CONTEST MANAGEMENT

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 18, 20 July 1935, Page 29

CONTEST MANAGEMENT

Poultrymen who have pullets competing and others who are Interested, will easily follow the weekly reports printed in these columns but to some of the general public, the figures are rather vague and a little explanation will be necessary. In the first place, the competitions are open to all poultrykeepers, whether, they have a few birds as a hobby, or whether they are commercial egg producers on a large scale, various sections cater for single birdsi teams of three, four, and six pullets. Only purebred pullets free from breed .disqualifications may be entered and all the contests last for fifty weeks, commencing usually about April 1. each year. Breeders endeavour to rear their pullets so that they lay their first eggs about the time that the competitions., commence, and the, winning.. birds? must lay over five eggs a week right through from the start. On. arriyM'.at the competition grpunds every, pullet'is carefully examined anH,'during; the contest all pullets receive identical treatment so far at. feeding, aiid Rousing is concerned. All eggs laid become the 'property'"'of the management, who provides the feed. Entrance fees are charged, varying frorn';3osi for a.team.of six pullets to as much as 20s in'same of; the single-penned sections. To the man in the street it would seem that the management should show a good profit from the running of these competitions, but few realise the special work associated with the management, particularly that of clerical work in compiling the records. In fairness to all competitors only the very best of care is good enough and the system of recording the results'must be thorough and open to inspection at any time. The overhead expense "on buildings is heavy, while the feeding of individual birds is costly and involves far more labour than that required for commercial flocks. ,;-.,:• VALUABLE REPORTS. Annual reports are issued which supply useful data for comparison as well as recording the scores of every bird, together with the points allotted by the poultry instructors of the Department of Agriculture for type and breed points. A careful record is also kept of egg weight and this is a point which gives rise to "considerable'labour. In most competitions every egg laid-is individually weighed and-some system for penalising those birds that lay small eggs is common to all contests. Readers will appreciate that the most valuable bird is not necessarily the one that lays the most eggs, but rather the pullet that lays the greatest egg weight, or value of eggs, throughout the contest. For example, the pullet that lays only 240 eggs weighing 28oz to the dozen is a better bird than the one that lays 300 eggs weighing only 220z to the dozen, yet the egg laid by the 300-egger is not easily detected as a small egg by the casual buyer. In American contests the prizes are awarded on a points basis, while at the leading English contests it is the market value of eggs laid that determines the winners. That a large amount of luck goes with the results is without doubt. A breeder has only to lose a bird in a team through possibly no fault of his own, and his chance of establishing a good score for that year is gone. There is still a greater handicap, and that is due to some pullets going into a false autumn moult due possibly .to the change in management or climatic conditions, and resulting in a spell of non-production of several weeks' dura.tion. A good start is a great help towards a winning place, and is essential if a record is to be established. Those breeders who compete year after year and whose birds are usually somewhere near fhe top half of the scores are to be commended on their breeding methods, and it is no disgrace 'for a breeder to have the misfortune to be at the bottom of the list in one particular contest.