POULTRY NOTES

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 259, 20 July 1918, Page 13

POULTRY NOTES

(By "Chanticleer.") Australia* .Methods. ilr. J.. B. Merrelt, Christchurcli, who has just rc/urned from Australia, speaks highly ot thi) poultry industry in Australia. On the matter of production thu Ainstrnlif/U poultryman had very little to learn. J/i selection, breeding, housing, and [coding oi poultry ho is :U the lop of the tree. Every poultryim.ii of note haa his single liens contesting Ins layers, isolhiui; is left to chance, 'i'ne breeder knows exactly what his birds can do. .NoiJinig is counted too much trouulu to establish a foundation for good laying Hook. The houses lire well built, and iuii;ue accommodation is given. In the noriucrn parts housing docs not couat for much owing: to the warm climate Many of the birds live in orango groves and sleep iu the trees. On feeding for e2ss the work is down to a science. The poultryman iu Australia lias access to a large variety of foods at a very cheap rate. The climate is specially suited for poultry, and a very high iiverngo of eggs is obtained from tlio birds. This enables poultry-keeping to bo very nrolitnlilci , The larger plants bo in for largo iucubatora ranging from 3000 to 10,00u egg capacity. The day-old chick trade ia very extensive, and many producers purchase day-old clucks iu preference to hatching for themselves. On the matler of marketing the Australians are not as well organised as in New Zealand. I'rkea for eggs are fixed by merobauts, while dealers largely control tlio tablo poultry market. The eg?-la,ying competitions nro very prominent', and are doing a great dcnl towards developing tlio industry. Australia is destined to become a ercal centra >jf poultry production. With its cheap food, admirable climate, and nearness io markets, t.lic poultry industry must, grow. . •

A Fooding Tost. A poult q- I'eedine test (tho third of a sericKj in which jJlack Orpingtons and WliHo lioßkii vrero experimiiiitcd with was carried on at, the. 'Milton Goverumeut Poultry Farm from Day 1, 1917, to April 30 last. 'J'v.o peua-.-onti. of each of the brcedd lnentioncd-werh -fed during the year on a mash constituted n3 follows 3201b.; brau,,42lb.; uiaine meal, 1201b.; meat and bone intal, 331b. Meat and bone uienl wore ted!'separately in hoppers, 451b.; and wheat, /W411)., was thrown in for livening meal/. There were six birds in cacli pen. J-ii/j iiost of thu food was £5 25.; the proif/, ovw coet'rf food, £11 2s. Tho cunt .Of feeding per bird was Bs. 6<l. and the profit, per bird over cost of food 18s. Vd. and.'lßa. respectively. Two other pens of six Black Orpingtous and six White Hocks wijvc fed mashes as follow:—Lucerne meal, 'ÜbiYi.; bran, 901b.; maize meal, 101)11).; misned.oats, IMb.; and meat moal Mb. .Meat meal served separately in hopper*, oulb. The evening meal was whole oats, ■ "Miilb. The cost per nen .was £5 ss. 9d., '■ and profit ovor cos! of food £12 Os. M. Cost ot feeding per Urd waa Bs. 10d., and pront per bird over cost of food £19 7s and ,£t os. 6(1. respectively. It will be Been that the pront from birds which got neither wheat nor pollard was a trifle better tluin from those, fed .with tlioee foods, and consequently it eeemH clear that ehould wheal and pollard become too dear or unobtainable for poultry luecrnu and oats uniku ' u fair substitute. It is well to notice that more meat wna.ied to the non-whfai-fcd birds than to the wlieatltd, but not to any considerable cost Previous tests wero made with White aud llro-.vn Leghorns with very similar results so; we now know that in respect to both light and heavy breedu wheat and pollard may be dispensed with without lose of t'Bgs, for in all the tests the egg yield has ljecn ; exceptionally good, averaging over 200 eggs per liinl per annum iu the with W fiw'-yew olrds wero dealt

EGG-LAYING

N.Z. UTILITY POULTRY OLXJB'B FOUttTEESTii COMPETITION. Following is the official report,of the fourteenth weok, onding July 16, 0 f the tourWamli pre-Jaying <jonapecitiori, held bv nui - Club, at PajwLIGHT BREEDS. Weekly Total to n . . total; date, nrowft Leshorn»—

Verrall Bros 27 290 ii. Jlimtcr 15 ill Mrs. T. Morton 6 276 Wlli'C fiO^iinVUS--*W. No wall 9 M8 0. .1. Hadlcy 6 243 11. Ooombes 25 296 Colder Bros., No. 2 12 334 N. Mark .... 14 , 342 hi- n ,Tol u Ca 20 ' ® Atkinson Bros 26 ; ■ 429 Oalder Bros 23 ' 368 J. Nancarrow, sen 27 296 .1. Stevens . 16 211 Oxford Poultry Farm ... 24 374 H- ItoU 11' '151 W. A. Gee and Sons, No. J 26 219 A. E. Phillips 19 301 Mrs. }f. B. Pullar 13 "84 Mrs. E, A. Gorinskl ?5 373 Trig Poultry Farm 17 381 "Mrs. 0. Atkinson 19 . 253 J. Nancarrow, jun '14 290 W. H. West ■' V7 393 J. tigging 23 375 1'. W. Wilson. 23 232 A.E.Wilson 12 203 Dalinuir Poultry YardB L 12 178 H. W. Beck ., 22 362 It. W. Hawkc 18 347 Orneo Poultry Farm 18 ' 212 M. F. Blackmail 29 321 H. Williams A 13 332 Herotaunga P. Oo., No. 2 24 241 fi. h Beer 25 417 •A. E. Power 18 274 Mrs. J. Mi'Hb . 15 252 Mrs. W. Koncli 5 249 Rangiuru Egg Ranch 13 148 Bros 17 312 Tracey King 27 410 M. A. Curriu 14 307 C. ]I. Izard 24 • 279 Green Bros., No. 1 23 3S1 W. Davey .13 227 h. T. Wright. .: : 10 209 *W ..Stephenson 16 314 C. Thomson 22 329 K. Dick 15' 193 A. W. Adams 22 203 J. Robertson' 26 348 J. Jj. Bonfell 0 263 W. jfnlfiy 22 331 P. Mulder 15 264 D. Graham 16 322 Reliable Stud P.F., No. 2 18 215 W. A. Gee and Sons, No. 1 16 288 Reliable Stud P.F., No. 1 30' 400 Wnirnea, Poultry Yards ... 7 219 Herctaunga. P. Co., No. 1 19 302 Green Bros., No. .2 27 0C6 Kiliorcf.s— Miss Jessie James If 244 II. Williams 18 332 Totals 1127 17.651 UEAVr DflEfcDS Weakly Total to total, date. Black Orpingtons'O. II. Izard 17 299 T. IS. Oonway, No. 1 20 286 Norton and Dove 7 196 J. Nancarrow, sen 13 251 W. Blooiniieid 14 219 T. E. Oonway 19 3C8 White I'lviiiouUi Rocks— W. Knight ... _ 17 i« Rhode Islind lied»Norlon and Dove 7 181 E. E. llarsden 20 110 Silver Wynndoltej— W. H. Xlcwinson 24 121 T. Wilson 16 249 T. Dovthwoite ;... 23 12) T. E. Uoiiway 0 0 A. W. Adams 7 74 T. Kennedy 0 83 Mrs. I'. Howell ..: 25 135 Totals ! 229 2778 DBOK CONTEST. Weekly Total to total, data Indian Kumitrj— T. Dowthwaite 35 263 Ii. A. Wadham 33 413 Mrs. W. A. Gee 31 299 W. T. Green 42 195 U. II. Copland 36 431 Herctaunga Poultry Co. 15 -114 W. T. Green 25 410 Totals 217 2525 SINGLE BIRD COMPETITION. Heavy Broods, Silver Wyandouc»~ B. J. Eobb 4 34 T. Wilson 3 62 Rhode Island Reds— T. E. Oomvny 6 CO Norton and Don 5 12 liarred Plymouth ltoclts— A. E. Wilson 7 50 Totals 25 218 Light Breeds. . Whilo LcjIioruH— Green Bros.. No. 1 5 79 Green Bros.. No, 2....; .3 67 )!. W. Jlawko 5 92 11. Meadows 3 73 Truce.v King 5, 70 K. 11. Beer 6 85 H. E. Marsdcn 0 0 T. Wilkinson 6' 73 Airs. J. Mills, No. 1 4 27 S. Dick .6 CO Atkinson Bros., No. 1 0 61 .f. Stevens 0 17 Mrs. J. Mills, No. 2 0 63 Master Em Gee 6 85 Reliable fitful P. Farm... 5 . 69 Jl. W. Beck 5 14 W. A. flee and fions 6 70 Atkinson Bros., No. 2 1 58 ii, Williams 0 53 Totals 66 1046 •Denotes five birds,