POULTRY NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 71, 24 March 1928, Page 18

POULTRY NOTES.

(By R. J. TERRY.)

QUILL (Ellerslie). —I am not aware of any movement to organise the squab pigeon industry. If you are really interested why, not advertise, calling a meeting. I am sorry, but I personally could not take up the matter.

BROWN OR WHITE.—Yes, if the same attention had been given to Brown Leghorns in the matter of egg production there is no reason why they should not have records equal to the whites. The shape of the birds at the commencement of competitions was very similar, also their laying powers, but one has to remember that there is the matter of feathering and colour. In a self-coloured bird there is not the temptation to pick out birds for breeding purposes by feather. There is no reason whatever why you should not, in the course of time, evolve a good laying strain of Brown Leghorns.

PISHO.—If yon can give your growing birds an abundance of fish it is not necessary to give curds; in fact, it might be detrimental to give both, as the food would be too concentrated. Give plenty of greenstuff to counterbalance the fish. Naturally you will not feed the fish to the laying hens or birds which you are going to market for table purposes. In the case of the table bird if you discontinue the fish and feed grain and mash for two weeks before killing there should be no fish flavour. Shark oil mixed with the mash would be quite all right for growing birds.

KEEPING POULTRY IN THE SMALL YARD. Two correspondents write 3omewhat bemoaning the fact that as they have only a comparatively small piece of ground, they understand that if they keep poultry it is doubtful whether they will get a sufficient number of eggs to pay for the food. As this is a subject which will be helpful to several of my readers, I will reply at length.

You can make a success on the suburban section, in fact, a very small portion of the section. If you think the matter out you can substitute many of the conditions which appertain to the free range. Briefly, we will see what conditions exist on the free range. I am now speaking of the ordinary farm, not poultry farm. Green feed, crickets, grasshoppers, worms, slugs, etc., and activity. These are the chief things that birds have in addition to the grain fed to them by the owner. On free range it will be noticed that birds stray away in search of tender blades of grass, and do not eat the coarser variety if the other can be obtained. The suburban section can beat the free range in this respect. The fowls search for grit, but you can give them better. The fact remains that on free range or with the ordinary farmer's flock it is in the spring of the year when worms, grubs, etc., and green stuff are abundant, and everything is sprouting through the ground, that the largest number of eggs is produced. But the man who really takes an interest in his birds can beat Nature by some of the substitutes which he can give the laying hen. When I say beat Nature, I mean that he can cater better for the abnormal hen, which the heavy layer really is. Th hen can have an abundance of grinding grit either purchased, broken with a hammer or the back of an axe, or ground in a grit mill, or for a change it may be the sievings of the scoria used for paths. If nothing else is available china or glass may be broken up, although you do make a mistake if you give glass over an extended period. It is all bunkum that we read about it being necessary for grit to have sharp cutting edges. Birds in a wild state grind their food satisfactorily and do not suffer from indigestion, yet they do not swallow sharp-edged stone. A s a matter of fact, which I proved years ago, glass inflames the walls of the gizzard, and the sharp edges of stone do not remain sharp for any length of time. Strange as it may seem, as the glass is worn it is assimilated, as are other grits. For the making of the shell of the og2. oyster shells are easily procurable, and if thrown into hot ashes and left there till cold they are then easily broken, and thus supply a better form of grit for the formation of egg shells than the birds could find on the average free range. But, remember, they want grinding grit in addition to shell grit. The amount of insect life found by birds on free range is in most rases over estimated. Anyway, we have several insect substitutes at hand in the form of rough meat, livers, skim milk, milk whi<-h has become sour, scraps of cheese, the picking of bones, and albumen meal. Then there are the general scraps from the table. One albumen meal contains all the mineral salts essential to life, and there is no better way of feeding them to your children than through & fresh egg or fresh vegetables. One of the most important feeds required by fowls in confinement is green food, and it is surprising how few flocks are given a proper amount of this diet. The suburban poultry keeper can in nearly all cases give a far greater variety of green stuff to a few birds than can a farmer to his larger flock. Many small poultry keepers in the suburbs can for several months in the year feed the lawn clippings with great advantage to the birds. In most cases the poultry would not get the same quality grass over an extended period if they had free range; but even the lack of a lawn does not prevent poultry keeping. In nearly all cases a few vegetables are grown ait the back portion of the section, therefore there is always waste green stuff. Either the outside leaves, plants which have gone to seed, or a certain number of the weeds make good poultry food. You can sow a verv thm border of Lucerne round flower beds, and kept nicely trimmed it is far from an eyesore. Even failing the sources of supply that I have mentioned, there is in nearly all cases sufficient waste from the ordinary household to keep the birds in health with this cla»s of food. Apple parings, apples which have gone partly bad, carrot,

parsnip and. turnip parings, outside leaves of cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce and, earen failing all these, one can use sprouted oats or other grain, and this is considered by many to be the best of all green succulent food and can easily be provided. Soak the oats in warm water for twenty-four hours and then spread them out about an inch deep in shallow boxes or wooden trays. Sprinkle or lightly water them each day and place a bag or other covering over the top, and this will help for the first few days. They can be kept in a cellar, washhouse or shed or the trays can be placed on top of each other till the oats have sprouted, then of course, light is necessary. You do not waste the oats or other grain by this method, as it has, if anything, slightly more feeding value. The back-yarder can also ensure that his birds get an abundant supply of fresh, clean water, which is not always the case on the farm, and remember that water represents a large proportion of the egg. ° There are no nnsurmountable difficulties for the smallest section, except the local laws against keeping poultry within a certain distance of a dwelling. If you feed the birds correctly you will have an egg of high quality. The day will come when food sold for human consumption must not only be fresh but must contain certain ingredients.