POULTRY NOTES

Evening Star, Issue 21138, 25 June 1932, Page 18

POULTRY NOTES

[By UTILITY-FANCY.] |I

Contributions snd questions for answering shook] bo addressed to “ Utility-Fancy,” Poultry Editor, * Star * Office, and received not later than Tuesday of each weak. “ Utility-Fancy ” will only answer communication* through this column. Adrectbementa fcc fins column mmt be banded in to the adaoe balose t pjm. tm Friday.

“ Starter ” asks if there are any poultry keepers who keep dual-purpose birds in largo flocks as White Leghorns are kept.—Yes, in England and America there are many large flocks from 200 to 500, and even larger than that, and the owners are just as well satisfied with results as those who favour the Leghorn. Climate may have something to do with the preference shown to one breed or another.

The success of the poultry breeder in the future, more than in the past, will depend upon keeping good quality birds and using the most efficient methods of management. The hatching season begins next month, and it should be remembered that eggs stored for the incubator should Be on their sides and turned twice daily. Handle the egg container carefully. Sudden jolts may not crack the shells of the eggs, but they are certainly detrimental to the fertilised germ, and possibly may cause the yolks to burst. Keep the eggs stored for incubation in an even temperature, such as the temperature of a living room, rather than that of a cold pantry. Feeding the Youngsters.—Economy in poultry farming is vitally essential, but it can be overdone, especially in feeding the growing chick. The feeder must not be content with the “so many beans make five ” idea. Some birds absorb more food than others, and the poultry keeper is advised to take time over liis feeding and see that every youngster lias its fill. Visit each coop at least twice when feeding, and when your youngsters are in flocks broadcast widely your feed and see that the birds are feeding quietly. Troughs are widely used, but they have the disadvantage of making the birds scramble and the “ shy ” feeder gets only half its rations. Of course, 1 realise that the youngsters have not arrived yet, but in two months’ time they will be here, and it is not too early even now to make up one’s mind as to how they will be cared for and to make preparations for their accommodation, and to become properly equipped to bo able efficiently to attend to them. In feeding young chicks, one of the bes» methods 1 have seen adopted is to have in the brooder house a square of linoleum with a hole at one side near the edge, by means of which it can be hung when not in use by means of a nail in the wall. At feeding time it can be taken down and laid on the lloor and the food—wheat or crumbly half-dry mash—spread upon it. When sufficient time has elapsed for the chicks—every one of them—to get their fill the mat should be lifted and shaken clean outside the brooder house and then hung up again on its nail. By this method, which necessitates a second call, one can ascertain whether sufficient or insufficient food has been served, and one can be sure that the food eaten has been clean, for there is no chance of any any of it being left on the floor or in the litter, to be soiled by the droppings and subsequently eaten. Kept in the way suggested, the mat is always near to hand when required. If the cleaning of incubators and brooders used last season has not yet been attended to, do not delay any longer. Absolute cleanliness is essential to successful hatching and rearing. The drinking vessels provided for chickens, whether deep or shallow, should be so arranged that the chicks cannot get into them. A saucer with a stone in it, pr a larger vessel with a brick in it, may he used according to the number of chickens being reared, or fountains specially manufactured for chickens can be purchased, but the essential thing, whatever the description of the drinking vessel, is that it always contains fresh water. f Cull your ducks as you do your fowls. It is just as necessary. A laying duck is not profitable unless she lays at least 160 eggs in her first year. It costs more to feed ducks than it does to feed hens, because they eat more. Ducks can, and often are, fed on cheaper foods than are served to fowls, but such practice militates against profitable egg production. Trap'-nesting is all right to show which hens have made the best egg record; but whether the best layers will produce daughters equal to themselves is another matter, and one which has not been proved. Laying ability descends from the sire as well as from the dam, so if your pullets or hens are good producers, remember that if their daughters are to be equal to them they must, as hens, be sired to a male bird from a high layer, and he must, in order to be certain of results, be a bird of the same strain as themselves.

Do not cross strains if it can be avoided. Keep within the strain as long as the constitution of the birds will allow. Garlic For Fowls.—Garlic has been used for medicinal purposes for over 3,000 years. Many farmers are great believers in it for certain complaints, and many poultry breeders hold that it is a preventive of bacilliary white diarrhoea and collidiosis. Turkey raisers in America use it when there are outbreaks of the dreaded black head disease. Its use has no ill-effect, and it is an excellent disinfectant of the alimentary system. THE BROODING PERIOD. Tests at the Central Experimental Farm have shown that better results are Attained by feeding chicks early than the methods of delayed feeding formerly in vogue. The following plan is being successfully used at the Central Farm, according to George Robertson : When the hatch is cleaned up the chicks are either placed in well ventilated chick boxes, or if allowed to remain, in the incubator the doors are partly opened to permit an abundance of fresh air so that the chicks will harden off before being placed in the brooder. The type of brooder most commonly used is the coal burning brooder stove, which is placed on a tin mat in the centre of a 10ft by 12ft colony house, A guard of lin by 4in lumber stood on edge, leaving about a foot clearance round the stove, is used. The space inside this guard is filled with sand to avoid all danger of fire from the stove. On the rest of the floor litter is placed to the depth of one or two inches. Planer shavings is generally used for this purpose, but clean chaff or fine gravel may be used. Where shavings or chaff is used care is taken to see that it is kept off the surface of the sand around the stove. Four pieces of galvanised iron about three feet long by eighteen inches high are used to round the corners of the house to-prevent crowding. For the first few days a guard made of square mesh stiff wire cloth about a foot high is used to circle the stove until the chicks get- used to the source of heat. Each day this circle is enlarged until finally the guard is removed entirely. Care is taken to make the enclosed circle sufficiently large so that the chicks are not kept so close to the stove as to be overheated. Frames constructed of lin by 4in material stood on edge and covered with iin square wire mesh are used on which to stand all feed hoppers and water dishes. Hoppers of chick grit, oyster shell, and charcoal are hung at a convenient height on the walls. The chicks are kept as cool as may be for comfort, but always have the source of heat where they go to rest in a temperature as high as they desire. Their actions tell at once whether they are comfortable or not. If comfortable they rest contentedly in a circle just outside the canopy of the stove; their discontented chirping and crowding to the source of heat will tell you if they are not warm enough. If too hot they get as far from the stove as possible or go around with their mouths open panting for breath. —Feeding.— The feeding is the acme of simplicity, consisting of keeping the water fountains clean and filled with fresh water, and the hoppers filled with grit, oyster shell, and charcoal and a good chick starter, either commercial or home mixed. The following is a chick starter that has given excellent results at the Central Farm:— 1 part shorts, 1 part middlings, 1 part ground yellow corn, 1 part ground groats, } part animal feed mixture, 3 per cent, bone meal. 1 per cent, salt, 1 per cent, cod liver oil. The animal feed mixture used is made up of equal parts ground beef scrap, fish meal, and milk powder. When liquid milk and milk can be had the milk powder is omitted. Weather permitting, the chicks are allowed on to the ground as soon as they get used to their quarters, say by a week or ten days, and a little scratch grain is then added to the ration to keep them busy. The brooder house is "set in a clover field, and is shifted weekly so that fresh green feed may always be available and the ground clean.

TWENTY-EIGHTH PAPANUI EGGLAYING COMPETITION. Leading Pens, Eleventh Week, Endedl June 17 (76 days). Test I.—J. H. Shaw Memorial Challenge. Light and Heavy Breeds. —Heavy Breeds.— Week’s Weight. Eggs. oz. drs. TL

H. Cotto (B.O.) 5 12 13 44 G. J. Wheeler (B.O.) ... . 2 4 6 42 Master L. Griffen (Barn.) ... . . 6 14 8 39 B.O. signifies Black Orpington;; Barn., Barnevelder. —Leghorns.— G. H. Woods . . 7 13 9 67, W. Turner, No. 2 5 10 3 61 L. J. Glasson . 0 12 7 62 W. Turner, No. 1 5 10 3 61 G. Skurr ... . . 5 9 13 58 F. Ahworth ... . 5 10 8 57, Test 2.—White Leghorn, Single Hens< Owner enters three birds. .Week’s Grand total. total. J. Maitland 7 7 5 66 68 56 H. Williams 5 5 6 66 61 63 L. J. Glasson ... 5 5 5 59 56 5S J. M'Glincby ... 6 6 4 57 58 54 C. Bartley 0 6 6 50 63 56 J. Liggins 4 4 5 59 50 59 Mrs T. King 6 5 5 62 62 43 Test 3.—Black Orpingtons Only. Week’s Grand total. total. A. S. Connack, No. 1 5 2 7 57 48 70 H. Williams 5 2 7 62 56 57 A. S. Cormack, No. 2 5 0 6 64 33 67 J. Campbell 5 6 6 20 63 62 Test 4.—Any Variety, Light or Heavy Breeds Other Than White Leghorns or Black Orpingtons. Week’s Grand total. total. A. Dalziel (L.) ... 6 6 5 58 69 59 C. Sanderson (R.I.R.) 3 6 6 35 63 61 A. W. Pritchard . (B.O.) 5 5 2 52 56 28 L. signifies Langshan, R.I.R. signifies Rhode Island Red, B.O. signifies Black Orpington. Test 5.—Flock Teams sis birds). —White Leghorns.— Week’s Weight. - Eggs. oz. drs. Tl.M. C. Craig, No. 2 27 55 9 298 M. C. Craig, No. 1 27 56 5 294 Miss H. Keddell 19 38 1 276 J. Liggins 26 50 15 273 Verrall Bros. 22 45 10 269 T. S. Dove 22 46 6 268 —Heavy Breeds.— Mrs Williams (Light Sussex] 15 29 8 198 Test 6.—Single Ducks. Owner enters three birds. —Indian Runners.— Week’s Grand Totals totals to date. J. W. Thomson, No. 1 5 7 7 7) 7" 67 A. C. F. ; Ross .. 6 7 5 13 : 60 J. W. Thomson. No. 2 7 7 4 56 68 65 H. A. Dawber .. 5 4 7 54 47 68 Test 7.—Other Than Indian Runners. F. Ashworth (K.C.) 5 7 7 60 74 73 H. A. Dawber (P.) 2 7 5 48 23 5 P. signifies Pekin, K.C. signifies Khaki Campbell.