SPRING IS HERE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 186, 8 August 1930, Page 15

SPRING IS HERE.

BREEDING AND REARING.

WHAT IS A UTILITY FOWL ?

In the spring a poultry-keeper's thoughts turn to breeding and rearing. This is a most important period of the year for him, for on his ability as a breeder and his care in rearing depend the success or otherwise of his year's operations. Winter is coming to a _ close, and spring diseases will prevail in some localities. It is the most uncertain period of the year. Weather conditions cannot be depended on. The winds of August and early September are themost piercing of the year, and the stock must be protected from the elements. Houses should be protected from spring rains. Either glass windows or canvas curtain fronts make good protection. Little chicks should be kept under hovers inside of a building that is tight enough to protect them from the elements. September chicks make May layers. The Sitting Hen. Nests made for sitting hens should be deep, so as to provide a comfortable nest for the hen. Always dust the body of a sitting hen with insect powder. Dust it down well into the feathers and close to the skin of the fowl. This dusting should be renewed every three or four days up to ten days. A soap box, 18in to 2ft square, with some sand or earth in the bottom, and dry hay or straw packed well down on top of this, provides an excellent nest for a sitting hen. The nest for, a sitting hen should always be place'd where she will have plenty of room, light and shelter from the elements, yet be confined where she cannot run away from the eggs. She should be watched and put back on the eggs if she seems to neglect them. A common trouble, when the natural mother is being used, of chicks failing to hatch when fully developed is invariably due to want of moisture, especially during the drier months of late spring. In an endeavour to overcome this trouble, some people spray the eggs with warm water towards the end of the incubation period, but this does not always have the desired effect. A better plan, when it is considered that the air is dried down too far is to lift the hay, or whatever nesting material is used, to slightly moisten the sand or earth. In this way the heat of the bird's body will draw the moisture to the eggs and soften the membrane under the shell, thereby greatly assisting the chick to get out of its shell. It is a mistake to interfere with the hen when the chicks are hatching. Kemember that she is past the experimental stage, and can manage best by herself. A hen should never be set on valuable eggs at the first sign of broodiness. The best plan is to try her first on some dummy eggs. Many valuable sittings of eggs have been scratched about and broken through their being placed under hens which did not at the time possess the right sitting desire. After five or six days the eggs should be examined by means of a tester, and any which are infertile or contain dead germs should be removed.

Artificial Incubation. During recent years there has been a large increase in utility poultry, due to the practice of artificial incubation. The incubator operator can control production by artificial means, but with hens a desire to hatch, cannot be hastened. The artificial methods of hatching and rearing chicks bring alike to the commercial poultry-keeper and the smallholder the choice of the day of production and of the number of chicks produced. As to the operation of an incubator, the printed directions which come with each machine give instructions for its operation, and tell how to 6ecure the best results. Such directions should be followed to the letter. An expert who has had more practical experience with the use of incubators than any other man has said: "Briefly stated, all that is required to hatch eggs artificially is a temperature of 100.5 degrees Fahr. at the centre of the eggs, which is 101 degrees Fahr. to 103 degrees Fahr. by contactj at the same time, the egg's should be immersed in still air, containing moisture of a relative humidity of from 45 to 70 per cent, this moisture to be changed sufficiently often to carry off the waste gases eliminated by the eggs._ Any excess of ventilation beyond this is deleterious." Green Feed. One cannot too strongly emphasise the importance of losing no time in making every possible provision for the growing of ample green feed. No flock can thrive without it, and this applies especially to growing chickens. An abundance of green feed not only greatly assists in keeping the birds in a healthy state, but, in addition, it reduces the grain ration. It is common for both growing and adult stock to go off their grain ration when hot weather conditions prevail, but rarely, if ever, will they refuse succulent green material. When possible a variety of green feed should be provided, as birds of all ages are apt to tire of anyone particular kind when it is fed in surfeit. For example, flocks of poultry have been known to absolutely refuse to eat silver beet after they had received that solely as green feed for months. Finely chaffed green grass, lucerne, clover and green oats are ideal green foods for poultry, while any of the brassicas (cabbage family), lettuce or silver beet will be much relished. Fowls also like thistle leaf, particularly that known in the south as rauriki. A poultrykeeper who runs about 100 head each of Black Orpington fowls and Indian Runner ducks told me the other day that he had solved the problem of having to rise early to prepare his birds' warm mash. He said he found that by mixing, chaffed green feed with the mash overnight it kept the food warm, and both the fowls and ducks ate heartily of it in the morning. Now he puts a double ration of dry mash in the troughs or hoppers overnight and his fowls are fed when he gets up. What is a Utility Fowl? I have a strong idea that many people are apt to misinterpret the word "utility." In my opinion the title should only be applied to the all-round breeds, and not to the breeds that are solely bred for laying. What does the word "utility" really imply ? "The state of being useful, profitableness," is what the dictionary says; but, do we not take it too literally in applying the title to all breeds that'

are not bred to an exhibition standard? Should we not differentiate between the layers and the all-round breeds? Black Orpington, for instance, is a fine all-round fowl, useful and in every way, either to the farmer, fancier or cottager. Without a doubt this is a true utility breed. Take the Leghorn or any of the light breeds; egg machines, pure and simple, useless for general purposes, either as table birds or sitters, the breeder having to depend for the latter on hens of the all-round breeds or else incubators; yet if this breed, or any other light breed, is not fit to win on the show bench, we immediately call it a utility fowl. The commercial egg expert has taken in hand certain dual purpose fowls, and has done his best to make these breeds champion layers, with what result? The sacrificing of their table, type, and size qualities, but still we call them utility birds. A man not initiated in poultry lore is likely to be confused. He may want a bird that will serve an all round purpose —good layer, a decent table bird, and reliable as a broody, so that he may be able to hatch a few pullets. What happens? He buys a popular dual purpose breed, and by chance he buys these birds from a farm that goes in solely for egg production. This man is puzzled as to why the birds he has bought are undersized, etc. This trouble may be vice versa, and the man get an all round bird when he wants a layer. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. SEASONABLE COMPLAINT. BUTTER.—I should say the trouble with your Black Orpington hen is that she has caught cold. Poultry in poor health exhibit a dull, sluggish appearance, the strongest evidence of lack of vitality. They walk about as if they were not strong enough to drag their legs and feet after them. This state is usually accompanied by a lack of appetite. The best course to adopt is to separate the hen from the rest of the Hock and use permanganate of potash in the drinking water. This is used in the proportion of loz of the crystals dissolved in a 2oz bottle of water, using one teaspoonful of this saturated solution to 1 gal of drinking water. It would not do the whole flock any harm if the solution was put in their drinking water. To the sick hen feed a warm mash with a little ginger and red pepper added as a tonic. Bathe the lower part of the body with some warm water, to which some antiseptic solution has been added. E.L.V., Devonport.—Ducks require about soz of food per day. Some experts say they should be given Coz. With that as a basis the daily ration can be worked out. A satisfactory winter food would be a mash consisting of (by measure) 6 parts maize meal, (3 parts wheat bran, one part low grade wheat flour, J part fine grit and a small quantity of meat scrap. The ducks should have twice a day as much as they will eat of this mash. They must also have a liberal supply of chopped green feed. The bread could be used, in the correct proportion, in place of the low grade flour. During the laying season ducks will cat about one pint of food each per day.