POULTRY KEEPING.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 180, 1 August 1925, Page 24

POULTRY KEEPING.

(By R. J. TERRY.) TO CORRESPONDENTS. ADVICE (Devonport) would greatly appreciate advice regarding whitewashing or other methods of sanitation of interior of fowlhouse. Do I approve of tarring followed by whitewashing as advocated by Government books on poultry keeping? Can Contly's Fluid be used as a preventive against disease Biich as worms, etc. If so. in what quantity and how often?—l would not advise whitewashing over tar; it would make a very bad job. Tnr used hnilins hot is better than whitewash. Condy's Fluid will not kill worms, that Is. in the strength that you dare give to poultry. Further, its continued use would cause indigestion. It is very much over-rated, except in the few minutes after it is mixed. A WOULD - BE BREEDER has 10 Minorca hens, two Whit* Leghorn hens, and one fine Minorca rooster. Will the number of hens be right for the rooster? The wattles of the rooster appear to he too long. Is it usual to cut the comb and wattles of the rooster? —Twelve hens will be all right to run with the rosoter if he is a healthy, vigorous bird. I do not think you need trouble about the wattles being in the way when the rooster is holding the hen. Comb aud wattles are removed from roosters in the colder parts of Great Britain and Canada, so that the bird shall not be frost-bitten, which affects the fertility of the eggs. There is no occasion to remove them in a climate such as ours. C.S. has a Black Orpington hen which has patches of white on comb and wattles and loss of feathers on head and neck. The bird was isolated, head and neck treated with carbollsed vaseline, aud Miracle given in drinking water for a couple of days. Would it be safe to let her run with the other hens? The feathers were not pecked off; they .had fallen.—The symptoms point to the bird being affected"with Favus, which starts with a white scurvy-like spot or patch, and spreads. In bad cases the bird (lies. Plenty of air and sunlight helps to recovery. It would have been better to have dipped the bird's head in a solution of Miracle two or three times. ALBUMEN MEAL VERSUS BLOOD MEAL. I have been asked to give some information as to the difference in albumen meal and blood meal. In appearance there is very little difference because blood , will swamp most other Hhnigs. If you put a tablespoon of blood in a basin of water it looks all blood, and albumen contains at least 40 per cent of blood. The balance is made up of the solids of milk and what might be termed dried jelly in the boiling down of .meat. These are the main constituents 'but the mineral salts, traces of which are found in an egg, have been added. It should be used in a small quantity at first and gradually increased till it forms one-tenth of the dry mash by weight, in Other words, if the mash consisted of five lbs of pollard and five lbs of bran, then you would add one lb of albumen meal, but start off with half a lb till the birds are used to it, as there is an instinct in most animals or birds to be shy of blood till they become used j to it. Ordinary blood meal is quite a dif- j ferent proposition, although it can be j made to resemble albumen meal in appearance. It was manufactured to be used as a manure. No care is taken as to the source from which the blood came. The feeding of it might even be dangerous. EXHIBITING AND JUDGING EGGS. A correspondent writes that It is his intention to give a prize or prizes at his local show for the best half dozen or dozen of eggrs. He has eathered from 'these notes that they might be going on .the wrong lines. It would have helped mc somewhat if the rules under which they were exhibited previously had been sent to mc, but failing them, I will give general rules under which I think eggs should be judged. Unfortunately in many cases we do want to alter the old idea. Size is not everything. A double-yolked egg is neither normal nor a commercial proposition. When I first started my duties in Tasmania, I found the same trouble there at practically all the country shows. The prize was invariably awarded to the | heaviest dozen of eggs irrespective of age. I well remember the disgust for my abilities as a judge shown by an old Irish lady when I discarded the dozen of eggs that she had exhibited, and which she explained to mc she had taken nearly three months to collect. But as time went on she' was often successful in this class with quite a different class article, j and in those days I was "Terry, mc Darlint." t If we wish to improve the qualities of eggs, an egg should be judged as follows: Make three classes, white, brown and tinted. No matter whether white or coloured, the dozen of eggs should be of all one size and shape, not long eggs and round eggs on the same plate. On breaking one of the eggs haphazardly it should be full to the top showing that it was fresh and had not shrunk. The white should be thick and not thin or watery in appearance. The yolk should be round and not unduly flattened when laid on a plate or saucer. The contents of the .shell should be odourless. Tlie brown eggs should be all one shade, either light or dark, they must not vary. If they show spots on the shell which is quite natural in some strains, then the whole exhibit must be spotted. The same

with the white eggs. There are -degrees or shades of white, and the exhibit must be even. The shell must not show thick and thin patches, but must be of an even thickness throughout. This must even apply when the egg is held in front of a light, the shell must be even. If I eggs were shown and judged on these lines, it would be a step in the right : direction in improving the poultry proiduet and raising the consumption of eggs I and thus enhancing their value. The I Poultry Keepers' Protection Society will J shortly make - a strong move in th\s I direction. I j TESTING EGGS. All poultrykeepers who have had some experience can test eggs very rapidly by just passing them in front of a light in an ordinary dark room, but this faculty has been acquired only by practice, and as this column is chiefly to give assistance to those who require help, it might be advisable at this season of the year to go a little further into details re the testing of eggs. An egg. whether fertile or not, has a small greyish spot, known as the germinal spot, on the surface of the yolk. This greyish spot is really the top of the funncl-liko chamber, and is always found on the top of the yolk, if the yolk has sufficient room to turn over; that is Nature's provision that the spot should always be as near as possible to the heat from the hen's body. In a very short time after a fertile egg is placed under the hen or in an incubator the development of the germ begins. If you were to break open a fertile egg which has been in an incubator, say. for about only thirty hours, tho greyish spot would be much more distinct, and would have grown to about the size of a threepenny piece. Test all eggs at least twice during the incubation period, preferably on the seventh and fourteenth day. The infertile eggs and those with dead germs should then be removed. White-shelled etrgs can be tested on the fourth or fifth day if you wish, whereas the development of eggs having brown shells often cannot be seen by the use of the ordinary egg tester until the seventh d*v. Of course, this does not apply to the experienced tester. A satisfactory home-made tester, or candler, as they are sometimes termed, can be made with an ordinary cardboard shoe box or any other box that is large enough to hold a lamp. Cut a hole about tho size of a two-shilling piece in the side of the box, so that when the lamp is placed inside the box the hole in the side would be opposite the flame. A hole should also be made in the top of the box large enough to prevent the top from catching fire from the heat of the lamp. If the chimney is lone enough it should be allowed to extend through the top of the box, to allow the heat to escape and to avoid the' risk of fire. Special care should be exercised in using kerosene lamps to prevent fire. : To. prevent further possibilities, a wooden box may-be used in place of a pasteboard one if desired; tho opening throutrh which the chimney extends may be lined with tin or some fireproof material, such as i piece of asbestos; naturally, a candle may be.nsed instead of a lamp. Electric or gas lamps may be used in a box with a hole, slightly smaller than an egg, cut in the side of the box and at the same level as the light; The eggs may also be tested by sunlight. If your incubator is in a room a heavy curtain or thick sacking may be placed over the window and a hole cut in the material slightly smaller than an egg. You can then test the egcrs quite easily by holding the egg in front of this hole, when the sun is shining on the window. If the incubator is in a shed, a hole may be cut in the door or at the' side on ■which the sun shines. •

On the fifth day fertile eggs will show a dark spot surrounded with a network of Mood veins showing red, somewhat resembling in appearance a spider'e web. Infertile eggs will be auite clear. Germs which have died will show blood streaks or irregular blood circle. The testing on the fourteenth day is somewhat more difficult for the novice, but it is only a question of practice. A very large portion of the contents of the shell will appear dark or opaque. The air cell will be much larger, but a dead embryo may also show as a dark or opaque mass, but there is this difference. If you look very closely you will find there is a rosy bloom in the lighter parts of the contents of those eggs which have living emhryos, whereas the lighter parts of those containing dead chicks will have a yellow tinge.

On the eighteenth day, which is the last time the eggs should be touched, they should be srone over asrain, to remove any dead in shell that you may have missed, otherwise decomposition may set in, gases be generated, and the esg explode, possibly causing the death of several chicks.

Now. I know to some people it seems very difficult to tell the live germs from the dead ones in advanced stages of incubation, but here is a good tip for you. If you hold the doubtful e<r<r against your closed eyelid yon will find it" feels quite different as regards warmth if it contains a dead chick than one which contains a live one. With a very little practice with eggs which you know to contain live chicks and otliers which do not, you will soon get to know this difference, and it will always settle the problem for you.