POULTRY ON DAIRY FARMS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 237, 30 June 1908, Page 3

POULTRY ON DAIRY FARMS.

MONEY IN IT. ' HOW TO CHOOSE THE BIRDS. . Mr. Hyde, chief Government poultry l expert, summed up the'advantages of poultry on a dairy farm iu a talk with a Dominion reporter. "Tho dairy farmer," he said, "lias, tho land required, and there is no extra expense on that account. During tho harvesting of some, of tho crops, possibly there , would bo waste, which tho fowls would appreciate. Tho milk waste is also excellent for poultry. Any handy man could build a movablo poultry house, such as those we are exhibiting at the Palmcrston Show, at a cost of from £2 10s. to £A each, to houso 25 birds. What , has to be aimed at is to get the right class of bird —a good laying strain. It costs' as much to feed a, .bad bird as a good one, and there is no excuse for errors in . this respect now that, thero . are so many tested birds available from the Government stock, or from privato breeders, who have made utility breeding aspeciality; The results of the egg : laying contosts are a very reliable guide for farmers buying birds. Twenty-five bad birds may not lay more .than 75 eggs in a year. But 25 good ones may lay 175. The extra 100 eggs are all clear profit." What do you consider it • would cost a dairy farmer to keep fowls? "Not' more than a penny a week per head for purchased grain—4s. 2d. a year. In the egg-laying contest the cost .• was about ,6s. per head, which was more than it would be to a farmor. The farmer's fowls' would gat milk and a lot of insects, worms, etc., which is force feeding'of the best kind." How many fowls could two young women manage? . "A thousand." '■ And the profits? , "Put it down at ss. a head over cost of food; with a decent laying strain it ought to be not less than that." There would bo the cost of tEe fowls to consider. ' v I'The fowls would bo sold after t' lo second laying at about 2s. each, which wovild be: equal to like cost of hatching and raising them from the .eggs. No 'fowls must bo kept after the second . season, so that in order to keep the flock up to tho 1 1000 standard there must be 500 new- pullets raised every year—say, 1000 pullets and cockerels." White leghorns have won tho prizes at tho egg-laying contosts. i "Yes. The only others prominent were Silver Wyandottes and Black Orpingtons. In many breeds there-has been too - much attention paid to feather and other fancy points, and too little attention to egg-laying abilities. The few Silver Wyandottes that won prizes would not get even a commended card at a fancy show. The Black Orpington' i has not been so much tampered with as. some other breeds, becauso it is a bird <- of one plain colour, with no special feather markings: to be bred. for. Tbat is why I am advising farmers to go in for self-coloured birds, like White Wyandottes, White Plymouth Rocks, White and Black Orpingtons. , With self-coloured birds, two-thirds of them will be fit'to show, but with birds of special markings there may not be one. in a hundred.' • '" ■ "Comb is also important. - There aris some birds whose combs are so huge that they can scarcely hold their beads up, and that, of course, hinders good egg-layirig. The same drawback; attaches to long legs. In somo:breeds, such as tho -Langshans, and modern game, the fanciers_ have got the eggs so long that the' young birds sometimes e-tn scarcely stand-to' feed, but'go' do'Wh'on.their hocks to do so. Before they wero spoilt >n this way . the Langshans were the r best winter layers. We havo hatched on t)io Government farnis, •a , dot : of - Langshan chickens''from eggs' obtained from the birds which won the world's record until this year at tho Hawkesbury College competitions, New South 'Wales. , By mating these young birds with young cockerels we have obtained from the same strain we hope to be ablo to restore the breed to its old utility standard." \ ■ Better than Leghorns? "Well, Leghorns are not table birds. They are small, and the best layers, are tiie smallest. But White Plymouth Rocks have averaged in some southern pens 250 eggs por annum. We have several in the Government flocks that did even better than this." i . i . " Theyjeat more than Leghorns? - .'"You can get. Mg eaters; and little eaters, just-.as you can breed big and little.-layers. We are > experimenting in tho direction of getting _ small ; eaters, with some■: success. Some birds turn their food into fat; some into eggs, and some—well, it .is hard to know where the food goes. ' They, are like some men who - eat tremendous amounts and are no bigger for it, and do no more work than .small eaters. Perhaps some of tho winners ,at the Blenheim Competition less than those at the bottom." . 1 Have you experimented to produco a strain of birds with largo, males and small females? Big-fat males for the table-and little pullets for the nest? -"No._ I don't think that could be done. There'is a regular difference between' the size of the male and female'in all breeds, and I doubt if that can be altered."