THE POULTRY FARMER.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 27, 13 November 1935, Page 10

THE POULTRY FARMER.

OVERHAULING THE' INCUBATORS

FINAL TASK'.OF HATCHING

SEASON,

Now. that most of the season’s hatch ing has been completed, care should be taken to see that the incubation equipment is not closed down unclean and left in this condition until it is needed again next season. The same advice applies to brooding appliances. The fact that incubators will not be used again for twelve months makes if a very easy thing to put off the task ot cleaning and overhauling them for some spare day, but very .often that day does not come before the machines are required, for the next season s hatching. Incubators deteriorate rapidly if left uncleaned and take much longer to clean when you get down to the job. When beginning to clean an incubator first remove all' movable parts. This will leave the framework which, after- a. scrubbing with disinfec taut solution, should not need much attention beyond perhaps a rub up on the outside, a screw or two tightened, a door hinge replaced, and metal parts covered with vaseline or lard. The thermometer and capsule should be carefully removed, wrapped m soft material and put away safely. Ihe needle rod and .regulator arm should be polished with emery paper and then greased and put away with other spare parts. Attention to the Lamp.

The lamp and flues-should be cleaned and polished up—throw away tho wick and clean out the oil reservoir. If paraffin is left in the tank it will eat through the metal in time, pleau the damper and put it with the. lamp. It is sound policy to make a list of an.v spare parts needed, and to order them at once. The felts, should he shaken put and brushed up and left out in the sun on a suitable day. If they a’e washed they will shrink and will not fit the floor of tho incubator. Chick and nursery trays should ho carefu.iy scrubbed and any repairs necessary should be done. When all is clean, re place the main fittings and when dry fumigate the machine. A burning sulphur caudle is quite good, but many prefer formaldihyde gas. When the incubator has been thoroughly fumigated it should he covered up with some sheeting or other material until it is needed again, the main trouble to he guarded against in the off season being damage by mice.

„, 3> A^T The incubator room . should., be left clean and tidy with corners,scrubbed out and all traces of hate r ing, egg-shells, etc*;, cleaned away. there has been any disease, such aS 8.W.D., among the chickens, the incubator room should he fumigated and even if there has been no serious disease, fumigation is a sound insurance against trouble.

Green-leg in Brooder Chicks. For several years p.ast, about this time of the year, especially sine©'the introduction of mass production moth- 1 ods of chicken rearing and the use of the large canopy brooders where four or five hundred chickens are reared in one lot, a number of poultry-keepers have had a trouble amongst their chickens known as green-leg, or green- . wing. The first symptoms of-this trou' ble, says the Chief Government Pdul- J try Instructor (Mr C. J. Cussen) are generally a swelling of the head or. back of the neck, and op examination it will be found that the hock jqints are swollen and discoloured, with the ' joints of the wings also often affectedf When the neck and head are badly, af-: footed the chicken has difficulty in breatlting, and death often follows. This trouble is really caused by incorrect night conditions, overcrowding and insufficient ventilation,' thus cans-' ing many chickens to rebreathe the same impure air. Like many other chicken ailments, this'trouble is much easier to prevent than to cure. The best means of preventing the trpuhle is not to overcrowd and to - provide plenty of good, dry bedding' material—in fact, it is advisable to place some fresh dry bedding material under the hover each night after the chicks are three weeks old. u .- ■

Where a frame is used to brood chicks on, as recommended by the department, it is well to raise it an inch, or two off the. ground after the chipkens are a little over three weeks.old,; as this allows the air to get underneath the chickens. and so helps to avoid trouble. • Where tlie frame is. not used extra care should be taken to see that plenty of fresh bedding material is used; a little extra bedding material is much less expensive than tlie loss fo a number of chickens. <■ ' ■

Overcrowding is oiie of the chief causes of trouble amongst artificially-?' reared chickens. The Chief 'Poultry Instructor states that lie lias seen four and five hundred chicks successfully reared under one brooder, but they ivere experienced pbultry-keepprs. 'J'he beginner, lie adds, would bo wise to place not more than half that; number under each canopy brooder and in inost cases thereby obtain much more satis-':, factory results. Everything should: be done to avoid overcrowding, and any-}: thing that is likely to create a moist atmosphere. A careful watch should be kept on the chickens just , as they are camping for the night to see that they do not crowd. The cockerels should be picked out as, soon as .they can be detected, as this allows extra room for the pullets. It is also wisp to encourage the chickens, to perch as' soon as they are fit to leave the brooder. . Leghorn chickens should, if well brooded, be ready for perching ai( between six and seven weeks old, but care should be taken to see that they are. gradually hardened off. Oyster Shell Grit. “Danger may lurk- ip the common oyster shell grit and. even occasional ejeaths may result from putrefactive matter contained in the' shells. This danger may arise from-.the-use of . un-_ ; treated shells, such, for - iiistance.,’ as those obtained from fishmongers and' broken up by small' poultry-keepers,/ and not so much from the kiln dried shells which, when ground to size, are _ a regular article of commerce sold' by produce dealers.” The above is the opinion of the wellknown New South Wales, expei t, Mr James Hadlingtou, who adds “An olcl method of dealing with oyster shells was to spread them out in a, thin layer exposed to the ,air, rain and sun in order to get all the fermentative • matter bleached out of them before being broken up. For.many years the. writer, in his early experience, . used nothing else but oyster shells, other, grit not being available to him. Experience however,, favours, a grit composed of two-thirds beach shell and, one-third oyster shell, as giving the best egg shells. To supply all shell tends towards, softness lii the egg shells and good beach shells to hardness ’ The right, way to supply grit as bo place it in small boxes or troughs where the fowls can help, themselves, but not in the food. Furthermore, it should he broken ,to a size the fowls can easily swallow, but not too small, or they will fail to eat sufficient of it. Given these conditions the fowls can be depended upon to take their full ie quirements.” . . • A practice has been .growing of introducing finely-ground!shell into the mash in the feeding. In Mr Hadlmgton’s opinion this practice is quite useless for the purpose and more harmful than beneficial. ...

Cheap Rams. The plan adopted in New South Wales whereby the Government assists small graziers and farmers by way of loan to acquire good rams at reasonabla prices has resulted in. striking improve-; megit to many small flocks. A similar plan might be followed with advantage in Victoria, where numbers of small flocks are of inferior standard because of the use of nondescript - rams, states the “Australasian.” All types .of lowgrade wool are met with in Victoria, and much of this wool comes from small crossbred and comeback'o flocks, which might easily be improved. Unfortunately, there is. au impiessioig among some farmers that any ram is good enough for small flocks, many of. which are regarded merely as sidelines. In New South Wales the aim was to raise the standard of the small flpeksj. even those which were looked Upon sidelines, and it has been found that the best ,wa,y to achieve this aim is to encourage the use of gOod rains. The Polwarth Sheepbreeders’ Association has agreed to support ia proposal for the adoption in Victoria.of .a purebred ram scheme on lines similar .to t}iose which are working well in New South Wales.