POULTRY NOTES

Evening Star, Issue 18045, 12 August 1922, Page 14

POULTRY NOTES

[By Umixr-FANCi.]

Contributions and questions for answering should be addressed to “Utility-Fancy,'' Poultry Editor, ‘ Star ’ Office, and received not later than Tuesday of each week. “ Utility-Fancy ” will only answer communications through this column.

TO CORRESPONDENTS. “Sprouted Grain.” I recommend sprouted: oats, and have a paragraph in this week’s notes explaining the process ■ of sprouting. “W.T.”—Yes, certainly; buttermilk is highly recommended for fowls. If your fowls do not lay it is not because of the" buttermilk, _ unless, of course, you are' giving it instead of water. Tney . must have pure water to drink. Try serving it only in the mash. Your grocer or any grocery store would-buy your eggs, and although the- quantity is small I fancy the - Otago Egg Circle would take them. Messrs ■ Fraser and Co., Crawford street, are the ' circle’s agents. • gated iron roofs sweat, and drops of water fall, on. the fowls when perching. Moreover, they are cold in winter and draw the'sun in summer. * “ J.M.” (Palmerston South). —Mr L. 0. Verry, whoso name should bo familiar to §ll .Leghorn fanciers, gives the following §dVica as to preparing a bird for show. There is no necessity under the rules for »tating the stock from which the bird la produced. Mr Verry advises When you have selected the birds intended for exhibition place them in darkish pens, free from draught, about a fortnight be- - ; for the time comes for sending off. When the, birds are in their pens they will require extra attention and feeding to the ordinary stock, so as to get them into fine condition. Peas harden the feathers, and the rice counteracts any tendency to Add a little sulphate of iron to me drinking water; this will act as a tonic and give tone to the bird. Also have a cabbage leaf tied up, so that the bird can peek it when it likes. The day before sending off wash the comb, lobes, and legs with warm water. Ah ordinary nail brush is the best thing to use for the feet and legs, as it will remove the dirt that gets under the scales. It is as well in winter weather to nib a little vaseline on the comb and wattles after washing, as it will prevent their chapping or becoming sore. When the time arrives for starting them place in their , hampers a few cabbage leaves lied together with string and suspended near the' top of the hamper; also a slice of bread., at .the bottom; this will' eiMnin .them on their journey.’ If they are’ going § very long way, and the weather is cold.

give each a toaspoonful of port wine just before starting, aa this will cause _ them to sleep, and they will not bo fatigued'. Above all, be prepared for disappointment. Don’t bo too Sanguine of fuccess— others may have just as good' birds as yourself. If you do not get in tho prise list do not grumble at the judge, because in these days of such keou competition, the judges have sometimes very groat difficulty in deciding. And, again, soraq of tho pllaces where shows aro hold' are ill. adapted _ fortho purpose, tire room being very limited and the light bad. Where many fail is that they do not send their birds to the show in good condition. They aro, perhaps, careless about washing tho l"gs or comb or lobes; they don’t smooth tho feathers down well: they aro too apt to think that as tho bird looks very well in its own run it willl do*' so at the show. The chance’s are that the bird in tho next pen is in tip-top condition —then the neglected on© loots rough and uncared for in comparison, and it fails to catch the judge’s eye. It is in all these littlo matters, trivial in themselves, that success is obtained. On its return home tho bird will require care and attention.”

At the monthly meeting of the Utility Poultry' Chib hold last week six bird's were produced to Messrs Spies, en and Coombs to give a practical illustration on judiging for show and of selecting for egg laying and breeding. Mr Sprosen showed the method adopted by _ judges, and Mr Coombs dealt with the other subjects. Tho meeting was well attended, and great interest was shovvn, and all hands admitted that the evening was one of tho most instructive so far held. Questions being duly answered, the lecturers were .accorded a hearty vote of thanks. Mr Brown, manager of Mr Shaddock's poultry farm at Portobello, ryperts that the fertility this year isvery gc< d, and tho Orion incubator now installed is proving very satisfactory. Out of 500 eggs placed in it he has now 379 chickens to show.' Professor Mavor, of Union College, Xew York, states that “ho has successfully experimented in altering the sox cf flies by the application of X-rays to tho eggs.” Possibly wo shall read by and by cf eggs for sale as “guaranteed X-rayed all pullets.” I have cribbed this idea - from another source, and I leave my readers to conjecture whether it is a feasible one or not. • . Poultry breeders are warned against the use of mouldy chaff, which is declared to be most favorable for the development of moulds and mildew, and is responsible for a great deal of the while diarrhcea which is so deadly to brooder chickens. Mouldy chaff, it is alleged, is equivalent to a ‘-lethal chamber so far as tho chickens are concerned. Photographs published in one of tho Home papers of Australorps (Australianbred Orpingtons) show bird’s that aro typical as regards shape, being—both male and female—perfect U’s, whether drawn between the neck and tail or under the whole body, but closer in feather than aro the fashionable open-class birds. Ihe fact that some of them lay white-shelled eggs seemingly indicates recrossing with Minorcas. Chickens aro already being hatched out by the hundred on large plants and by tho dozen on small ones; consequently it is timely to remark that to have pullets just right for laying, according to prearranged plans, means good management right through the rearing period. It is astonishing what a difference a slight, setback will make. A few days’ neglect may mean several weeks longer in bringing tire birds to the profitable stage; in fact, I doubt if pullets which have any serious hitch in growing ever recover tho lost ground. The “good management” mentioned includes close observation of the progress made week by week and day by day, and feeding accordingly. How to’obtain the biggest eggs from poultry? is a question which all would like t-o be able to answer. Soma say—and no doubt rightly—that the best way is to breed only from the hens that lay tho largest eggs, mating them, of conse, to the son of a hen which did likewise. Tho French Academy of Science some years back addressed itself to this question, and a naturalist named Magnan tried various experiments with food, giving different broods of ducks flesh, fish, and vegetable diet. He found that those fed on fish laid first, those on meat eight days later, and the vegetarians two and a-half months later, at the age of ten months. Between December 17 and May 14 the fish-eating ducks laid fifty-four eggs, the flesh-eating forty-five, and the vegetarians nineteen. The eggs of tho flesh-eating ducks wore tho heaviest, those of the vegetarians came next, and the fish-eaters’ eggs were tho lightest. A curious detail was that the fish-eating ducks laid green eggs, the flesheating white, and the vegetarians pale pink. There is no quicker money-getter than the hen. You buy them to-day and get eggs to-morrow—if you know your business.

Do not keep fowls at all if you are nob prepared to properly feed and house them. Be fair. Changes in Secondary Sexual Characters. —The comb, wattles, and ear lobes enlarge or contract depending on the ovary. If the comb, wattles, and ear lobes are large, full, and smooth, or hard and waxy, the bird is laying heavily. If the comb is limp, the bird is laying only slightly; but is not laying at all when the comb is dried down, especially at moulting time. If the comb is warm it is an indication that the bird is coming back into production. Temperament and Activity.—A good layer is more active and nervous and yet more easily handled than a poor layer. A high layer shows more friendliness and yet elusiveness than a poor bird. A lowproducer is shy and stays on the edge of the flock, and will squeak when caught. The way to servo branlo the best advantage is by scalding it with boiling water and covering up the vessel tight so as to keep the steam in. When the bran has swollen properly it should be added to the pollard and other meals used in the mash. By mixing the bran thoroughly with the other ingredients the mash is made moist and erumbly, and is relished much better by the fowls than if it is fed either cold or dry. It will also bo easier to assimilate, and the nutritive qualities will be improved for either laying or growing fowls.

Never mind what people say to the contrary: fowls —even when laying—can be, and often are, overfed. Fowls are naturally greedy, and because they seem to want more , food l —between meals—just because they see you approaching their pen, don’t jump to the conclusion that they are starving. If you take no notice they will soon make themselves contented until the next meal. These good-laying pullets which you are told you cannot overfeed will soon go lazy on the laying if you pamper them. Watch your fowls, and see that all are satisfied at each meal, and if you bavo a scratching shed strewn with deep litter see that there is always some grain deep down for them to scratch for. If they don’t scratch for it they don’t want it, ■ and so long as they do scratch for it there is no danger of their being overfed. Never leave soft mash in the run after the fowls have had their fill.

A well-known lecturer on poultry culture once said; “Of the,races of poultry we know much;'of the forces involved in breeding we understand little. You cannot smoke looks. Not the visible, but the invisible, are' determining factors. The field for research and investigation appears to have no horizon.. It may be that the quest in some directions is what has been described by Signor Marconi—viz., ‘the attempt to express one-third as a decimal fraction.’ It is never ending. Yet upon finding, if that be possible, solutions for many difficulties - depends the future of all stock-breeding for supply of human food.” Those who rely so much upon external indications will be well advised to note that the scientific investigator is satisfied that " not the visible, but the invisible, are'determining factors.” An English fancier suggests the follow-ing-as an easy method of preparing the hot mash for'the early morning feed:— “Get a wooden pail from the grocer’s, paste three or four layers of thick brown paper outside. Cut a'piece of wood round to fit the top, paste paper over tills also; get a half-gallon stone bottle and < a good sound oork to fit. In the evening boil up all the household scraps,. potato and an puion, and a teaspoon-

ful of pure mustard; mash it all up, adding sufficient bran and middlings for your number of fowls. Just before ’going to bed fill your stono bottle with hot water, cork and tio it down; stand it in the centre of the wooden pra.il, and put the mash all round the bottle; put the top on, cover, tho whole all over with a sack, and when you get ,up in the morning you will find it hot and ready to put into the trough. _ If it is not quite slack enough, put a littlo of the hot water out of the bottle; it does not take two ticks to give it to tho fowls. Result, eggs galore.” The following is claimed to be a sure cure for egg-binding:—lf one tablespoonful of warm common treacle is given to hens that are egg-bound there will be no more trouble. I have seen a hen eggbound four days which has passed her egg two hours after this treatment. It is also a great help to young birds to put a little m their soft food, say once a week, when commencing to lay. Leading pens Southland egg-laying competition, sixteenth week, ended August 3 1922:—Single pens; Andrew Love, W.L.! 95; Wm. Thomson, W.L., 93; S. A. Fairweather, W.R 90; Alex. .Provan. W.L nr ; T ? cin vX-R-, 89; Chas. Thomson’ W. L., 88. Ducks: J. C. Wilson, 1.R., B 6 D e ? 3 ea *’ 80; Alex. Peat,