POULTRY KEEPING

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21243, 15 August 1934, Page 16

POULTRY KEEPING

PIGEONS, CANARIES, AND CAGE BIRDS NOTES [IJr -'BARRED ROCK"] The Now Zealand Utility Poultry Club's next educational meeting will be held in the Chamber of Commerce hall on August 21. Mr C. Cussen, Government poultry instructor, will speak on "The Management of the Young Stock." These lectures are open to all poultry-keepers. The United Pigeon Fanciers' Club has decided to carry on with its produce stakes show during the coming season. This fixture is looked upon by the fancy as one of the features of the show season. The fortnightly meeting of the Christchurch Poultry, Pigeon, and Canary Club will be held in the Fanciers' Hall next Monday night at 8 o'clock. Leg Weakness in Chicks Leg weakness frequently occurs among chicks that are from one to four months old. There are various causes for the trouble, such as lack of vigour in the breeding stock, bottom heat in brooders, over-heating and crowding in brooders, poor ventilation, special feeding for rapid growth, lack of bone-forming material in the feed, etc. Constant confinement on board or concrete floors frequently causes leg weakness. Common symptoms are unsteadiness of gait, lack of activity due to inability to stand up, lameness, and lying with legs stretched out behind or at side. The common prac- j lice of confining chicks indoors for long periods before they are allowed j to run out, with little litter on the i brooder or house floor, and indifference to providing exercise, is the cause of i three-fourths of ail cases of leg weak- - ness. Medical treatment is useless. Correct the conditions that cause the trouble, and the chicks will soon recover. The weakest, however, should be removed, and be given a separate brooder, where they will not be trampled and abused by the healthy members of the f'.ock. Young chicks frequently suffer from | limberneck, caused by eating decayed animal matter, or the maggots that grow in such material. Do not confuse the symptoms of limberneck with those of vertigo. In vertigo (congestion of the brain) the chick's neck is drawn back over the shoulder or twisted to one side, and the neck may be turned so that the chick looks directly upward. Affected birds will stagger, run backwards, and make other peculiar motions, or may lie on one side. Congestion is caused by digestive disorders, sometimes by worms, and occasionally by injury. In either disease give \he chicks a dose of Epsom salts, and see to it that the cause is promptly removed. Young chicks, particularly leghorns, frequently are found trailing their wings which appear to be out of all proportion to the size of the chick. This trouble occurs, occasionally, as a result of too high brooder temperature, but, as a rule, it indicates a lack of strength which may result from a number of causes. In many instances the wings really are not overgrown, but are norma] in length and only appear ovcr-iarge because of the relaxed position. When chicks arc so affected it is a good plan to clip the wings and relieve them of Hie extra weight. Then restore the chick's health by proper feeding and brooding, and there will be no further trouble. Luck of leathers in many flocks there are found partially grown chicks that have failed to feather out properly, sometimes having no feathers at all except a few on the wing.-:. This condition may be due to a lack of constitutional vigour or improper feeding, but more frequently to crowding in the brooder at night. Generally it is found that if these chicks are removed from the regular flock, warmly brooded in small numbers and v/ell fed. they will promptly feather out and make fair growth. Such chicks, however, should be sold as soon as they reach market size and should never be retained in the tlocks either as layers or breeders. Young chicks. especially leghorns, are quite liable to form the habit of picking each oilier when kept in close confinement, the toes being the usual point of attack. This sometimes goes so far as to result In

I the loss of a number of the weaker chicks that arc literally torn to pieces by the stronger members of the brood. As a rule this vicious practice is the result of idleness, though a lack of suitable animal food sometimes appears to be partially responsible for it. There is little danger of chicks forming bad habits if they arc kept busy all day long, and for this reason there arc lew instances of toe picking reported by those who give especial attention to providing exercise. Where there is a special tendency to this trouble it often is a help to supply a little fresh meat, hanging it a lew inches above the floor so that the chicks will have to work to gel it, thus not only satisfying their craving, but at the same time inducing more exercise. It is stated that dipping the injured toes in line tar will allord protection, provided this is done at once, before the chicks have become too familiar with the taste of blood.