POULTRY KEEPING

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20869, 31 May 1933, Page 16

POULTRY KEEPING

PIGEONS AND CAGE BIRDS.

[By FANCIER.]

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. Woolston.—Most breeders believe the trouble is contagious, but I think it is confined to certain pairs, and chiefly to young birds. This belief comes of many years' experience and many experiments. , PC Where there are rules it is best to stick to them. You are lucky in getting such fine colours. The whole of your table scraps may be minced small and meatmeal added; if not enough meat scraps, then mix the whole with milk. Oyster shell makes the best grit, and it can be obtained in suitable size for all birds. NOTES. The Christchurch Canary and Cage Bird Club will hold a show on June 30 and July 1. Many clubs are now offering classes for Budgerigars. This popular. • parakeet is gaining ground in New Zealand.

Turkeys are essentially farm stock, needing free range and plenty of natural food ; in fact, when they have passed the delicate stage (about three months old), the young stock should live as natural a life as possible. A correspondent asks ir it is correct that some clubs in America fly 1000 mile races. It is quite correct, and they not only hold 1000 mile events, but races over longer distances. The " American Fancier " once said a blue Chequer cock, owned by Mr C. Petersen, in 1923, flew a race from Edmonton, Alberta, to San Antonia, Texas, a distance of 1834 miles.

The Black Leghorn in the writer's opinion is the most handsome of the Leghorn family. Twenty-five years ago there were 31 Blacks in the Christchurch show, and 50 Buffs, 12 Duckwings and 17 Rosecombs, plus good classes for Whites and frowns. Judging by the Christchurch shows of the last few years, the Leghorn family is going back. But how do these colours lay? The Black entered by Mr N. P. Tilley in the last Bendigo test scored totals of 297 and 296, so it would appear the Blacks are on the way for records. Professor James' Rice, of the Cornell University, Ithaca, states that eggs and milk taken together form our best-known combination of foods of an animal nature. One supplements the other, and each is essential in the human diet if we are to secure the most normal growth, maintain perfect health, work most effectively, live most

! economically, and enjoy our living thoroughly. The Hawkesbury Ration. The ration fed to hens in the Hawkesbury competition is: Mash (lb), pollard 60, bran 30, meatmeal 10, with salt, green feed, and wheat 2 parts, cracked maize 1 part as grain. The quantity of meatmeal is not altered in the year, but during the cold months wheat and maize equal parts is fed. This ration is quite suitable for breeding stock, says " Poultry." This is a simple ration easily obtained by cottager and farmer. Mr W. E. Earnshaw. The other morning I was out much earlier than usual, and had the luck to meet some very old friends, among them Mr Earnshaw, who in my time took a prominent part in Volunteering and the Christchurch Club, being a life member and a past president.. I met Mr Earnshaw first in his father's saddler's shop in Cashel street, on the south side, where Ballantynes now stands. That was in the later seventies when Mr Earnshaw kept Barbs and racers. Later he took on utility Minorcas. In his young days Mr Earnshaw was a prominent pigeon judge, also a non-com. in the C.Y.C. Important Greenfeed. An important discovery made at the Institute for Medical Research established at Munich stated that two chemists engaged there dis- ] covered that the albumen peculiar to the yolk of egg, and that up to the present has only been found therein, is also present in various plants. It is quite probable that the egg yolk in the body of the hen is formed directly from the vegetable food consumed by the fowl. Large quantities have been found in grass. Accurate chemical tests prove that both kinds of yolk are of the same composition; moreover, 1 the crystals are of such a typical ! form that it is impossible to mis- ' take them. Large quantities were ! also obtained from the leaves of ', nettles and from nearly all kinds . of yellow flowers, as the yellow colour is chiefly due to the presence [ of similar substances to that found in the yolk of eggs.

Schedules Received. The North Canterbury Club's schedule is to hand. There are 582 classes, and there is a variety ot sections which should give satisfaction to a host of exhibitors. Poultry, pigeons, and cage birds are well provided for, and home industry is further encouraged by classes for fancy work, amateur photography, roots and other garden produce, fruit and fruit producers, cookery, honey, cats and rabbits. The special prizes include championships and seven cups, including the Loveday, Biggs, and Wilson memorial cups, and a host of cash specials. The show will be held at Rangiora on July 7 and 8. Mr A. E. Hawkins, 95 Ashley .street, Rangiora, is secretary. entries close on June 24. The schedule for the thirty-first show of the Manawatu Association has also reached me. This event takes place at Palmerston North on June 14, 15, and 16, and it is supported by the North Island Minorca Club, the New Zealand Orpington Club, the New Zealand branch of the British Rhode Island Red Club, and the Palmerston North Canary and Cage Bird Club. There are 443 classes and 10 championships offered by the North Island Association. The show is held m conjunction with the winter show, and the attractions are many. lne secretary is again Mr W. T. Penny, P.O. Box 85, Palmerston North. The Christchurch Show.

To-morrow afternoon the Christchurch Poultry, Pigeon, Canary and Cat Club will open its sixty-sixth show in the Railway Auction Rooms, corner of Manchester street and Moorhduse avenue. Ihe Christchurch Club is the oldest of its kind in New Zealand, the first meeting being held in White s (now Warner's Hotel), and the show in the Town Hall soon after. The site for this week's show ;is central, and the building will be warmer for birds and visitors, and there should be room enough for this year's entry, which shows a decrease on the club's record. The birds and needlework must be staged to-night, the rabbits on Friday, and the cats on Saturday morning. A number of specialist clubs are supporting the parent club by holding their annual shows m conjunction. The specialist clubs arej— New Zealand Rhode Island Red and Orpington Club, the New Zealand Branch of the Rhode Island Reel Club of the British Empire, the South Island Leghorn Minorca Club, the New Zealand Utility Poultry Club, the New Zealand Sussex Club, the South Island Wyandotte Club, the New Zealand Duck Club, the Canterbury Bantam Club the United Pigeon Fancier Club, the Canterbury Egg Farmers Association, the Canterbury Provincial Rabbit Farmers* Association, all of which allot special prizes. The South Island Poultry, Pigeon, and Canary Association has allotted eight championships for competition.

It is eight years since a case of drunkenness was brought before the court in Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire.