POULTRY KEEPING.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 190, 12 August 1922, Page 20

POULTRY KEEPING.

IBy R. J. TERRY.)

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. J.lt. (Morningsidet writes that he las ha.l trouble with his incubator. The chicks in many cases art fully formed In the shell but appear to have uot absorbed quite all th<* white of the egg. He states that he has followed out directions carefully re turning and airing. The incubator is probably not at fault. In very early hatches, in this climate, there seems to lie an excess of moisture which would probably not be the case later on in the season, when, in fact, with impunity and benefit, spray or add moisture to the eggs or machine. If the atmosphere continues moist through the next hatch lengthen the cooling period and do not put any moisture in the machine. The heavier breed, owing to the alight difference 1U what (Jiffcrentlf. TIN MONEY (Remuera) writes that she I* troubled because she has had a very uusuccessfui hatch in a well-known make of incubator. The incubator has been run in a .-pare room free from draughts and moisture not given until the eighteenth day. The chicks appear to be fully formed in many cases, but there are also a number dead at various stages of development. l£he trouble in this caso la probatly due V. careless handling of the egga when turning, or there are too few on the tray and they roll too much. Jarring of the tray when putting it back, or there is bacteria, moulds, etc.. from last season in the machine. Befors starting next batch burn a little sulphur in the incubator. SEASONABLE NOTES. The hatching season will shortly be with us. It should be remembered that the great essential is that a hen should sit quietly on her nest and be free from lice or mites. Pay special attention to those birds which you have picked out lor future sitters. Duet the 'bird with a good insect powder, or failing this, hold the bird by the feet, head downwards, and dust into the feathers, getting as near the skin as possible, a small quantity ox powdered sulphur (known as flour of sulphur). It is very cheap, and if you employ it with method it is very effective. Take an old foot hath, or other similar receptacle, remove the birds from their perches at night, one by one. hold them by the feet over the bath while dusting or rubbing the sulphur into the feathers and the surplus can be saved and used repeatedly. Do not delay until the birds are actually broody. Careful pbultrymen, I admit, do keep the birds comparatively free of lice, but I want my readers to go a step further. Having cleaned the body, look to the shanks. If they appear clean and not rough rub them with a rag which has been dipped in kerosene and half any ordinary oil as a safeguard against the scale parasite, which brines a>bout the unsightly rough scurvy shanks so often noticed. If they are already bad then mix a little sulphur with the oil and kerosene. This will prevent the chicks, when hatched, from setting affected by the parasite, and i* i≤ economy if you only have to clean the I hen's legs. , ; In moving a broody hen from the ordinary fowlhouse to where you wish her to sit, it is far safer for the regular J attendant to handle her. Have the nest all ready, see that the corners are well packed (that is if you have a box or covering over it), so that the ejrgs have ' an inclination to roll to the centre—in j other words, under the hen and not away from her. Earth or old turf is best, then short straw, hay. dried graes, eta Don't use lonj; material, as it is apt to be caught in the feet of the hen. disturbing , the nest and possibly causing the breakage of eggs. Unless the hen has previously sat. it is better to plaoe common eggs in her nest for a couple of days til! she settles down. XUJIBER OF EGOS. Don't follow the old-fashioned idea that a hen must eit on 13 eggs. Just think it out for a moment. We may liken the hen to a stove. She supplies the heat as the lamp does to the incubator. Xow thclarger the number of eggs and the larger the incubator the higher you turn up the flame. Therefore is it not somewhat silly to give a small hen, weighing, perhaps, only 3Mb, 11 or 13 eggs at this time of the year when the nights may have been very cold, for as the eggs are turned by the hen each in turn may be chilled and disappointment follow at hatching time. Whereas the same »hen, if given nine eggs might have hatched the lot. On the other hand 15 or 17 eggs are not too many for a large hen, especially if the nest is not in an exposed position. When shifting the hen lift her carefuHy from the nest, carry lier under your arm in the orthodox manner and lightly enclose the head in your hand so that she cannot see where she is 'being taken. Do not remove the hand until the bird is in front of the nest and the first thing she sees 13 the nest of eggs. If you are not a stranger to her and you have handled her quietly she will probably walk straight out to the nest. If she does not seem inclined to settle down at once you may often bring this about 'by slipping your hand under the hen, over the eggs, and moving your fingers gently on the bare skin of the bird each side of tlic breast bone. When the hen has settled down for a couple of days take away the ordinary eggs and replace them with those you wish incubated. One feed a day is sufficient for a sitting hen, but see that she does come off every day to feed and drink, otherwise the nest may be soiled. .Sitting hens should never have soft food. Peed good maize or wheat. She should have access to grit, water, and occasionally a very little green lood. AFTER HATCHING. Where it is the intention to set a fair number of hens, endeavour, if possible, to set about -four on the same day. On the fifth or sixth day you can then test the eggs for fertilty, and the probabilities are that three hens will take the number of fertile eggs that remain; thus you save one hen, or she. with three others, can again be given eggs and the test applied as before. This may seem a small economy, but it is -the adding together of the small economies that make the success of the poultry breeder. When the chicks are hatched you can, in most cases, again practice economy, but dividing four clutches amongst three hens, or in some cases two hens will take the lot. But please remember that it is not pconcmy if you overdo it and the chicks suffer. Again, think of the hen as a stove. A six-pound bird can keep warmed a larsrer number of chicks than can the three-pounder. A hen can keep a farcer number comfortably brooded in a sheltered situation than she could in an exnosed one. In some cases the garden and the growin? of chicks do clash, but chicks up to about five weeks old can seldom do any harm to a srarden. In fact, in many rases they do a vast amount of cood by eatincr pests, etc. Where it is not advisable for the hen to be at large owin? to her scratching, she can be confined in a coon or box. which has a slatted front through which the chicks may go back and forth and through which the hen can put her head to get at the vessel eontainins drinking water or food. It is preferable to have a box

without a bottom, and to shift same each day or every other day, a, short distance. As showing the value that some gardeners place on small chicks, I had a friend in Australia, a noted rose grower, who kept bantams for the special purpose of the chicks keeping down green fly and other pests. The mother hen was, of course, confined in a coop. The coops were distributed by the' side of the beds containing cuttings and young rose trees. The bantam chicks for the first few weeks of their lives had a free range amongst the plants. It is economy to allow a hen to eat a portion of the choicer and dearer chick food as the substances assist her in again reaching the egg laying stage, which she will do in most cases when the chicks are five or six weeks old". For the first 48 hours after chicks are hatched do not put down any chick food. It is probable that the hen will not leave the nest until tbe chicks have been hatched 24 hours. If she has not done so by this time, remove her and the chicks and destroy the nest. Give her a feed of whole grain, and if possible procure some coarse sand or fine grit (a little metal road sweepings will do if nothing else is procurable) and see that the birds have access to this and water.