POULTRY KEEPING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 302, 22 December 1933, Page 12

POULTRY KEEPING.

PULLETS OR COCKERELS?

a SEXING- » THE DAY-OLDS.

(By ORPINGTON.)

One of the most interesting and possibly the most valuable contribution to the recent World's Poultry Congress in Rome was a demonstration of determining the sex of day-old chicks in the pure breeds, by Mr. U. Kamatsu, one of the Japanese delegates. The method used is similar to that already in use with ducklings, i.e., the examination of the vent, when a tiny copula can be discovered In the cloaca of the male bird. In chickens, this is so minute that a strong electric light must be used for its detection, and a tiny white point only is apparent—this being absent in female chicks._ The method requires considerable skill and experience, but such division of the sexes at hatching has been in practice in Japan for over three years now, during which time some four hundred hatchery experts have been examined and proved capable of "sexing" the purebred day-olds. The discovery was made by workers at the Imperial Livestock Experimental Station, Japan. The demonstrator in Rome sorted 100 chicks in 15 minutes, every one of which proved correct on post-mortem examination. Sex-linked cross breeding, by which the sex of chicks on hatching can be determined by the down colouring, has not proved popular in this country, possibly for two reasons. Neither of the two popular breeds, Black Orpingtons and White Leghorns, givo a true sexlink colouring and, where the table bird market is so poor, there is difficulty in disposing of the day-old cockerels. Even with this purebred "sexing" the second drawback remains, and the farmer who sells day-old pullets will have to get twice the usual price for his chicks to make it worth while. On the other hand, this discovery should be highly valuable to the eggfarmer breeding and hatching his own White Leghorns. It has been necessary in the past to rear the cockerels to a few weeks of age before they can be detected, when they are either killed or practically given away. When they can be killed straight from the incubator, brooder space, food and labour will bo saved that can then be expended on pullets. It will eliminate any reason for crossbred flocks and so, possibly, help to keep up breed standards. Shade in Hot Weather. Every land lias its own type of poultry housing according to the requirements of the climate and materials at hand, and the delegates to the Congress at Rome were interested to find that the extremes of heat and very cold winds justified the use of stone for housing, that being perhaps more plentiful than timber. The laying houses on the Ita- | lian Poultry Breeding Station are of

concrete, with roofs of wood covered with asbestos. In each run is a goodsized shelter made of maize straw, providing the birds —all White Leghorns — with necessary shade. Such shelters might well be provided in this country where birds have open runs and only a comparatively stuffy house for shade. Wheat or oat straw can be used equally well, in the South, and if the run has a wind-break on one side, the lean-to is simple to construct, with the high side towards the trees. Otherwise a ridge roof shelter is better and provides shade for dry mash hoppers and cool water, both of which should be outside, where the birds are, in hot, dry weather, to produce the best slimmer results for layers, or young stock. The shelter roof need not be higher than five feet at the greatest point, and a small perch should be provided. This last is particularly useful where stock cockerels are being kept, for towards the end of the summer they will fight and possibly harm each other. Even the greatest bully cannot fight on a perch and the youngest ones can take refuge there. It may interest readers also to know that, sixteen miles from Rome are the Papal poultry farms, where the houses would seem overwhelmingly elaborate to New Zealand eyeß. Roofs are tiled, and as well as the houses themselves being of brilliant colouring, really artistic and appropriate frescoes adorn the gables. Keeping Birds Healthy. The health of your birds and the keeping down of both adult and chick mortality, depends in the first place on the observation powers and experience of the attendant. That is why, on large poultry plants, it is usual for one man to be responsible for all the work connected with one unit of the farm rather than for, say, the feeding, or cleaning of the whole farm. For their health, it is njecessary always to notice the condition of the birds. An over-fat hen is much more prone to ovary troubles (which are responsible for a large proportion of adult casualties) than her lean sister, for internal fat clogs the system and leaves insufficient room for its correct functions. On the other hand, although an undernourished bird may be more healthy, she cannot manufacture eggs unless she has materials beyond that required for body maintenance. A happy medium must be struck in condition and endeavour made to supply a balanced ration that will produce eggs but not fat. It is not an easy matter. Some breeds are, of course, more prone to fat-making than others, but there are also great differences in this respect in strains of a breed and in individual birds. The ideal heavy laying White Leghorn type it is almost impossible to feed to over-fatness, but it can be done with mismanagement. Next, the attendant must be observant of the cleanliness of the birds' surroundings —their water, their food, the house and the litter. It is peculiar that fowls have little or no sense as regards sanitation themselves. It is often annoying, after supplying pure and palatable water in a convenient receptacle, to find, the birds drinking with every appearance of enjoyment from any filthy puddle they can find.