POULTRY NOTES.

Evening Star, Issue 14529, 3 December 1910, Page 11

POULTRY NOTES.

Contributions and questions for answerin') should be addressed to “Minorca,” Poultry Editor, ‘ Star ' Office, and received not later than Tuesday of each week. “Minorca" will only answer communications throuqh this column. Advertisements for this column must reach the office by noon on Thursd • Mr Coombs, of South Dunedin, lias batched over 100 efiicks this year. A very pretty pea of a dozen Wliito Leghorn pullets about three and a-half months old should put up good records this season. They are from good liens by one of Mr Thomson’s Sunny Crest cockerels. Keen competition is expected in Barred Hocks this year. Several leading breeders have some line stock, and entries should be large and the quality good. 'Most breeders now find the hens inclined to take a rest. Those biids which are for breeding next year should bo encouraged to do so by light feeding, but birds which aro to be sold off at the end of the year should bo kept going. Give a good tonic, and also some meat. Give a good feed of soft food in the morning, a handful of oats to each bird at noon, and a handful of the best wheat about 6 p.m. Place the hard food among litter, so that the hens have to work for it. Give a dose of Glauber salts to all birds once a week. This prevents liver disease, which is often prevalent in hot weather. Every egg which you can spare should be preserved. There aro several means of doing this, but tests by leading authorities have shown that water glass is best. Keadeis know that, as in most things, there are different qualities of water glass, and it pays to buy the best. The mixing of water glass is quite simple. To one part of water glass add sixteen parts,of hot water, and stir well for abort live minutes, ft not well stirred the water glass will often separate and sink to the bottom of the vessel. If you have hens of your own, place tho eggs in the solution when you bring them from tho nest, but m.-ver put in soiled eggs. If you arc buying eggs, see tho eggs are quite fresh and that none are cracked. To get the best results, infertile eggs should be used, and they should not be more than three days old. Mr Shrimpton has had a very busy season and a good one, having a fine lot of pullets for next season. The fertility of the eggs was excellent. Ono lot in a machine particularly well, only three eggs being infertile cut- of 108. The South Island Poultry Association have decided that American Plymouth Rocks shall in future be judg'd by the American standard. It will thus bo necessary to have two standards for this breed, which will cause confusion. In England, as I stated before, the birds aro judged by the English standard ; and yet American competitors win in England, so surely they could do so here. Dunedin breeders should take this matter up, or Leghorn breeders will also want two standards for their hirda, and then other breeders will follow suit.

Mr W. Knight’s Leghorns arc now loading in the Christchurch competition ' with 925, Thomson being second with 921 eggs. Eggs are still keeping about the same price, new laid eggs being sold from Is to Is 2d per dozen. Egg circles seem likely to bo formed in various parts of the colony. There was an enthusiastic meeting in Wellington, and a lecturer is to tour the South Island showing the benefits of the circles. lire Minister of Agriculture is in sympathy with the movement, and will help ail he can. Ho has already obtained a Government grant of £lO, and it is expected ’hat further grants will bo made later _ on. There is also a prospect of cheaper freights on eggs and poultry, this class of goods being put on the same footing as fruit. The Government have also promised to issue in their bulletins a full report of the conference and papers on poultryculture by leading authorities, and have instructed the Commissioner at Home to cable direct market prices of both eggs and poultry on the London market in the interests of shippers. The object- of tiro Association is to try to open up mai-e-ts in London. Breeders will see that all this k in their interest, and they should endeavor to help to carry on tho good work •hich has been started. W hen the lecturer comes to Dunedin, I hope all breeders will attend the meeting and hear what he has to say. Mr L. Wilson, of Teddington, has imported a large consignment of poultry. The list comprises: 1 cock and 5 pullets, Rhode Island Reds ; 1 cock and 2 pullets, White Orpingtons; 2 cocks and 6 pullets, light Sussex; 1 cock and 2 pullets. Grey Game; 3 cocks and 6 pullets, Faveroles; 1 cock and 2 pullets, Black-red Bantams; 1 cock and 2 hens, bronze turkeys; 1 drake and 2 ducks, Aylesburys: 1 gander and 2 geese, Toulouse. There were also on board three other breeds of English Game and four White Wyaudottcs for other breeders, some of tho Game birds being for Mr T. E. Upton, of Ashburton. Tho Rhode Island Reds arc very shapely birds, and noted for being early layers, starting at four and a-halt months old and keeping it up. They were the principal layers among the poultry on the ship. The Sussex and Faveroles are well spoken of as being good layers and table birds, easy to rear and hardy, and with von- white flesh, Tho Bantams are a very pretty pen. They were inspected by a Hobart judge, who said they were the best ho ever saw, and was anxious to purchase them. The geese, ducks, and turkeys are also splendid specimens, combining size and quality. Tho poultry have all been selected from the leading breeders at Homo, and should prove a valuable addition to the stock of the Dominion. Some little chickens have diarrhrea rather badly, owing to inherited weakness. The best food for these is a mixture of hard-boiled egg, chopped finely, and fine, scalded biscuit meal. This makes a perfect combination, as the hard-boiled egg corrects the dtarrhma, and the biscuit nourishes the birds. Many people think that it is impossible for good, strong chickens to bo reared in small, confined runs. This idea is entirely a wrong one, as hundreds of good, healthy chickens are reared every year in the back gardens of our towns; and although it is much better where they can have a good run, yet with careful attention it is surprising how much may be done in the way of producing birds, even in confinement. It is not unusual to have some of the chickens lose the use of their legs. These are generally the largest of the brood, and they suffer on account of having overSrown their strength. To prevent this, be chickens should have a sprinkling of flint dust, mixed in their soft foed on alternate days, after they arc a month old.

FEEDING FOR EGG PRODUCTION

To get the best results we must cause them to consume largo quantities of food, food that is palatable and also easily digested. The man that weighs out Iris rations on a pair of postal scales is not apt to have larger scales to weigh his e~~s on. They must have all they can eat, and their appetites kept whetted up sharp at all times with something spicy. A little salt and pepper and such vegetables as potatoes, turnips, beets and carrots, thoroughly cooked; in fact, anything that tickles their .palates. A delicate morsel

1 tickles their palates and makes the saliva How, and mixes with the food, and this aids digestion. Nobody for a moment questions but that such flavoring and seasoning servos a most beneficial purpose with the human species. All fowls have those glands in their mouths for tho secreting of ihe saliva, and tho mixing of tho saliva with its food is as ncccssai'y to digestion as in tho case of man.

Fowls in order to bo profitable to their owner must bo always in condition. Their appetites must bo always good. They mist bo able to consume largo quantities of food. A certain portion of tho food consumed is always a sustaining ration. That is, it goes to sustain tho life of tho fowl. The food consumed over and above the sustaining ration is the food that returns the profit. The more food consumed, provided it- is digested and assimilated, tho greater the profit. There is very little danger of overfeeding laying stock.

Providing they have room for plenty of exercise, such as a deop litter to scratch in. a hen that is physically built for laying will seldom get too fat. I have kept thirty hens under such conditions in a building 12 x 15 foot, and had a 75 to 80 per cent, egg yield through the coldest months of the year.—Exchange. CHRISTCH URCH COMPETITION. Tho best layings for the week wero : W. U. hail {No. 2, W.L.) 38, J. W. Bradley (W.L.) 36, C. Anketill (W.L.) 36, Misses M. and M. Bradley' (W.L.) 36, \\. Burbury (W.L.) 35, S. S. Steele (W.L.) 55, A. B. Mcnzics (W.L.) 35, W. Balch (W.L.) 35, Dominion Poultry Plant (W.L.) 35, and R. Cameron (W.L.) 35.