POULTRY NOTES

Evening Star, Issue 19062, 3 October 1925, Page 23

POULTRY NOTES

[By UTILITY-FANCY

It Is with deep regrot that many readers of these notes will learn of the death of the Hon. C. H. Izard, which occurred early in September in Wellington. He was a vice-president of the Now Zealand Utility Poultry Club, and competed in several tests at Papanui, including the present test, in which he has four teams of three White Leghorns.

with one Old Trusty and one Racine Incubator, each of 200-egg, capacity. His sale of day-old chicks developed from year to year until he was operating forty-five large machines of 400 eggs eacn. Ten years ago he installed the first Mammoth incubator, and three years later sold out the lamp machines altogether,and put in Mammoths. Today the Wyngarden Farm and Hatchery has a capacity of 132,000 eggs each three weeks. The hatchery is now run by Mr Wyngarden and tw'o sons, while the father conducts a poultry supply store in Zeeland, where hatchery men and poultry flock owners can buy the equipment, accessories, shipping boxes, feeds, etc., which they need. As regards fertility, it appears that in March (September in T ew Zealand) the figuring is on a basis of 50 to 60 per cent, April and May (October and November in New Zealand) 70 to 80 per cent hatch. June (December in New' Zealand) drops, and July drops. An average hatch of 65 per cent, covering the entire season is considered pretty good. E. C. Foreman, formerly professor of poultry husbandry at the Michigan College of Agriculture, draw's a salary of £IOO a month. His ability to pick a layer is recognised by all who have kept in touch with the advances in modern judging for production, at least so says the authority I am quoting. This gentleman says: “ I don’t think much of measuring the spread of keel and pelvic bones. Yon find some big, soft, flabby .hens of low intensity. They lay every other day. Hens with a high nervous organisation lay rings around them.” Picking up a bird, he said: “ Look at this head, never still. Hard to get a portrait of such a head to decorate the page of a poultry journal. Always moving and out of focus. The nervous organisation is shown largely in the head. It gives you the speed of your motor every time. Three Don’ts.—Don’t buy cheap stock, don’t buy cheap goods, don’t buy cheap eggs. You can no more expect to build up a good poultry business by cheap methods than you could build a neat and substantial house by cheap and inferior tools and material.

Whateyer the dictionary rendering of the word “poultry” may be—l have not investigated—l imagine it can only | a Pply to domesticated fowls. The original jungle bird would simply be j “ fowl.” Still, the domesticated fowl I is derived from the wild bird of the 1 same variety, and in order that they : may be healthy and vigorous, as well as profitable, the conditions in which I they are kept must bo better—certainly 1 not worse—than Nature alone provided. The wild fowl roosted in trees to bo safe from ground “ vermin ” of every kind, and, consequently, always enjoyed pure air, and, though sometimes exposed to strong winds and barely sheltered from heavy rains, their sur--1 roundings were wholesome. The conditions in which domesticated fowls are housed at night in too many instances are a strong contrast to those which Nature provided. When birds are subjected to dark, unventiiated, damp, draughty sheds, vermin-infested perches,, with the accumulated droppings of weeks vitiating the atmosphere, ought it to bo expected that fowls can be free of disease and be profitable layers of wholesome eggs ? To bo profitable, poultry must enjoy better conditions—not worse—than do wild fowl. Dry, clean, well ventilated roosting places are essential. During spring, summer, autumn, and winter the conditions must bo summer like. , Otherwise sum-mer-like production all the year round, which ail utility poultry-keepers look for, is out of the question. And so it is with feeding. Wild fowls mate and produce young when Nature provides food of the best and most succulent kind in plenty, and at no other season of the year do they do so. To keep domesticated fowls (poultry) laying eggs throughout the year, food similar to what Nature provides for wild fowl during spring and early summer only must be provided at all seasons. And to maintain the constitutions of our poultry and retain them profitable we must “ imitate ” Nature by eliminating from our breeding flocks every bird that is weakly, and “improve” on Nature by perpetuating only those strongly prepotent as producers. A Great Hatchery District.—There are two cities in the United States of America named Holland and Zeeland. They are in the State of Michigan, and between them they possess hatcheries capable of turning out millions of chicks yearly. Last year, it is reported, eight and a-half millions of chicks were despatched from this district. To give some idea of the enormous output—the millions already spoken of are beyond comprehension—an American journal says: “On the main street ns you enter Zeeland is the Wolverine Hatchery, with a capacity of 72,000 eggs every three weeks. Just to the north of the town from the Wolverine is De Vries’s Grandview Farm, with a capacity of 179,000 eggs. On the main street is Wyngarden’s Hatchery, with 182.000 egg capacity. Further up the street is Silver Ward, with 65.000. Behind them is Utility Corporation, with 110,000 eggs, and another hatchery under contract providing a total of 240,000 capacity. On the south street is Superior, with 160,000 capacity. Nearer by is Peerless, with 26.000 at Zeeland, and 40,000 more at Holland. Skirting round the town are the Royal, with 36,000; Town Line, with 40,000; and Great Northern, with 43,000. There are others in this territory almost too numerous to mention. In and around Holland are another lot of hatcheries, but it is needless to describe them in detail.” I gather from a further description of this district’s operations in poultry that the birds chiefly kept are White Leghorns of English type, a little heavier than the American, “possessing,” says the American ‘ Poultry Journal, “a robustness that is not secured •when refinement is carried too far.” The original Tom Barron (England) stock was shipped into the district twelve to fifteen years ago, and proved a good stock for the climate. We have no hatcheries to compare with the mammoths above described in New Zealand, and it is doubtful whether there ever will he; there is warrant, however, for still greater enterprise than has so far been shown, and w'e may bo certain that the mammoths would not be so plentiful In America were it not a fact that they were more economical in use than the smaller incubators. It Is Interesting and Instructive to read of the experience of any progressive and successful business man, and particularly so when the progress is made into “ depths unknown.” Mr D. W. Wyngarden, of Zeeland, was the first man to start hatchery business there. He did not and could not foresee the extent to which it would develop. He started tlventy years ago

The natural food of poultry consists of grains, insects, green forage, and grit, and accordingly in domestication it is reasonable that they should be fed cereal grains and other rffiliing products, such animal feeds as meat meals and skim milk, and should also receive an abundance of green feed or such substitutes for it as roots or steamed lucerne. Oyster shells, grit, and an abundance of clean drinking water are also prime requisites. Pullets should be graded Into sizes, and each size kept separate; the larger ones keep the .-.mailer from the food and make them nervous. Pullets of all sizes in one flock are a common sight, but denote careless methods or lack of experience. A dirty hen never sits well. She Is all the time restless, and likely to forsake her eggs. She should bo dusted with a disinfectant powder before the eggs are placed beneath her, and again halfway through the sitting period. Grit and charcoal should be In each poultry pen. Chickens kept In a brooder should not be allowed to huddle in corners, but should be spread out in a circle all around the hover. Careful attention should be given to the temperature.

For the first few days it should be about GOdeg. As the chickens grow older it can be reduced, but the chicks should still be kept w'arm enough to be comfortable and spread out well. Plenty of ventilation should be provided so as to keep the air fresh and pure. Sand is the best material to place in the bottom of the brooder. It should be kept dry, and by running it through a fine sieve every three days all foreign matter can be removed. As the chickens grow and develop they should be given a run in an open pen on fine days, but care should be taken not to allow them on w'et grass, as this may induce cold, which is generally followed by diarrhoea or other serious troubles.

Never overcrowd. Unless your brooder is large do not place more than twenty-five to thirty chickens in it at a time. A!w;.y. see that the guard for the lam]i or heating apparatus is in its proper position, so that the chickens will not get too hot. Regularity in feeding is another essential in rearing chickens in a brooder.

PAPANUI EGG-LAYING COMPETITION. Loading pens, 24th week, ended September 19 (168 days), FLOCK TEAMS (Six birds). “—White Leghorns.—■

LIGHT BREED SINGLE-HEN CONTEST (Three birds, same owner), —White Leghorns.— Tl. H. Williams, No. 2 _ 157 H. A. Dawbor, No. 2 ... 136 0. H. Izard, No. 3 ... - - 1.35 H. Williams, No. 8 ... ... 134 J Liggins, No. 2 ... ... 133 Miss W. White, No. 2 132 SINGLE HEN STANDARD TEST (For Light and Heavy Breeds). Light Breeds. —White Leghorns—Week’s Weight,

SINGLE HEN CONTEST Restricted to certain breeds (Three birds same owner). —Heavy Breeds.— T 3. 0. Bennett, W.W., No. 4 .„ _ 140 0. Bennett, W.W., No. 8 137 Hopkins and Sevenson, 8.0., No. 1 134 Hopkins and Sevenson, 8.0., No. 8 124 H. Williams, B-0-, No. 1 ... ... 124 SINGLE DUCK CONTEST (Three - birds, same owner)* —lndian Runners.— Tl. L B. Mauncell, No. 1 ... ... ... 154 J, G. Greenslade, No. 3 ... ... 149 J. W. Thomson, No. 2 ... ... ... 142 R. W. Hawke, No. 1 ... 138 A. G. F. Ross, No. 2 336 J. W. Thomson, No. 1 ... ... ... 134 FLOCK TEAM (Six ducks). —lndian Runners.— Week’s Eggs. Tl. H. W. Beck ... ... ... 88 826 IL A. Dav/bex, p* 088

Contributlorsfl aad qaesfckcwi for answering should bo addressed to M TJtalifcy-Faiicy,'’ Poultry Editor, *ofcar * Office, and received not later than Tuesday of each week, ** TTialiiryvßWi try ** vnll only SQSWOK QnrrinmninfliaQltS through tbifl Column. fa*- jisaai bo banded la to tha office baton* 2 jms. oa Friday, J

Week’s Weight, Eggs. oz. dr. Tl. W. E. Ward « . 36 74 12 73-5 M. 0. Craig „ 37 16 13 700 G. H. Bradford . . 83 69 8 633 Calder Bros. , 34 71 0 673 Green Bros. - 34 74 3 673 J. Liggins ... .. . 35 76 13 673 —Heavy Breeds.-— Rogers and Thomson, 13.0. H. W. Beck, B.O. . 34 71 2 719 29 61 3 573 Philip Bailey, R.I.R. ... . 32 66 4 559

Egga. 07,. dr. Ti. W. Newall ~ ... 9 12 5 141 G H. Bradford ... 6 13 9 130 J. Liggins 6 13 7 129 Gieen Bros. ... 5 10 9 124 W. Barrell ... ... 4 8 6 121 J. Liggins ... ... 5 11 6 121 —Heavy Breeds.-— H. W. Beck, B.O. 5 10 7 122 G. W. Black, B.O. 6 18 1 109 G. Bennett, W.W. 7 16 1 94