POULTRY NOTES

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 34, 3 November 1917, Page 13

POULTRY NOTES

(By Chanticleer.)

AAWKRS T0 CORRESPONDENTS. *', B. Xclt'oii, • Waijmknrau, writes:— Would yon kindly inform mo wlv.it a& oouuta for the death of tluco chicks in my (lock? 1 .ordered ouo-day-old cbicto, aiid havo liccii in possession of same for ten (lays. On tho siith day I lost the first one, and to-day another two. i'lio symptoms were.:—Lwllessnese, heavy breathing, discolouring of tho legs to flc6h colour. .After receiving tho chicks <T. placed tliom in a iirelcas hroodcr, and kept them indoor. Next day I put tho brooder in an open-froHtod hoiiso, without leUing them out. At noon I started to feed them, and for the njg-ht took them indoors again. The following day T. put them back to the. house aiid fed tho samo as before. Afto feeding a.nd. drinking I put them baclc to tho brooder. This I did for the following threo days. After each feeding on the succeeding day I left tho uiiicks for a half-hour roam about tho house, and increase! that with every day. The feeding for the first threo davß was coarse oatmeal, dry,' after that I added chick food, and with tho sisth <!<iv only tho latter. On tho fifth day I started to give meat, fino cut, In very small measure, also lettuce. Olf.an water was given, and boqo grit and charcoal 'was always before tho chicks. Answer: It is difficult to account for tho loss of tho chicks. They may have caught a chill after leaving the incubator, or. they may havo got a chill under your system of brooding. 1 think you arc feeding too much meat ration for such young chickens. It is too forcing, and tho discoloration is due to this. You «Jo ccrtoinlv taking all necessary prccaii(ions. In Tearing chionens one has always to allow for a proportion of losses I that it is difficult to account for. Breeders should keep ft sharp lookout for hoad lice in cbieliens. Speaking of them as "suok lice," Mr. James Hadlington N.S.W. poultry expert, says: 'Iho prevalence, of suck lice is responsible for considerable loss among chickens. This parasite infeste the heads. of very young ohickens, oven from a week old to a couple of months. The work of this parasite, like most others, is port insidious and is often quite unnoticed by tno attendant until considorahlo loss has bcoomo inevitable. Tho trouble thus experienced is often attribute! to sonio mysterious sickness. It is a common belief among poultry keepers who know this parasite that its presence is confined to chickens brooded with hens, this is not so, although the liability to it is much greater with chiokens so brooded than is the case with 'chickens reared artificially; yet the idea, underlying that belief is correct because it Is only by contact with liens .that infestation takes Place;; But: this contact is easily made when hens are run in close nwxrauty to hroodjng arrangements; hence the insistence of tho writer that in toying out a. poultry farm, the rearing equipment should be completely separated from adult quarters, not only as a safeguard against this parasite,, but others. Tho method of dealing with the s.uok louse is simple, but unfortunately involves tho nandllnir of every chicken when infestsK las become £teblldifld. When chickens appear to be dull and peaky, Tvith drooping wings, from no apparent, cause, tho presence of. this parasite may he suspected, and a, thorough examination of the head, throat, and neck BhouW be made particularly the top of the head. If the infestation Is in the early Biases, probably nothing but what appears-to to a mass of nits will be found, bat the more mature insects, which rarely exceed a sixteenth of an .inch in length and somewhat narrow,.are of a dark grey colour, and may he' mistakon for the sheaths and 'buds' of small Jeattos. They are easily detected, but a ready way of showing them up is to moisten a piece of flannel very slightly with kerosene, and hold it on the head .of one of the chickens for a seoond or. two, when the lice will withdraw and show themselves. If one chicken in a lot is found to be infected, it may safely bo assumed that all are more or less so. To destroy this parasite all that is necessary is a little ealad oil applied to the head and throat of the chicken, but this should bo done as lightly as possible, because- if oil or grease of any kind is applied heavily to the down on chickens it is calculated to cause moro deaths that the parasite. It will probably bo necessary to repeat the application in eight or ten days time."

EGG-LAYING

2J.Z. UT-HITI POULTRY club COMPETITION. Following is the official report of the twenty-ninth week, ended October 30, and tho total to dato of tho thirteenth egglaying competition held by the New Zealand Utility Poultry Club at Papauui:LIGHT BREEDS. . Weekly Total t» total, date. Brown LeghornsVerrall Bros 31 ■ 655 White lieghorhs- • H. F. Boss .....; 32 (91 George Gee 32 738 Oalder Bros., No. 1 36 7SB W. Stephenson 26 640 .- A. B. Phillips 34- 696' - ,1. It'lAes 30 STO b. T. Wright 37 724 H. W. Bower 38 671 Green Bros 32 688 T© Anaii Utility Stud ~, 32 689 Atkinson . Bros. 35 Hi Hokowhito Poultry Co. ... 33 566 S. Wok '. 38 673 Balmuir Poultry Yard ... 38 708 - ,T. Jf. Alley : 36 624 .1. Eobinson 37 643 llangiuru Egg Ranch. 22 532 Omeo Poultry Farm 36 .6H Herotaunga Poultry Co., No. 1 32 632 Master Jack Green 27 579 Smart Bros. .; 33 725 YV. Davey 36 686 T. E. Oonway 28 677 Mrs. J. Mills 25 577 T. W. Wilson ....;... 25 562 li. Mills 29 638 A. W.'Adams 36 685 Reliablo Poultry Farm ~. 28 692 A. G. Brailey 30 577 .John Stevens 36 fil Fazackerlcy and Son 30 617 It. W.Hawke '. 33 £60 J. Nancarrow, son; 32 669 Oalder Bros., No. 2 34 753 T. Kennedy 34 416 Heretaunga Poultry Co., No. 2 30 647 M. A. Currin 26 6?^ IT. Ball 35 M 0 Vf. H. West' 32 816 A. K. Wilson 38 669 H. Williams 32 708 Totals .1360 27,396 HEAVY BREEDS. Weekly Total to total, date. Silver Wyandottcs— v Green Bros Si 565 A. W. Adams 34 667 W. W. Hewinson 19 634 Mrs. V. Howell 35 623 T. Kennedy 28 587 T. Dowthwaite 30 543 Whito Wyandottes— G. B. Bcnjos 36 600 Black Orpingtons— Mrs. Olarldgo 15 378 T. B. Oonwe,y, No. 1 3?, 552 A. S. Cooper 17 M 9 ,). Nancarrow,.sen 2?, 750 T. 15. Conway, No. 2 22 627 Victor Gee 27 657 ?,. V. Jlarsdcn 12 fv6 F. Staines : 30 790 Hokowhitn Poultry Co. ... 27 562 Miss ,T. James 19 540. TvTiito Bocks- «» „, ' JT. J. Gopperth 29 515 Ehodo Island Beds— A.'-R. Cooper S3 468 E. F. Oakes 31 SOO Totals 523 W. 508 SINGIjK fIIB.D COMPKTITION. Ijlght BREsna (For purebred pullets between the ages of five and a half and eight months.) Weekly Total to total, date. Whito LeghornsGreen Bros 7 180 W. Davey 5 IC6 Victor Gee 6 134 ,) Nancnrrow 5 153 Atkinson Bros. 6 161 ft. Jlills 6 85 fl. Williams 6 157 n. H. Taylor 6 160 To Anau Utility fltud .... « I' 9 Mrs. Mills 1 IM !l, fl. James 6 102 A. E. Wilson , S 76 Green Bros 6 110 B. VT. Ha.wko 5 130 Mjnorcas— Miss J. .lames « M Miss J. James • 3 63 Totals 91 1984 HEAVY BREEDS. (For purebred pullets between tho ages of six and niuo months.) > Weekly Total to total, date. Black OrpingtonsT. E. Conway 1 l« Silver WvandottesThos. Wilson 7 162 Green Bros 0 5j B, J. Boss 4 104 Bhodc Island Beds- . J. Naucarrow, seo 2 Hi Totals H 555

DUOK CONTEST. (IV ;-ii purebred ducks, between the "Rets of six and niuo months.) Weekly Total lo total, date. Indian Jliiiincvs- ■- ,„ „,, W. Knight 'p fl Jlerclaiinga. Poultry Co. ./> M Mrn fli.rj -'1 88-i W.T. (ircen' §9 iMJ 11. \s. Hoivcr ■■ ■>" . im Totals ■■■■!" «« ('l7 cßgti were eathcrcd from mnr. spare ducks.)