Nichols Poultry Farm
Fred Nichols
Nichols
Poultry Farm was established in Kingston, New Hampshire in 1915 by Perrin
Nichols and his son Frederic Nichols. The farm was to become one of the first
commercial broiler growing farms in the U.S.A. They produced “springers” (as
broilers were then known) for the New York market. After starting with Rhode
Island Reds these were substituted in 1917 by White Plymouth Rock stock and a
considerable amount of trapnesting and pedigree work was done. However Pullorum
disease wiped them out and breeding was recommenced with New Hampshires in 1920.
In the mid-twenties Nichols began breeding for broiler characteristics, emphasizing
vigour, light colour, early weight, early large egg size and high hatchability
of eggs set. The company grew broilers from their own stock until 1935 when
hatching egg sales began. Barred Rocks were added to the breeding plan in 1938
to produce a male that would blend with the New Hampshire and produce a cross
of outstanding market quality. The New Hampshire progressed as a broiler mother
and by the mid-50’s more than 40% of all female parents were Nichols stock.
Jim Coleman
at Brunswick, Maine founded the Coleman Maine Reds in 1931 and bred a strain of
New Hampshires for the Maine roaster market. In 1941 he accepted a position as
General Manager of Christie Poultry farms at Kingston, New Hampshire. This
company was a franchise of Nichols and in 1943 Jim Coleman was appointed as
General Sales Manager at Nichols. By 1951 sales of breeder units exceeded 15
million spread across 46 states in the U.S. In Maine Coleman Farms sold over 2
million Maine Reds. In 1951 the Nichols entry in the “Chicken-of-Tomorrow”
contest came second to the Charles Vantress entry and established the Nichols
stock as a leader for broiler production. In 1952 Nichols took over the Coleman
Maine farm for research and development of both broiler female and male lines.
In 1957
Lohmann Tierzucht concluded a licensing agreement with Nichols for their stock
and to set up a broiler breeding and production operation in Germany. A year
later Lohmann also concluded a licensing agreement with H&N in Kirkland,
Washington for layer breeding. These developments lead Nichols to establish the
Nichols Corporation with subsidiaries in Brunswick, Maine (Nichols), Kirkland,
Washington (H&N) and Cuxhaven, West Germany (Nichols-Lohmann). To these was
added Chunky Chicks, Newbridge, Scotland.
Nichols purchased the former Squamscott Hotel in Exeter in 1955 for use as the headquarters of Nichols International. A secret meeting of political leaders of several parties supporting abolition of slavery was held in the hotel in 1853 leading to the formation of the Republican Party in 1856.
The Nichols home and Headquarters in Kingston
Jim Coleman
Sexing Chicks