POULTRY NOTES

Evening Star, Issue 18173, 13 January 1923, Page 16

POULTRY NOTES

[By UTILITY-FANCY.]

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

Experience is of more value than, capital in poultry-ruleing. It is no easier to keep poultry than to keep other stock, as labor and proper management must bo used to merit success. Less capital may bo required in poultry, but it must bo judiciously expended, or loss can result as easily as from, any other source. When fowls take to eating feathers or plucking each other’s flesh it is a sm» sign that they arc in a, very pampered or diseased statu. Improper feeding has a lot to dp with it, meaning that which is of too .stimulating and. healing a character, such as a diet of oatmeal only, potatoes, rice, too much meat, maize or the absence of green food. Their blood has become heated and feverish', and tho one tiling that ia nearest to what they desire is feathers. Of course there ia no nourishment iu feathers, and if tho birds bo not at once prevented from partaking of such delicacies they will become deranged and die if they bo nob so denuded Unit cold carries them off. Tho thing is to give stuff to cool the bleu,., and to a certain extent a change of diet will accomplish this cud. Abundance of succulent food, such as grass in sods with plenty of mould, weeds from tho garden, and, in fact, any green food nulled from tho earth and. given fresh, will bo found extremely beneficial. Flowers of sulphur has been much need as a medicine for feather-eating birds, and with success. Tho quantity 5 three tablespoonfnls with enough soft food for twenty-four fowls daily. If this scours them reduce the quantity or give it every second day. Remember, however, that sulphur opens tho pores of tho akin, and if care be not exercised in its uso tho fowls may catch cold. Another very excellent remedy is to give liquid sulphur prepared as follows;—Put three or four largo lumps of fresh burnt lime, the size of <’ggs,_ into an iron put, slake the. lime with boding wider, then Mir inlu the lime about 6nz of I lowers uf sulphur and guuiiiai:y In u_ squans of boiling water, stirring all Hie lime; then boil gently for an hour or so; pour off the clear liquid (which will be tli© color of dark brandy), bottle, and cork well. A second boiling may bo made with fresh water, but the liquid will not be so strong. A tablespoonful of the liquid to every sit hens put into tho water for_ mixing the meal ia the best way to give it. Given daily or twice a week, it will keep tho fowls’ plumage in good condition and soon put a stop to feathereating. Tho mixture should bo kept away flora the dwelling-house, otherwise every time tho cork is removed from tho bottle the whofe house will be filled’ with sulphuric vapor given off from the liquid. Full bottles not iu present uso should be well corked and sealed and kept in a cold place. _ Another fruitful cause of feathereating is to bo found in come parasitic insect burrowing in tho skin and rendering it unhealthy and unfit to support the natural growth of feathers. ]£ it be the result of itch animalcula you will find on thq feathers bordering the denuded place whitish scales. For this disease the following application is recommended:—Flowers of sulphur, two parts; carbonate of potassa, one part; vaseline, eight parte; mix thoroughly and apply with the finger to tho_ bare places a few times. Also give the birds cooling food, as advised in tho foregoing. Mr C. A. House, in his report to 'The Poultry World, ’ (England) on his visit to New Zealand, says, inter alia: “Mr Liggeus is one of New Zealand's progressive poultry farmers. He has about 3,000 birds. White Leghorn.-;, on his four acres, mid so manages them that lie has for several years been a most formidable competitor iu laying competitions, and has a long record of wins to Ids credit. His intensive houses ore 20ft by 16ft, and contain 160 birds._ I should say that in the summer the birds are given a run; thus only in tho winter are they kept on the intensive system. Some of the houses have open wire fronts, only just sufficient wood to keep the litter from being scratched out. _Tlio breeding-houses are 15ft by 15ft, and iq each of theso there aro 120 hens and _ eight cockerels. Tho chicks after coming from the brooder-houses aro kept in colony-houses, each 12ft by lOfk Each season Mr Liggens single-pen teste a number of pullets, and these are used for special breeding purposes. These single pens aro Bft by oft 6in. Tina single-pen testing js a strong feature on many New poultry farms. Commercial egg production is the aim of these breeders, yet they nearly all single-test birds, and many enter the competitions. .“It is not all utility on this farm. Mrs Liggens and Miss Liggens are fanciers. Mrs Liggens baa a very nice lot of Whi tocrested Black Polish which have won the highest honors in the show pen, and little Miss Josephine has won two cups with her Buff Pekins. They are good, so far as New Zealand, is concerned. Mr Liggens is forging ahead, and at tho time of my visit he had fivo more houses in course of conetruotio.ii, which would give him accommodation for a further 750 birds. His hatching capacity is 2,000 eggs, and ho uses hot-water machines. vStoves are used in th.e brooder-houses, which aro later used for pullets. In the egg room all eggs are carefully cleansed and graded before being eont to market.”

The nest conforenco of the New Zealand Poultry Associatioa is to 'be held in Nelson,

According to tha ‘ Nec>v Zealand Poultry Journal ’ tho hist of iho permits to import eggs will have been filled by now. Tho Customs returns show that practically all tho .permits have been applied for that wore granted. This year Auckland imported £BB, AVcdlington, .£0,617, Chrirtc'hurdh £4, ’Dunedin £l, Theic arc tho values in the countries of origin, and represent about £7,000 worth of eggs in local values. Kggs in shell, represent from Canaria 1,200 dozen, China 3,753 dozen. Against eggs in shell there is aio emoargo. Tho Canadian eggs cost, is 6d per dozen. Tho Chinese eggs are 6cl per dozen at -port of shipment. From Canada the eggs co-mo in tho winter, and wore landed in Auckland. Tho Chinese eggs are imported diielly fur Chinese m-e in New Zealand, and .are mostly landed in Wellington, Christchurch having only 150 dozen anid Dunedin twenty dozen. The membership of tho Otago !:lgg Circle has now reached 200. in. the course of a debate at a mceling of the Now Zealand Utilitv Poultry Club Sir W. P. Horn ■gave the commercial value of poultry manure as follows:—Oim bin! will produce 561 b per year; 100 birds will produce 5,6001) or two and a,-half tons; I, birds will produce twenty-five tons; twenty-five tons at £5 per ton, £125. Unless you are, going in for 1 reeding do not keep tho cockerels. Put (hem on '•ho dvning table. Experiments have shown that a cock eats in food each month enough to produce a. dozen eggs if the food were fed to a, good hen. Old rocks and nonproductive Jims eat, but give no return. For breeding purposes half a dozen rocks with five or six dozen hens will produce all the frrlile eggs needed for in. nhalion. Grahami.sms,—Professor W. I!. Graham, of Guelph. Canada, is one of the limiters of the poultry world, pcss;ss.bg a ea.pacil v for putting his views hi a wav Ihai jr, a-rres.l ive. At a ,i r > ■,-n'. meeting of the Ontario Poultry Assoehstiii he imn-h 1-1(0 1. is wori.iiv of reeoi dbg. Here are S'-me of (lies,' : ■ f’non [he one I bn of 11. versus mdi\ideal leoduirioh lie v ;i ;,) : "The a.verage man who wauls to Inc. a eorti r.’l e. i.-hrs lo biiv one from a hen lha! laid oCO eggs; it >die has laid ho "ggs he wards a cockerel i'rmn a hen I'ml laid 366, ,\ohotly wants.to huy a ■■ oekcir! from a, hen that laid legs than 2(X) eggs; they a.re not supposed to be good enough. I might put .100 hens in record of production work, and three would go 225 or 250 eggs, and I might sell a lot of ,;orlrerels on the basis of those hens. Yon might have a lloek average of ten more than me. bin yon have nnl. a 250-egg hen. As la 1, as op"ruling a planl 'or eommenhal i'll s is eoucci'.ned, it is 1 he ave vgi- of hie line!,, the nnndiiT .it i ggs per day. lhal pays the Iced bill. ,i i Imi oim inn

high hens.'’ in respect to the designation of a strain he remarked: ‘‘ To my mind to have a 200-ogg strain tho fluck average must be 200 eggs a year, or, better, for five consecutive years, and i do not think anybody has them.” Foods and Their Values.—A simple analysis for beginners by N. IV. Joergons in ‘ Poultry ’The value of any given food for poultry depends on its suitability —namely, whether it helps towards the end in view for tho particidar fowls ; therefore it is very necessary to have a general idea which food serves which purpose, and why. All foods may Ibe divided into six parts —husk, water, protein, carbohydrates, fats, and mineral salts. These may bo classed .as wet (water) and dry matter. Tho -dry parts may again bo divided into organic matter and mineral salts. The auincral salts are also calk'd “ash,” because they alone will not consume in fire, as the ash. They aro important for fowls, but only from a tiny proportion in any foodstuff. These salts aro phosphoric acid, lime, potash, oxido of iron, etc., all very valuable for bone-forming. Tho organic matter forms the chief bulk of any rood. It is usually separated into three main, groups—(l) protein or tilic nitrogenous group, (2) carbohydrates, (3) fats. (1) Though not as bulky as tho other groups, tins is, perhaps, the most important of them—partly because it is liable to bo overlooked. It is the body-building, flesh-forming, and egg-producing element of tho foods. A certain amount is necessary to maintain life, and nothing will take its place. A superfluity of fats, for instance, will not turn into or replace protein, and if tho supply of protein dwindles below a certain point (it cannot altogether slop as long as feeding continues], then the fowls affected will get thin and weak, having used up their body-building protein on. (heir cg’.i'.-, cud I lion--or perhaps pro- j viously—-they will atop laying, having no further material for tho production of tho egg, wfliiah is chiefly protein. The other two groups aro to a groat extent obvious, whereas the protein as not in many cases; it is also considerably the most expensive clement of feeding—another reason why it is often neglected. It will be- seen that protein must be given freely to laying hens, and must not bo stinted to growing chicks. The former need it for the production of their eggs, and the latter for tissue .and flesh-forming in their process of growth. (2) Carbo-hydrates form by far tho largest part, in bulk, of most foodstuffs. The starches and sugars 'belong to this group, and they supply heat and energy. The mistake often made with them is tho giving of too much rather than too little, for, given to any excess, the carbo-hydrates turn into fat, and the laying and other useful qualities of the birds degenerate—except, of course, in tho case of table fowl, whoso diet consists largely of articles that come under tho heading of this group. (3) Fats, iu which are included oils, come under the third heading. Fate are acids mixed with! glycerine, and are divided into liquid and solid. Both sorts in their commoner forma are well known, tho solid being hard fats like butter, mutton fat, etc., and also the parte Of olive and other oils that congeal in cold weather. Fate are great heatproducers, giving snore (heat than twice tho quantity of protein or carbo-hydrates. In addition, they naturally form fat on the birds, with this curious property i that! tho fat so formed is to a great extent the same as the fat consumed. That is to say, it does not turn into tho fowl, hut remains in. a measure itself, even in the fowl’s body. The other foodstuffs differ from it in this respect; tho fat formed from a superfluity of protein or carbohydrates is the specific fat of_ tho fowl, and docs not resemble the original matter consumed. This lias tho great interest to poultry-keepers that they know what results to expect in point of flavor, consisicacv, etc., from tho giving of any kind of fat in quantity. The most obvious example is linseed oil, which has tho oil cot of making the fat of tho bird oily in consistency, yellow in color, and strong in taste; in otlier words, the fat is not pure fowl fat, but partly linseed oil. Tins is well to remember when fattening on a largo real o : it docs not apply to small quantities given- occasionally; aud good white fata have a beneficial effect on the fat of table birds. Husk or fibre actually forms a fourth group, but as it is by far the least valuable, and given as little as possible to poultry, it need not be dwelt upon.