POULTRY NOTES

Evening Star, Issue 16993, 15 March 1919, Page 4

POULTRY NOTES

[By Minorca.]

Contributions and questions for answering should be. addressed to "-Minorca, ' Poultry Editor, •Star' Office, and received not later than Tuesday of each week. "Minorca" will only answer communications through this column.

TO CORRESPONDENTS. "A.M.C.," Otokia.—Mr S. Solomon is #ie only breeder I know of who keeps Barred Rocks. ■ „ . ~ ..,■., "Crooked Breast,"—Tins lies with the judge. A slight dent, usually made by perching, is not counted, but a decided twists counts as a disqualification.

" During the week Mr W. Hudson invited several fanciers to mote* to Milton with him. A call was first made at Mr DowaH's to see his White Leghorns. Most of the birds are single-penned, and, considering the housing and situation, the egg yield is wonderful. Several promising pallets have been placed in the_ single pens to see what thev can do lor the year. In another pen there were several fine White Leghorn cockerels. One member of the partv was so taken with one of them that a" deal wes made, and the bird's future home will be Dunedm. _ After dinner th» Government farm was visited. and as it was a perfect clay the birds and grounds were looking at- their best. Mr Hudson's particular fancy was the White Rocks, and I should not bo surprised to sea half a dozen of them installed in the up-to-date fowlhouss which he is building. After a very interesting walk through the different yards, the brooder-house, the incubator room, and facing shown the latestmethod of cold brooding, the party, after a vote of thanks to Mr Kitto (the manager) for his kindness in showing them around and explaining the various uses of the plant, returned home by motor, well pleased with their day's outing. Trips of this sort are valuable, as fanciers get to know one another more intimately, and valuable information is gained by comparing notes. Remember, to-night the entries close ior the voung bird show, so be a sport and give "the club a few entries. .Even if you « have no chance of a prize, the knowledge vou will gain is worth your trouble. Show the other breeders you are not ashamed of vour birds. * White birds should be washed a few davs before the show, so that they may have time to <hv properly, and look closa in feather again". Just before sending to the show wash the head and face, dry, and rub in a Jiitle camphorated oil or sweet oil, and apolv a little zinc powder to the lobes of birds that have white lobes. Afterwards wash the legs, and then mo with an oily rag or a little vaseline. Eggs are still retailing from Is 9d to <Js per dozen. . The standard conference ot the New Zealand Poult-rv Association vis bold m Christchureh this week, and the standard should soon be ready. . Members of the Christchureh_ egg eircte are savins; 3s a bag by buying wheat through the circle. It is reported that- the Government have decided to make a grant- to the New Zealand Poultry Club. Mr T. Kennedy, of Rangiora, has been appointed to judge the Oamara show. During February four birds died in the Christchureh laying competition. Mr A. Hudson, who is an expert in pollard, says a number of breeders make a great mistake in mining pollard and bran. : The bran should be scalded, and it should i still be damp after absorbing the moisture. I The pollard should then be stirred in until it forma a nice crumbly mass and mot a sticky mixture. | Mr A. Hudson left for America last ] and will probably bring some ! birds back with him, if he sees anything better than we have here. His own birds ; have done so well that he will find it hard I to improve on them. ' j An amateur judging competition is to be | lield in connection with the Christchureh \ show, and Mr P. Sinclair, of Mosgiel. has j been elected expert judge of tho exhibits I in the judging competition. I The Wairarapa Egg Circle, with a mem- [ hership of 91, despatched 37,603 dozen eggs j last vear. The price realised was £3,231 j 15s od, compared with £2.816 18s Ad for 33,475 dozen eggs in the previous vear. America's biggest cfiicken hatcherv, located at Cleveland, holds as many as 660,000 eggs at a time, end in a single season hatches 2,000,000 chicks. Keep the houses and yards as clean as possible during the moult, and add a little Douglas mixture to the drinking water.

EGG-LAYING. The light breeds in the Papanui eggjaying competition continue to give a very fair average egg-yield. The best work fo'r the week was done by H. W. Beck's team (32 egga), which are in the lead and in Bice form. Other good scores were put up by Mrs Gorinski's 31, C. H. Izard and Green Bros. 30 each, Calder Bros, and J Liggins 29, and A. E. Rowley's 28. With four weeks to go the 62 light breed teams promise to average 200 eggs per bird for the competition. The heavy breeds gave a very moderate egg-yield during the past week, and look like finishing up with a jof average for the year. In the duck test W. T. Green's young team has a good lead, with four ducks in profit, but L. A. Wadbam's team has supplanted the BurWood breeder's No. 2 team for second place. The leading heavy breed single pen bird of Mr T. Wilson's has gone out of profit, and E. J. Ross's bird only requires 11 eggs to pass it. T. Wilkinson's single pen White Leghorn continues to °go steadily, and requires 30 eggs to equal Green Bros.' total. The highest totals in the five pens are as follow:

—Light-breed Teams (62).—. H. W. Beck, W.L. ... 4654355—32 1.446 Mrs Gorinski, W.L. ... 5544643—31 1,420 Calder Bros., W.L. „. 4535336—29 1,419 Green Bros., W.L. „. 5365443—30 1,402 C. Thomson, W.L. ... 3433543—25 1.366 J. Ldggins, W.L. 5335535—29 1,334 —Heavy-breed Teams (16).— T. E. Conwav, B.O. 1212122—11 1,034 W. Knight, W.P.R. 3342214—22 1,035 Norton and Dove, B.O. 3231432—18 1,023 —Duck Team (?). — • W. T. Green, LB. ... 3223452—19 1,353 L. A. Wadham, I.E. 4444242—24 1,316 —Heavy-breed Single-pen Birds (5). — T. Wilson, S.W. 0000000—0 205 E. J. Ross, S.W. ... . 0111011—5 1S5 —Light-breed Single•pen Birds (19).— T. Wilkinson 1111011—6 287 T. King, W.L S. L. Beer, W.L. ... 1110111—6 265 1110000—3 249 Bu Meadows, W.L. ... noicai—5 248 W. JL Gee and Son 1011011—5 242 Mn# hundred egga ' tvere gathered from the 246 birds in the Southland egglavins eompetition for the we ek ending February 25. Th« leading teams ■> are as tollow •; , Daily Weight Grand Laying. oz. Masi«r 0. Dixon 4533435 27 55i Total. C Thomson ... 3554344—28 582 1,298 J. J. Schultat ... 4453344—27 51| • 1,266 A, jno*»u ... o-too^oi —iso o>>| x,6oo Mrs Gorinski ... 1542543—24 55-£ 1,225 J. Webb 3352523—21 43£ fcfnt 0. Ibomson 5344635—23 5Sj 1,221 1,218