USEFUL HINTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 114, 15 May 1926, Page 24

USEFUL HINTS.

Although thie ie unfortunately the dell period, chicken rearing h&e not started, and in many yards there are not many eggs to wash or pack, but there are some things, which, if they are done now, will make this time next year brighter and more profitable. There are breeding pens to put up. You should have selected the hens for the breeding pen many months ago, but it you have not done this try and avoid the" mistake that far too many make of picking out the birds wiiich look best and are laying at the present time. They ebould be placed in a breeding pen or discarded according to their laying during their pullet year. If they were a success af that time they will be all the better if they have "had a spell before the breeding season starts, as they will have stored in their bodies the essentials for strong chicks. If the male bird has not been secured don't lose any more time. You need him on your premises for a few weeks EO that you may be certain that he is free from disease and vermin. If he has lice he will soon infect all the hens with the pest, no matter how clean they may now be. In my opinion it is a mistake to keep the fighter breed past maturity without mating them occasionally, so that if you purchase a ten-month-old bird which has not been running with any hens, it would be as well to place him ■with a few ordinary hens and then afterwards transfer him to the breeding pens when he has settled down. This does not apply with the same force to the heavier breeds, but I have known of Leghorns which were not mated till they were twelve months old which were completely spoilt. Not only examine the birds for lice, but see that the vent is not red or inflamed. If it is just red and inflamed without any ! sign of soreness due to excretions, just I rub every day with a little lanoline or vaseline. If there is any sign of scab or scurf wash with a germicide and then rub on a little vaseline. At the I same time remove any small, stiff ! feathers. This should be done before ! the bird is put in the mating pen.

If you are using an old bird, and in I some cases they are very reliable, not ; only pay attention to the vent, but if ' the spurs are long, cut off a piece. If ! you hold the bird to the light you can, in most cases, see how low you can cut without causing pain. Also inspect the toenails, and if. they are extra long, pare them down. The bird will be greatly relieved when walking about and there is less chance of the sides of the hens being torn. "Little things," some of my readers may say, but it is these little things multiplied that mean success or otherwise. If you intend to do the incubating or part of it with hens, now is the time to kill the parasite which brings about scaly leg. If you let a bird sit that has scaly leg, the chicks will develop scaly leg because the scale is due to a parasite eating under the scales on the shanks of the bird. It takes a little while to clean up the legs, so get to work at once. Get some ordinary kilmite. You can mix fifty per cent of kerosene with it and dip the legs and feet of the bird in this, taking care not to wet above the shank, that is, don't get it on to the white skin of the bird, for kilmite burns very much for a 6hort time. If I you have no kerosene you may mix I half kilmite and half fat, old oil out lof your motor car, or, if you don't like using these things, mix vaseline and rub the mixture on the shanke. It is not as punishing as the kerosene mixture, and only a very little is required 'if the legs are only slightly affected, but if they are bad with old crusts then you need to use it liberally, because it has to soak through the "old dead matter before it can get at the parasites. You may completely clean up the legs in this way.