POULTRY NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume 246, Issue 246, 16 October 1926, Page 24

POULTRY NOTES.

(By R. J. TERRY.) TO CORRESPONDENTS. REMUERA. —Hold the vent of the hen over a jug of hot water or dip the finger in vaseline or oil and. insert into the egg passage—not into the bowel, which is alongside the egg passage. If these methods fail, as a last resource insert the finger, and, at the same time, slip a large darning needle, or packing needle, along the finger and endeavour to scratch or pierce the shell of the egg. It will in most cases then collapse. The laying of soft-shelled eggs by fowls while on the perches may be due to fright or too stimulating food. ERXEST (Milford).—The trouble started with a corn on the sole of the foot. Pus was formed and inflammation set in. You must make eiuite a deep incision iv the sole of the foot, and with a small piece of wood or something similar remove all calloused pus. There will often be a piece the size of a small nut. Plug the hole witli a piece of linen which has been dipped in a good germicide. Replenish the plug and wash for thr»days. Tie up the foot so that the plug cannot fall out. The corns were probably caused by pieces of grit in this Instance. The bodies of fowls being very low points either to an excess of fat or an inclination to dropsy. You can tell which by handling them. WHITFORD.—As the nests were on the ground and there were thirteen or sixteen eggs in a nest it is probable that some of the eggs were chilled, and so the growth of the embryo was retarded. That would account for the - hatching being two or three days late. XEW CHUM (Mount Albert). —It is probable that the toes of the chicks were affected before leaving the incubator, and they further developed the trouble afterwards. It might have been brought anout by a warm floor, that is, if the heat is under the floor of the brooder. They could also have been injured by pecking, but you could easily see if it was caused in this way by examining them. Failing these causes, it would be rheumatism. R.A.M.—Sorry, but I have nothing to add to my previous advice.

A.A. (Remuera). —The abdomens of the birds nearly touching the ground points to dropsy, often known as watery cyst. It is not contagious, but is more or less hereditary; that is, certain strains or families of birds are liable to contract the trouble. You can extract the water by piercing, but it would only refill. MORNINGSIDE.—If you mean an electrically heated cubator it would be . a simple matter for any ordinary electrician to connect the machine and put a globe In place of the lamp. You would need to experiment to find out what candle power the globe should be. It would naturally depend on the size of the incubator and where the incubator was situated. If you mean the incubator which is supposed to pass an electric current through the eggs, don't touch it; it is all bunkum. If you mean an incubator which is electrically regulated a simple method is to get an ordinary battery which would ring a door bell, connect it with the damper; get an ordinary glass thermometer, bored at the bulb end and at 102 degrees. Put a wire in each of these. When the quicksilver reaches 103 degrees that makes the connection and the damper is lifted. you would need to get a good workman to fix the thermometer. It was originally my idea over twenty years ago, but it was never patented. TONIC (Hamilton).—lf you must give a tonic use sulphate of iron, sometimes known as green stone (don't make a mistake and use blue stone, which is sulphate of copper and a poison). The simplest is to put It in the drinking water. Douglas mixture which you sometimes read of in English poultry books is sulphate of iron in water with the addition of a little sulphuric acid, but perhaps they don't know that the continued use of sulphuric acid even in small quantities would affect the kidneys of the birds. As you say, few poultry experts have had any experience or training in chemistry. PEPPER. A correspondent writes that his grandmother used to obtain good results by the addition of pepper to the mash, consisting of barley meal, sharps, and bran. She would have obtained better results had she not used the pepper over an extended period, as pepper or similar condiments eventually affect the organs of the birds, especially the liver. A man's constitution would s„on be ruined li he ate the amount of condiment that is sometimes given fowls, if we take into consideration the difference in weight of the fowl's body and that of a man. EARLY COCKERELS. Those of my readers who have surplus cockerels and who wish to push them along for the early market, will find that the cheapest food for the purpose of finishing them off, that is to _ay,

three weeks before they are marketed, is skim milk and finely ground maize. Let the maize soak in the skim milk over night. Maize supplies that which the skim milk lacks, fat. The skim milk will keep the legs and frame of the bird strong and grow a certain amount of lean flesh, but the two combined is a good and cheap combination. Naturally, you must not feed this food to excess to any birds you wish to retain for stock purposes. It may form part of the ration for any birds which seem to be hanging fire in their growth. MARKETING COCKERELS. If you are breeding Leghorns, Anconas, etc, remember that if you cannot market your surplus cockerels in good condition before Christmas, get rid of them at once. The first loss is the best loss. It will not pay you to feed them and market from four or five months old. Too many others will be attempting to do the same thing. BROODY HENS. There is often at this timj still a chance for the very sma'.l poultry keepe r or the juvenile to obtain a fairly good price for an old hen because she is a reliable sitter. Don't miss the opportunity. With the younger broodies one has to use judgment. If they have been laying through the winter m.nths or for some considerable time, it will in most cases pay to let them st for a while or rear a clutch of chicks. You can dispose of the chicks if you have no room to rear them. By allowing the bird to sit you give her a spell from laying at the time when eggs are at the cheapest, and with proper feeding there is ore probability of your getting eggs from that hen in the tim_> of 'scarcity, than if she had not reared the clutch of chicks. It is all a question ot what you intend ti do with that particular lun at the end of this i r next season. Jf you think she is past the profitable laying stage then break her off the broody propensity and feed additional meat or albumen meal, that is. if you do not have skim milk or curds. When you are handling a broody hen, it is a good opportunity to i give her legs a dressing to prevent or I cure scaly leg if it is necessary. A , little powdered sulphur dusted into the i feathers around the vent will check body lice. *