POULTRY NOTES

Evening Star, Issue 19002, 25 July 1925, Page 12

POULTRY NOTES

[By UTILITY-FANCY.]

** W.G.”—T think the reason _ wliy the hen is laying bad-tasted eggs is because it is suffering from liver trouble. Give Glaubers salts or a liver pill and plenty of green feed, and stop feeding grain for a week at least. If with this treatment the eggs continue to taste bad. then it will bo as well to dispose of the lien.

The chicken season is nearly on ns, and the problems it brings will have to bo faced. Many will bo operating incubators for the first time, and others will be hoping for more success in hatching than they had last year. Under the circumstances novices and nearnovices will 111 wise if they study ton points on the operation of an incubator—viz.,

1. A Sanitary Incubator.—See that the incubator is in good sanitary condition. 2. Thermometers.—Test ah thermometers before starting the --eason. and again later on. it dues not follow that because a thermometer is tine one season it will remain so. The instruments are liable to get out of order; heme the necessity lor frequent testings. 'Where a number of thermometers arc in use they may be put into a ios.se! of warm water at, say, about lOGdog Fall., and allowed to remain in it until the temperature recedes a few degrees; if there is .any discrepancy in the temperature registered it will, of course, be necessary to Jiml out which are right and which are wrong. If among the number there ire only one or two showing variations from the rest, it can generally be concluded that the minority an wrong. However, the safer plan is to procure a lested thermometer with which to compare tiic others.

3 Starting the Hatch. —When starting an incabato! the 'temperature should bo got up to, r.ncl •.ainlnincd at, 103cleg for at least _ twel/o hours before the eggs are put in. When the eggs are put in the temperature will fail, and it is best to allow a'-out another twelve hours For the heat to rise to 102, at which point the incubator should he regulated to run steady, it is a mistake to raiso the temperature too fast. Jf a lamp machine is in use the lamp should be kept quite clean and the wick free from incrustation.

4 Eggs.—Fresh eggs under a week old, and from physically strong stock, are , necessary to eus ire successful hatching. 5. Operating.—Before starting the incubator see that the regulating device is in perfect working order, 1 and that the bulb of the thermometer stands just clear of the eggs, or not more than half on inch above them.

G. Temperature.—Bring the temperature in the incubator up to Ju2deg; this suould be raised another degree as the hatch progresses. Between lOi’deg and 103 deg is the best temperature to run at, leaning to the high bide towards the end of tlie hatch. When the first egg is seen to be chipped, which may occur on the nineteenth day if the eggs bo fresh, let the temperature run up to lOldeg to 105-leg until ihe hatch is finished. For these temperatures the bulb of the thermometer should stand just clear of the eggs; half an inch above is a good position. 7. Turning.—Commence to turn the eggs when they have been in the machine thirty-six hours, and turn them at least twice daily up to the ninth day; once per day afterwards is all that Vs absolutely necessary. Each time, the. eggs are turned move the relative position from middle to side and vice versa. Stop turning when the first egg is seen to be chipped 8. Testing.—The eggs should bo tested about the sixth day; at that time even a novice can generally pick out the infertile eggs with a good tester.

9. Cooling.—Commence cooling the eggs for a few minutes once per day after the sixth day, and gradually increase the time of cooling as the hatch progresses—first to ten mimr.es, then to fifteen, minutes, and up to twenty or even thirty minutes, according to the temperature of the room. But eggs should not bo cooled lor thirty minutes as a regular tiling or too often. Cooling should be stopped when the first egg is chipped. 10. Ventilation.—Little if any ventilation is required up to tlie time of commencing to cool, about the sixth day. A gradual amount of ventilation may then be allowed up to the time the" first egg is chipped, when the ventilators are better nearly closed Most incubators are ovcr-vontilat-.d. Experience proves that applied moisture is unnecessary, and in many cases harmful, and most large operators dispense with it altogether.

In order to get the most out of your chicks there are three things which must be avoided. They are the dangers connected with the brooding period .—viz., chilling, which causes the chicks to crowd and bring on digestive disorders and pronounced diarrhcea which weakens them and causes a gradual mortality; then there is overheating, which likewise weakens the chicks, lowers their vitality, and checks their rugged growth, and practically makes hothouse animals out of them ; lastly, there is overfeeding, which _ is responsible for much of the digestive i troubles of the chicks. Keep the chicks I hungry and active, and you will overcome this problem. Foul, dirty water should be avoided in the brooder-house at all costs, and ■only vessels should be used that are non-upsetable, and of a pattern that makes it difficult for the chickens* to step into. Fowl water inevitably leads to bowel ironble, and water on the floor causes balled toes. Good sound ’broad bran has a very great feeding value, apart from the ac- i tual food it contains, for what may be i called its mechanical action. Besides giving necessary bulk it divides the finer and more expensive meals, and so exposes them more fully to the digestive process. A mash compound of one part (by weight) bran to four parts ground oats, or barley meal, or of equal parts of bran and pollard, is more thoroughly digested and in every way more economical than one of an meal or all pollard. . “Select eggs carefully for incubation. It never pays to set eggs just to fill the incubator,” says Noel Hall, of the Missouri State Poultry Experiment Station, Mountain Grove. “It is better to set only half the capacity and ' have good eggs than to set the whole i machine and nave half of the eggs to i produce good, strong chicks. The eggo ■ ior matching should be selected carefully as they are gathered, as only IQ to 80 per cent, of the eggs from the average flock are fit for incubation. Only normal eggs in both shape and color should be used. Standard sggs or eggs weighing 240 z to 260 z to the dozen will give best results. All abnormally large or small eggs should be discarded. Eggs that aie poorly shaped, rough shelled, or eggs that have large ridges in the shells, should not be used. Eggs with extremely porous shells seldom hatch, so also should be discarded. It is best ( to select only clean eggs for hatching Keep plenty of good, clean nests and there will be very few dirties. . Dead in Shell. —A lot has been said and written anent the necessity of protiding ventilation and moisture in the to the lack of either

■ —Black Orpingtons.— Rogers and Thomson 34 67 6 401 H. W. Beck ... 25 54 1 276 SINGLE HEX STANDARD TEST (For Light and Heavy Breeds). —"White Leghorns.—

LIGHT BREEDS SINGLE HEN CONTEST. (Three birds, same owner)

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or both is frequently attributed ‘‘ dead in shell ” —i.e., the failure of apparently strong, well-developed chickens to hatch out. I am not going to endorse the opinion of Mr S. Gordon, of New South Wales, in this connection. He may be right or ho may _ be wrong. Eight no doubt ho is in his own locution, and with the make of incubator he favors; also with the care and attention in all other respects ho gives during the throe weeks of incubation; but whether in other locations or with other makes of incubator or with less experience in manipulating machines | or in the selection of eggs others would bo as successful without atton- 1 turn to ventilation and moisture is an- j other matter. However, I hand on the | following on the subject of “ dead in i shell ” as I take it from an Australian ! contemporary : “ From time to time the . ‘ dead in shell problem ’ is discussed, | and although various methods of overcoming trouble have been advocated none of them has proved absolutely reliable. Mr S. Gordon, of New South Wales, is the latest poultrykceper who claims to have solved the difficulty. In an interview with ‘The Scout 1 (Poultry), Mr Gordon said although all previous cll'orls by incubator builders had failed to overcome ‘ dead in shell,’ ho disposed of it long ago. He added that trouble was caused by the accumulation of carbon dioxide, caused by moisture being admitted into the egg trays. Eggs, ho said, should be hatched without any ventilation whatever. Letting air into the machine made the shell hard, and the chicks thus became imprisoned. There must be absolutely no moisture cither in the machine or on the floors. Mr Gordon mentioned that he obtained up to 90 per cent, in hatching.” Chickens in a house with glass windows keep warm, but it is not everybody who knows that ordinary glass prevents necessary and valuable elements from reaching the chickens. That is to say, chiskens which are exposed to the direct rays of the sun will come on and do better than those that have a sheet of glass between'them and the sun. Therefore, it is a, wise plan to so fix the glass windows that on sunny days they may bo slid back, so that the chicks within the house 'may come in direct contact with the sun. The glass houses are necessary, of course, as they keep the chicks warm on the cold clays, hut it is the direct exposure to the sun’s rays which they cannot do without if they arc to do well and repay their owner lor the time and money expended on them. Ton know that tomatoes raised in glasshouses in the winter look nice ami red, but they no not contain'the vitalising properties possessed by the fruit that comes later and is grown outside in the sun. it’s the same way with chickens; so while they are iti the glasshouses see that the windows arc so fixed that they can be moved and the chickens bo able to ifiove about and lie around with nothing between them and the sun. Get this: no living animal can do well unless it is frequently exposed to the direct rays of the sun. That is why grapes, peaches, apricots, etc., have valuable food properties—so to speak they contain the sunshine. And—yes, we must get this in—as tomatoes grown out in the open, in the sun, contain great vitalising properties, they are fine things to Iced to fowls that arc slack and nm down. You want to know more about those glasshouses? Well, the trouble is that the glass of the windows filters the ultra-violet rays out of the sunshine passing through them, so that the rays do not reach the clucks. In an experiment made at an American college the deficiency was made good by giving the chicks a bath of ultra-violet rays for fifteen minutes daily from a CooperHewitt mercury vapor arc lamp, enclosed in a tube of fused quartz, and suspended over the pens. The fused quartz permitted the passage of the ultra-violet rays generated by the lamp. .In the result it was found that in ten weeks those receiving the ultraviolet treatment attained a bony growth equal to that gained in twelve weeks by the chicks reared under sunlight. But it was found that the chicks in the glasshouses which got the sun’s rays through the glass did very badly—in fact, “inost of them were unable to stand, and died unless a change in their living conditions was made.” So, there it is—the chicks under ordinary glass do badly, because the glass filters the ultra-violet rays out of the sunshine passing through it; the chicfis directly exposed to the sun do well, and tho chicks in a house which are given a bath of ultra-violet rays for fifteen minutes daily do best of all. Hence it should come about in duo time in Australia that the violet rays treatment will, be adopted by those persons who want quicker growth on the part of their chickens. To the foregoing 1 may add that, according to an article in tho ‘ American Poultry Journal,’ cello glass, which is really not glass, but a substitute for glass, allows ultra-violet rays to pass through perfectly. Messrs Laidlaw and Gray, of Rattray street, have imported cello glass from America, and it is being used both for hothouses and as a substitute for glass in poultryhouse windows. It can be cut to any size, and nailed into place just as cvi ordinary felting. PAPANUI EGG-LAYING COMPETITION. Leading pons, fourteenth week, ended July 11 (ninety-eight days).

SINGLE DUCK CONTEST (Three birds, same owner). —lndian Runners.— H. P. Slater, No. 2- 87 L. B. Mouncell, No. 1 84 J. G. Grcenslade, No. 3 ... ... 81 J. G. Grcenslade, No. 4 81 H. P. Slater, No. 3 76 FLOCK TEAM (Six ducks). —lndian Runners.— Week’s Eggs. Tl. H. W. Beck 41 424 11, A. Dawber 40 3-8

FLOCK TEAMS (Six birds). —White Leghorns.— Week’s Weight, Eggs. oz. dr. Tl. W. E. Ward ... 41 65 0 405 M. C. Craig ... 24 5i n 332 G. H. Bradford .3.4 67 14 373 E. Soque 22 47 8 460 Green Bros. 20 54 1 466

Week’s Weight, Bggs . oz dr. TI w. Nowall 7 ■ 14 3 81 G. H. Bradford 6 12 14 74 Green Bros. 5 10 4 73 J. Biggins 6 13 10 73 W. Burrell 5 10 0 72 J. Liggins 3 7 4 71 —Black Orping tons.— H. W. Beck .. 7 14 1 58 T. Bond 0 0 0 52

Light Breeds. H. Williams, No. 2 11. 91 H. A. Dawber, No. 2 79 C. H. Izard, No. 3 79 J. Liggins, No. 2 Miss M. White, No. 1 ... 77 73 H. A. Dawber, No. 1 ... ... ... 75 G. Betteridge, No. 3 ...• 75 Heavy Breeds. C. Bennett, W.W., No. 1 85 C. Bennett, W.W., No. 2 78 Hopkins and Stevenson, B.O. No. ### ,,, 7b Eoacrs and Thomson. B.O. No. 1 75