THE POULTRY INDUSTRY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1108, 22 April 1911, Page 15

THE POULTRY INDUSTRY.

* (By Chantecler.)

'■ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. "C.N.," Timaru.— (1) Four acres and a half is ample ground to commence poultry fanning in, but, if you have not had experience, I should advise you to keep to your present occupation until you become familiar with the work. "(2) Experiment with both lions and incubators. In a large way you must have incubators. (3) If you aro making a speciality of I eggs, go in for white leghorns. You could afford to sell the hens when i v they are finished laying and the cockerels at a cheap rate, because . the returns from eggs are profit- ' ablo. Th 9 Leghorn King. Aptly, llr. A. H. I'adman. of Australia, may be described as "The Leghorn King." He has made by far the most remarkable display in egg-laying competitions of any poultrymen in the world. His fame is world-wide, and no one grudges-him the honour which lie has so deservedly earned. His example has been tho means of stimulating poultry breeders to produce first-class layers. ■ If half the hens in New Zealand were of the Padman strain, wo could very easily dispenso with the other half, and the egg yield would not suffer. Mr. Padman first camo into prominence through establishing a world's record at. Gattan, Queensland (in 1907-8) of 1538 eggs. This record has been closely approached, but never bcaten ; though, at Subiaco, in Western Australia, Padman's pen had laid 1507, and, doubtless, by tho timo that these lines arc in print a new record will be established, that will, set the pace for ten years to come. It is not expected that it will reach 1600. Possibly 1560 will be the new -record. Mr. Padman has won four competitions this year, and has put up a wonderful average. In twenty competitions, each containing six birds, totalling 120, the general average has been 220.75 eggs apiece, in all climates, from sub-tropical Queensland to tho desultory conditions of Now Zealand. Mr. Padman's stock is spread throughout many lands, and there is scarcely a poultry establishment of any noto in New Zealand that has not imported some of Lis birds. ■ Blood Will Tel. It is hard to make poultrymen believe that success depends not on quantity, but on quality. Frequently one hears poultry-keepers affirming what they could da if they possessed numbers, when they really have not learned how to cull and feed what they have. For weeks and months they will continue to feed wastrels—birds whoso eggproducing powers aro poorly developed, and -who eat more value in food than thev return in eggs. It pays to have good blood. It pays on the dairy farm in higher tests in butter-fats; it pay* among sheep in having superior staple and heavier fleeces. As to the laying hen, the foundation stock should be of the best. Care should be exercised that the chickens are strongly reared, and the flocks culled of all birds weak m constitution. Layers, after their second season, should be sold, and their place taken by younger birds. We'havc seen from tlio Hawkesbury returns that third' year hens will not' pay, and yet .we know of somotf])oiilto-keepers who retain hens for "flVe people's eves a hen is always a chicken. Recently, 'whilo conversing with-an old Irish lady, the- writer noticed that she fairly revelled in. the performance of an "eight-year-old hen." "The best layer ever I had," she remarked. What will you do with her after this season? was mv inquiry. Plain and plump camo the reply: "Why, make chicken broth of her, of course." That's just tho point. To always regard your hens as chickens is to court failure. Feeding of Poultry. The prompt riso in the egg market will force poultrymen to concentrate their attention to feeding. How to get eggs in winter is a problem 'which every poultrykeeper has to face. There is no' solution that does not embody feeding as tho major portion of the secret. Providing the birds aro kept dry and warm, have got through their moult, or (if pullets) are well matured, good feeding will keep the egg basket well filled: Green food is necessary, and, when provision has not been made in tho way of lucerne, clover, etc., garden vegetables'may be used. Cabbage, kale, and beet are useful. AVhen they arc not available, sprouting grain may-be used. Sprouting makes tho grain succulent, and the birds aro fond of it. Mashes should be fed. Pieces of meat obtained from the butcher, and mixed with household scraps, and boiled, will give a liquid that is relished, and tho mash will be eagerly looked "for. Use ample pollard (two parts to one of bran). Maize meal is splendidwhen the cold weather is coming on. A littlo salt will give good results. • Mix the whole into a crumbly'form, so that, when a handful falls , to tho ground, it will crumble into pieces. Failing fresh meat, uso meat meal. It is a splendid substitute, and fowls lay well on it. Mixed wheat and maize should now bo fed. Practise the "full and plenty" method. Do not stmt tho birds, and they will amply repay you when eggs are dear. The Value of Maize. Maizo is cheap, and it is strange that so many poultrykoepers do not value it as an egg food. Professor Inompson, of Hawkesbury, says that the ■ best grain food is a mixture of wheat and maize. The writer's experience is the same. In America some of the most successful men m tho poultry business feed more maize, or, as they call it, corn, than any other grain. It is a splendid food for tho winter. It tones up the system, is rich in carbohydrates, and keeps the blood good. It is not a good plan to feed wheat exclusively. From experiments it is shown that wheat causes digestive troubles. Professor Thompson ' states that ho .cannot successfully feed laying hens without using maizo. Farmers' Fowls at.Sydnay Show'. It may be taken that tho Royal Sydney Show affords a tolerably accurate index to the progress or retrogression of tho breeds, as the case may be. i Tho entry is always tho most representaI tive of any show in tho Stato. No i breeder holds aloof who has tho quality to exhibit. From this point of view, therefore, thcro are somo signs of the timo to note in taking a record survey of tho relative positions in respect' of entries, and in the general quality of tho birds. The breeds that arc proving of greatest servico to tho commercial poultrykeeper—those who have to apjiraiso the valuo of a breed at what it will return them in market poultry and eggs—aro in the front rank in tho show pen, though not, perhaps, in exact order. It is almost unquestionable that there arc moro White Leghorns kept in this Stato ; than any other breed. Tho W ; hito Log- < horns;do not rank first in numbers in > tho show, but they quito overshadow I any of tho other Mediterraneans. There p is something inexplicable in the_ fact I that tho average quality is distinctly | lewer than can bo romembored for some i years. Some may attribute this to the | change of type that has taken place a ' in the- last half-dozen years, in order to bring'the birds into conformity with

true Leghorn type, and get away from the modern English fashion in which the great utility characteristic of the breed—laying—was lost. That ca|i bo dismissed, however, because the best specimens in the classes, notably the cliampiou hen and cockerel, are the tjpo of bird that the keen man who has to mako money from Leghorns as egg-producers must look for. Of course, it is only a very few.years ago that theso samo champions would not have been .looked at by the judges. This evolution, however, is the strong point h the Leghorn's present position,, and while thero is this agreement between the. show and the utility Leghorn wo cannot regard its future in the showarena with anything but full confidence. Now, take the Black Orpingtons which occupy the position of being the most extensively-kept general-purposo breed. They consistently top the list in numbers in our shows, and each year seems to find them better and better. The best of the young birds are not only better than the.best of last year, but thero arc more good ones. In either the pullet or cockerel class thero must be 20 birds, the worst of which would, not discredit a blue card. There is certainly moro fluff about them than is desirablo in a farmer's fowl, but there U. the size that is requisite in tho dual purpose breed. Size must bo maintained in tho breed that is kept for both table and eggs, even though the laying propensity is somewhat sacrificed in doing so. . It is to bo regretted that tho utility poultry-keeper as a general thing is breeding a light class of Orpingtons that are getting further _ away every year from what an Orpington should bo, until it is-only an Orpington in name. This is a tendency that should bo rigorously guarded against. It is as equally important that the table qualities of the breed should not be allowed to deteriorate as that its laying capacity should be maintained. While on the subject of size and type, let us glance at tho Wyandottes, tho silver-laccd in particular. It. is not so many years ago that these handsome fowls were one of the bulwarks of all our shows. And now? T)io numbers havo dwindled down; they have deteriorated in lacing and have gone to pieces in size and type. Jlorc's tho pity, for tho Silver-laccd Wyandotte of tho right type was, and is, one of the best general-utility breeds extant, and almost without a rival as autumn and winter layers. But everything was sacrificed to lacing, and birds that had no pretensions to typo were given the blue card. And hero's the result. AYhcther the silvers will come again remains to be seen, but they will never do so without both the size and t.vpe that are requisite tn make it a first-class utility fcwl. —"Telegraph."