POULTRY KEEPING

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20415, 9 December 1931, Page 5

POULTRY KEEPING

PIGEONS -AND CAGE BIRDS. (By Fancier.) ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. En<,U i B rer n r?e: d be to Wa V' t0 Th.re fix as-ifcsx tw-jna. 'wiTrno B t Cr provide n mu i M IthiS 1 thiS dry . weather cow nnd foJ,, S raßS for your and such ar« C^ b ] >a S e and lettuce green feed with less labm° U Would ave in,., ' r u !° rj,?™:r„x""s hens Kxnpri«H« m ° re ereen than sto per cej! i'i the a <™ from w 30 per Mntr'of Sucerae*** notes. e™H y the King is patron of the English Budgerigar Club, which has over 600 members. The United Pigeon Fanciers' Club has been adding to its membership lately The club will meet this evening. , Leghorn breeders in New South Wales are holding meetings with *ho object of drawing up a standard for the different colours. A Langshan hen in the tests at Hawkesbury College, New South Wales, has just laid a sequence of 205 eggs' and gone broody. I read in a contemporary that "the Orpington duck is obtainable in three colours, viz., Buff, Black and Chocolate. m? 6 named tw <> are uncommon." i Ihe Buff and the Blue Orpington ducks are standardised, but so far I haVe not heard of the others reaching standard honours. Mention of standards and Orpington lominds mo that the search for an ideal Australorp continues in New South Wales. The components of the Australorp being* the Langshan, the Minorca and Plymouth Rock, breeders will naturally find a great diversity in type, even among winners of laying tests. The export of eggs from Australia has risen from 1,104,005 dozen in 1927 to 6,790,500 dozen in 1931, and the figures for this year are not yet complete. New South Wales easily leads in the number eggs exported. Where eggs are stored or put down in a preservative the small end should be down. If the small end of the egg is up when the eggs are packed, many of the air cells break loose and become what is known as "split" or movable air colls" and such go into a lower grade. 1 The growing pullets need cod-liver oil to enable them to assimulate the minerals .needed in bone building, and later on it is needed for the egg yield unless the pullets have plenty of sunshine. Even then one pint of oil in 1001b df mash will be of much benefit. The ■ Wyandotte Fancy is not so strong in Christchurch as it used to be, and at shows of recent years one fails to see the largo classes and the excitement among exhibitors that was a feature of some past show seasons. Air Bert Harman, of 22 Croydon street, is president of the South Island Wyandotte Club, and he . has called a meeting to be held in the Poultry Club's rooms on Saturday, December 19th. Mr Harman has bred and exhibited Whito Wyandottes with much success for a number of years, and one hopes he will meet with more support. At this season there will be plenty of young birds for the table, but some people like old ones, and as the old ones are, or should be, replaced with young stock, the aged must be got rid of. The cook will doubtless know best how to make them tender. Another reason why the aged fowl» should be disposed of is that the hot weather and the moult affects them badly and may cause death in some. "Topping Off." The preparation of fowls for the table is common this month. Mr James Hadlington, who has in his time supplied dressefl poultry up to 10,000 weekly, gives the following ration in the "Sidney Morning Herald":— A simple ration, which almost any bird will take, consists of pollard, or pollard and wheatmeal combined, 301b; bran, oaten pollard and maize-moal 201b each, peameal 71b, and 31b of meatrneal (unless meat soup is available, when the last item may be dispensed with). Also, failing meat soup, the mash should, if possible, be mixed with milk. Milk powder may be substituted for milk at the rate of lib to the gallon of water. Common salt, 20oz to each 1001b of mash materials, should be dissolved in the liquid before mixing. Wet mash' should be fed all day. Probably the best fattening practice is to feed the mash in a semi-liquid state* in troughs, and without drinking water. If, however, the mash is fed otherwise, water must, of course, be provided. Green feed and grain should almost entirely be dispensed with during tho three weeks' topping off. Exhibition v. Utility Stock; Mr W. H. Cook, son of the originator of the Orpington, and at present manager of the Orpington farm, in *ho course of an article in the "Feathered World" says:— "My contention is that exhibition stock and strains equal the'layer or utility fowl in hardiness, stamina and prolificacy; indeed, speaking generally, they are hardier and appear to stand any climate under almost any conditions, and thrive and do well, while as layers, if the breeding stock is carefully selected, exhibition strains seldom lag. far behind the utility stock of the same breed. The poultrykeeper has now come to recognise that the breedi„g of perfect exhibition stock is an art which not everybody is capable td master with absolute hope of certainty. ' South Island Poultry Association. Tho annual meeting of the South Island Poultry, Pigeon and Canary Association was held at Gore last week. Mr Geo. E.. Jeffreys waa again elected president, and Mr R. Pearce secretary and treasurer. The show dates and championships for 1932 were allotted, and a number of remits deal with. Fanciers representing the different sections of the fancy were appointed, a council to deal with any business that cropped up during the year. It was decided that the next annual conference be held at Rangiora.