POULTRY INDUSTRY

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2787, 3 June 1916, Page 15

POULTRY INDUSTRY

-.I—-i . (By Ohantecler.)

The Show Season. The show season lias begun, and tho splendid entry yecorded at Christclwrch this . week is. evidence that the spirit of the, fancy; is not dead. One would expect less interest in the shows, due to war and the.high price of feed ruling the past year. Jinny' young fanciers have enlisted, and their absence is plainly- seen around tho show . benches. 'I'hero is a tendeucy among many writers to discourago the fancy breeds. Once wo sacrifice tho fancy wo shall soon descend to breeding nondescript specimens that will he neither use nor ornament. The Americans' made an error in this ; way in breeding: trotters to break track records. Tliey bred from animals no matter how shabby, and:plain in appearance as' long as they had speed. The result.was they lost type and \ gained uncertainty in breeding operations. Wo trust every - encourage-' ment will be extended the fancier, find that he will continue his work with enthusiasm. We hope to see many of our returned soldiers take up the faucy or breeding , for eggs. We received a letter from one during • the week, in which he said': "1 shall soon be baolc again to dear old New. Zealand. I am afraid I shall have to start again at the bottom/in poultry-keeping." This brave young soldier was at tJio landing at Gallipoli, and fought all through'the many months there till tho day of evacuation., Returned 6oldiers should,.be. encouraged..to. see our sh'oiys, and given free; admission • to, view the . birds. It was ■ resolved at; the late conference that tho Government be asked to encourage the fancy by giving medals for competition. Theso would bo greatly sought after, and would not provn a costly' item. The Victorian Government has done this for several years.. It has given about ,£2s.per annum at tho Mel-, bourne.'Show... .R-eturiied soldiers might well be catered for and'every.inducement held, out to them to take up poultry as a hobby. Patriotic Poultrymen. What a graifil.sight it must have been to sea nearly 900 choice specimens of England's best poultry leaving the London Wharf for the benefit of French poultrymen. who had lost ; their flocks in Plandors. The shipment was valued at over .£IOOO, and included-representatives from most of the breeds in England. - What about our 'doing' something for tho strickon. fanciers. J Scores ;of readers of these notes could'easily , give something. We will acknowledge, donations: in this column.: Now, poultrymen, get to work. and ;.! : :v5 something. We. will send the. mo;:-.,! : England, and a committee can ail',-:.-' .imv the money, shall. bB. spent for the i r.iich farmers,arid fanciers.'stricken by ths war. The Dry' Mash. •Several inquiries have, reached us asking, for an explanation of the dry mash' system. The old. custom, or wet mash system, is, known to all. Tho food is taken and moistened with water or soup I into a crumbly mass. Tho dry mosli system -means.-that pollard, bran, meat meal, maize meal, ground oats,, or whatever.;'mixture is desired, are taken and mixed in dry form- aiid rfed'.to,birds'.from; hoppers made,for the, purpose. x The system is used extensively in America, whore results are claimed fully equal to the wet mash system. Its advantages are a saving, in labour;' The hoppers may be Allied once a week or a mouth if large enough to hold the supply. The birds have accessto the food at any time, and are fondof it. It,is not.forcing, «nd the eggs are said to produce stronger,chicks-than hens fed on dry mash.'" It is difficult to say whether: the dry mash is preferable ,-. to the wet. There are.- advantages; m both systems. ;If tlie dry mash,; by reversion.,to the. natural, praotice of oating,.a .bit.,.at.;:a,.-time,..;and nearly all tho time, is in conformity with' lairS' that govern bird life, we may find hero somo reason why it should be adopted. .: Hints for June. All early hiitched- pallets should now bo on. the.lay, or moying towards develop.ment when they should-como.on to.f.Jay. See that they aro in comfortable quar* ters.-v care'.-fprjthein., .-, iTliis, month will'see,;a fall in tho price oi eggs,. Pullets that do not. lay till the spring, -are. not so profitable as the, early Layers,, as they do the bulk of their laying when eggs- are ch.eap. To hasten tho. laying feci meat . meal in'- tho uioteh. 'Failing this, secure waste meat from. the. .butcher, boil,-and mix tho mash in the liquid. As tho 1 spring approaches the ration must not be made too rich or over-forcing; will:- bo Ilia vomilt. ' It will soon be tiiiio to select the breeding stock. Most, producers leave this important', irork. till they, are ready. mate up. We Watch our birds daily, not, so-much'to select the good birds as to cull out ill tha-weak birds, so that they will not be included ill tho breeding poll. A closo eye on the birds through the fall mil reveal the weak birds, and they should he marketed. Left among the flock, they brighten up as the spring, approaches,, and. may be taken for good specimens unless marked and: known. 'Many a poultiryman reaps a crop of woalc. chickens- as the. result of- this omission. In-selection,, the first object must-bo constitution, then, the bipls ehould retain characteristics of, the breed. Good, active birds - should be selected, and birds of good average weight and condition are essential. If these precautions are taken a good' foundation will bG laid for, a payable flock. A knowledge of the laying capacity of a hen i? desirable, bu-t .there, are. other qualifications necessary for successful breeding.. -Where, there. is an utter disregard jfor type and constitution the producer understands only one sido of the business^ England's Egg Imports. Tlie trade and navigation returns for Jiuitucry - diseloso some interesting, facts about the egg imports Unto EnglaJid; Rus-sian-eggs fell' 99: per' cent., Denmark 0-t, Netherlands 79, France aud Italy shipped none. America, Egypt, and Canada helped to make up these great shortages. We can understand France and Italy, but unless the shipping is the cause for Denmark* and tlie Netherlands decrease, it is evident their .supplies'are going to Germany. The. figures are most instructive in tho values of the eggs, sent to ,England, the, rise, in-; price for them in January, 191G, being.BG.o3 per cent, in ad-' ranee of those'in January, 1914. Tho phenomenal rise shows how dearly England has paid for, her eggs sinco tho war broke ' out. ' The- total; reduction: in, imports amounted t0.59.25 per cent. Another remarkable feature of"tho "imports wu3 the-value of; Asiatic. yolks and' whites in-ported.. ' These, amounted: to iEßio,sol. These were used mostly for manufacturing purposes, , and, did not compete as a Wl .factor. :'These, increases- in price show' tlie "necessity for English farmers to increase'their home production. Surely they are' 1, able to makt poultry-keeping pay at, prices. a dozen for eggs lias been a common price in England for new-laid eggs last win-' ten.. Fiiiglish poultrymen Jiavo',surely had a golden, cha'neo to prodiira to the highest possible extent.

N Z. UTILITY POULTRY CLUB'S HEW ■ COMPETITIONS.

The official results of'the seventh week of the Now Zealand Utility Poultry Club's twelfth egg-laying competition for fowls for the week ended. Tuesday, May 30, Qi'o as follow:— ' LIGHT BREEDS, Total Total , for to week. dato. Verrul Bros., B.L 24 170 . Brackenfleld Farm, B.L. 18 117 W. Davcy, W.L .25 119 J. B. Jtcrrett. W.L. ' 24 167 it. G. Shearman, W.L. 22 119 Ilerctaunga Poultry Co., W.L 23 54 •H. Ball, W.L 23 lull, A. Currin, W.L 26- 103 Dalimiir Poultry Yards, W.L. .. 22 103 Mrs. 11. Graham, W.L 21 101 J. Wordsworth, W.L. ; 15 54 : 11. E. ltoss, W.L 26. ■ 118 It. 11. James, W.L 27 8? C. J. Norton, W.L 19 . 137 Alfred Eaton, W.L 26- 164 M; 11. Walker, W.L 21 94'Green Bros. (No. 2), W.L 19 HO H..' Leger, W.L. 21 79 ,T. Nancarrow; W.L. 27 146 Calder Bros.,' W.L.: 25 : . 167 It. Pouusford,; W.L. 29: 125 A.. W. Adams, W.L. : 29 138 A. E. Phillips. W.L 30 171 T. Kennedy, W.L 22 70 V. J. Hill, W.L 29 140 B. P. L. Olayson, W.L 23 147 T. E. Conway., W.L 24 98 -Hereuiunga .'Poultry Coy. (No. 1), W.L ;.... 24 136 Rangiuru Egg Ranch, W.L 29 159 S. Dick, W.L 27 119 G. Gee, W.L 21 149

11. C.. Yates, W.L 26 144 E. P. Amycs, W.L 23 ■ 183 A. E. Wilson, ITJ. 23 145 Mrs. J. Mills, W.L 31 123 A. G. Brailey, W.L. 8 71 Green Bros. (No. 1), W.lj 16 127 Atkinson Bros., W.L 27 128 A. A. Hoare, W.L 30 122 L. Wright, W.L 22 77 . To Anaii Utility Stud, WJj 16 112 T. M'llwraith, W.L. 11 17 ; It. A. Lazarus, W.L 18 125 11. W. Bower, W.L 20 105 • H. S. Woodnortili, W.L 18 110 i Hokowhitu Poultry Co., W.L 17 144 , Calder Bros., W.L. 26 143 J. B. Merrett (No. 1), W.L 18 H7 Jack. Cjreen, W.L. 27 175 Totals 1,118 ' 6,094 i THIRD DEATY BREED y TEST. Total Total 1 ■ far to week, date. . T. Kennedy,' 1 W.W 5 7 . Green Bros., W.W. 12 58 , W. Knight, W.P.R. 13 - 58 ' A. S. Cooper. IU.Ii 11 85 Miss E. Willie, 8.0 25 140 ' C. J. Norton, 8.0. 15 27 1 T. E. Con-way, 1 8.0 29 140 J- Nanearrow, 8.0 - 19 146 Miss -J. James, 8.0 17 176 T. Dowtlnvaite, S.W. 18 , 57 A. W. Adams, S.W. 11 24. Totals 175 921 i \ FIRST SINGLE PEN TEST. Total Total for to week. date. A; S, Cooper, 8.1.8. ~i 10 57 R. H. James, W.L 6 38 T. L. Wright, W.L 4 16 Hangiuru Egg Banch, W.L. 5 .28 Green Bros,, W.B 5 31 Calder Bros.. W.L. 5 36 , W. Davey, W.L'. :.. 6 27 J. B. Merrett, YV\L. — .21 A. E. Wilson, W-.L 4 30 Mrs. .J. .Mills, .W.L-. 6 40 Atkinson Bros, W.L. 4 ' 27 B. P. L. Olayeon. W.L 6 36 J. Wordsworth, W.L — 2 Totals.;:.., 61 389 FOR DUCKS. The Now. Zealand.Utility Poultry Club's seventh egg-laying test for ducks. Returns for the seventh-.week arc a 8 follow:— .. - Total Total , for to week dat". W. Knight,. I.R 12 35 Heretaunga. Poultry Co., I.R 31 184 H., W. Bower, I.R: 21 176 Totals 64 395 The letters ter each- entry denote. tho breed, as under:—B.L., Brown Leghorn: W.L., White Leghorn; S.W,, SiWer Wyandotte; 8.1. R., . Rhode Island Red; W.W., Whifco.iWyandotte; 8.0., Black Orpington; W.P.R., White.Plymouth Rook; 1.R., Indian Runner.