POULTRY NOTES

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 144, 14 March 1931, Page 24

POULTRY NOTES

Prevention of Colds in Young Stock

(By

"New Laid.”)

The time of the year is now approaching when harder weather conditions may be expected. Therefore the matter of making the pullets comfortable by good feeding and special care (as a means of encouraging them to produce dear-season eggs in good numbers) should have first consideration on the part of the poultry-keeper. Even the pullet which is bred to lay in winter will fail to produce sufficiently if everything in the chain of management is not in ber favour. Above all things, according to the Chief Governmbent Poultry Instructor (Mr. E. C. Brown), care should be taken in every possible way to prevent the young birds from catching colds. The sleeping quarters should be well ventilated but free from draughts, while on no account should the birds be overcrowded. Neglect of these important details is only inviting trouble in the form of colds, the forerunner of that dreaded disease roup. The most common symptoms of colds are sneezing, eyes watering, and a discharge from, the nostrils, to which dust and dirt usually adhere. Once’ a cold makes its appearance in the flock every endeavour should be made to find the cause and remove it at the earliest possible moment, while isolation of the affected birds is the only safe course. A good plan at -this time of the year to prevent colds is to place some Coudy’s crystals into the drink-ing-water. Put half a teasponoful into a pint bottle of water, and add a teaspoonful of this mixture to about two quarts of drinking water. It may be repeated that the aim of the poultry-keeper should be to prevent even a slight cold from making its appearance, by removing all sources favourable to its development. It should be remembered that the curing of colds ipvolves considerable labour, and that even when a cure is effected the trouble is likely to recur at any time unless the cause is removed. A cold may be treated successfully, but once the roup stage has been reached (indicated by offensive breath and a swelling or cheese-like substance protruding from the eye) it will usually pay to destroy the bird at once rather than attempt to doctor it. A simple method of treating colds is to take a shallow dish, fill it with pure kerosene, and dip the bird’s beak in this sufficiently deep to cover the nostrils. Hold the bird in this position till it breathes. This will have the effect of drawing the kerosene to tho base of the trouble. Repeat the treatment on alternate days until a cure is effected’. In applying this treatment, care must be taken to prevent the kerosene from getting on the face of the bird, as it is dpt to have an injurious effect. The nostrils should be covered and no more, while the dipped parts should be wiped with a dry cloth after immersion. Moulting of Pullets. Disappointment is often experienced at this period of the year owing to pullets going into a moult from no apparent cause, and just when the market value of eggs is on the up-grade. This is usually due to underfeeding.. or the supplying of food which is not palatable to the birds; it may also be brought about through moving tho birds from one house to another. Especially is this the case when the pullets have commenced to lay or are on the point of laying. This implies that all pullets bred to lay in winter should be placed into their permanent quarters without delay. In addition tho treatment they receive must be regular and uniform to a degree. . Of course,- as a general rule, the very early hatched birds, particularly of the lighter breeds, will lay a few eggs in the autumn and moult with or before the ndult stock, and this very often regardless of having received the best possible management. Usually when pullets go into, an early moult their owners adopt, the plan of changing food, under the impression that tho food is responsible.’ This is a mistake (providing, of course, that the food is sound and palatable), as putting the birds on a new diet will only make matters worse. A bird will always come back to lay much quicker when there is no drastic alteration in her treatment. The treatment may be all right, but any change will not improve matters. Pullets when commencing to lay usually possess a nervous temperament, and any alteration in tho methods under which they are kept will cause them to fret, and thereby intensify any unfavourable condition to which ti>ey have been subjected. Value of Cod-Liver OIL Cod-liver oil is being increasingly used at Home In the feeding of dally of poultry, according to tho Daily firmer.” It is claimed that its great valuo lies in its richness of vitamins A and D (Die later being the particular vitamin e avß « Tia° f i t oX tleS ally its supply LTs C of the 0 sea weed S family ll in U the °sunHt lowed, r.xtractea J be tranS mitted source oi vital euuw shape <rf cod- «, an a d nd a T£^ t—stredsd and hardship is the service of man ill more wava ttian one. „ poultry According to “ experiment stajournal,” the .WasHn^nOT er > tion formerly rec laying hens. Lg scheduies two y wrs however, this During the past two u in tho wet mash has not been, u^ d a e dro l p ln cgg case of , emerge “ c l ! fn-tial neck moult, during production, or a part mash was the cold weather, when the lelnen . then used as a ulck ly back to tary food to brtng b made ally in, bringing the birds out moult. A Common Mistake. There is probably no mistake so often or so systematically made in the feeding of poultry as that of giving too eenerous a supply, which results not only in the waste of valuable food, but in causing the bluls to become too fat- Growing birds „ breeding stock not require to be maintained in a fat erodm-rattra should they be lean and hard, iat cujck ons are rarely as healthy as those in hard condition, while laying hens ’’"’‘Vr'i/wore eggs. It would be very useful, if it ''®re possible, to give some rule in regard to the correct amount of food that should be supplied to the fowls. Unfortunately there is no hard-and-fast rule that can be laid down in this respect. Sometimes stated quantities are given, but this is wery risky advice, for the requirements of fowls vary so enormously. During the spring and early summer, when animal and vegetable foods arnound in the soil, it stands to reason that a much .smaller supply of artificial food is needed. Then, too, when fowls are at liberty, and can wander about scratching for food, they can pretty well support themselves; whereas, if they are confined within a run this is impossible. The only satisfactory thing to do is periodically to examine the birds, and. if it is found that they are too fat, the food supply must be reduced, and vice versa. General Notes. Worms in a fowl give off waste products that poison the fowl in two ways: one destroys the red corpuscles in .the.blood, causing pale combs, wattles, etc.; the other affects the nerves and shows in leg-weak-ness and- wry neck. * Dr Henderson, the famous authority on food, speaking at a conference, stated that eggs as a basis of diet counteracted gastric influenza, says the “South Wales Evening Express.” lie added that although the caloric value of the egg is well known ' and its food value generally appreciated, ;it. was surprising that more eggs were ! not consumed, especially by those wpo had to take a cheap, nourishing, and economical meal in the middle of the (lay. • # ■ * '■ * A chick of a black variety that is enrirclv black or nearly black when hatched, Is not apt to be of a really good black colour as an adult, but where there is a falrlv largo amount of white or cream colour on the breast and around the bend the adult colour will be particularly good. Black fowls end those haying considerable black in their rolum,as<s will nearly always

produce chicks having’ white in their wings. Chicks of barred varieties are •similar to those of black varieties in many respects. The white in wing feathers disappears as the chick grows older. ... The results of experiments detailed in the “Journal of Heredity” indicate that the presence of side sprigs on the single combs of White Leghorns is not hereditary. Two non - sex - Uuked dominant factors in the breeding stock are responsible for their appearance. Matings of cocks and hens both with side sprigs produced (a) all chicks with side sprigs; (b) three-fourths with side sprigs; (c) equal numbers with and without side sprigs. Matings of both sexes without side sprigs produced chicks with and without side sprigs in the proportion of 1 to 3 and 1 to 1. Matings of cocks without side sprigs to hens with them produced chicks of which only one-quarter had side sprigs.