POULTRY NOTES

Evening Star, Issue 20486, 17 May 1930, Page 29

POULTRY NOTES

[By UTILITY-FANCY.]

“ Minorca.”—Under a competent judge a broken sickle feather in a Minorca cockerel would not prevent the gaining of a prize, provided it otherwise compared well with others in the class. In the case of a Black Leghorn the judge would be justified in considering that the feather had been pui posely broken in order to hide the fain that the feather had a white tip. in Minorcas nowadays the appearance of white feathers in the tail is so rare that a judge is justified ,in regarding the break as accidental. In respect to your second question, if the broken feather is now pulled out a new leather may appear in two or three months. If it is left in you will have to wait for the new growth of feathers alter the moult.

paper (the ‘ Irish Farmer ’) asks for information re artificial lighting ot fowihouses Ho remarks: “ All artificial light costs money, takes time to attend to, means a fire risk or insurnee, and in the case of electricity ex■’.sive installation. It also means ger hours at a time of the year .on the only recompense for short ~ays is one’s work is finished early. The reply given is; “ We never recommend lighting except under very special conditions precisely for the reasons urged. Tho real object of lighting is to encourage a greater consumption of food during the dark days. The increased consumption of food results in increased output of winter eggs, sp raising the average value for the year. It must bo clearly understood that, although the winter output is increased, tho total production over tho year will bo about the same as where no lights are used. Tho birds that benefit by lio-hting arc: (1) Under-fed and backward pullets or late-hatched pullets; (2) old hens. It is only waste or time and money' lighting up good early pu lets, and there is, in. addition, much danger of over-stimulating really good layers. There is no doubt that many of the small eggs produced on commercial egg farms are due to lighting o tho pullets; this objection does not, of course, hold in the case of old hens. Breeding stock should never be given lights. Wo have yet to receive a favourable report of hatching results from stock so treated. Where electricity is likely to bo available at a cheap rate, as it is in the Free State, owners of lareo flocks can, we believe, increase their profits per head by about Is per bird alter paying for tho light. Iheio are clockwork devices for turning on, for dimming, and for putting out the light which would obviate the necessity of tho cold journeys tho various houses, which we should object to quite as much as our correspondent does. Outdoor workers get enough of cold, wind, and wet all day, and have well earned tho long evening by the fire. Those who, like our correspondent, have learned how to feed (Jor feeding is half the battle) need not trouble about lights; they are quite unnecessary, no matter how cheap electric current may be.” Is this tuberculosis? A correspondent asks tho American Poultry Journal: “ Do dark spongy spots on the lungs indicate tho presence of T. 8.? If so, is the flesh fit for food? Some of my fowls become inactive and fail in weight, and finally die. I performed a post mortem on one, and found that one luUg was almost all a white foamy matter. Do you think it was T. 8.? If so, what would you advise me to do with a flock of 200 birds?” The reply given by tho Journal’s expert is: —“ The lungs in chickens with T.B. are not affected, as is tho case in human beings. When chickens have tuberculosis the organs that are affected primarily are tho liver, spleen, and intestines. This disease is indicated by white spots on tho liver, which, if cut into, will be found to extend right into tho tissue, the same kinds of spots on the spleen, and by largo nodules on tho intestines. In many cases the liver is extremely enlarged and the birds are greatly emaciated. Such birds are not fit for human consumption. Since you found tho lungs congested in your birds, I would say that the trouble is

“Header.”—The dose generally proscribed for chickens is one teaspoonful of cod liver oil to each lib of mash or one pint to each lewt. Only the best medicinal cod liver oil is recommended, it being doubted whether inferior brands contan tho essential vitaraines. Cod livei oil is only needed when and where there is no sunlight

Poultry breeders will regret to learn that Mr i). F Laurie, South Australian poultry expert, retired from tho Government service on March 31. Mr Laurie who held this position for thirty-five yeavr and carried out good work in extending the poultry industry by organisation and expert information. He issued poultry manuals for several years, and also has written a book on the breeding and rearing of poultry He was always a strong advocate of tho production of infertile eggs of a standard weight of 2oz or over. Mr Laurie has the good wishes of many friends for health and prosperity in his retirement. Tho 300-egg Hen.—-‘ Fascination of Hmh Production,’ ‘Breeding Power Should Not Be Sacrificed,’ ‘Development and Recession,’ ‘ Great Leaps of Progress Do Not-Always Hold.’ Under such captions a Mr H. G. Foster some years back made statements which are well worth while recalling. He said: “ Of course, for advertising purposes the phenomenal layer is valuable. But that is a different thing from her breeding value to the man purchasing her eggs in good faith in her ability to produce like for him. This publicity permits the owner to sell all of his stock, whether it is excellent, good, or just fair, at a much higher price than he would otherwise receive—purely because of the possession of tho great layer. But from a breeding standpoint she is not always worth what her eggs ave cracked up to be. AH honour and glory to the men who ifte able to produce the 300-egg lien. May they live long and prosper. When we are afforded the privilege of talking to those who have actually created such - layers we come away with the feeling of having been in the presence of a master; and if asked these gentlemen usually admit freely that they cannot guarantee that their hens will do as well in the second generation. They know tho difficulties, tho pitfalls, and the .innumerable unlooked-for elements of uncertainty that beset the breeder ot high producers. They, realise the impossibility of guaranteeing anything along breeding lines.” The Artificial Lighting of Fowlhouses.—A correspondent to a Home

Contributions snd questions for answering: should be addressed to ** Utility-Fancy,” Poultry Editor, ‘ Star * Office, and received not later than Tuesday of feach week. « Utility-Fancy ” will only answer communications through tins eoiumn. Advertisements for this eoiumn must be handed in to the office before 2 p.m. on Friday.

not Tuberculosis, but is probably clue to colds that have settled in. the lungs I would suggest that you look to the housing conditions of your birds, seeing that they are housed in comfortable houses hi which there are no draughts, insulated houses and well-ventilated houses give best results. I would not advise eating the flesh of any fowls that have died from any disease whatever.”

If you Want to breed table birds select from the medium or heavyweight breeds. If you lavour ogg producers, then the light or medium (dual purpose) breeds are the best to keep. The dual purpose breeds can and are being bred for egg production in a largo way, but when that is the case weight of bird is lost. You cannot have the two extremes, heavy egg production and a good table bird, in the on© specimen.

Stamina Tops the Poll,—Lecturing to the Hassocks (Sussex) branch of the N.F.TL recently, Mr 0. 11, Stevenson emphasised the fact that for success in breeding stamina was tb© first qualifica txon, and not trap-nest records. Stock must be mature and not inbred. Production of Colour.—From the £ Evening Standard ’ of recent date 1 cull the following;—“Tho hens that lay blue eggs, brought to England from South America by Mr Clarence Elliott, the scientist, can bo rivalled by ducks that lay black ones. According to a writer 'in a French scientific paper, ducks fed on acorns, which they eat ravenously, not infrequently law black eggs. The reason is that their eggshells aro naturally rich in iron, and this combines with tho tannin in the acorns to produce a good fast black.” The same paper ,states that if hens are fed on boiled lobster shells they will lay bright red eggs! There aro hundreds of breeders in tho country (exhibition men) who will understand the production of colour in feather, but not many who ever worry about the colour of tho eggshell. For many years there have only been the two colours in eggs, white and brown, the latter grading from a very light tint, as from the Wyandotte, down to a dark brown, as from the Welsummer. When the Poultry Congress was in Spain much was made of a variety of fowls which laid a green egg, but tho latest is a blue egg from South America, which makes one wonder if the breed is tho same as seen in Spain, only that a different person is describing tho colour of the egg. The French scientist who has determined that acorns will blacken the shell of tho egg has gone a step further than our clever men hero; but wo all know how an acorn will blacken the yolk of a hen egg, and tho time may come when we, by the use of certain foods, can turn out any coloured egg we choose. Most of my readers will have seen the Welsummer egg and know its dark colour. Quite recently one breeder sent a customer a sitting of Hies© eggs, but they were returned as being dyed. The buyer had rubbed them and got off some of tho brown, though what stuff was used ho did not say; but anyone who has produced brown eggs knows that somo colour can be rubbed olf many of them. It is not easy to determine which eggs, if any, have been dyed when seen at a show, and, though tho judge may use his discretion, ho is very cautious before disqualifying, because he realises lie may bo wrong.— 1 Feathered World”