POULTRY KEEPING.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 19, 23 January 1926, Page 24

POULTRY KEEPING.

(By K." J. TERRY.) TO CORR£SZ»OxfDENTS. POULTHYMAN (Otahuhu) asks if I would give the meaning of (a) 'line breeding, (b) inbreeding, (c) cross breeding?— Line breeding means breeding on certain lines of ancestors which show strength and good points. The same blood may be used in matlnps several times by bringing it through another channel. For instance, if you mate father to mother, daughter to sire, and then cross the the grandchildren as it might be with the grandsire or granddam, that is the commencement of line breeding. I -will deal with the subject more fully one of these days. " Inbreeding '* is allowing stock to mate indiscriminately, without bringing in any fresh blood from outside sources. Mating brother and sister is generally recognised as inbreeding. •' Crossbreeding " is the mating of two distinct breeds and stopping at that. When the progeny is mated again to one of the pure breeds the progeny is sometimes termed a " comeback." a common term with breeders in Australia who follow this practice. HEMUEHA has about fifteen hens. The morning feed consists of bread crusts, etc., on which is poured boiling water, and the whole is dried off with rather more pollard than bran. They are given poultry spice and half a tea cup of meat meal, have also albumen meal. Would half a tea cup daily be enough? Should spice be left off? They have maize at night.—Tour ration is probably too fattening. You make no mention of green stuff. If the bread, etc., is from white flour, add to it rather more bran than pollard. Discontinue spice certainly In this weather. Half a cup of albumen meal will be sufficient, but if the birds are laying heavily it will pay to increase it to three-quarters of a cup: by thus doing you remove the strain from the birds. FRANKTON JUNCTION.—Tou will obtain the information in last Saturday's " Star," at the bottom of the Garden. column. A good strain of Indian Runner duck would cost you from one to two guineas a-plece, that is if you want genuine high-class birds. Under suitable conditions they compare more than favourably with hens, but there ie not such a ready market for'their eggs, and In' most cases' they, are about twopence per dozen less. They commence to lay at • about six'months.' Hatch Tn spring time, or you >can hatch in the autumn from ducks which have .had a rest from iaying. Give more mash than to fowls, and rather more meat. . " ••■ - WAIOTEMARAMA has., dome hews which have a -.nasty .scaly :■ growth dn :therr lege. greyish, in ; colqur. What is the- best treatment? - Iβ it ljkely' to atfect young birds? What is the 'likely tfattse?—The cause, is a parasite-underneath the-scale on t,he shank, .which sets up inflammation. Scrub well' with an 'old nail brush or similar- article, using warm water and soap. . Then annolnt-with part kerosene and -part lard . or any urease mixed together, better still, " kilmite and grease: Wash In two "or three weeks' , time, put the greasy ointment on again: It will take some little, time before the legs get right in appearance. Yes, youn£ birds-will be affected, but not if you rub their-shanks over lightly-with 'the . mixture. > ," AMATEUR (Grey. Lynn) has a good rooster. The feathers on front of neck have all dropped out and the flesh is bare. It is spreading.—lt. may be an ordinary moult. If you see .new feathers coming through the skjn; don't worry; If the flesh is just red and looks sunburned' rub a little vaseline on ■' every other day, but, if-there is a..decided:white, scurvy appearance then it is a- more serloes matter, and it would be best to write mc again. ' ANXIOUS TO' LEARN (Ellerslie) asks what is the matter with a hen that make* a noise frequently like" n loud hiccough?. Could I state if duck eggs can ■ be preserved successfully?—lf you look down the "neck of the bird you will see a. slot or opening, that is the passage leading to, the lungs, and. in all probability, there will be a small growth there. By getting someone- to hold the bird under one arm you can get this passage quite-near to the mouth by putting your nn?er and thumb on the -outside of" the throat "aria "lifting'it 'up towards the mouth of. the bird. Remove the piece of growth with; a piece of blunt wood—a match stick will do—and. touch the place wth a caustic pencil. Duck eggs seldom preserve -satisfactorily. ■ ■ \ HENDERSON.—You will see below that I am ' game enough." • ' , AS OTHERS SEE US. I have received "the following:— Dear Mr. Terry,—Sdnie time ago I wrote you saying that, you jraye too much information, and misbt write round your sjlb--1? £ , hut ' treated mj- letter somewhat" iiehtly and advised mc to take a little Glauber, salts-for my liver, and .an a tonic a little of the.home-made wine of the district. Because-the advice '■ given■ by you -in the Poultry .column ;saved mc from makin2 a bie. mistake and. consequent loss. I am again writing ,vqu. but I .don't suppose yon will be game enough : to publish-' this." as it -mujhtr jrive.some of your dear readers ?m ? SunA h * flrst place - do Tou-honestly think that the poultry industry will ever • i? mu ch consequence in New Zealann Si 1 price -of present poultry feed"' Who do you think you are helpin'c whp« you boom poultry as an artlrJe of diet!ihe producer or the merchant? no you know that the bnlk of merchants and auctioneers who d«nl In ejjsje pulp the f£"I c V*. Theref ore would it not be a fact tnat_ they make greater profit by buvins fni«i^ c i * BK 2 as cheanl ? *s possible to !™ 11 v or(lers for Pulpeil ejrss than they would by fitting another Id or 2d for the receive_a. mere fraction of extra commission? -Now the; question" of wheat. What z? OV IZ Pan . dlA opinion of the future* Be the dressincr of poultry: Do you suppose that you win educate those wno dress poultry for the public to draw if -cleaulv

■when the other method is quicker and the dirt can be wiped off with a rag—or at least the dirt that is seen? Do you think there will ever be loyal co-operation from the producers? No. Past espereince in other parts of the world and even here in Auckland points to the fact that cooperation has to be compelled. Bellf'-t- m°. it is out of kindness that this letter is written, as it may leaa you to view ;« position in a different light. Remember, there are always plenty prepared to take, if they find one who gives freely. I will answer the questions in order. It all depends on what one considers of much consequence. At the present price of poultry feed the industry will never reach big dimensions. The probability is that there will never be an export trade, but on the other hand, -if poultry were given up entirely, with what would we replace eggs? The poultry industry in Xew Zealand at the present time, and possibly in the future, can be summed up as'"many miekles make a muckle." By far the largest number of egss will come from the small farmer and suburban farmlets, the poultry being a side line. Second. —If I boom poultry and eggs as an article of diet, T claim that I am helping the producer; also the consumer, and I will freely admit, last, but not least, the merchant or auctioneer. Third. —Yes, I am quite aware that many auctioneers and merchants buy eggs and pulp them, therefore it is probable that they make far more by purchasing the eggs as cheap as possible and pulping them, than they would on the extra commission of a few pence. But my corespondent must also admit that some one has to pulp eggs, otherwise we should have importations from China and elsewhere. Now we come to a very big question — the wheat question—and what is my candid 'opinion of the future? That it looks black as far as the poul-try-keeper is concerned. I cannot see any possibility of New Zealand increasing her wheat production. She has not any easily broken up virgin land suitable for wheat growing. The bulk of the wheat land'will go into grass—the reason is very, simple. Look at the life of the grazer as, compared with the' cultivated farm. The sheep-man either rides, or attends sales in his motor, car , it least orie-or'twice a month. He can get away fora"few weeks at almost any time, of the./year; there'are no busy times for his womenfolk. How differently situated-, is the.grain grower, with "hie: cultivation and the-rush' - at'harvest time, and the difficulty of procuring additional labour. Now the sons of the wheat growers can look over the fence and see the different conditions of the grazier. Is it to be wondered at that when the farmers come into their possession, that they turn to grazing instead' of cultivation; further, it is a great mistake in the Government interfering with crops, except, perhaps, in the time of -war or famine. If it does not pay to. grow wheat in New Zealand, something else will naturally take its place, which will pay, for you must remember that -wheat" lands are not poor lands. Farmers do not mind a gamble. In Tasmania there is no greater gamble in farming than potatoes. They may be fifty shillings per ton'and they may be eight or nine pounds; but the farmer goes on growing them-on the hope of getting the eight-or nine pounds. So it would be with wheat. Anyway, why should the poultry industry be penalised for the benefit of another industry, and which, no matter how it is fostered, cannot increase in volume. In the natural order of development of the country, -wheat production must get less. ! I will put it another way. If the country could produce an abundance of, say oranges, Why'trouble "to grow apples when you * could ,sell the • orange's and buy the' apples; >fhe - " ■nfteat farmer vwUl ' always get the 'ear. of ministers because they are niore or less combined. The poultry farmers are not. The millers,'T>eing few. are loyal- to each other. The poultry farmer is great in numbers, but his interest is. small, therefore, lie says, '.'Leave it to the other fellow." Other grains are naturally regulated to a great extent , by. the price of wheat. Re- the dressing of poultry. If I reform some 1 will have at least accomplished something. There will always-be saints and sinners, ; You are probably "right as. regards cooperation. There must be penal clauses for success, but one' always is apt to think that their own little crowd is different. Anyway, don't try to make the world a desert. I get a lot of-satisfaction in realising I have helped the. few, even. if they are small, and if a few unworthy once get some of the benefit, what does it matter?. It is the same in most things. Really.'l have only kindly-thoughts of your letter. Who knows the good it may do? Some members or the Premier ma-y see it, and face the wheart question as it should be faced to-day/ instead of waiting. Tt will only get worse as the years run on.'-* . ■ ;