POULTRY KEEPING.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 307, 27 December 1924, Page 20

POULTRY KEEPING.

(By R. J. TERRY.)

TO CORRESPONDENTS. X.Y.Z. senile n very Interesting item re jji-cse. Although geese haJ Lkmmi keiit nir a munlier iif years, there was o"l.v viii- n-taim-.i last year. It laiil titty-eislit vfi'js, aliUoivTi r-J« usual uiiiu.nM- la*u v.v K>-r«e in New Zfculaiul is not more l-iutl MMoeii nr eighteen.- We bare n"' learned yi-t .nil tiiat tberu is to know as i.. u-iiut controls or wltbbolUa the Idyliij DltlKli MILK (Tβ .Vroha) u=k= bow the Hwi-.-iiinss or <lrl«l uiUk faelorU-s sluun lit- usiui lor i.uu-.Lrv':—As tut; givueplng* in iiiuiiv rjis.-s .ouiaiu plet.-i-s oi Urli-<1 milk n-hli-b bare been scorclieil or slUbtiy liuim-il it is ii.,t ad\lHable l» dlwulvo s.i. ii.-. it .-an elib.lT bi- ii.a.i-il in a iioppor lor the liinls to bolp tliemai'lres or mixed Willi the erjr masU. say h> per cent i-.v If ii is iv front of the birds lit nil times it is apt to be hariulul as tile loud Is too concentrated, uule=* tlic birds are laying beuvilr. AXXiOI'S (lluntivi wrlt.-s that at hla home tliere were some starUuss building in a i-oruer of trni Jiouae. Tbe yiillug ones were destroyed iv the. vest. ulld when rtolnx sun lot of small inse'tti were felt running on the anus and fare. A couple of niyuts alter, ou S"lug t.) beo. they won? iVlr ninulua all over the. b.'dy. on striking a llxht they disajipeared. Iv the diirkiiPss tln-y were iisiiin ii.tive. Kvenluallv they m:ikc t"wurds Ihi- brail. My .orresiioiulnit is iiluinst (llstnuiei! with tbeui. Can 1 liolP'' - Nearly evi-rytliing rtieuis to liave parasites. Starlings bavi- both lir-i- an" lllltw. I harp suot in. Australia parrots, .-rows, kangaroos and nallaliys. at 11 ot which were iuu-stm] at certain times of

; the year ivil.i vermin, iiuj aa they do u>'t occupy house*, liow <!n they cet them"? The safesuard that mites liavr ,-uainst extermination is tlie mam- mouths they cnu live in crevl.-es nf kirk or woo" without any host or food of any Uiml. I would advise my correspondent. If the insects are still troublesome, to wipe the The trouble is that'the insects are hldlns I" the crevices of the IH-d and bedclothe*. As n i.ist resource you may have to fumicute the clothes with rynnide of crape bouses are fumigated for mealy liug. E. 11. (Mount I-Ment has a bird three xenrs oW. the feathers of which are j:oi;i2 grey. Should she be separated from others? Would the bird be tit for table? Another fowl has lost the feathers off the back.—The liird may lie older than you think, but it Is not diseased In any way. neither Is the complaint contagious). I' i< lust a question of the secretion of Pisment liMn? deranged. The bird would I>C quite lit for table, that is. after lons liidllnjj. The hen which has lost the feathers on the hark will regain them when she moults. The feathers were broken ami ivorn by tile rooster. ELEVATION (Tnknpiina) Kis a section CWt -T 130 ft, and intends going iv for poultry for market purposes. It Is intended t" luive four run*, three runs for gron-inir food, t't.'.. and the runs would be used alternately. How many birds can lie carried, and what woiil 1 be the size ~f the fowlhousp?-Do you menu to realtable poultry on this piece of "round and grow your own food other than «rei-n fnm? It so, it cannot be done with si-ccess. Don't attempt to srow nu.vthins else but ffrceu stuff. On a section tills size it would be better to go in for esz-prodiiction. hiivlns two runs, one on ench side of the house. Write mc asnin nr better etlll, see mc. It might save you losing some money. BUFF ORPINGTONS. A Waikato correspondent asks if I would recommend him keeping Buff Orpingtons and would I say a few words about them. If my correspondent intends to keep the birds from a utility point of view then I would not recommend them. The best coloured birds are extremely handsome and one could j hardly resist the temptation to breed from the best coloured birds which I mipht easily be at the expense of their utility quality. A Buff colour is extremely difficult to breed true. If you decide on the birds, first see that they are of true Orpington type or shape, then look for colour, avoiding on the one hand a liglit lemon shade nnd on the other extreme, anything approaching cinnamon or brown. It should be what might bo described as a golden lmff. Thn colour should be an even shade all over dm bird. The cockerel or male bird will look darker because the top of the feathers have a sheen, polish or gloss The surface of a healthy bird in show condition would shine like burnished gold. Be very careful in the under colour. The under colour may be a shade lighter than the top colour,' but it should be even throughout. Discard birds showing white feathers or peppered feathers in wing or tail Tlip birds are splendid mothers, dress well for the table, but seldom lay the number of eggs that a good Black Orpincton ; would. To keep the birds in perfection as regards colour there should be a fair amount of shade in their run either

] natural or artificial. Personally if 1 I were not keeping Black Orpingtons and ■ wanted to take up a Heavy breed for its beauty I would choose the White Orpington rather than the BulT. FERTILITY OF EGGS. Two poultry keepers came to mc last week in a somewhat excited state. . <piarrelliii<r over the fertility of some eggs. The man who-e liens had produced ' the eggs had sold them as infertile eggs jln lie used for pickling or preserving j purposes. One egg had been broken and I tliß purchaser claimed that the eggs were fertile. A few more eggs were ; broken and he pointed to the two pieces i jof what might be described as semi transparent worsted attached to each j side of the yolk as a proof that the eggs ; ; were fertilised. 1 had difficult}' for j some little time in convincing him that '■ this was not so. Those two substances attached to each side of the yolk are the floats, as they might be termed, which keep the yolk in the centre of the white. In time as the white of the egg pets ' weakened and watery the yoik will gradually sink to the* side of the egg or float In Hie top according to it a density despite these floats, but it will have to remain in the one position for some days before it will do this. The germ spot, if I may so describe it, can be seen on the top' side of the yolk of an egg, 1 .say the top >'u\c because a yolk will always roll over so that flic funnel shaped chamber which contains the germ is on top. It may be seen by the naked eve as a lighter coloured round spot, but it is only the chamber or receptacle that you see. You cannot see whether or not it contains a germ, but you could tell if you placed tlie egg in an incubator for twenty-four hours. There arc numbers who have this mistaken idea re the fertility of an egg, and these floats are often removed and thrown away when one is beating up eggs. GUINEA A COUPLE FOR COCKERELS. 7t looks as if one of these days I shall have to apologise to the consuming public for some of the remarks I have j made re their want of apprecia- I tion of something good to eat. I Last week I obtained at an Auek- j land auction wart, 10/ C each for half-1 bred cockerels, between five and five and ■ a-half pounds live weight, but practically empty of food. They had not beeii specially finished oil' in the way of feed-! ■ ing, because the cross was one which . naturally carries flesh, and the amount: of edible flesh on these birds would be equal to. say, two Black Orpingtons weighing, say, four pounds each. At the last dairy show in London, •table poultry was "a. feature of the [poultry exhibition. In one competition I there were SS couples of dressed poultry. | The winning coupe of birds realised at j a subsequent auction IG3/. The average I price over t:ie 88 couples was -JO , / per | couple. Admitted that the price paid for the winning couple may have been influenced to a great extent by sentiment or the determination to posses* the best of everything, hut when one looks at the average price obtained it brings back to one's memory the wonderful market London is for anything which is over the average. TURKEYS. From time to time I have pointed out in this column that sheer run-holders could, with profit to themselves, carry large flocks of turkeys, and improve their carrying capacity, especially in districts where crickets and grasshoppers abound. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, a ceirtain number of turkeys have been exported from Xew Zealand and the export could grow into quite large figures if the bird's were available. One Sari Francieco firm alone are prepared to take thousands. Recently, when they wrote for supplies, they 'were offered 500, but their reply was that this was too small, but would talk business at ten thousand or over. The chief drawback as regards turkey raising seems to be that people look upon turkeys as common property. I have a friend who has a large property in (he North, a king line of which is bordered by the sea. He does not often reside on the property, and he often counts a couple of hundred turkeys, but by the time Christmas comes round he finds it very difficult to procure one or two for hie own table. .Still this is a trouble which it, should be possible to overcome The flocks which are now breeding in a semi-wild state would he vastly improved by shooting on" at certain seasons of the I year the gobblers, and introducing fresh blood. In many cases thi-s would be all that was neeessarv.