THE POULTRY INDUSTRY.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 6966, 23 January 1918, Page 4

THE POULTRY INDUSTRY.

A number of those interested in poultry keeping met at Mr J Blakfr's farm at G-^te Pa yesterday afternoon to listen to a lecture by Mr A E Balis bury. Poultry Instructor, of *he Do partoieot of Agriculture. Ia his open • ing remarks ihe speaker sail that the subj -ct was a wide one, lu'. he intended tocoDrlnehis remark-! to the phase* of it most topcal at the present aejeoiis of the year. In spite cf t'ho work which was being done by the D. part- • ment of Agriculture to faster the industry by means of visits of instruction to plants, lectures and demonstrations, as well as the publication of literature gratis, there was still the most appalling ignorance of tha first principles of the work among a large number of lh >8e engaging in it. Mr Salisbury said he considered that Tauranga was destined to become one of the greatest poultry-raising districts in the Dominion, as in addition to its eminently suitable climate and soil formation it was a maize-growing district. There had in the past been a great deal of prejudice against maize j as a poultry food, but recent experience had;> nvfd these- oil ide\3tobo fallacious and instances could be given of excellent results from layers i>-.d with no other grain The bulk of the , Dominion's egg supply came from the farms, being produced by the flocks of less than 100 head. The production i of thosa who made poultry-farming an i independent business represented only i a fraction of the whole, A good living i could be made .Iron poultry-farming iby one possess ng the uecess&ry 1 experience and an aptitude for the * work. In mos' cases where failure J bad occurred it was duo to lack of ' practical experience. It was when ' worked as a side lino with other rural activities, such as fruit growing, dairy - ' ing, bee-keeping or market-gardeuing, that the greatest profit could be derived from poultry Unfortunately i$ was the farmers who were most favourably situated for making their birds highly I remunerative whose poultry were deplorably neglected. Mr Salisbury stated that the present j was an opportune time for culling out i unprofitable birds aud selecting those I desirable for the breediug pen. He advised everyone keeping foAvls to i make a point of sorting through their birds right now before the moult set 1 in. At the preseut state of rues'; flocks ' it was not difficult to decide to which ! of three classes each bird belonge t. These thivo classes were : Heavy hvs ers vf souud constitutional vigour; birds which had laid well for a short time but at the cost of shattered constitution ■ and drones, which were now in or almost over the moult having been producing fat rather than eggs. The lecturer then produced live hens which represented these three classes and dealt in detail with tha points indicative of each. 1 ho ideal breeding heu with a deep oblong-shaped body, wide at the saddle aud with legs set wide apa_t with a short stout beak, keen prominent eye clean face and tighc do DS o feathering,' was shown in striking contrast tj the drone and tho weakling. Provided that there had been uo drastic changes in the feeding, quarters, or rninags ment to precipitate a moult it could bs 'akeu as a safe guide tha thj early moulfers were iuferior as layers and that those last to moult were the most prolific I t the present time the colour of hens' legs afforded an indication ac to their egg producing performance As a pullet and at the commencement the hyit g period a pure bred White Leghorn had yellow legp, but as the laying season advanced tbe greater ihe output of eggs the more bleached and white the legs became, only the drones retaining the bright yellow tint as lue as the present time. Dealing with the subject of foods and feeding, Mr Salisbury said the question was an acute one throughout the Dominion, and there appeared no immediate prospect of cheap foods Economy was imperative and this gave added importance to the work of culling. Some poultry-keepers were failing to distinguish between false and true economy, and were adopting the unwise method of cutting down the rations instead of eliminating the uou • producers from their fbeks. Good results were obtained from both the W6t and dry mash systems of feeding. In the speaker's opinion it W3S maintv a matter to be decided by individual ciroums*an' es. Farmers usually found the wet mash cheaper, as it enabif-d foods such us skim milk, surplus vegetables, household scraj s, etc. t^ be u'i is dto better advantage. He " str »ngly advocated every poultry-keep, er. to plant a patch of lucerne hs a ' saund economical proposition. In feeding ducks imsh outirHy was recommended rather than gram, find great economy could be rff cted by mixed chaffed succulent gieen food j with the mash, the qu-mtity' b i.-gl gradually increase! * : s iho birds i became accustomed to ir. ! Afc tho conclusion Mr Salisbury j answered a number of questions and \ was accorded a hearty vote of thanks I for his address, MY LoCorq ncfod as | Ckairmau.