POULTRY NOTES.

Evening Star, Issue 14625, 22 July 1911, Page 10

POULTRY NOTES.

Contributions and questions for answering | should be addressed to " Minorca," | Poultry Kditor, 'Star' Office, unci receiccd' not later than Tuesday of each week. " Minorca " will onfi/ ana wet communications thrawjh this column. Advertisements: for this cohnnn must reach the office by noon on Thursday. Mr G. Harley, manager of the View Poult 17 Farm. America, says ho believe* succces with fowls arid chicks, is due to three thing?—tepid water, citrate of iron, and charcoal. During cold weather he takes the chill off the water before giving it to the fowls or chicks ; onro a week he puts a, teaspoon ful of citrate, of iron in the drinking water, and he> keeps charcoal in boxes where, the birds can help themselves. Mr T. Irvine, well known at one time aa a Minorca breeder, has now gone in for Padman's White Leghorns, and has come typical laying specimens, bred from eggs Received from i'adman. Silver Wyandot tee cf a laying strain are also kept, and are. laying well. The houses are email but neat, and each run has a good scratching shed. The Fanciers' Club secretary had a very buey nit:bt last Saturday taJdt:...; entries. The money taken was. I belie.se. a record, but the number of entries arc not yet available. Warm feed is a great help to hirds during cold, frosty weather. The morning meal should be- given warm, a feed of oats, stepped for a few minutes in boiling water, may be given at noon, and a gocd feed of wheat should he given among litter about 4 p.m. This will keep thj birds busy scratching, and etimuiate tlio egg organs. ir.us Many 1 r u bio 1 e new li *• put + iu down eg;; t 1 "A hug \ a rait eg are best i'hll tn ' o , ~>ui 1 «.- m>i' mn be pl'ictd n 1 hi v and thu> K? or>\ c! d with hu or stritv H t-> ■» t n< < r the year, wn'' the fro t 1 1- * re 1 tie mi t be taken to have, tno bu 1 irn hj to it ting well protected tr< in ii" 1 r t 01 tat e-jg* will _t oh lit ' Hu 10m nt t vt ll inside a g d owlhou 1 01 Mi d md t len the fro.-t wont reach in t —How Oil \li\ IpVtfl Hitch'— Eggs when tiiro m hr < Id bi\i bee 1 known to hj \ti' hut 1 \ i\ n ipnlir tl * fresher-tie tg--> the b ß *tcr tit in' 1 ail the strong >r n hj "1 ■> 1 nt < 1 1 r t 10 t _, ' the weakei th gtim \ in n n Je up f old ego. «ill shi v th it tht gei 1 pel MieJ at difl'eicT t g" j in ub ir 1 n 111 from a fe>\\ du\ o tae c ~ii t -* r it and eh v_k> t t <io * \ * t> \u weakly in J ■.'nili cxtp" ! "„ e pe «J several ivs ovf ta „.'c ttd t not 21 days. I" th°r wrrd u 1 hj t will at least hatca on t nt ill 11 m \ c s a day 01 tno nttort. t n the en I «- w 1 , as a rule he ttrc g P uticd'v t 1 con dition n ill Ik I , oJ tor « iu : f 1 days, bit a f er t nj t nt I c 1 > of deatn u t i srei 1 ' 1 ' t c 1 ml weak. puny ruU wl mi u j t 1 eggs incieaso m ig ittirt t Urg Failure to H u 1 1 i 1 I (.11 —Tn birds a e orn nit t t-J dj not get auffiue t t\ it ,Lit 01 warmth in tno sitting hen. A sitting hen should be well fed in cold weather Mau oil un at no Li be t food. \\ art 01 grt v t 1 to th« 1 -c-c 1 ing pen po 1 t~e nuc i" n t eggr.. li t e ire r il\ 1 c r to 1 with a roc ci I th" g so ttn itl n hatch, 1-1 1 eir v 1 tot 1 o 1 =; 1 t 11 too ma v hen t pit nt 1 tie mil bird. JJon t Lr d lion v< s von stock. I don't mean the eggs will not hatch, but the ttei k « un t 1 r as if the e-gt- ire Horn \ull mi'u d 1 Never leave 1 m i hj I ir 1 1 tn brt d tit, ' pen. Which pa tot the < _ jnd th j chicken— r \ hitc or 1 li » \ lthoi the. wlutrt 1 01 the \tll v ma et tn chicken a d yit t 1 a. ain c\ttit bjih do. That is t 1 reu hj e i«, 1 in hid 1\ | both. The chick, tie an individual, ifi neither yolk nor aJbumen. The gerri which [inkti the (hul 11 —th litt < <l individu il —is niijrrt <1 b} th in lie 01 d! teen iu the httk tell lo 1 e ! on tit eido of the yolk I i* ul it noim Ins ml ' grows the germ into th« vi ibl-e ci 1 lcn that hatthts \\ ithf tit thi -rn the t _, ' is of no u, < jurt white 1 o 1\ a re<i 1 | vou - ot nouiitliiuiit f li it 1 uf 1. +1 I growth of the u rm but jnr im\ * tho grot n 1 tn it tm eeg th chic} thi male orlv qui l-e-inii 0 tht siie into hie , Ihe yolk is tho u t to b> tbtjtbfd by I the germ . CrriCKFA- RKAKI.VG. j It is most essential to the surces.«fnl man- j aeement of poultry that the be.-t methods , of hatching and rearing chickens be j thoroutrhly understood, and this holds good j no matter whether the number kept is j or small, and amateurs who have had no j previous experience will do well to gain '; all the necessary experience" before they I commence to 6et any of their hens. '■ Where it is a separate house should be provided fo»- the sitting hens, so lh;;t they are left to themselves and eenire ; from interruption, but where this cannnb? done the nest should be made in the '■ ho"p.e, and so arninged that tl." front is covered with a piece of bagging, etc., ' which fhould be removed each morning when the hen is lifferl off the nopfc. The wav to make the nest is to scoop out a little earth from the floor, and then the earth in the hollow should bo flattened and moulded into the shape of a ! nest-. Where no earth can be removed a j few shovelfuls of sod should be obtained and moidded into the shape in an ordinary egg box. "It is easier to form the nert of soil than with a turf, and the soil should be damped, beaten down well with the hand. An old glove should be worn to protect the hand asrainst thorns or broken glass—whichever mav be in the soil. Wh"n the soil is damp it forms a nice even surface, and holds well together. The nest should be a quite round hollow, 00 th<it all the erg? are cohered when the hen alters her position. The lowest point shou'd. of course, be in the centre, so that the eg"S will roll and keep together ncnin when the h"n steps into the nest. Plent-v of room mr>st be given, as when a bird is cramped in sitting a good many of the eggs are likelv to get broken. The hollow should be lined with fine hay at th© bottom of the neet in very cold ■weather, but before this is put in a"handful of slack lime should be sprinkled in tho nest, aa this presents vcraun from bjoed-

injj there. Hay k mnoh better than straw, as it sticks closer together, and it holds the, warmth better, and where this i 6 need the hen may be allowed more eggs. Straw is hollow, and so conducts the cold air to the esrgs, especially in the frosty weather. When fowls are set in a strange nest it is beet to put them on it at night, unless they are very tame, Thev should never be forced or hurried, but should be placed in front of the nest they are to occupy, with a few common ecr/a in it, when tbey will, as a rule, take to it at once, and if not disturbed atain too soon they will stick to it. and sit well. It is well to have bottoms to coops, when the hen and chicken's are put in, and a little moss neat nut down in the coops, say half an inch thick, or even more. If th« owner his not pot that bv him, dry sand, light chaff, or dust, in fact nnvthing dry ard warm, ran he us°d. It dries their little feet so rrmVklv >f thev run out on the wet ;-rass. Either moss neat or chaff is better than sand in very cold weather. The hen (should he put in a coop, and a little rvn placer] riffht up to the coop, i>o that, th" wind do«s not. cut between the conp rind run. The fram-o can be made from 9\H, to sft long, ard boards nailed no the height of 16in or 18in at both sides and end. ard Ain mesh wire on the top, fio that the snarrows cannot rjet in. Never rnt young chickens on the bare boards. Tf so. thev are ant to have- cramp. Cinder ashes can be used, but they must bo sifted very fine, so there, is nothing onlv the dust. If small pieces of cinder are left in fthat is. rough cinders"!, whm the little chickens Kit on part of the hen's weight rests on the chickens—which are just imdor the breast of the hen —and if a cinder is under the brea.«t of a very young ehiekon it is possible, hy the prps ktire of tho hen resting upon the chickens, to cause the breast-bone to bo turned. Moss should be used in the chambers of foster-mothers, and in all case* the covered run lead In? from tho fostermother should have wire in front, so as to admit plenty of fresh air.

The taxiing of the birds is the next consideration. Chickens do not require foot! during the- first day. as tbey livn on the food provided by Nature foT their sustenance* in the form of tho yolk of the erg. which has been duly absorbed into the abdomen through the navel a few hours before the period of hatching, ft is not possible to save those chickens which do not absorb the ycjk of the egg wll before hatching. This generallv denotes weakness of some kind in the parent birds, and in some cases has been traced in cases of artificial batching to the temnerature of the machine having been kept too high the last week of incubation. Provided that chickens are bred from healthv stuck, it is not a difficult matter to rear them if thev have the right kinds of food civon to them. Contrary to the rdvice given by many poultry writers, ws should advise our readers to refrain from civ'ng their chickens hard-boiled eggs ad lih-i' -rt. For some years cases have been continuously coming under our notice of losses amongst chicks owing to the back passage becoming clogged with dry excrements, thus causing a stoppage. In almost- every caso we have traced this to llf use of hard-boiled eggs. N'ewly-hatohed chickens have delicate infestincs, and they are somewhat frail, and need to get as much nourishment as possible from their food, and consequently require food which is easily digested, and at the same time very nourishing.—Ex change. PUNEDTN CAGE BIRD CLUB. The above club was suec ssfully launched last Wednesday everting. There was an attendance of upwaids of 40 members present. Rules and regulations were decided ti|,oti. The meeting night was fixed for the second Wednesday in each month. Tho election of office-beaters result' d as follows: —President, Mr A. A. Binnie; vice-presidents—Messrs C. L. Hunt, Talboys. R. Hopkins, and M'Lcan ; secretary, Mr M. Thomson ; treasurer, Mr J. Scott. Annual subscription was fixed at 5s per annum ; ladies and juniors under 18 years, 2s 6d. A committee was appointed to draw up a syllabus for the ensuing 12 months. It was decided to devote a certain portion of the time at each meeting to discussing bird management. In addition to canary fanciers, there is a ntrcng section of foreign finch fanciers in the club. Tt is the intention of members to get a suitable club room, where members may at any time consult papers or books bearing on their particular fancy in birds. Rape Reed.—Be sure to get pure summer rape, sometimes called German rape. A g<x;d sample of this will be Fwcet to the teste. For bird feeding it is at its best when from 9to 18 months old. If quite new it i- apt- to cause surfeit. Its <ren°ral action may be described as cooling and nom i-hi'-g. In Germany this is the staple foed for canaries. The analysis of this cced is .-riven as: Wa'er 11.5. albuminoids 19.-1, fats 40.5. carbo-hydrates 10.2, ash 3.9. The portion designated ash is particularly rich in ma<.m r sia, potash, lime, and phosphoric a.'-irl. On the other hand, canary seed fives only 4.9 of fats, carbo-hydrates 51 6. 2.1, water 13.6. This shows a d'ficiency in canarv seed of fats and albuminoids.