MALES FOR BREEDING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 305, 26 December 1930, Page 14

MALES FOR BREEDING.

CHOOSING EARLY COCKERELS.

FEEDING AND HYGIENE HINTS

THE FARMER' SIDEAL BIRD,

The early-hatched cockerels should now be carefully gone through and the best specimens selected for future breeding purposes. In this important work it is always a wise course to select about double the number of birds that will be required, for the next season. This is because even the most promising specimen now may later on develop some serious defect or weakness which would condemn it as a breeder. Thus, unless due allowance is made by having good numbers for the final selection, annoyance and disappointment may be easily experienced when the next breeding season comes round.

In the selection of breeding make the necessity of giving points indicative of health and vigour the first consideration cannot he too strongly urged. The chief signs of this condition are a bright, prominent eye, face free from feathers, good bodily development (especially in front), width across the back, tight feathering, sturdy legs set wide apart, and generally an alert, active appearance. Always beware of the extremely early maturing male. During the early growing stages it may look a pretty little bird, but it usually remains a pretty little bird, and being a diminutive specimen it ehould not be bred from. Usually it is the bigframed, elow-maturing cockerel, possessing the points as indicative of health and vigour, which makes in the long run the best male to head a breedingpen. In addition to the other desirable points mentioned, an endeavour should always be made to select birds that conform to breed-type, or, in other words, standard requirements of the breed they represent. After the best birds have been selected they should whenever possible be given a free range. It should be borne in mind that the more natural the conditions the youn» birds are placed under the more naturally will they develop. Confined quarters are always undesirable for the future breeding male. They not only tend towards unhealthy growth through weak lege, etc., but the production of large falling-over combs is also encouraged. The latter point, of .course, chiefly applies to heavy combed breeds such as Leghorns', Minorcas, etc. It is a mistake to give the promising breeding cockerel too much forcing food such as meat and milk, as these tend towards a forced but weak development. A liberal but plain nourishing ration should be provided. Above all, the quarters should be kept strictly clean and free from insect pests, otherwise sound development cannot take place. Breeds For The Farmer. Some people wish to know which is the best breed of fowl for the farmer to keep for profit-making. The answer is that there is no best breed. There are good and had layers in all breeds, as the tests go to show that there is often as much difference in egg-produc-ing capacity between birds of the same breed as there is between the different breeds. Thus in choosing a breed the matter of strain and constitutional vigour are the chief points for con-' sideration, providing, of course, that the breed selected is of an egg-laying type At the present time throughout New Zealand the White Leghorn is the most popular breed, but being generally a non-sitter it cannot be regarded as an ideal farmer's bird, except in cases where artificial methods are used tor the hatching and rearing of stock. It will thus he seen that the question of local conditions must also he taken into account. This being; so, the novice should select a breed thaj; will best suit his own individual requirements. On the farm, where generally hatching and rearing are carried out m the natural way, one of the heavier breeds, such as the Black Orpington or White Plymouth Rock is recommended. Given a good laying strain of these breeds, they should possess the combined qualities which go to make an ideal farmer's bird. While at the present time the White Leghorn is mostly favoured for heavy egg-production, and the Black Orpington a dual-purpose breed, it is to be regretted that many breeders of the Orpington in their desire to increase egg-production, have robbed it of some of the qualities which were" considered of paramount importance when the breed was first established. The object aimed at waff to produce what might be termed a triplepurpose breed-a fairly good.layer, a Kood table bird, and one which could be depended upon for the patching and rearing of stock at the right season of the year. Unfortunately, to-day, in man/ cases the Black Orpington seen, as a result of continuous breeding for egg-production, and by the introduction of Mediterranean blood, have been fined down to such a degree that they fail to provide even a decent table carcase. Moreover, with the broody propensity being more or less eliminated, they cannot to depended upon for the hatching and rearing of stock till probably too late in the season for the chickens to do their best. Obviously such stock and particularly if they lay undersized eggs, have few, if any, qualifications to rirommend them as a farmer's bird, compared with a White Leghorn, which conforms to the utility standard weight requirements. m .. . From a farmer's standpoint, if he is to have chickens bred to lay during the dear-egg season, there are alternatives: be must either use incubators for hatching or purchase day-old chicks from a reliable breeder and rear them in an up-to-date brooder.