POULTRY KEEPING.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 25, 30 January 1926, Page 24

POULTRY KEEPING.

TO CORRESPONDENTS. By K. J. TEKKX. E. l>. VOS CDevonport) Tias been chaffing up lucerne and mixing with morning meal. Is this the best war to feed it? (hi In what way du>-i it affect the egg production? (c> Is boiled livpr or meat meal b<>st for fowls'/ id) Can I say where Anconascan he procured, as my correspondent has learned of their great laying performances?—lt is immaterial whether you give the lucerne in the ina-sh or whether you put the chaffed lucerne in a wire netting pocket and let them eat it that way. The latter is probably better, because they eat as much as they want, whereas the other way it is more or less forced on them, (b> Lucerne supplies a certain amount of protein and mineral salts, vitamlnes, etc. It takes the place of bran to a certain extent. Meat or milk protein will give you better results as regards egg production, (c) Boiled liver would be better than ordinary meat meal. There is little discrimination in the manufacture of meat meal in many cases, whether the animal is old or not fit for human consumption, for very often it was manufactured to be used as manure. Albumen meal is better than either, as the blood contained in it is sheep's blood, and you don't get a diseased carcase in six thousand sheep slaughtered, whereas in mixed blood yon are taking risks. Ut) If you pnt an advertisement in this paper your wants will probably be supplied, although I do not think Anconas would lay better than White Leghorns. G.R has a White Leghorn hen which had a swelling in the abdomen. When it was killed a large lump was found, resembling yolks of eggs. There was also a quantity of eggs without shell.—The bird had a diseased oviduct, and yolks of eggs. as they ripened or developed, dropped Snto the oviduct, and not being able to pass, accumulated and formed- n calloused lump. Is there any discharge from the vents of the other hens? CORN (Takapuna) has a hen with a swollen foot. An incision was made in the sole of the foot, but no pus came away, only congealed blood. There was a corn kernel on the foot, which was removed. The foot is very hot and swollen. Ii has hi'PU like this for some time. The foot was washed with .Teyes" fluid. — I should imagine you did not rut deep enough, otherwise the swelling would have certainly gone down. Make a fairly depp incision and remove any congealed pus. which will look like a small piece of cheese, although this depends to a certain extent on the length of time the foot lias been swollen. Remove all foreign matter wtih a small piece of wool dipped in a germicide. Clean the wound thoroughly, ping It with a piece of clean rag dipped in germicide, remove next day and put In fresh plug. Two dressings should be sufficient. Tie up the foot for a few days to keep out dirt. Ton may cross the wild duck with Indian Runner successfully, but there will be no advantage unless they get the bulk of their living id a natural etate. Yes, keep the fowl with one eye by herself for a little while. FARMER'S WIFE fPukekohe) asks if It is necessary to give the fowls albumen meal if they have an abundance of milk? —It would not be necessary to give albumen meal if they have an abundance of curds, either sweet or sour, but a bird cannot drink sufficient milk to have much effect on egg production, although it helps. HOillE (Epsom) wishes to know if it is essential for egg production that the birds should have green stuff. If so, what would be the best way to supply it If one has only a very limited run?— It is not absolutely essential, providing birds are getting table scraps, which would naturally contain a certain amount of vegetable food. Further, as you bought the birds from a farmer, their bodies would contain a store of the constituents that have been absorbed from thp grasses, etc., but you would get a much better quality egg. a more healthy food for your family, if you give the' birds green scuff. The esc would then contain abundance of vitaminps. A bird, or even a cow, cannot manufacture these: they must be obtained from the food. Want of green stuff will not mnlte the white " r the eggs thin adn watery, but it would account to a sreat extent in the pale yolks. Oet some albumen mpal and you will soon notice the difference in f hc quality in the white of the egp. The excretla of the birds will also bo improved in the direction you are troubled about.

CORRESPONDENTS AND MYSELF. A few correspondents and several readers of these notes have gathered the impression from last week's poultry column that 1 was losing heart re poultry industry. They are wrong. Someone else raised the question, not I. I replied. If I recognised that there is some faulty timber or other defects in the ship, that does not say that I am going to desert it. Why not help mc to remedy the defects? One correspondent points out that he can understand my looking on the black side, as, of course, people naturally come to mc when they are in trouble, and so I may get the idea that troubles are more numerous than they really are. Honestly, I don't think that affects mc. I am getting used to other people's troubles. Granted, I do like an occasional cheery letter. Want of Organisation. ""When the devil was sick, the devil a saint would be; the devil got well, and the devil of a saint was he." This saying, to my mind, sums up the position as it will be in a few weeks" time. In fact, it has started. The bottom has started to drop out of the table poultry market, and already people are asking mc if something cannot be done to help things. Good fat ducklings are practically unsaleable in any numbers at half or less than half the price they would have realised a few weeks ago, but, as I have previously pointed out in this column, it is in nearly all cases too late when some of you make a I move. If there was proper organisation as in some other industries, there could be a large amount of regulation by putting the surplus into cool store, and propaganda work would enhance the demand at the correct time, but until this is done I. or no one else, can help things to any great extent, with the result that the producer obtains low prices and the consumer misses "a nice change in his diet at reasonable prices. Each year one gets the same thing over again. Prepare for Winter. After writing the above I have thought of another trouble which will crop up. When eggs get scarce and dear during the autumn and winter months, people will write mc to know how to start the hens laying. Now, really you need to prepare for winter egg production during the summer months. If you wear out your hens during the summer time by -wrong feeding, not supplying them with all they require, or if you allow their bodies to be blocked up with useless fat, due again to wrong feeding, the birds must recuperate till the balance is again arranged, and that will naturally be done in the off season. Your birds should be in good condition, which does not mean fat, but fleshy, to start the winter monthe. Then they will stand the strain of being pushed for egg production. It is very much the same as the bad dairy farmer who allows his cows to go back in the off season and then expects them to milk heavy when they come into profit if he turns them into a good paddock; but, like the hen. they have flret to balance their own bodies, and so the farmer does not get the returns that he might do. Many of you are too apt, because the fowls give you a sufficient number of egps, and eggs are cheap, to not trouble about the little extra? that really are essential for continued egg production, and then, like a sick person run down, you expect a bottle of tonic to put things right in a few days. There should be more of my readers grasp this essential than do.