POULTRY NOTES

Evening Star, Issue 19050, 19 September 1925, Page 19

POULTRY NOTES

[By umirr-raKCr.]

At a meeting of the Dunedin Utility Poultry Club held on the 10th host. the -secretary was requested to write to scribes of poultry columns up north to 'notify fanciers, in the event of their coming to Dunedin for the Exhibition, that the club would do its best to entertain them. This sounds to me very nice —“ sporty ”as between those with identical interests. Nothing will tend to build up the fancy and industry 'more than such evidences of fellowship. I may add that should any scribe or secretary fail to get a direct notification of the desire of the Dunedin Poultry Club in this connection, they may safely regard the intimation herein Contained as official.

stead of looking miserable—alone in a corner, with ruffled feathers, darkening comb, and lustreless eyes—-could oiuj explain that there v;as a feeling of dizziness, pain in the stomach, over tiio heart, or in the neighborhood of the lungs, it would be a help. As a rule I hare personally learned more by seeing the conditions in which the birds were kept—the state of the run or house, the condition of the water vessels, or the nature or quality of the food supplied. B.W.D. is different front simple white diarrhoea; yet. whether it be “ bacilliary ” or “ white,” it w after all diarrhoea, and whether it he caused by a bacillus or by improper food or foul water it has to be cured, and with regard to both cure and prevention, the following remarks by a Mr Brain (made at tho Poultry Club conference), and his replies to questions, arc, I consider, encouraging, not only m respect to the diseases under consideratiop, but of all others. Mr Brain said there was a tendency to _ pessimismOne needed to be optimistic and look facts full in the face; by doing tins rock-bottom facts were got at. Eor the prevention of disease—after all, prevention was far better than cure—■ w© must look to the constitutional vigor of our birds; tha. industry has not done this. The main consideration with a large number of breeders has been production and _ profits. We bad paid too much attention to the production side, and had not built up the body proportionately. Mr Brain gave it as bis firm opinion that B.W.D. was related to diphtheritic roup. Ho was open to contradiction, but he would make a plea that scientists get to work on that point, and so ascertain whether he was correct in his assumption. As regards roup ; he said that except when it was dry it was not infectious, it was only when cheesy deposits were found in the mouth that roup became infectious. For tho cure of that complaint he did not plead serums. He urged standard equipment for all farms, and good feeding. Mr Brain announced that he had taken charge of Mr Toovey’s farm since the devastating outbreak of roup reported by the latter gentleman. He was in the proud position to say that the farm was now practically clear of disease; the next few days would see a complete clearance. He demonstrated on two birds the host method of detecting the presence of roup. This was don® by placing the forefinger on the righthand side of the neck of the bird and the next finger on the other sideWith the thumb it was then possible to depress the lower portion of the bird’s beak and obtain a full view ot the interior of its mouth and trachea. One of the main points to bring about success when treating roup was to keep the birds feeding. Chlorine _ gas was also necessary to keep the bird's respiratory organs open; fresh air is what is wanted, and the use of this gas would enable the patients to partake of this freely. Mr Skinner asked bow many birds had been lost on Mr '1 covey’s farm since the speaker had taken charge. The reply to this was that up to the present the death rate had been brought down from 100 to three or four per day; on that.day there had. been no deaths, and with the exception of the two birds exhibited the farm was now clear. Mr Hart: “ After having once been cured, will these _ birds got roup again?’’—-“No, there will be no recurrence now.” Dr Everard: “Does Mr Brain use chlorine water or gas?” He (Dr Everard) knew that hundreds upon hundreds of cases of diphtheria bad been cured with chlorine gas. Mr Brain replied that houses and_ coops were subjected to gas for ten minutes. Mr Stevens asked how long a. bird would carry roup, and how soon it was discovered and"treated. The reply was that, it was easy to discover roup. It could be smelt.' Regarding thebroeding of birds that had been subject to roup, many hundreds of birds bad been bred from with no had effects. A Hint.—A a soon as the chickens begin to feather add a little flour of sulphur to the soft food; this will help tho feathers through. Don’t coddle the chickens: get tlmm nut on the grass as soon ns possible, keeping the non in a dry weather-proof coop. If the hen is allowed free range with her family she will tako_ them wandering away after insects till tho little ones are tired out. This is prejudicial to their growth; but if tho hen is cooped and tho coop moved to fresh ground every day the chicks will find plenty of exercise in running in and out and round about the coop. Raise chickens as well as yon may, there are sure to bo a few faulty ones amongst tho pullets, and, of course, there will bo more cockerels than are required. These when half-grown—big enough to kill—will make a good pie. Use the knife freely; keep only the best. The cockerels can be kept till they are full-grown if 'separated entirely from the pullols, and if placed eight or ten in a pen they will agree together; but if once a lien should get among them the harmony and good feeling is gone, and they will set to fighting, and must be at once separated.

The New Zealand Poultry Association will, it is reported, hold a conference in ; Dunedin during the term of the Exhibition, and I hear the punedin Utility Poultry Club has appointed Mr Hanson (president) to represent it at the meetings. The Dunedin Utility Poultry Club has asked Mr Tate and Mr R. Mills to lecture at forthcoming meetings, and in view of the well-known ability of these poultrykeepers to give valuable information it is hoped the attendance will be gooch Dates of meetings will be published in due course. Mrs L. Armstrong, who is building up a poultry farm at Portobello, has had a splendid result from a hatching of duck eggs. On August she purchased from Mr W. Spence, of Palmerston, fifty Indian Runner duck eggs. At the first test two were rejected as infertile, at the second three rejected, the germ having died, and at the last test, seven days before batching,‘ none. The hatch produced forty-four ducklings, and in the remaining egg the duckling had died shortly after the last test. Four days after batching the forty-four ducklings were exceedingly healthy, not a weakling amongst them. ■ The incubator used was a sixty-egg Peerless. I hate to thank Mrs Armstrong for the information she has sent in for the benefit of my readers. The result of her hatch is undoubtedly good, not only for fertility, but also for batching, for, as sho points out, it shows 88 per cent, ■of all eggs, nearly. 92 per rent, of fertile, nearly 98 per cent, of hafcchablc, • and at last test a 100 per cent, hatch. Mr W. Spence, of the Anchorage, Palmerston, reports that he is doing .very well with eggs from both ducks and hens. He is cold-brooding all chicks, and has been so successful with ■that system of brooding that he says ihe would not go back to heated ones ■if they were given to him for nothing. His Leghorns have not more than paid for their keep during the winter months, the R.I. Reds and Mmorcas having beaten them, he sajs, out ol sight. Mr H. L. Sprosen has been asked to act as examiner of Boy Scouts in regard to their poultry badges. Quite a number have already shown up, but all so far hare lamentably failed, not knowing the first essentials of poultry farminc. By laving 123 eggs in 120 days an Indian Runner duck in the Eastern District (Vic.) egg-laying competition, entered by M'Cracken and Mathers, Ims established a new world’s record for the period. _, _ ~ Disease and Its Prevention.— -Poultrykeepers the world over will be interested in any discussions which nia.y take place at the meetings of the National Poultry Parliament in England, when diseases, their prevention and cure, ore dealt with; but practical men and women interested pi poultry keeping as an industry will, I think, agree with the newly-elected president, Mr Olem Watson, who in his presidential address said: “It looked as though, science would soon land the industry into a pretty nice hole. Ho did not want to say too much, hut ho thought that there was a tendency for the scientists to be rather premature in their conclusions. It was not his businessto say whether those conclusions wore right or wrong, but many of the statements that were being published, particularly with | regard to B.W.D. and coceidiosis, were, having most unfortunate reactions on the. industry ns a whole. It was essential in any industry to know exactly where thev stood, and at the present time, thanks largely to the claims made bv scientists, it was almost impossible to know exactly where they were, particularly as regards to the vendor s liability for eggs and chicks. He inade no complaint against scientists, but ho did ask that no conclusions should bo broadcasted until the matter was bevond all reasonable doubt.’ M o do not, ■fortunately, bear of bacilliary white .diarrhoea, designated for short, 8.W.D., or of coceidiosis, in New Zealand. *>® learn, however, that B.W.D. is due to onlv one cause—viz., the presence of tho bacillus pul lor cm, and is spread inainly bv eggs from carrier hens. Ihe bacillus mav also, wo are penetrate oggs which in their turn might become carriers. As regards symptoms, Major 'Saunders, one of the members, said: “ Often birds would die without snowing anv svmptoms whatever. In most cases. B.W.D. was accompanied by symptoms that are common to all birds, tho chief of which were huddling in corners, open plumage, leg weakness, diarrhrea. and pasted vent. Symptoms were not diagnostic: post-mortems were not to be relied upon. In some cases congestion of the lungs and liver, and pneumonia were the only symptoms present. It was quite easy to trip up oyer B-VV.IJ. ,and other diseases. Tie thought the 'aoMutiuation test quite useful. A great deal had ben eafd in favor and otherwise of mercury bi-chloride. In America this was very popular. It was said to be injurious, but be had never seen bad results from its use. Ho tiiougat if no good it certainly did no aarm. Prevention is better than cure, and it was up to all to do their bit hv trio immediate destruction of all proved carriers. These birds were the worst source of infection, and all flocks should ■be subjected, to the agglutination test. Other means of prevention was to disinfect thoroughly all incubators belore use; no matter ■whether disease is suspected or otherwise this must be done. Clean all trays and pay particular attention to all vessels; floors of bouses wore favorite spots for geafma Disinfect them and get to the root of tho .'trouble. Whatever was done mns., be thorough. He agreed that the smaller the unit the bettor, as the a fleeted birds were easily got at. and the disease would not spread far. Respecting coocidiosis, be thought this disease was ranch worse than B.W.D. Ho found it was more prevalent ns tho season wove on. Seldom were cases mot with carlo in the season. With B.W.D. tilings were just the opposite. Coceidiosis was brought about by a microscopical animal parasite. It was not a gem in tho sense that B.W.D. was; the parasites raided the intestinal walls and produced great inflammation and ulcers. The parasites may find their way into tl\o ovary, so nffect the esgs that are ultimately batched from the bird producing them. Most birds were subject to coceidiosis. both wild and domestic. Tho former wore responsible for spreading tho trouble over wido areas. Symptoms of coceidiosis wore similar to those of 8.W.D., with the addition of blood in tho excrement and more frequent diarrhoea.’’ As regards symptoms of disease, it is very difficult to say what is wrong with a bird by the symptoms alone, for the symptoms of several 1 diseases are much alike. If a bird in-

PAPANUT EGG-LAYING COMPETITION. Leading pens, 22nd week, ended September 5 (1&4 days). FLOCK TEAMS CONTEST (Six birds). —White Leghorns

SINGLE HEN STANDARD TEST (For Light and Heavy Breeds). —White Leghorns.—

LIGHT BREEDS SINGLE HEN CONTEST (Throe birds, same owner), -—White Leghorns.— Tl. H. Williams, No. 2 H. A. Daw her, No. 2 121 0. H. Izard, No. 3 J. Higgins, No. 3 ... —•— H. Williams, No. S Miss M. White, No. 1 .« - 120 SINGLE HEN CONTEST (Three birds same owner, restricted to certain breeds). —Heavy Breeds.— Tl. C. Bennett, W.W., No. 1 .„ _ 33i C. Bennett, W.W., No. 3 ... 126 Hopkins and Sevenson, 8.0., No. 1 121 H. Williams, 8.0., No. 1 ..._ ... 119 Rogers and Thomson, 8.0., No. 1 117 Hopkins and Sevenson, 8.0., No. S ILL

Contribuifan® eafljpte tor mnmOag d»aH U StoslizY Edsto*T*Bw’ Office, cad received ao4 later than Tuesday of each -weak. wfflflfflly answer oomnnmicatiow through this ootean. turn* be handed fa to ® Friday. \

SINGLE DUCK CONTEST (Three birds, same owner;. —lndian Runners.—* Tl. L. B. Maunsoll, No. 1 140 J. 6. Greenslade, No. 3 —. 130 J. W. Thomson, No. 2 R. W. Hawke, No, 1 - - 126 J. W. Thomson, No. 1 ... L. B. Maumell, No. 3 ... ... 117 FLOCK TEAM (Six ducks). —lndian Runners. — Week’s Eggs. Tl. H. W. Beck ™ - 40 747 H. A. Dawber

Week’s Wol-lit, Eggs. oz, dr. Tl. W. E. Ward „. 36 75 14 665 M. C. Craig ... .35 73 4 625 G. H. Bradford 30 63 n 616 Galdor Bros. ... 34, 71 0 609 Green Bros 32 69 7 606 J. Liggins -- 34 75 0 603 ■ —Heavy Breeds.— Tlogers and Thomson, B.O. ... 34 69 13 651 11. W. Bonk, B.O. 84 74 12 612 P. Bailey, R.T.R. 31 64 10 497

Week’s Weight, •KgKS. 07j. dr. T1. W. Ken a 11 7 IP. 10 129 G. H. Bradford... 5 ;n n 119 J. Biggins 5 11 9 116 Green Bros.... 0 12 13 114 W. Barrel! ... —. 5 11 7 11-3 J. Liggins 5 12 6 109 ■—Heavy Breeds.— H. W. Beck. B.O. 7 14 9 m G. W. Black, B.O. 6 12 10 94 G. Bonnet, W.W. 6 13 9 S2