POULTRY NOTES

Evening Star, Issue 21090, 30 April 1932, Page 18

POULTRY NOTES

[By UTILITY-FANCY.]

“Private R.P.” (Mosgiel).—When birds are moulting they are apt to go off their feed. During the moult there are few eggs, and consequently less food is required. Your mash of only bran and pollard, however, is not too palatable. You should make it more attractive by adding a little meat or milk—milk powder will do. Also give them plenty of green food. If the fowls do not go eagerly for their morning food on any occasion take it away from them and let them go without till next morning. They will eat it greedily enough then. During the moult a little boiled linseed mixed in the mash helps them to refeather, and a little sulphur in the mash assists in the whole process of casting and refeathering. 1 suggest that your birds require a tonic, and you should apply to your chemist for a bottle of Douglas mixture or Parrish’s chemical food and add a little to the water they drink. As regards feeds other than the morning mash, a little grain to scratch for in the litter at midday and a handful of wheat per bird in the evening is all that is necessary. I would advise you to examine the roosts particularly where the ends rest, and see whether the red mite is secreted there. If so their presence will account for your troubles. I cannot say why your fowls fight and block one another from the perches, unless there is insufficient perching room; or maybe the perches are too high from the ground. Two feet six inches or three feet is high enough, and, even then, it is better if they can jump to a dropping board before jumping to the perch. A perch Cin above the dropping board is high enough. “ R.P.,” Dunedin. —The dates of the next Dunedin Fanciers’ Show are June 9, 10, and 11. The secretary is Mr G. Thomson, grocer, The Gardens, Northeast Valley, who will supply schedules and receive entries.

time. The principal cause of this is overfeeding, and the consequence is shell-less eggs—even though bonemeal, or oyster shell is being supplied—and loss of constitution. Of course, the diet must be reduced, but a course of physicing is desirable, and for this a pill 1 made up of calomel (one grain) and tartar emetic (one twelfth of a grain) may be administered every other day for a week, followed by a dose of castor oil.

Autumn leaves are now strewing the ground. Those who keep poultry cannot do better than collect and use them as litter in the scratching shed. Subsequently, when soiled by the fowls, they represent the I>est possible material to use as manure in the kitchen garden. By way of guidance to the utility breeder it is well to explain that there is plenty of authority for saying that to preserve a strain of good layers it is safer to breed within the strain than to import a bird from outside, even though it be from a strain of phenomenal layers. Experience has proved over and over again that a constancy” (the scientific term for resemblance) is best maintained by inbreeding, so that if a breeder wishes his pullets to resemble their parents as layers he should inbreed, for by importing a fresh strain, variation, and not resemblance, as a rule, takes place. Variation is much more prone to be in a retrograde direction than in a forward one. Consequently, if he wishes variation he should mate unrelated birds—i.e., if his birds are laying 200 eggs per annum he should not import fresh “blood”; but if, on the other hand, his birds are only laying 100 eggs per annum, then by all means seek variation by importing a bird from a strain with a better record. Joining up two different strains of equal laying power is just as likely to result in a fall in the egg yield as in an increase. It must not be thought, however, that I am recommending continuous inbreeding, for though it may be safely continued a long time if the breeders are selected for constitution, in the long run it leads to loss of fertility and other undesirable results.

“ Student.”—Sex linkage is a term given to the crossing of two breeds which results in the male chicks being of a different colour from the female chicks. This enables the breeder to distinguish the pullets from the cockerels directly they are hatched because they favour the colouring of the male parent. The varieties that can be crossed for this purpose are breeds designated golden and those designated silvern; also black and barred varieties. Any cross of a “ gold ” male and a “silver” female will give results required, but if the reverse crossing is effected the colours will bo the same in both sexes. Crosses which can be sexlinked are, amongst others, Rhode Island Red (gold) and Light Sussex (silver); Wliite Wyandottes hens crossed with R.I. Reds males; Columbia Wyandottes hens, crossed with R.I. Red males, Light Sussex hens crossed with Brown Leghorns, Buff Rock or Buff Leghorn males; Gold Campine male and Silver Campine female j Golden Laced Wyandotte male and Silver Laced Wyandotte female; Golden Pencilled Hamburg and Silver Pencilled Hamburg females. In the black and barred crosses, a Black Leghorn male and Barr.ed Rock female can be used. If this cross is made all the chicks will have black down, but the cockerel chicks, will have a light patch on the top of their heads, while the pullets will be entirely black, Barred Rock females may be crossed with any black or brown-red male. Size of Egg.—There is sure to be trouble before long for those breeders who are not paying attention to the matter of size of eggs. People are getting disgusted with the small eggs on the market. Increase in size of eggs is a character which is largely influenced by the male. The sire not only has the power of submitting fecundity, but is said by investigators to possess the power of transmitting size of the egg in the progeny. Therefore, it is worth while remembering this point when mating up the breeding pen, by choosing the son of a lien known to be a layer of first grade eggs, in addition to quality. It is perhaps needless to add that if such a male bird is mated to hens—the layers of 2oz or over eggs assurance is made double sure.

Nest Making.—There is an art in making a nest, especially in winter time when eggs must be kept as warm as possible. There is nothing better for material than well crushed straw. Hay, it is true, is softer, but it soon turns musty and is a good breeding ground for insects. Dried bracken is good, but not always procurable. Use plenty of litter, well filling the corners, and then with the hand well beat down the centre so as to make the nest saucer-shaped. Many just ease the ground out a bit to aid the shaping of the nest. Be sure the straw is well laid, otherwise one or two eggs may become buried in the litter and chilled.

KEEP AND FEED THE BEST,

There are quite a few people who still believe it is hard to produce profitable eggs. And it probably is for those who Jo not have the proper stock and equipment. But, if your stock has the proper breeding, and you provide proper housing, ventilation, feeding, lighting, culling, and plenty of pure, fresh water, it is as easy as anything else, and perhaps a little more so. Hens must have the “lay ” bred into them, or they cannot be forced to produce very many eggs. We may assume that you have good laying stock—you must have. Every layer should be from a flock that has laid an average of 176 eggs or more per year. Build a good house for your hens, or buy a ready-built house. There are a number of good ones on the market, and the cost will be very little, if any, more than would be charged by your local carpenter. Just one thing—be sure that the house you provide for your birds is large enough. Do not crowd layers. There should be at least three square feet per bird for Leghorns, and three and a-half to four square feet for general-purpose breeds. After you have made sure that your hens are the kind that lay, and have arranged for their quarters, make sure that they are getting a balanced egg ration. Do not experiment with feeds. Buy a good, standard feed.—‘Poultry World.’

Rape is a first-class green food for poultry, and it grows freely in most places. Poultry are very fond of it, and while it is not of nearly so much feeding value as lucerne, it makes the best alternatives and correctives which can be fed to laying liens. There need be no need for Epsom salts if they are fed with plenty of rape. It is broadleafed and should be cut up as line as possible to save waste. You can have the best strain of fowls in your yard, hut unless they are fed with a properly-balanced food, and plenty of it, there will be poor results. If you fill them up with potatoes you cannot expect eggs. The elements are not there.

TOO MUCH MINERAL SALTS. In the usual method of feeding poultry the value of a due proportion of mineral salts may be overlooked. In some modern feeding methods there may be a tendency to feed too much mineral, such as bonemeal or bone grit. Years ago many advocated the addition of bonemeal to the food fed, not only to growing, but also to adult stock. In addition, ground oyster shell was also added. An excess of bonemeal

Some hens suffer a good deal from trouble of the egg organs at laying

Gontribntiona and question* for answering should be addressed to “ TRaity-Fancy," Pool try Editor, ‘ Star' Offioa, and received sot later tkan Tuesday of eaek week. , “ UtilityJ?aacy * will only answer communications through this column. Advertisements tor ibis column aunt be banded in to the office before 2 pjm, m Friday.

was long ago known to be injurious to male birds. Later methods showed preference to feeding bone, oyster shell,etc., in grit hoppers 1 , so that the birds could help themselves. ,Leg trouble in brooder chickens is generally due to hard, dry ground, such as is usual in brooder houses. It may, however, be aggravated by too free and continued use of dry milk, which contains lime and other salts. In America they report a disease “ hock disease in poultry.” Experimental disease has been induced in 90 per cent, of the experimental birds. The disease is produced by feeding excessive amounts of mineral. The abnormality is produced readily by addition to the nature of such materials as bonemeal, sodium, phosphate, calcium carbonate, and so called balanced mineral mixtures, states the report. Decreased amounts of the above materials tend to lessen or prevent disease. The presence of protein concentrates rich in organic salts aggravates the condition when “ salt mixtures ” are fed at the same time, The disease is stated to be most prevalent in battery brooders, although it may be produced under other brooding systems. Satisfactory results have been obtained when the poultry rations contains no mineral supplements other than those furnished by the protein concentrates. Liberal additions of oats and oat feed supply beneficial properties, which cannot bo explained on the basis of their fibre content. The foregoing particulars are published for general information. For many years, while 1 have pointed out that mineral deficiency may result disastrously, I have warned breeders not to force poultry to consume such things as bonemeal, shell grit, etc., but to provide such materials in separate hoppers.--D. F. Laurie.

Preparing Incubators.—Folks that do their own hatching will soon be getting their incubators ready for Where small incubators are used the first step is to see that they are pro-’ perly levelled, else there may be difficulty in regulating the temperature within the machine. All parts of the incubator should be in perfect working order. The thermometer is an especially important piece of equipment that is often overlooked. One that varies even a degree will fool an operator and may result in a poor hatch. A thermometer may be tested by placing the bulb in a pan of hot water alongside of a thermometer that is known to be correct, as one that is used to take temperatures of silk folks. If the incubator thermometer is incorrect throw it away and get a new one. Untested thermometers are responsible for many poor hatches. These same points apply to the larger machines also, except that the cabinet type does not need to be levelled. No matter what kind of machine it is, it should be cleaned and disinfected before starting, and it is wise to run it a few days to test it before setting the eggs.