POULTRY KEEPING.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 224, 20 September 1924, Page 20

POULTRY KEEPING.

(BY. B. J. TEKBY.) TO CORRESPONDENTS. I SHAWN GLASS (Whakatane) sends mc a very interesting letter, especially as regards the marketing of eggs, which makes mc feel that I would like to say and do BOrne things with " the gloves off." but as I get older I am learning the value of patience. A controversy cuts very little ice. Be patient, as I am learning to be. I am touching on the matter lower down in the column. My correspondent thinks that I was not quite right In a previous reply, where I stated that beginners take advice from too many people. I was stating what I know to be an absolute fact. It; is one of the pitfalls of poultry keeping. I am certain my readers generally do not wish mc to sweeten the advice I give. My correspondent's hens are laying very thinshelled eggs. They have been given water in which roach lime is placed, and my correspondent asks • wimfc Qumititv of roncli lime should be given?— Too much lime cannot be put into the water, as the water will not take up more than a certain quantity. The hens may be too fat, or, If they are very heavy layers and have got into the habit of laying thin-shelled eggs, there is only one remedy, and that is to break them off laying and let them start again, giving them abundance of shell grit. NEW CHDM (Fukekohe) has a hen which he describes as "all in a heap" for a week, would not eat, and it died. Some more bens are following suit. Is the bran too heavy, or hnTe they roup, as it is in the district? Keroßene has been tried and Condy's fluid has been put in the drinking water.—lf you had stated the colour of the droppings, comb, etc., it would help mc, but the symptoms point to contagions enteritis. You were quite right as regards the kerosene, which follow up in another six hours by another teaspoonful. See that the bird's neck is straight and stretched, so that the kerosene runs Into the crop and not into the bronchial tube, and bo chokes the bird. Put a powerful germicide in the drinking water. If possible, shift the birds to a fresh piece of ground; failing this, lime the ground or dig it up. H.H. (Te Awamutu).—Water glass should answer your purpose much better than what you suggest, which would only make the egg 9 readily accumulate dust. You will not be able to sell the eggs as fresh when they are dear; the law now says preserved eggs must be sold as such. Would be pleased to see snd help you all I can, when yon get your holiday, if you write mc beforehand. INFERTILE (Frnnkton) hss a two-year-old White Leghorn rooster with a pen of si* pullets. After being mated up for a month, only two eggs out of fifty were fertile. The bird seems quite rigorous.— Remove any smsll feathers from around the vent of the bird. If exceptionally vigorous, turn him out with a large flock for a couplo of days. ANXIOUS (Stanley Point) has two Indian Runner ducks, one of which last year laid a green egg and the other a very large white egg. Towards the end of the season the one which laid the green egs began to lay a thin and rough-shelled one. They ere fed warm bran and pollard In the morning and maize at night. They will not «at wheat or eats.—The food la too fattening. The birds can form yolks of eggs because the yolk contains a large amount of fat, but the food does not supply a surplus of albumen to form the white. Toe oviduct of the bird \s not in a healthy state, hence the rough egg. OlTe oats and wheat in water; the •narrows cannot get It then. Do not give them anything else until they do eat ft. It will be all the better if they go off laying for a few days; they may be normal when they start again. WHERE MB. MABSE7 FAILED. It is very seldom that I hit'a politician for, being: in the inside running during the fifteen years I was a public servant, I have a certain amount of sympathy for them. Everyone thinke they could do better if they were in their position, but a gentleman holding the position for the length of time that Mr. Masaey has done is on a somewhat different footing. He should not make mistakes, or, if he does, should have sense enough to lie low and say nothing. Recently the poultry industry lias been very much in the limelight with Ministerial statements re the export of eggs. The Minister of Agriculture has stated that it was not necessary to subsidise the export of eggs, aa in the case of fruit, because tin export of eggs had been a profitable transaqtidiT; The Minister could have hardly been aware of the net return to the producer of the eggs, but it cannot be expected that any Minister can go into details on all the matters brought before him, but he can be, and 'should be, guided by facts which should come to

his knowledge or be learned by his responsible officials. The statement has been made that it cost from a shilling to one and fivepence per dozen to market the eggs in London. When Mr. llassey returned from his last trip he discussed eggs and the enormous possibilities of the trade with England. He is also credited with making the statement that one firm of caterers in England informed him that they could take all the surplus eggs produced in New Zealand. There is very little doubt but that the firm in question was Lyons, the hotel proprietors and caterers. A firm such as Lyons would not make a statement like that to the Premier of a country without they were serious and were looking for business. Sow, I understand that Mr. Massey did not even say, "How much will you 'loan' mc on future shipments?" but it would have been a simple matter to have asked the maximum number that they could take and the price they would give for fresh eggs of a given weight, or fresh eggs per hundredweight. I feel certain this question would have led to a business answer, or failing Mr. Massey making the inquiries, he could have deputed the High Commissioner's staff to have done so. Might I respectfully point out that there is a time to grasp opportunities. Aa an illustration: Napoleon's horse once bolted with him, and a private from the ranks rushed out and stopped it. Napoleon said "Well done, Captain." With ninety-nine men out of a hundred the matter would have rested there, but the private soldier said, "Of what regiment, sire?" Napoleon replied, "Of my own guards." Does it not seem absurd that we pay for special grading and packing of eggs for the London market when we have a firm which, from the statement of the Premier, is prepared to take all our surplus ? Providing the eggs were fresh, I take it that they would be prepared to take large and small, provided the price was according to weight. As the bulk of the eggs would be used for cooking purposes, it would be immaterial to them. We ' could also use packages, ■which would be cheapest from a shipping point of view. Surely it is not too late yet, or is the suggestion too simple? I don't like to think that "red tape' is as strong to-day as it was when I was in the Public Service. If we are not selling to Lyons, or any other large firm, then we are quite correct in grading and packing in the way that we are doing. But again I say, where is the sense of it if one-firm is prepared, according to Mr. Massey, to take our products. It would certainly cost considerably less to place them on the market in this manner. I have not touched on this matter previously as it seemed so simple, and I have expected to hear that something had been done in this direction without my pointing it out through the Press. GREEN FOOD. Are my readers certain that their birds are getting sufficient green stufff A patch of ground, on which poultry has been running for some time, may look more or less' green, but upon investigation is often found that the succulent grasses have been eaten out and the tougher grasses and weeds left. Even where the birds have a free range they enjoy a change in their diet. A very valuable grass for poultry feeding, if it has been put through a chaffcutter, is Prairie grass, and in many districts this grass can be found growing luxuriantly around the borders of orchards and by the sides of roads and hedges. It is a. grass not found in paddocks to any great extent, as it will not stand continual grazing, but gives abundant crops if cut. Its feeding value for poultry as a green food is very high, especially during the flowering stage or when the seed, which is almost as large as a grain of an oat, is still in the milky stage. Where this, or other succulent grasses, are in abundance, a second-hand chaff-cutter is one of the beet investments that can be made on a poultry farm.