POULTRY KEEPING

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19815, 31 December 1929, Page 7

POULTRY KEEPING

PIGKHtS AND CAGE BIRDS. CSY FANCIES.) poultrf, pigeons, and caga bini -wiH appear in The Pkess etery TVcinesNOTES.

The dealh occurred on Christmas morning of Mrs Mary Jane Chambers, aged 72. mother of the -well-known fanciers, Messrs W. J. Chambers and F. W. Chambers and grandmother, of Mr A. A. and Miss Lily Chambers. The holidays over clubs will get busy. The usual meetings will start next week. The moult is especially trying on old birds and combined with hot -weather often causes death. The moral is get rid of them before they start moulting.

Mr F. W. Chambers, secretary of the "United Pigeon Fanciers' Club, has been offered a lice of partridge peas at 4s a bushel. The Club, -which meets next Wednesday, will surely accept such a good offer. Partridge peas arc the basis of pigeon diets. A booklet issued by the Department of Agriculture gives the nutritive ratio for peas at 1-2.01. This is a ratio that contains too much protein. Equal parts peas -will be -well balanced, namely 1.4 or with maiae, which would make the ratio a fraction over 1.5, -which is considered the balance, but the narrower ratio of 1.4 would be the more suitable far racing pigeons. The cutting of the grain will now be on and the fowls whose eggs are not wanted may, with advantage, be turned out on the stubble. Here they will get sufficient grain, insects, and green food. Pigeons will fly out on to the stubble, but a rude shelter will be needed for the fowls. I quote from the same booklet mentioned the nutritive ratio for some foods which have lately been discussed by correspondents in The Pbess. "Wheat ~ 1: 6.1 ». ... 1: 3.5 Middlings .. _ 1: 6.S White Bread 1: 6.8

The a"bove will show that the wheat offal is richer in protein than wheat and of course -wheat meal, and that white bread is only a fraction behind in its nutritive ratio. As to palatibihty and digestibility -white bread has the advantage. To use the words of one authority, -white bread is pre-digested. The moult is not a disease but the annual shedding of the old feathers for the new. The moult generally starts about the New Year, and extends about eight -weeks. But the shedding of feathers may start any time up to spring, and it may be three or four months instead of two months, the difference in time depending on when the birds were hatched, the weather, feeding, and housing. The moult may be hurried or retarded, but the natural and seasonable moult is best. Should the moult be on in cold weather care should be taken to make the houses warmer. Cold winds and hot suns will bleaeh the feathers and wet and mud will spoil them. Birds intended for exhibition must be guarded from wet, wind, and the rays of a hot -stm. Moulting birds need feather food. The ration should, therefore, contain more protein and oil foods; meat and milk are the best sources of protein, and sunflower seeds, hemp, and iin- ! seed are all rich in oil. A little linseed tea in the mash is my favourite. It puts a nice sheen on the feathers, and the tea is taken more readily in the mash than in the dry seed. A light dusting of sulphur on the mash twice a week is also helpful, any colour feeding to be done, should be started before the feathers break, and kept on until after the moult is finished. In the case of white birds, care must be taken that the food contains no colouring matter, else the feathers will become straw or brassey tinged. "When it comes near exhibition time, a little saecharated carbonate of iron will assist to put a sheen on any colour.

1929. The year that is almost past has been, most discouraging to all who seek to make a living or a partial living out of poultry. The price of eggs was the lowest for a numbers of years, and often only returned a fraction per dozen over the cost of food. Indeed I was told how only ninepence per doz«n was obtained in South Canterbury, a,price that would not pay for the cost of feed. Table fowls were also cheaper then usual and altogether poultry-keepers had as a whole a bad time which, of course, did not effect "backyarders" and faneiers and general farmers as much as those who made poultry their only means of income. More export and cheaper foodstuffs would doubtless assist to place things on a better footing, but foods are not likely to fall in price and export is not certain to be the remedy that it appears to be. England is producing more eggs than ever, and other countries keep landing more and more eggs in Britain. Some of them are nearer than New Zealand, and have also the advantages of cheaper labour and consequently cheaper foodstuffs. But that need not prevent tryiDg the market and increasing the numbers of eggs exported which was greater this year than ever. The Pancy. i The faney for poultry, pigeons, and cage birds, judging by the year's shows, continues to progress steadily. The poultry section is better from a spectacular point of view than was the case a few years back; instead of record numbers in two or three breeds more varieties are seen at our shows in more evenlybalanced numbers. Pigeon-keeping still attracts many and local elubs show an increased interest in homing, while the United Fanciers' Club has an increase lof membership. But more fresh stock is badly needed and would doubtless be obtained, but for the costly freights, and the uncertainty of getting good birds. The canary fancy, which had not seemed to have progressed, came out at the Christchurch Show with a record number of entries. The collection again suggested that the Norwich canary continues to lead in popularity. Laying Records. The Auckland test saw a Black Orpington finish with 354 eggs to her credit. That number ties with the score made in Queensland where a Black Orpington also laid 354 eggs in 32 months. These were the best hen records for the world, but since recorded word has come of a Barred Bock laying 358 eggs in 365 days in a Canadian test, and U£ to the present is the champion layer among hens. The New Year. Though the writer wishes his readers a happy and prosperous New Year, the present position of the poultry industry is not at all encouraging. A number hive given up the business and others may follow. More export and better organisation have been suggested as remedies for betterment of the industry and effort should be made on these lines and other means may suggest themselves to those who are working on behalf of the industry. But these workers are too few. Egg circles and Utility Clubs might be helped considerably in the coming year if assisted by the many clubs whose chief aim is the promotion •£ show* for exhibition poultry.

Such clubs have undoubtedly assisted the commercial side of poultry-keeping to a very considerable extent. But they can do more not only by raising more poultry and eggs, but also by using their combined interest to secure cheaper foodstuffs as the high price of foods is the chief item that besets the poultry industry. A combined move in the direction indicated by all the clubs ■would make the prospects much brighter for the Xew Year.