POULTRY KEEPING

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20011, 20 August 1930, Page 8

POULTRY KEEPING

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. F.C.— (1) I don t care for watercress, but lettuce is excellent for all classes of birds. (2 V Boiled otyon inay be given minted in the mash, also raw; but if the latter not more than 3 ounces for I*2 or 15 birds. RaTV onions, also garlic, are healthful foods, and may keep away disease.. . • • » >

NOTES.

(By Fancier,) Mr H. Listh, who met his death by accident while helping in the unloading of tho Remuera at Lyttelton was a popular member of the Lvttelton Fanciers' Club. The breeding of fancy pigeons, though not so great as that of racing pigeons, seem to be going ahead locally. So fur 400 marking rings have been sold by the United Club. The Lyttelton Fanciers' Olub will hold u dinner at the end of the month.' At last week's meeting of the United Pigeon Fanciers' Club the secretary was instructed to send a letter of thanks to the Port Club for allowing the Christchurch fanciers the favour of getting their exhibits away eailj from the recent Lyttelton Show. An American writer says ducklings should not be fed for 4S hours after hatching. Then 5 times daily for a fortnight on a mash consisting of bran, 2 parts; yellow . maizemeal, parts; middlings and rolled, oats, 10 parts , each, and three pounds each of sifted meat scraps and coarse sand. When a pigeon arrives home from a race don't rush and handle it roughly. That is not the way to get one to trap smhrtly. Be , gentle and handle it carefully, and have a drink ready for it, and then throw some small seeds down on the ground,, say, l a: little hemp, canary, and linseed, so as to bring the'bird back to normal. Allow no gorging of peas, wheat or maize. Let the feeding be a little at'a time, and if there is a big youngster in the nest see that it is well fed before the racers' arrival or take it away for the 11 In the Commonwealth and New Zealand egg laying'test held in Australia the onlv leading New Zealand breeder in the teams' test at the end was Mr H. Dawber's team of Fawn White Indian Eunners with 393 eggs for the six birds'in 103 days. Mr Dawber has a farm up Marshland way. Pigconß are not given meat like fowls, but they'will. enjoy a little bread that has been used to wipe a frying pan in which bacon has been fried anjl I have "known them eat fat meat. Boek wit is favoured by birds as well as horses and cattle, and most pigeon breeders use it ; or _a salt cake, as a mixture of salt and sand is called. But! it is a mistake to feed pure table salt, as they will eat too much and bring on feather Tot. At this season injury to .valuable hens and pulleta may be caused by the badly- shaped- or too long spur s of the male birds.. Such spurs often tear the backs of the females, and should be cut off.- Again, many roosters will attack a man, -and those with long spurs'are'dangerous,, not only to 'hens,, but to children. Spurs were doubtless meant as a means of defence ana males* and females, should be ' watched in order' that the body weight is kept up to the standard, if it dSpa too low vitality is lowered, a nd,hatchability ,poor, and i« get too jfat production will be My?*, as 'well* as' hatchability. A mixture of hard grain will'be best to .keep up the standard weights for and a few partridge peas or kibbled beans will add to the protein of the diet. A good guide to'*tire approximate weight of a growing heatr reed at intervals of days is:—2B days, 6* to 7oz; 42 days, 13 to lioz; .84 days, 48 to 560z; 160 days, 64 to 720z. A White Leghorn chick should be about: —2B days, 6 to 6Joz; 42 days, 12 to 13oa; 84 days, .32. to 360z; 160 days, 48 to 560z. The results referred to, which have been secured in an intensive house,-indicate that range is not necessary-to get growth and chicles. "Poultry." -

A Rare Visitor. On Monday afternoon ; a Cashmere fancier rang me up to say a native pigeon was flying about his place. On going down there was a kuku sure enough flying among my fnend s Tumblers, and 'going higher and swifter than ever I had seen them. Of course, the Tuiriblcrti and' fowls Wero frightened at tho visitor, who showed an inclination to settle among them, but they scattered repeatedly in every, direction, and the kuku kept dropping on trees. The- New Zealand native, pigeon is, bigger, than inost domestic pigeons, ana in colouration can hold his own with the most beautiful of the fanciers creations. The , one most like the kukii is the -Strasser, .a breed from Austria, that is good for. the table and one ot fine colour and, markings. The native pigeon has a white breast with , head, neck, back and tail roughly a greenyblue and rich bronze sheen. The kuku lays two eggs much like those : of our. table birds in size and shape. . The Jersey Black Giant. From the name ono at once concludes that the handsome Jersey-Black"Giant, birds must have originated in America, and so they did. Between 50 and 60 year's ago two 4 brothers, then living near Johnston, New Jersey, were the originators of the breed. Their names were Thomas and John Black, so the ■birds were named both after these men and the part where they were produced, says the "Scottish Farmer." It is authentically recorded that the original-, cross . was made up .of Black Javas, Black Langshans, and Dark Brahmas. It.can be readily acknowledged th|it it would take' a .considerable time to get the leg feathering eliminated, and to get the. birdsi . to breed true >to colour, .and to . establish the yellow skin colour of the leg. It also took patience and endless care, both attributes possessed in a high degree by these brothers; The Jersey Black Giants are ;;huge biids, and attain a great weight for the table, some adult cocks turning the scalps at 121b and over, while capons at nine months have been known to exeeed this weight. Their bodies are ddep and-full,, and the flesh is rich of flavour, fine-grained, soft and tender. ; They are a vigorous stock from the shell onwards, and very hardy. The hen* . 'make , excellent sitters, and are devoted and careful mothers., ' .' ~" ' [A few Jersey Black Giants have been'landed in New Zealand, and there is now a white .variety ,in America. Some writers say this is ithe longest breed- in cultivation, but that is not correct.r-Fancier.] Cornel Wetory. The following dietary; is front ' a bulletin issued by the Cornell (U.S.A.) .University:— . jfash Mixture 5 (36-48 • hours •; to maturity)4slb yellow corn_ (maize) moal, 101b wheat bran,. 151b wheat middlings; 10lb fine grpuild heavy _oats, ,101b fine ground, meat scraps (50:55 per •,cent, protein), 21b -steamed bone mSal, 101b dried 'milk products (use part diM fcnttemflk, « H liquid •»- w*-

deused milk is available, omit dry milk from ration), fib fine salt: Provide fine grit and oyster shell from the start. When chicks do- not s get direct sunshine (not through glass), mix one per cent, of medicinal cod liver oil in the mash (about I pint to 1001b of mash). Mash Feeding.—Start feeding the mash mixture when the chicks are not more than 36. to ■'4B hours old. Leave it in front of them all the time. Add fresh feed twice daily. Grain Feeding.—At eight weeks begin feeding "the grain mixture in hoppers. ■ Keep it constantly before: the chicks just like the , mash. However, they should" not eat as much Bcratch grain by weight as mash until three months old. , Grain mixture (8 ■weeks to maturity).: ,601b cracked yellow'maize, 401b wheat.