Poultry Keeping

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 143, 19 June 1931, Page 15

Poultry Keeping

By ORPINGTON.

250-EGG TYPE. VALUE OF EARLY HATCHING. PROBLEMS. During the past week I have received tie TMiwl budget of queries from Guilders, and some of them make interring reading. In nearly every case the information sought is of general afoe to the readers of this column, so T make no apology for using up so much space in this direction. Occasion\hr these questions require considerWβ investigation, and so it is not always possible to give .an answer the following week. Guinea Fowls. A correspondent, "Interested," says . has two Guinea fowls and wants to know if it is possible to tell the difference (if any) in sex. He says his birds are very quiet, neither has a harsh call note, but there is a difference in their cluck. Usually Guinea fowls are very noisy. Cocks and hens resemble each other very closely, and it is difficult for even to practised to tell them apart. The head of the cock i 3 frequently a-little thicker, with wattles double the size of the hen's. The hen cries her song, "buckwheat," while the cock has an entirely different call. The wattles are the pendent growths of flesh that hang on each side of the beak. They are most prominently developed in male fowls. Weight of Hen Eggs. The grades and weights of hen eggs and other information is asked for by an Avondale correspondent. They are as follow: —Special grade, over 2 3-16oz; A grade, 1 13-lGoz up to 2 3-lGoz; B grade, 1 7-16oz,up to 1 13-16oz; C grade (pullets and all small eggs), under 1 _7-16oz. All eggs must be fresh and clean-to he graded as above. For the information of our general readers duck eggs are |oz heavier in each grade. In answer to a further question by this correspondent, the weight of food given per day to each fowl should be about 4ozj Tie-aim generally is to use about the same weight of grain as mash. For the grain ration use about four parts of-wneat,- one part of maize and one of -mixed, grain. I found that quite a ;gunple and effective grain ration at this time of the year was four parts of wheat to one of maize. Some people in winter make the maize ration a little heavier, that is, three of wheat to one of maize, ,Ift answer to the third question.! would say the combs are frostbitten. That is quite a common thing just' now. In more rigorous climates than ours special precautions have to be taken to prevent frost-bitten and frozen combs. j*" •;; A 250-Egg. Type! 4 25(T-egg type is being sought by one ofsmy.readers. lam afraid that he is aiming rather high for in a recent test iniAmerica in which over 300 poultryfarmers took part, the best record was an average of 247 eggs from a flock of 20 White Leghorns. The best way to aim for this ideal is to get a setting of eggs from proved high-yield layers and then to breed his own stock for egg production. Even if he produces a 200 or 150-egg strain he will have done well. As far as buying a cockerel, well, there is one golden rule to follow and that is, the performance of the stock which produced Mm. The same correspondent asks whether potass, iodide is common icdine and how it is used and in what quantities. Potassium iodide is not common iodine. It is a mineral. Mineral salts are essential for bone formation, the forming of egg shells and the building up of flesh. A normal ration does not contain a sufficient quantity of mineral salts, and it is therefore advisable to add some to every mash. A successful poultry farmer states that the following mineral mixture will be found suitable, if added to the mash, at the rate of 40 ounces to the cwt of mash:—so parts steamed bone meal, 25 parts limestone dust, 25 parts common salt and 1 part potassium iodide. In regard to the use of cod uver oil this is added to the mash in we proportion. of one part to the cwt M mash. The use of cod liver oil has lelped intensive poultry farming to a successful issue. It is important, howj^ at oDl; T the beet oiI > sudl as is used for veterinary purposes, should be given to the fowls.

Early Hatching. v l t £ aS been P roved that the earlier a wnt lias been hatched the earlier it wil] we, and thus it is found that early 2«<Jed pullets are often layers of MfUer e gg s than those birds hatched 1l m * year> However, commercial poultry farmers believe in early hatch™g and it would be as well for those "TOi Email flocks and backyarders to kT\l f ° r the Ceding season. It is just now to get a clucky hen •"« tliere are small and efficient inwoators to be bought and these have ™* tne vagaries of the natural mother. "*Y do not wander away and let the •w get cold. I would advise my P re P ar ed to begin incubam» v hether b F natural means or "yes. It is rarely that commercial WTt. 8 hatch later than Se P teni " Rnm \- ba ckyardens can go on for Sit Une T a / ter tlmt ' and sti " get «ood JWI- any of m J readers have wpn a ? - to 10 ° la^ers the y would be sed not to delß y preparing for S-wt to g0 to tlle botller of batching ttoT ere wiil soon be on the market wl?l offeri "? s o f day-old chicks. It °«W be wise if there is suitable broodg accommodation available, to get an mi Y batch of these.