POULTRY KEEPING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 224, 21 September 1934, Page 14

POULTRY KEEPING.

CURD AND SALT IN DIET.

HOW MISTAKES ARE MADE. (By ORPINGTON.) The real poultry enthusiast can be all sorts of a madman. One ece.s that salt should bo used in laying mash, and puts it in by the pound where it should be in ounces, with disastrous results. Another "discovers" that poultry will lay if fed only on dry curd without any other food, either grain or mash. Perhaps over any hobby one is apt -to become a little too enthusiastic, and go to extremes. Unfortunately very considerable, loss can bo incurred by the poultry keeper who docs so. Hen* certainly con be fed on dry curd only, and if they have good free range and ample grass they can do very well on it in the spring and early summer, ft must be range where the birds get a good deal of roughage <uid forage weli for themselves. It must be kept in mind, however, that the time of year when curd becomes scarce and dillicult to thicken is just the season when any change of diet stops birds laying. If layers cease production in the autumn or early winter, they invariably moult, whether they are pullets or hens, and the most valuable eggs of the whole year are lost. Even should ample supplies of curd be available at that time of year, which they rarely are, it is dillicult to make the layers cat enough curd in the shorter days to keep production tit ite highest. The. ueo of curd in moderation can still be a genuine economy. .Just at the flash egg (and milk) period, birds need have nothing else, but for the greater part of the year, it, is. wise to use some pollard as well, which can be augmented very gradually with maize meal and meat meal before the milk supply goos down. A email grain feed ulso keeps the birds in harder condition. It is easy to say that hens laid excellently weil before it was, considered necessary for them to have salt added to their rations. A maximum of 1 per cent of salt is all .their food should contain. Where hou.se ecrape or fish meal are used for the birds, they will have sufficient salt, and to add any might prove very harmful. Even the usual grain, offal* and green food contain sufficient of tho needed ingredients of salt for the upkeep of the body in good order, but it is considered that where the strain of production is great a little extra sodium chloride is. required. It is well enough known that cows in milk require more "lick" than dry cattle. As well as making the food more palatable, the chlorine in salt is very valuable in digesting it. Incidentally, where milk U fed, rather more chlorine is required, much being absorbed in its digestion. Housing and Feeding. An inquirer asks for information on the following points:—(l) What is the smallest house suitable for 20 hens, usec only for sleeping quarters and laying purposes? (2) How should scraps and stale bread be used to get the best results from laying heneV In reply to the iirst question the usual allowances for housing quarters when a good outside run is provided is 2$ square feet per bird. For 20 birds this would mean 50 square feet. It' is desirable to have the perches fairly well back from the open front, and therefore a small house needs to be deeper than it is wide. A depth of less than 10 feet is not recommended. Suitable dimensions to give this area of floor space would be 10 feet deep by five feet wide. Such a house would provide a certain amount of scratching room so that tho grain feeds could be fed inside in the dry and the birds would have comfort on cold wet days. The front should consist of wire netting for at least three feet down from the roof—the front being tho highest portion of the roof. Twenty birds will need about 12 feet of perching, say, three perches each four feet long. The ends of tho perches need to be kept six inches from tho side walk, while the back perch should not bo less than 12 inches from the back wall. They can be hinged so ae to fold up against the back wall, and can be supported in front by two legs, preferably of metal. Angle iron or water pipe is suitable. Two kerosene cases will servo for nests for 20 birds, and 4hould bo arranged so that they will hold five or six inches of sawdust or other Eino litter. As to the second question, scraps arc jest cooked or soaked and mixed in the ■norning maeh. It is better to give the jirds as much as they will clean up in ; rom 30 to 45 minutes rather than to 'ecd stated quantities. They will probably take about 2oz each of dry 'ood, which will, of course, weigh more .vhen moistened. It should only be noistened to a crumbly state, and either vater, milk or gravy may be used. Feed ;ho mash early in the morning, give a ight feed of grain at mid-day, about loz >er bird, and as much grain as they will ilean up quickly iu the evening, say, ibout 2oz. The grain may consist of vhcat, maize, barley and oats —the first .wo mentioned being the most relished >y the birds.