs were preferred, the emphasis was on the production of white eggs. An important development was that of separating male from female chicks before sale.
The Hunterdon Poultry Association was organized in 1912. This organization became particularly active after the first County Agricultural Agent started working in the county in 1927. It sponsored the Hunterdon Egg Laying Contest, the headquarters of which was located just outside of Flemington. This was operated by the Poultry Department of Rutgers University, and helped to improve the breeding of many poultry flocks. The County Poultry Association also cooperated with the Extension Service and Experiment Station in all efforts for the betterment of the poultry industry.
The Flemington Cooperative Auction Market was organized in 1930 by some of the leading poultrymen of the county. At its first auction, 60 cases of eggs were sold. The Market was successful from the first, and soon added the sale of poultry. Several years later a livestock sale was also added. The Market soon outgrew its temporary quarters in the center of Flemington and bought a large building on Park Avenue, formerly used by the Empire Cut Glass factory. Other buildings have since been built on this property.
It appears that the Auction Method of Marketing poultry eggs wholesale to the market lasted approximately thirty years from 1930 to about 1960 servicing the more than 1200 egg producer members of the co-operative. As time went on smaller farms were absorbed by larger poultry farms. In 1960 at “candle and carton” program was started. Approximately 3,000 cases of eggs each week were being handled under this program. By the 1970's the market became so standardized and mechanized that the approximately 300 major egg producers were able to convert to a fixed rate weekly trading system that replaced the Auction venue.
Today, there are still "Egg Auctions." But, not of the magnitude that dominated the poultry industry from the 1930's to the 1960's. In fact, an article by Kelly Klober highlighted the Auction of rare eggs with the announcement, "The River Hills Farmers group in cooperation with the Society for the Preservation of Poultry Antiquities announced the National Auction of Rare and Heirloom Baby Chicks and Hatching Eggs. It was held on Saturday, May 28, 2005 at 1 pm CST at Silex in Lincoln County, Missouri. A commission of 12 percent was charged on each lot sold to offset costs, that was evenly divided between the SPPA and the River Hills group. Offered at the Auction were chicks and/or hatching eggs from heirloom breeds such as Mottled Javas, Dorkings, LaFleche, Buff Cornish, Buff and Blue Wyandottes, Rhode Island Whites and more.
A quick sort on Ebay for "egg" provided 14,849 Auction listings ranging from a Russian made silver enameled "Faberge' style" egg to ancient dinosaur eggs. Many of these "New Listings" do not yet have bids. But, given time to incubate the Auction Method is bound to hatch some serious bids!
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