POULTRY NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIV, Issue 173, 22 July 1903, Page 7

POULTRY NOTES.

Much of the disease to be found amongst poultry at this time of the year can be traced to mismanagement. Of the diseases to which fowls are subject, those affecting the bowels and liver are probably least understood; and, unfortunately, there are prevalent some erroneous ideas with regard to their prevention and cure. One is that because 30ft food is more quickly digested than whole, hard grain, too mucn of it cannot be given. It should, however, be borne in mind that the digestive organs of fowls continually fed on soft food become lazy, refuse to secrete the necessary amount of digestive juices for the decomposition of the food, which passes into the bowels disintegrated, but not decomposed; and, therefore, being unfit for the delicate membranes through which it is assimilated, sets up inflammation and diarrhoea. As a matter of

fact, only a limited amount of soft food may be given continuously with good results, the object being to provide early nutriment in the morning before hard grain could be digested. Such soft food must be thoroughly well prepared with boiling water or soup, and must always be mixed very dry and crumbly—so dry that a compressed ball of it falling to the ground will break abroad easily. The midday meal, if any, and the evening meal should always" consist of hard grain, except in the ease of fattening fowls for table. Boiled grain, also, which is in great favour with some breeders, should only be given as soft food. The same remarks apply to young and growing chickens, the only difference being that their hard food should consist of cracked grain. Matins- for Size.—The male bird ■undoubtedly exercises a certain amount of influence in regard to the size and shape of the offspring; but to attempt to remedy—as so many amateurs do—the deficiency of size in their stock by the purchase of an extra large cock, is the wrong way to go to work. The hen has far more influence over both the size and shape of the progeny than the male has, says "Farm and Home." Take a broad-shouldered, deep-breasted cock, and mate with narrow-shouldered hens, deficient, also in breast and the result of such a union will be but little, if any, improvement. Had, however, the tables been turned, and the hens possessed the size instead of the cock, far greater improvement would appear in the offspring; but, as we before remai'ked, the male bird does exercise a certain influence. It will be found that by breeding from large hens, and a cock deficient in this respect, that the pullets produced show a far greater improvement than is observable in the cockerels, and it is only by continuing the process of breeding , from large hens that the cockerels will far out-distance the original cock. There is no question but the best plan is to have size and shape on both sides; but if the deficiency must occur on one side or the other, do not let it be on that of the hens.

The Fertility of Eggs.—ln order to determine how soon after mating eggs become sufficiently fertile to yield chicks the Maine experiment station last year found that 40 hours •after the cock was placed with the hens two of the eggs showed slight traces of fertility. From eight eggs laid the third day two chickens were hatched. The best results were obtained eipht days after the introduction of the male bird. Tn another pen the cock was removed in order !o r-ee how long afterwards the ejrgs remained fertile. The 27 eggs laid during the first three days after the removal of the cock yielded ten chicks, the 30 eggs laid on the 11th, 12th, and 13th days after his removal yielded seven chicks. But little difference was found in the fertility of eggs of different shapes in another series of experiments. Potatoes, though a food of some value, cannot be recommended in large quantities; their feeding value is not high, as they contain 75 per cent, of water and a large quantity of starch. They should be wrll boiled and mixed with bran, or, better still, coarse sharps, and are an economical food to prive when potatoes are plentiful and selling at low prices, but they should not be given regularly, but more as a change of food. Overfeeding on potatoes would have very much the same effect as overfeeding on maize.