The Chicken Ranch was highly successful. In the 1950s the Ranch employed sixteen prostitutes. On weekends there was often a line of men, mostly students or soldiers from nearby military bases, at the door. One base supplied a helicopter for soldiers to use for transportation to the ranch. Students at Texas A&M University also made an unofficial tradition of sending freshmen to the Chicken Ranch for initiation. The Chicken Ranch was preferred because many of the girls were allegedly University of Texas students.
Each prostitute would have between five and twenty customers per day. In the 1950s, they were charged $15 for fifteen minutes ($132 in today's terms). The employees were required to give 75% of their earnings to Milton, who paid for all of their living and medical expenses. At its peak in the 1960s, the ranch earned more than $500,000 per year ($3.74 million in today's terms), with the prostitutes keeping an additional $300 per week for themselves ($2,200 in today's terms).
