POULTRY NOTES

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 78, 2 April 1927, Page 18

POULTRY NOTES

(By R. J. TERKY). iTO CORHESPOXDEXTS.) EGRETTE. —You sive me no symptoms or information to work on. WHENUAPAI. —It looks as though your birds are suffering with paralysis. In some cases they recover or apparently recover. It they do, do Hot br»ed from them. OEUFS. —The ducks may have gone "into a partial moult. You do not appear to be giving them sufficient food. They should have about two ounces of mash by wright before the water if. added. not weighed afterwards. Tiy for n while feeding them all they will consume. I am glad the column has been of assistance. DISGUSTED. —I imagine you are to blame, not the hens. If you are feeding meat, meat meal, or blood that smells, you must expect the egg to smell slightly. Often it has a mustylike flavour, as if it had been packed in damp straw. It is nothing whatever to do with the strain of the birds. IGNORAMUS. — It is not necessary for you to study. Most poultry writers have a good general knowleedge of their subject, and a few know a little about chemistry. If tne knowledge is Imparted to you that should be sufficient. Your time would be better spent amongst your birds and getting to know them. CRAMMER (Henderson). —It Is not necessary to use a cramming machine when getting birds ready for the Auckland market. I cannot further criticise another writer. Why not ask him why he made the statement.

GUINEA FOWLS.

A Waikato correspondent asks me t< give as full details as possible of an> fowls or game birds which he can tun out on his sheep run in the place of tur keys, which, he states, must be th< fools of poultry do in, as eighteen out o the twenty are eaten by hawks whei young and the two survivors will percl on a fence at night for any passer-bj to capture them. It is not necessary foi the birds to be a commercial success. 1 would recommend the keeping of guine: fowls. The flesh of the guinea fowl is o: exquisite flavour, resembling somewlnv closely that of a pheasant. The bod} is plump and well-proportioned, and tb< amount of bone and offal to flesh is smal when compared with ordinary domestii poultry. It is unnecessary to fattei guinea fowls, in fact, the quality and 11 a vour of the flesh is in a large measun ruined by so doing. Any soil on whicl sheep keep in health would be suitabli for guinea fowl, but it has to be rcmcin bcred that on poor soil there is not th< same quantity of natural food, both in sect and vegetable. When guinea fowli ire running over good land it is quite sur prising what a large quantity of foot they can procure for themselves. The) are very active birds, and will wandei considerable distances in search of food During the spring and summer, wlici there is plenty of animal and vegetabh life, they will not require to be suppliec with any artificial food except perhaps in occasional feed so Ihat you would knov where to locate them. At other seasons of the year, or even during the latter ent of a very dry summer, it would be a; well to feed them two or three times i> week, but if you shot one occasionally you would soon ascertain their conditioi and know whether they needed artificia food or not. Guinea fowls, under per fectly natural conditions, are quite unlike ordinary poultry, in that they are mono famous in habits, that is to say, thej mate in pairs. The maie bird remains with the same mater throughout the sea son, and in nearly all cases he selects the same one the following year, therefore there should be a good percentage ol males in the flock. I am now speaking ~>f the birds in the wild state. Should there happen to be more hens than male birds, the latter will probably fertilise the eggs of the former, but they do not remain with them, returning at once tc -heir own special mate. They invariably emain in flocks, and it is" remarkable iow well they agree amongst themselves ;ven the male birds rarely fighting. But .vhen they come in contact with domestic r owl they are very liable to l>e quarreliome. You ask how long it would take 0 stock your run and how to go about t? Well, if you purchase a few pair of guinea fowl, place them in an enclosure md feeel them fairly well, giving them some animal food, such as albumen meal, n the mash, or milk curds, the hens will ay a large number of eggs—anything join thirty to over a hundred—that is! f the eggs are removed as they are laid. This is not an easy matter, unless tht >irds are in a comparatively small cncloune, as the hens are exceedingly shy and ilways choose for their nests a'spot that s securely hidden. The eggs laid early n the season may be placed under ordinHV hens, and later on in the season the piinea. hen herself may be allowed to iit. She invariably makes an excellent nother. The period of incubation is about wenty-eight days. You will find that the ertility of the eggs is high. As •egards the rearing the domestic hen oster mother does not produce as good esults as are secured by allowing the Jarents (and the male Bird assists the ien in rearing) to bring up their own .'oiing ones in a semi-wild state. But as rou wish to stock up quickly it would >e necessary to use "domestic" hens. Place the domestic hen in a coop with 1 slatted front so that the guinea chicks nay run out. The guinea chicks' crops ire very small, and the birds require to >e fed rather more frequently than is he case with ordinary chicks. You may ise dry chick feed augmented with sweet »r sour milk curds, but do not alternate sweet and sour, keep to one or the other k'ou may dry off the curds with a little ratmeal, for a change boiled rice dried >ff with sharps is good. The food should >c fairly dry and not sloppy, otherwise he chicks may develop bowel" trouble. If rou can add some form of animal food ifter they arc a week old they will develop rapidly. In most cases you will ind that they can be given their'freedom vhen they are about six week's old. You night take clutches of them to different [mrts of the run, choosing situations where they would Ret natural cover or trees. You will find it will be a difficult natter for strangers to steal up and pick guinea fowls off the perches even at light. No housing will be required. kVhcn they are shot or killed they should be hung for about the same period as ire pheasants. You would not lie able to distinguish the male bird from the lien when shooting. After the birds were thoroughly established in all probability he males and females would be about squal in number. The eggs are rather •hoiccr eating than those of the domestic fowl, and owing to the thick shell are ,ery safe in transit. The thick shell also >nhances the keeping qualities. There svould be no trouble in disposing of any surplus birds in the bigger cities, proriding they increased in number beyond four requirements, or they would be acceptable to your friends in lieu of pheasants. They would most certainly lelp to keep insect pests in check. The guinea chicks would not fall such an easy rictim to hawks as would turkey chicks, ind are less subject to disease than urkey chicks. Failin? the guinea fowl t would turn out old English game >antams, but the guinea fowl for preerence, •