POULTRY NOTES

Evening Star, Issue 18140, 2 December 1922, Page 15

POULTRY NOTES

[Bx UTILITY-FANCY,]

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

ANSWER TO CORRESPONDENT,

“M.C.”—You will find a. paragraph in this week's notes 'respecting the feeding value of malt combings.

As a general tiling fowls, which have the biggest combs are the best layers. Ine birds with small combs are, as a rule, inferior layers. This is true of all breeds. Of course, by “big” comb is meant big for tho breed, aiid by "small" comb email for the breed l . AH the same, the breeds which carry the largest combs (the Mediterraneans) are tho laying breeds, and those with small combs are tho dual purpose ami heavy breeds. What at more, by the appearance of tho comb you can- generally tell whether tho bird is in laying condition. The longer you make the breeding of poultry an intelligent study tho more you will realise how little you knew at a time in your early experience when you imagined you knew about all there was to learn. The fellow who ridicules “fooling away time with poultry” is related 1 to the man who —to use an Americanism “sits around the stove at the grocery -and tells his listeners how to run the country _ and settle tho great economic questions of the day.” The- “fool killer” still has plenty o£ work to do. Renew one-half of your stock of laying birds each year, marking the left legs of Hiose hatched this year and the right legs of next- year birds, so ns to distinguish their ages. Al’tov the second laying seaeon they do not, as a rule, pay as layers, and should be disposed of; oven in the second laying season they Iny considerably fewer eggs than in- the first. Roup and Catarrh. —The following treatment is highly spoken of in England: Isolate all affected birds. Bathe eyes, nose, and mouth, so as to remove all discharge ; swab the throat with listerine lotion, andl paint the throat and any affected spots twice daily. For the swab ; Listerine, one teaspoonful (one drachm); warm water, one table-spoonful (four drachms); or you may uso glycothymoline of the same strength; use either far bathing also. The painting mixture is poisonous, and is as follows: —Liq. hydrarg percldor, 2 drachms; add carbolic liq., 10 minims; tincture iodi., drachm; glycerine, to 2oz. In the drinking water to each half-pint add 1 drachm (one _ teaspoonful) liq. amnion, ace teat. _ lids is more for use if the bird is feverish, --Pneumonia, (Inflammation of the Lungs).— Like roup, this is also prevalent just now, especially among the- young stock. This is largely due to tho changeable and cold snaps of weather. Tho symptoms -arc gasping, panting for breath, rapid breathing, neck outstretched. Keep in a warm room, protected' from .draughts. Give every two hours two drops of B.P. tincture of aconite and eight to ten grains nitrate of potash in two tablespoonfuls of warm water, or three drops of -ipecacuanha wine in two teaspoon fills of warm water every hour until -relieved. Feed on warm bread and milk. —Bronchitis. — Symptoms.—Dry catchy cough, quickened- breathing, whistling or rattling sound. Treatment. —Hold the head over the steam from a boiling kettle; add a little terebene to tho water. Eucalyptus oil or friar’s balsam added to tho -boiling water is also excellent. Give four or five drops of ipecacuanha wine every three hours. At night give a teaspoonful of warm olive oil. The ■ idle boy gets into ■ mischief. So does the idle hen. If fowls are confined in a small run give them something to do. Throw grain into loose litter, and make them ■ scratch for it. I o “ make them scratch for the -gram you must bury' it in deep litter, and see that they are not overfed at meal times. Square ,pena (for fowl's keep cleaner than long narrow ones, as in the latter the fowls trail up and down too much. It is worth tho extra cost to put two runs to oach home, so that -they can be rested alternately. Fowls like a change of pasture, and everyone who keeps poultry’ must have noticed how eager they are to get at the green fresh grass just outside the poultry yard gate in preference to the grass within t-heir own pen, and- which has been soiled 1 and tramped on by themselves.

It is said that basic, slag—one ton per acre per annum—will keep grass runs perfectly clean. The lime in the slag sweetens the soil, the -phosphates unite ■with the excess ofnitrogen in the poultry dung, and causes it to expend itself in a growth of finest herbage. Without phosphate it is impossible to keep clover m a pou'ltrv run, and green clover is the best green food known. On these heavily - manured- plots it grows even in winter. Night is the best time to catch tow Is. They° are easily caught on the perches. Sometimes, however, they have to be caught in tho daytime, which becomes quite a task if the flock has considerable liberty. Running a Marathon about the premises is a poor practice hard on tho birds and hard 1 on the poultryman. A catching hook should be provided for these emergencies. It consists of a wooden handle about three feet long, to which is added, a length of stout wire projecting about two feet from the end of the stock, making the device five feet oyer all. Iho free end of the wire is bent in the shape of a tapered hook, tho aim of which is to pinion the fowl’s shank. Use hard wire for the hook—wire that will retain its shape. Soft wire bends too quickly, bee that there are no sharp places in the hook that might injure the fowl’s shank. With a little practice a great deal of dexterity can be gained in the use of this contrivance. This hook for _ catching fowls is no new idea. I saw it used first quite thirty years back with great success. It is generally used, most successfully at feeding time.' Whilst the birds are_ busy picking up the grain it is easy to slip the hook along tho ground and then raise it around tho upper part of tho leg of an unsuspecting fowl. A slight puil towards you. and the fowl is helpless. This is a far better plan thaw chasing not only tho bird you want to catch, bub also several of. the other birds, which will persist in keeping it company; and, of course, frightening the birds puts them off the lay. Build the cement floor of the hen house —it you desire to have one made—on a six to ten inch layer of coarse stones, and it will aid in keeping tlhe surface dry. Dampness is fata! to hens. If you provide plenty of htter for confined birds to scratch in there will be little, if any, sickness among them. Boiled minced, and mixed with bran and pollard, are a lino thing for fowls. It keeps them in good condition, and they will not got too fat. A poultry keener is a person who keeps fowls without knowing anything about them. A poultry breeder is a person who breeds fowls and. wbo makes a study oi them, always striving to produce bettor and bettor birds. If you would hko to be a breeder yon must start off with two things firmly fixed; in your mind. One is to breed only from birds which are typical of their standard, and the other to breed only from the liens that lay two-ounoe eggs. Hens are at their best for breeding in their second and third season. Male birds are at their best when from twelve months to three years old. When you are saving seed for next year's gardening operations you take them from tho best blooms. Well, it should bo tho same in poultry-breeding. Use only the best for the purpose of reproduction. Vent Gleet, Etc.—“ Breeder,” an Australian poultry scribe, writing on this subject, says: On practically every large plant there are during tho course of a year several cases of vent gleet. Dinsley, in England, claimed some years ngo to have isolated a micro-organism which he said caused the trouble.' He also claimed that vent'gleet wjs,, practical P&

venereal disease. In Australia observations show that there is another cause of this objectionable trouble —viz., coccidiosis. Years ago such cases were termed " diabotea ”of the fowl. Wherever there is a discharge from tho vent, and_ from whatever cause, conditions soon arise favorable to invasion by'various bacteria, especially tho common organisms classed as filth bacteria. Tho continued discharge has mi acid reaction, and causes external sores, which soon become contaminated, and the result is soon beyond effective treatment. Tho trouble may exist for some time unsuspected. Where tho birds have a good dust bath tho trouble is sooner noticed, as tho feathers and fluff round the vent soon become stained. An examination will show the cause. The usual remedy is first tho axe, then cremation. Vent gleet, when external, can bo cured with iodoform dressings, but when due to ovarian trouble is incurable. Moreover, eggs laid by such hona are useless for breeding, and the disease spreads through tho droppings.^ Keep your chickens growing. Keep them on short grass, if possible, and you will never have them troubled with cropbound, as you maj have when feeding on long grass. Feed meat not more than twice a week to layers, or green bone as a change. Do not expect late-hatched to bo good winter layers, and do not expect them to lay well an the winter if hatched too early, as they are very apt to moult in the late autumn after laying a few eggs, and will not lay again 'until in lull feather.

Note that tho foregoing paragraph docs not ignore tiro current idea that tho into monitors are the best layers. It refers to late-batched pullets only. To those mho keep their birds xn confined runs; Be careful as to soaring the birds. Strange dogs, cats, or even your next-door neighbor going among tho hens when in confinement will affect tho layer's detrimentally. A change of pens, removing a lien from one pen to another, will cause a cessation of laying for a time. Change tho position of your neats, and it has the same effect. Introduce a strange male bird, and you will notice tho reduced number of eggs. Any change and every change should be guarded against. A good-sized hen’s egg should weigh at least 20/. It is composed of water 65 parts (an indication that pure, clean water should bo given as often as possible), albumen 25 parts, shell andi mineral matter 10 parts. The shell, of the egg is composed principally of carbonate and phosphate of lime. The egg itself, containing, in addition to tho albmen, sulphur, oil, phosphorus, and iron, is generally admitted to be the most concentrated of all foods; but' tho quality, of course, largely depends upon the diet given and tho fowl’s general hill of fare, including green foods, which are so important. Health, productiveness, quantity, and quality of the egg are consequent on a regular supply of vegetables in some form. The ovian organs cannot work satisfactorily if deprived of essential egg-produc-ing elements contained in a well-balanced diet, in which vegetable matter should bo 25 to 40 per cent., to supply the mineral salts that purify the ba>od, tone tho system, and keep the ovules well supplied for egg-producting. Perhaps many fanciers do not know the value of alum as a disinfectant and vermin killer. Used either alone, dusted in any corners of tho fowlhouses, or placed' in the lirnewash, it will be found an excellent vermin killer. You can dust tho sitting hens with it to keep them free from lice, etc. When using it for limowash, three or four spoonfuls to one bucket of limewash, will be quite enough. At the Tasmanian egg-laying competition some pens are fed on wet mvash and others on dry mash, and they are respectively made up according to the recommendation of. the Live Stock Department as follows:—Wet Mash: Six parts bran, four parts wheat pollard, two parts ground oats, three parts oaten pollard, one part pea meal, all by measure. To this was added 3oz salt for 100 birds, and Mb brown sugar was mixed with the mash twice a week. Dry Mash: One and a-half parts bran, half part ground oats, one part wheat pollard, three-quarters part oaten pollard, half part pea meal, all by measure. About 1 per cent, of brown sugar is added. In adition to the meal mixtures given, animal food if. used ; this may consist of boiled liver (both soup and liver being used) or moat meal. Milk is also advised, and hero again is what the export says: “A. very good form of animal food is skim milk, the value of which for fowls is not generally known. There is something in milk which cannot bo explained by chemical analysis that makes it suit all animals, mud,Howls thrive on it.”

Tho value of malt culms or combings is being slowly recognised as a nutritive food. This material provides the clement* for feeding in proper proportions. An analysis shows flesh-formers 23.2, heat and energy producers 48.5, salts and minerals 5.7, fat 1.7; and it assists the assimilation of other foods by reason of the maltin,- vyhich changes starch into sugar, and so aids digestion. The malt culma,, it should be explained, aro produced, from barloy in the process of its conversion into malt. The grain is made to sprout or germinate by being placed in large cisterns, where it remains about two daya, absorbing a largo quantity of water and swelling considerably. Under the heating process the slender rootlet of the seed 1 mates its appearance, and with the completion of malting the combs or culms are removed and form a valuable food. When properly sprouted, ordinary oats will increase four times in bulk, which on . the score of economy deserves consideration. The oats have only to ho placed in a shallow vessel or box and soaked in lukewarm water for about a day, being sprinkled daily (after the water has been drained off) with lukewarm water, all surplus moisture being allowed to escape. At the end of»a week in warm weather the oate will sprout, and should be spread out in a shallow box and kept_ moist untU the green shoots are 2in or Sin long. After drying they should be chopped up arid fed. One feed daily will suffice, and for chicken feeding it is of great value and a most convenient form of giving nutriment, the younger birds thriving wonderfully on it.