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 Research Papers


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                                      Kearney Hatchery

Herbert Kendall - from Indiana
    Took job with YMCA when attending University of Indiana
    This job took him to Nebraska Wesleyn where he met and married a Kearney girl, Ruth Kendall

    1922 - Living in Grand Island, working for YMCA; raised  chickens as a hobby
            Purchased the cottonmill property when the Midway Amusement Park went bankrupt.

    Built a chicken hatchery business

    First called Acropolis Hatchery in the 1920’s
    Name changed to Kearney Hatchery by 1930

    Products – baby chicks, eggs, butchered chickens to eat
        Also, later, ducks, turkeys, geese

During the Twenties


a. Baby Chicks hatched and sold in the spring


    Jan 1924 – advertising 2000 chicks per week for sale

        Sounds like a lot but for farm flocks of 100 that is only 20 customers

b. Other Poultry Products

    Chickens to fry or roast (dressed poultry)

    Young roast duck, goose

c. July 31, 1929 – Acropolis Hatchery Ends Seventh Year
    One of only fifteen Nebraska Accredited hatcheries in the state

d. Weather


    Apr 24, 1929 – Damage from High Wind with Rain

        Largest individual loss was by Kendall at the Acropolis Hatchery.
        Two buildings damaged including losing their roofs - excess of $1,000. [$16,000 in 2021]
        No chickens were lost and the incubator house was not damaged.

    April 6, 1931 – Brooder House Burns
        About 1 a.m. one of the brick brooder houses caught fire.
        Over 1,000 month old chicks burned, as well as the equipment and a few hens
        The incubator house, which houses the thousands of eggs which Mr. Kendall hatches for himself and for many
             other people, was not touched by the fire.

    May 4, 1931 – a brooder house fire which fortunately was discovered before any great damage had resulted.

During the Thirties

a. Moved Hatching to Town


    1934 - Opened business at 22nd & 1st Ave – 2 incubators @ 52,000 eggs each, sectioned so not all eggs
                     hatched at the same time

        Also sold chick feed and equipment
        Lester Jensen manager of incubating part of business
        Claremont Peck was office manager and bookkeeper
        Continued to operate poultry farm at the cotton mill site

b. Coping With the Depression


    July 9, 1938 advertisement - Raise some late chickens.

        Grain is cheap. Hogs are scarce. Grasshoppers are plentiful.
        You can turn cheap grain, soar milk and grasshoppers into a profit by raising a late batch of chicks.
        No bother with a brooder is necessary.

During the Forties

a. Flock Owner Dinners

    Fazed out poultry farm by early 1940’s and moved into Kearney
    Purchased eggs from farmers for hatching

    Dec 1939 – Kendall held 1st flock owners dinner

            Chicken dinner
            Speakers from ag poultry dept. at UNL and county extension office about better chicken health
            Became an annual event through the 40’s as Kendall worked to educate farmers on raising healthier flocks for
                 better quality eggs and meat

    Later dinners were turkey

b. The War Effort
    A series of Kearney Hatchery EGG-A-TORIALS in Kearney Hub
        Kearney's first SHELL LOADING PLANT has been here for years. The Kearney Hatchery hen.
        A hen's nest is better than a machine gun nest.
         Let Kearney Hatchery pullets bombard you with eggs

New Owners

After 30 in business, Kendall retired at age 65 summer 1951


        Sold Kearney  Hatchery to Lester Jensen and Claremont Peck

        Peck sold his share to Jensen soon afterwards
        Jensen operated the business up into the 1960’s when apparently it was phased out

Item of interest - Jan. 29, 1927 –

    Experimental Farm Project at School Proves Profitable

        Kearney State Teachers College farm west and north of the college
        The real purpose of the farm was to supply the college dining hall with meat and vegetables….

        Always been a few chickens on the farm, this spring farm manager planned to raise 1,000 chickens.

        Orders had already been put in at the Acropolis hatchery for 500 baby chicks the first of March. 500 more soon
 
        “With this number, chickens can be supplied for the dining hall, and also enough hens can be kept through the
         winter to furnish the eggs for the tables.”

 

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Revised: 09/24/2021