POULTRY KEEPING.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 142, 17 June 1922, Page 20

POULTRY KEEPING.

PRACTICAL ADVICE. WHY SOME SMAIX FLOCKS DO NOT FAT. (By R. J. TERRY.) In such times as these, wben economy and increased production are urged as vital factors in the restoration of commercial stability, it is often profitable to turn some little attention to the possibility of making money with side lines. It is always practicable to augment the monthly milk cheque or the weekly wage by such methods, and in this direction poitltrykeeping. especially for the small holder, will be found most useful.

Unfortunately, in far too many cases. the flock of poultry is not run on proper lines. Strange as it may seem, the atprosont despised occupation of poultrykecpintr really requires considerable thought and application, if eggs are to be obtained all the year round, or incubators used. It certainly requires more intelligence than is given to the management of the average cow on the ordinary dairy farm, but I am convinced in most cases that it is only want of knowledge.

I bad a chat with a small holding farmer on his o-round some few weeks hack, to whom it was an absolute necessity to increase the returns from the farm or eventually go under.

I viewed his flock of poultry, consisting of about 200 birds, and asked him if his birds were a paying proposition. Like many other farmers be was uncertain as to whether the birds returned si profit or not, but he did not think they did. He was somewhat surprised when I emphatically stated that they were certainly now showing a profit, and to convince him I gave him the following reasons: —

In tho first place tbe birds were of all ages and of various breeds and slept in the trees, and lastly, but far from least, running with a flock of 200 birds were at least forty roosters of various ages. The man had far too great a percentage of absolute "dead heads'' in his flock. We will dissect tho flock. When I pointed out that the forty roosters were preventing the birds from showing a profit, he said: "There can't be much in poultrykeeping if running some roosters with the flock is going to make it ]iay or not."'

1 bet. us suppose that the owner gels rid of the forty male birds and replaces them by forty pullets, just ordinary. every-da'y pullets which would lay only 100 eggs each per annum. The owner would then get 4000 more eggs per year with the same consumption/ or rather loss, of food. further, the egg s then produced, being infertile, would have far better keeping qualities than the fertile eggs, so that he would be marketing a higher-class article —a. subject, with which 1 will deal later on. The farmer ill question quickly saw thp benefit, and exclaimed that they (the roosters) would go into the next salo.

1 next pointed out that he hud several birds in the flock which were long past tho ago of profitable production. He seemed somewhat hurt at this and said: "Well, 1 suppose everybody has the same. A fowl hasn't, teeth, so that you cannot grade them each year as you would sheep or oven cow..."'

I insisted that there were in the flock j birds of seven, eight or more years of age. The farmer thought otherwise. •lust then his wife came along and was ■told of tho argument. She said: "I'm always telling you. .Tack, that most of the birds are far too old. Why. my ! sister with half the number of "birds | more than pays the grocery bill." f pointed io a very ancient, speckled ! biddy and asked the age of that purtieu- ' lar bird The farmer's wife turned to her husband and laughingly remarked- | "You're beaten. -Tack. Mrs." Smith gave us a sitting of eggs a month before Tommy was born. That hen was hatched ; from them." I asked the age of Tommy . and the father admitted that he wii | eleven ycare last birthdaj. Ihy j»

extreme case, I will admit, but numbers of birds can be found in flocks, six, 6even and eight years old. We then discussed the question of feeding, and the owner seemed quite relieved. He said there was nothing wrong as regards the feeding. "Last year wo had abundance of grass and did not require «the maize for green feed for the cows, 60 I thinned it out and left it for grain and gave the bulk of it to the wife for the fowls." "Do they get anything else?'' I asked. "Oh, no," and with a bappy smile, "they are mud fat. We killed a couple last week, and the inside* of the birds were a mass of fat. What* more. I think I made a mistake in killing those two birds as there was 9 quantity of quite big yolks inside them." Although they were afairsample of the flock the remaining birds had not commenced to lav.

By way of explanation, it was pointed out that the reason for the birds being excessively fat wa<_ due to unlimited maize ration, which is more fattening than any other grain. It also accounted for the "development of the yolks, which are composed of oil or fat. The percentage of oil in the average yolk ii about .10 per cent, or approximately eight times as much as the fat constituent in a standard sample of milk. I'll admit the housewife does not se» the oil in the yolk, but it can be tested by the Babcock Tester, or if the yolk ol an egg is boiled hard and placed in a 6tnall tin on a hot plate and mashed up, the oil will be seen. In fact, it is used in Russia as a healing salve for burns; but it is necessary to remenV.ier that it requires far more than a yolk to produce a perfect egg. There is the white, which is albumen in its purest form. Owing to the wrong feeding the birds of this owner were not fleshy—just fat. Now lean meat and the white of an egg are very similar in their constituents, and it may be sufficient fo r mc to state at this stage that the birds, owing to wrong feeding, did not have enough loan meat for their own requirements, therefore no surplus with which to make up the whites of the egg.

An egg is a surplus from tbe food consumed over and above the requirements of the bird, which it must be understood has first of all to replace its own wasted tissue and supply heat and energy before functioning" as A layer.

As poultry had been running over this particular piece of ground for some years there was nothing left in tho soil available for tho birds in tho form of grit to assi.-t digestion and to form A shell tor the or tho frame of the chicks. By the way. grit to assist digestion, and what is known r.s grit for shell formeng. arc two totally different thing-. rius particular owner said that his fowlg did not lay in winter time. lie supposing that he had not got a winter egg-laying strain. This. 1 may state, lias nothing whatever to do with winter c°-cr production. There i< no such thing, although it may bo advertised as 'winter coplaying strain." I, U all a question hatching at iho right time, controlling the moult of tin. birds as far as possible so that they will be through the moult and have time to grow their new leathers before ~,,.,.,.,1 weather sets in. It is thou a question of feeling, providing you have a bird fairly tight in tho eatlierand nf good coiisti'tutien and see that the constitution extends from the ancestors. _\ man who boast.-, of hi, strength Jms to ihauk hi, ..randfather l<'._ a h>t. ami su it is with poultry and other stock.

YU then had ~ | itUl . ~, t „ fh a acy of allowing birds v , s locp in ges and trees, and at the sat,,,- time expecting tho N_st results. When t Pointed out that birds housed would Produce about ...ill. ,„- „ ram , |T b|rd Pop annum, and that this man, r , ■ but only ,t kop, dry) was worth. „„ present alues. £ S per ton , " , £ promised a fowlhouse within a month. At the conclusion of our ",,..;•, ...» ~- ... "11 Pleased with each other, ihe "arr-ier remarking: "Why if it is 0l ,„ £„ ™ f Zln£tT7 lu "^ _,„_,_. . , p to «N to get more I£ve in „ repar<l r fCedin "" ' "*"<■ f " fee - ie\e in grass alone f or the . ,-,v- but this year I save „ii ~.!. , 1 the butter "n at *? d *''?* "h" I ,' fo , od ' ? r w l»at the books call __j_l>_nce£l jatiena." ** ™"