POULTRY BOTES

Evening Star, Issue 16090, 15 April 1916, Page 11

POULTRY BOTES

[By SIIKORCA.]

Contributions and questions for unswerin/.f should be, addressed to " Minorca, 1 ' Poultry Editor, ' Star' Opce, and received not later than Tuesday of each week. "Minorca" will ■>•!;/ a-"iter communications throuah this mv

Mr Fred Foothill, in his latest book on the Minorca, says : —The faults most easy of reproduction and the ones which must always be guarded against are given in their order of importance as fellows :(1) vhite in face, (2) .grey or while in flights, ,5) light or red eye, (4) side sprigs. No legitimate treatment will remove these deficiencies, and they have to be obliterated. In regard to Xo'. 1, this fault is very easily produced, and when once present in a strain in difficult indeed to eradicate, whilst no specialist judge will tolerate it in the show pen. No. 2 is a. distressing disfigurement, and will repeat itself with the utmost regularity if not relentlessly stamped out by selection. Xo. 3—lkrht eye—is now becoming more a fault than it was considered a few years ago, and more attention is now being paid to it by both exhibitors and judges, and rightly so. I don't say that breeders should insist on an absolute black eye, but lightryes should not be a possession of both sexes in the breeding pen, or the defect will joon become fixed. Xo. 4. although it is now nearly extinct, it occasionally crops up. It can be removed with the knife, but this is faking. It should be bred out.

The first three remarks on the Minorca also apply to the rose-comb bantams. The judge at the young bird show cut very heavily for white in face, as he said ft was hard to get out of a strain. What a pity all judges do not do the same. Breeders would then soon get rid of such birds.

The young bird show held last Saturday was a great success, and the judging 7ave general satisfaction. The following ire the judge's comments upon the rose" omb bantams : —lst cockerel, splendid lead and comb and lobe, grand face, weak in furnishings; 2nd, good head and exceptionally good in furnishings, but broken in face; 3rd, hollow comb, too legcry, weak in face. Pullets : Ist, grand feafner. gocd head, too long in body and too big; 2nd. rather small in lobe; ord, poor comb, hollow in front.

After dark go through your birds and examine them carefully. If the legs show anv signs of scale or roughness rub them with vsseline or sulphur ointment. If the comb seems at all scurfy or dry, rub it

All breeders should try to hear Mr G. M. Thomson's lecture. "All are invited, and the lecture will be very interesting.' The time and place will be advertised. Pullets when about five months old will sometimes go off their food and do a parti.;! moult. In a case of this sort reduce, the food until the birds pick up a-g.iin: don't leave food about. Add a 'ittle Douglas mixture to the drinking wa,ter,_ and be sure there is a gecd snpplv of suitable grit; also give a little'cut ureen hone or lean meat twice a week. Green bone in small quantities can now be bought from several local butchers. Eggs are still very hiali in price, bringing from 2s to 2s 6d per dozen. I hope utility breeders already have their birds selected for the Dunedin show. To get a bird up to show form requires time. _ You won't have much chance if you pick your bird out of the yard and send it to the show. Start now" to get a little extra flesh on them, and get them used to the pen and to being handled.

"FOWL TALK." Says the little rose-comb pullet To her little rose-comb mate : I hear "Minorca" has no time For birds like us, of late. He doesn't like the color Of the "reds" with yellow legs. It matters not for color, We're here to lay the eggs. You see, I'm just a pullet, Not yet a half » year; I've laid these pretty golden eggs, You see them lying here. There are some who fancy feathers, Others fancy eggs; If you wish to get them quick, Try rose-comb lihode Island "reds."

I have to thank a reader for tho above, but would like to point out that "Minorca" believes that you can get birds which are of good color as well as good layers, and that, is the sort he admires.

A PLEA FOR CLEANLINESS.

The importance of clean water pots and the supply of fresh, pure water cannot be «\erstuted._ Stale, dirty water is a prolific source of _clisen.se, and especially is this the cue during hot weather, when noxious ixi nis multiply apace. The water pot should i.c thoroughly cleansed every day, and refilled with fresh water. This must*** done if sicknefs and deaths are to be averted. '1 lieie is another point which is worthy of ronsideratiou. The contents of an egg conMit mostly of water. We know that the internal machinery will convert filthy dirty water into an egg which looks clean ami pure whe-i broken. And the egg may baas good as it looks. But suppose it isn't. Tho eggs which are cooked no doubt are al! right, because cooking kills the germs. What about those which are eaten in the raw state by invalids? Are they all right? I don't know myself, but do know that no such risk should be taken whan it is so wisy to clean out the waterpots and fill with fresh water every day. Even if there be no danger to health, the «ntimental aspect remains for consideration. You people who are careless, and who ray that fresh water every day doesn't matter, anyhow, as the hen will put up a good, look at it this way: Go to the water vessels and examine them. Observe the green scum on the bottom and sides. Then tliink of the fact that the eggs which are eaten in your house are largely composed of that filthy water, even though they may look clean and sweet. If that doesn't" fetch you nothing v -:l. A further point: In hot weather V e water vessel should be kept in a cool, _-',~iy spot. A giazed earthenware bowl is the best thing to usoj-and it should be placed in a kerosene case, turned on its flat side, and with two or three holes bored in the end to allow the air to plav over the water. If the box is raised oft the ground on a couple of bricks there will be a current of air underneath, too, which will be all the better. To finish the job, tack some 3in- netting across the mouth of the box. The mesh -will be big enough to allow the birds to stick their heads through to drink, but they won't be able to get in bodily and foul the water, as they are apt to do on hot days. Yes, I know the big-combed cock bird could not get his head through a 3in hole; but the big-combed birds should be dubbed, unless they are show birds, and, if they are, they, of course, will be attended to differently.—' Ha,rdsnell.'