POULTRY NOTES

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 39, 9 November 1940, Page 16

POULTRY NOTES

i Care Of Early Hatched | Pullets I I STAVING OFF THE PARTIAL MOULT

(By

New Laid.)

It is a comuion complaint that very early hatched pullets, especially White Leghorns, go into a partial moult, almost as soon as they come on to lay. Because of this difficulty with early hatched birds many egg-producers defer their hatchings, or purchases of chickens, until August or September. In the opinion of the wellknown 'New South Wales authority, Jas. Hadlington. there is need for stressing the point that by proper management, the partial moult may be staved off sufficiently long to allow of quite a profitable run of production before it occurs. If, for example, he says, these very young pullets just commencing to lay. are housed and run in big flocks, as might be done with impunity with older hens, a "breakup” is almost certain and that before they have laid any great number of eggs. When this occurs very little production from them is likely before late Hay or June. On the other hand my experience has been that, by running and housing them in small floclts of, say. 20 or 30, and with careful management by avoiding changes both in environment and food, quite a profitable run of production is possible from them before they break into this partial moult during March or April. . Such a system of penning is practicable only where there are a number of small houses. But since most well-laid-out farms now go in for the colony system for the last stage of rearing, it is suggested that these June-July, hatched pul- : lets might be kept in them until they go into the moult, at which point they can be transferred to the larger and per- ; manent housing accommodation without further setback. It follows, of course, ] that these colony houses, if used in this way, will be temporarily furnished with nests, but these can be removed when the ; houses are vacated by the pullets. _ It is j true that using these houses in this way diverts them from their specific purposes < for the time being, but it has to be remembered that they can be liberated sufficiently early to come in again for the specific purpose assigned to them, namely, the last stage of rearing. If this system of penning early pullets in small Hocks is to be successful, the birds must be located in their new quarters before they commence to lay. A month before is not too early, because, if moved when on the point or laying, they will probably break-up almost as badly as if placed in large houses m ( "■renter numbers. Failing such accommodation for small flocks as suggested, and j there is no alternative but to use the r accommodation, the next best . plan is to arrange the perching in short [ t lengths «o as to obviate the long lines of 1 <■ roosts, on which pullets will pack tightly | ± no matter how much room there is. It 1 t is this packing like sardines in u tin that t is the cause of much of the breaking into f moult. . . J Under such conditions and during the t hot months, these long lines of bodies become over-heated. Short lines of perch- n ing goes a long way to remedy this s trouble. Furthermore, the perches should be spaced not less than 20 inches t' apart. It is a mistake, too, to have the housing too deep, back to front.

Impressive R.I.R. Production. A pen of Rhode Island Reds entered by Mrs. W. Murphy, Cleariestown, Co. Wexford, in the laying test conducted at the Munster Institute, Cork, put up an excellent record recently. In weeks these six pullets produced 1345 eggs valued at £lO/4/2, so that the average figures for the pen were 20J eggs per bird per month; 226 each in 44 weeks, equivalent to £l/14/2 each bird. The leading pen at the Northern Island trials also consists of Rhode Island Reds, the property of Mrs. 11. Rea, of Crossgar, and they are credited witii 1316 eggs. A Common Mistake.

Treating the flock because an individual bird develops some abnormal _ condition or ailment is a common mistake made by small poultrykeepers. Disastrous consequences often follow when one bird is in need of special attention and, instead of isolating it for the purpose of treatment, it is left in the run and the whole flock treated. The wisest plan, when it is discovered that a bird is not as it should be, is to closely examine the remainder to see if they are normal. If thej are, nothing is gained by altering their usual routine. Treat the individual, isolating it if needs be.

Bad Hatching Months. Experience in the rearing of chickens in large numbers is conclusive that the worst months of the year in which to have them hatched in Australia, even in the cooler zones, are October, November, December and January. Such is the con* sidered opinion of a well-known New South Wales authority who has hatched many thousands of chicks. “Nevertheless,” he adds, “eggs may be again set from about the middle of January to March, for what the genera! farmer would designate a ‘catch crop.’ That means, in this case, that the chickens are hatched from the first week in February onward. Where this is to be done, however, a break between the chickens from this out-of-season crop, and the main crop, shou'd be made of a couple of months to allow the rearing plant to be cleaned, sprayed with disinfectant, and generally put into hygienic condition. The land over which the chickens have been run, too, should be rested in order to become sweetened before it is again occupied by growing stock._ Failure to do this will result in unthriftiness in the following crop of chickens.”

Grading By Size. “It is a great mistake, but a common one, to try to rear batches of chickens of various sizes all together,” writes “Leghorn.” “The older birds always bully the small ones, and they become so frightened they do not dare to come near the troughs at feeding time. The smaller birds, because of insufficient food, become stunted in growth, and this stunting ! s not_ just au evil of the moment, but .has lasting effects. The cockerels may be enspoiled by this amalgamation of dinerent-sized broods if their spirit is broken by constant bullying, coupled with lack fff food at the time when thev need it most. It is sometimes very difficult to house stock of all ages, but it should be the aim of all those rearing young stock to keep them to sizes as much as possible. Culling is steadily going on, and birds are constantly being moved out, and probably many of the difficulties will automatically adjust themselves. Stock nor. only look much better graded into sizes, bur they thrive better: there is no sentimental code among fowls that the titbits must go to the smallest.” A Correspondent. Cockerell.” Ofaki.— The potato and inilk ration should work out all right if NdS SC ml ps un< ! chf, pped up greens are ■ -i‘ r i i e n,asibu . ,ust be fl 'd iu a moist I ut ciumbly condition and should never 'be sloppy, it i s important lo see that . n l ’u < '.? tk w‘ | ,|s . ! ‘ n ' Ilot worried by red mite >r lice. Ihe feeding should be systematic, three meals each day are advisable, earlv morning, midday and late evening. Regularity in carrying out this programme is ' impor ant, as birds that are fed hap•lazardly do not make the best progress ; ■’ll y as much food should be given as I'm be cleared up in 20 minutes, any surplus being removed and mixed with Ibe next meal. The idea is to feed as much as the birds will eat at once and 1 hen let them gel thoroughly hungry for . i he next meal. ' I