POULTRY NOTES

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 75, 21 December 1929, Page 34

POULTRY NOTES

(By

“New Laid.”)

Commonwealth and New Zealand Competition. • The organisation of the Commonwealth and New Zealand egg-laying competition la to say the least, thorough and complete states the “Australasian Poultry "only three weeks since the schedules and entry forms were posted entries representing the following pens were in hand: — „ Pens. New South Wales 221 Victoria 172 Queensland 168 South Australia 76 Western Australia 30 Tasmania 14 Total ..... 681 The above number does not Include the spare birds, which number 88, making a grand total of 769 birds. The following breeds are represented:— Pens. White Leghorns 375 Black Orpingtons 208 Ducks 18 Langshans 15 White Wyandottes 13 Anconas 12 Rhode I. Reds 10 Light Sussex 8 Columbian Wyandottes 7 Minorcas 6 Brown Leghorns 6 White Rocks 3 Total 681 All birds are to be single tested in this competition, and judging from the number of entries already, it should be the largest egg test in the Commonwealth. A large number of birds are trapnested in England, Canada, and the United States of America, but this method is inferior and deficient in all respects as compared to the single test. By the methods to be adopted in the Commonwealth and New Zenland test, each competitor secures the individual tally of each bird but if the birds were in teams and trap-nested, several eggs would be laid outside the nest, and could not, therefore, be credited to any Individual bird. The records in this test should be of the highest value to breeders, as the competing birds are coming from the foremost farms in every State of Australia, as well as from Tasmania and New Zealand, and the eyes of the world will undoubtedly be centred on the results obtained. Club and Associations’ Support. The test is receiving whole-hearted support from leading clubs and associations interested in the utility side, in Australasia, and letters of support have been received from the following:—The N.U.P. BA. of South Australia. Tasmania, and Queensland the Poultry Farmers of New South Wales; the Poultry Farmers’ Organisation of Western Australia: the Utility Poultry Clubs of Christchurch and Dunedin, New Zealand. Entries for Australian States have closed, and entries from New Zealand will close on December 31, 1929. In each ease the time of closing will be 5 p.m. Value of Fresh Ground.

It is not every poultrykeeper iwiho can put his chickens out on fresh land, but those who can should do so, and everyone should reserve a pen or piece of ground for voting stock. It is useless trying to bring them up in a small run along with adults, for even if they are fed by themselves they will not have a fair chance to grow and develop. Many people rear chickens on a lawn, and there is no reason why this should not be done if the coops are moved every day. It has been found that this improved the grass wonderfully, and the ground Is so fresh that the chickens always thrive upon it. In any case, avoid rearing the later chickens on the same ground as the earlier ones, for the ground will be fouled. Late rearing is always complicated when there has been an outbreak of disease among earlier hatches, and safety can only be assured by taking the coops right away. Green Food. Do not overlook the fact that it is necessary to provide green food daily, if the birds are kept in confinement, and one is desirous of getting the best results from them. Get Pullets Into Laying Quarters Early. The early hatched, pullets should be transferred to the laying houses a little while before they are fully developed. If you wait until they have started to lay, the change will have a tendency to check production for a time. A change of quarters usually has this effect, so bear this in mind when the pullets are coming to maturity. ‘