POULTRY KEEPING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 116, 19 May 1933, Page 12

POULTRY KEEPING.

SEASONAL NOTES. MASH FEEDING. (By ORPINGTON.) The fact must not be overlooked that in the use of movable houses away from the homestead feeding is not so simple, and any possible saving in labour must be affected. It is very useful if a paddock with a creek running through it can lis utilised, in order to save carrying witter, but water must be supplied fairly near the laying quarters or best results will not be possible. It is a great help to use dry mash instead of wet for feeding. That is, to have a mixture of well proportioned meals, in their dry state in a suitable box inside the house, so that the birds can help themselves at any time. It will be found that they by no means gorge too much, but eat a little of the mash and then seek water and grass and then back again to'the mash. A box from which the birds can feed without fouling or wasting the contents can be made, with a little ingenuity and should be big enough to hold a week's supply of mash for the pen.

Whether mash is fed wet or dry, the full ration must, at this time of the year contain from 10 to 15 per cent, of protein. If curd is fed liberally, this supplies sufficient, but often skim milk is short just when We are wanting eggs, and the birds can not make eggs without the wherewithal. Then it is well worth while to make up a mash of bran, pollard and maize meal in equal parts by weight and a tenth of the weight in meat meal or meat and bone meal. Remember that even birds on free range do not get a very big proportion of insect life from now onwards, and if eggs are wanted at an unnatural time, this natural source of protein supply must bo replaced in the ration by substitutes. By this is not meant condiments or spice, but rather meat or liash preparations.

If dry mash is always before th 6 birds, grain may be fed at night. If house scraps are to be used they should bo soaked in milk or water for some hours and then dried off with the mash mixture and fed for the evening meal, substituting with gi'ain two or three nights a week. If there are not a large proportion of scraps, they might be fed at midday as an extra, especially to young pullets which can do With every encouragement to production at this time of year. Any change, as from wet mash feeding to dry, should be done v ei"y gradually. Indeed, if wet mash has been used for rearing and is to be stopped entirely, it were better to postpone the change until the end of June, when the natural egg season will obviate any check to production.

Which Is The Best Breed? There is no question that is asked of poultry experts more often than this, and it is probably the Batne with other livestock. Anyone commencing poultry keeping, either as a business or as a farm side-line, must certainly consider carefully the question of a suitable breed, but even more important is the matter of the best strain of that breech As a general rule, heavy breeds arc more favoured on the farm, and this should specially be so if the land is at all high or exposed. The White Leghorn is undoubtedly the commercial egg farmer's breed, for with his intensive work, limited space and, usually, sheltered situation, they make very perfect egg machines. The farmer's birds have to be very hardy and under his conditions, it is usually found that heavy breeds supply a greater proportion of their eggs in the winter months than do the light breeds. Also, of course, these do make more useful table birds as cockerels or old hens.

There is surely no need to go into the meaning and significance of "strain" where stock farmers are concerned, but it must be remembered that its importance in dealing with poultry is just as great as in any other livestock. If stock is to be bought now, try to get a few good pullets from a well-knoWn and reliable breeder. L<aying contest results are a good guide as to best lay' ing breeds and strains, but go rather to the breeder whose birds attain to 230 and upward records of good sized eggs year after year, than the man who wins brilliantly on one occasion only.

If pullets near lay are not procurable from a reliable source, and breeding is in view, a few older birds make a far better beginning than such birds as are too often bought from the mart, and many of which will soon end their lives in the pit, since they are usually culls or diseased birds sent there as the easiest means of disposal. Beginners cannot be expected to be able to tell a really good pullet until they have had some years' experience. Even if disease is not present, there is no point in feed* ing, much less breeding from, three hens that can only lay 100 eggs each in the year, when one might well be keeping instead, one that, if properly fed and housed, would lay nearer 300.

Black Orpingtons. This heavy-breed, which yet lays as well as any breed in the world, was produced by a clever breeder at Orpington, Kent, England, about 188G, by crossing, or rather combining the more highly recund " sports " from the Asiatic Lanshans, the Mediterranean Minorc&s and the American Bocks. These laid medium sized eggs in good quantity and have, during tile last 40 years, been bred for egg production in Australia and New Zealand. The farmer who likes birds that will " kill well " cannot do better than go ill for them. They are good Wihter layefs and do better on heavy soil than do most breeds.

Utility Black Orpingtons should be good bodied birds, with breast carried well forward; body broad and deep; breast bone of moderate length, shoulders broad and back short and curved. Head should be small and neat, beak strong and short, comb medium in size and erect. Tail should be mediuin length, with well curved sickle feathers in the cock and carried well up in both sieXes. Hens should weigh sJlb to 6£lb, and cockerels 81b to 91b. The plumage should have sheen and be greenishblack —not purple. The beak is black, also the legs and feet. This fact, combined with the slightly dark flesh and skin prevents the breed from beiiig really popular in England or America, as they do not suit the very competative market for table birds, white and veilow shanks and skin respectively being demanded in those countries. These birds make excellent broodies. Indeed, care should be taken not to breed from the most broody hens and any out crossing of strain or breed is apt to bring out this quality in excess.