Poultry Notes

Evening Star, Issue 21624, 20 January 1934, Page 23

Poultry Notes

" North End “■ asks which is the better, wet or dry fneal? Personally, 1 favour the wet mash. .It must be more palatable to the birds, who consequently eat more'of it, and if the constituents are properly balanced for egg production, more eggs should result. Un the other hand, -dry mash is laboursaving and easier to feed. Those who advocate dry mash declare that they got quite as many' eggs by that system of feeding as they did when they ted wet mash. Possibly they did,, but il so, perhaps the explanation is that when feeding wet mash they .find it impossible to feed regularly, and certainly regularity m feeding is of great importance. However, one serious obection to dry mash feeding is that it entails less visits to the poultry run and house, and this means less familiarity with the birds. Whether a bird is eating one may not know for a day or two, and the opportunity to give immediate attention to an ailing bird is lost. Another objection I have heard raised is that hoppers sometimes clog, and the birds are without food till the caretaker’s attention is drawn to the tact. However, in whichever way the birds are fed, I advise “ North End ” and other readers that it is well to examine the birds frequently to ascertain their condition, particularly during hot summer days, if they are putting on fat discontinue the fat-forming constituents of the mash and substitute for, Say, maize and pollard, barley meal, etc., an equivalent proportion of bran. As an extreme measure they may be given Epsom salts once or twice a week at the rate of loz for each fifty birds, being careful to dissolve it thoroughly before putting it into either the drinking water or mash, the latter for preference, as then you know that all the birds get their share. RESPIRATORY TROUBLES. Irrespective of season—summer or winter—respiratory troubles are apt to occur m the poultry house. A sudden change m the temperature may occasion running nostrils, discharge from the eyes, etc., and these must be taken m hand quickly or the dreaded croup may eventuate. To wash the parts with a weak solution of a fluid disinfectant and swab the mouth and throat will prove a marvellous cure and prevent further trouble if done at the first indications ot trouble. One teaspobntul to a pint ot warm water will suffice. It is a good plan to mix the disinreutant in the drinking water, as most ailments and diseases are quickly spread by ailing birds using the same vessels. These respiratory troubles are best prevented by seeing that the fowls do not suffer from draughts through faulty woodwork, particularly from a draught playing directly on to the perching birds. Another preventive measure—and remember ‘ prevention is better, than cure ’—is proper nutrition, me nutritive value and digestibility of foods should be considered as a bulwark against ailments and disease. Unsuitable foods are undoubtedly responsible for poultry disease and heavy losses. Birds that are vigorous through proper feeding and plenty of outdoor exercise can stand up and remain healthy, ex empt even from respiratory/troubles in draughty barns if well fed; WHICH GRAIN TO FEED. it does not do to be too dogmatic on the subject of feeding. It is a matter for every poultrykeeper to decide tor himself, providing, ot course, he has some knowledge of the actual feeding value of the foods he serves. On farms the fowls will, naturally, get the gram that is most plentiful, whether it be wheat, oats, or barley. Barley is often stated to be unsuitable for poultry, but there are many ‘Who speak highly ot it. Breeding hens and growing stock are better without maize, and for laying hens it is best to give it cracked or kibbled, as it is the. more digestible. OVER-FEEDING LEADS TO TROUBLE. Many breeders of birds of high-laying strain insist upon it that you cannot over-feed a bird in full lay. This is true in the sense that she will turn ner food into eggs as the breeder desires her to do. Forcing her for eggs, however, is not conducive to her bodily health, and, so, even she may be overfed. Any way, she is the exception: she is not required for breeding purposes and will bo disposed of when she has done her best for the egg-basket. As a rule, however, over-feeding leads to trouble. First of all it leads to laziness, with the result that birds do not take the required amount of exercise, and consequently lay in fat, and this condition favours liver complaints. Even when feeding young birds for the table it is quite easy to overdo it, and the chicken that is overfed will never become such a fine bird as one that is kept growing and not fattened till a short time before it is wanted for the table. A VALUABLE MEDICINE, Castor oil is one of the most valuable remedies for disorders of the crop and digestive organs. It not only removes the irritant, but helps to heal any inflamed tissues. It is a pretty good rule to commence the treatment of almost anv ailment with a dose of this oil. Administer about two teaspoonfuls to an adult bird. A glass syringe is very useful for this purpose. Be warned not to try scouring castor oil or anv other oil into a bird’s mouth from the bottle, birds have been choked by doing so. USEFUL BREEDS. The White Wyandotte, Rhode Island Buff Rock, Light Sussex, White Rocks, and Minorcas are all keeping well to the front in Great Britain and America. They are excellent breeds and are appreciated in town and country, especially the heavy or dual-pur-pose breeds, which, when selectively bred and reasonably hatched, not only

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prove satisfactory contributors to the egg-basket, but are also plump, fleshy birds for the table. The remark “ seasonably hatched,” refers to hatching and breeding operations when Nature renders most help with climatic conditions, fresh herbage, 'and newly awakened insect life. JERSEY GIANTS. Advocates of the comparatively new breed known as Jersey Giants claim that there is a great demand for them by poulterers in England. They weigh up to 91b and 121 b, and are said to rival young turkeys for fine grain and luscious flesh, with exceptional quality of white meat which their enormous breasts carry. I may add that not. only the breeders of Jersey Giants but the breeders of every other variety in Britain lose no opportunity to proclaim through the poultry Press the special excellence of the breed they keep. _ The English poultry breeders seemingly thoroughly understand that advertising pays. A GOOD CROSS. The hardy Rhode Island Red mated to second-season Light Sussex or White Wyandotte hens (over moult and commencing to lay) is said to be a good sex-linkage cross. Such breeds carry plenty of flesh and breast meat, and pullets (discernible on hatching day by dark fluff) prove good layers. The cockerels (white fluff) grow rapidly with proper attention and feeding, about 11b per month is average weight, so that good, plump chickens are ready for early spring. Ordinary scratch and mash chicken feed are fed in the early stages—eight to ten weeks—when birds are placed in fattening coops and have their feeds of wet mash. Such table birds will be disposed of before spring hatching commences, and is usually associated with profit (says an exchange) ; whilst making good use of all stock kept. A SLIMMING OPERATION. Feeding for fat instead of eggs makes against economy. Anti-fat or reducing treatment may be wisely adopted with some birds with good results. Only kibbled grain is fed sparingly in deep, dry litter in special houses away from the layers. Green food should be-lib-erally supplied and hung for the birds to peck at a convenient height above the birds’ heads to compel exertion. All the drinking water given for one week should have a teaspoonful of Epsom salts, per pint of water, added. Glauber salts being slightly sweet, are preferable. ' WHERE LOSSES OCCUR. A lot of money is lost through disease, and opportunities for making profit are missed through keeping and breeding inferior stock, though this is plainly due to the false economy of buying low-priced birds. One of the most important lessons to bo learned by the general body of poultry-keepers is that low-priced stock is not cheap if it is of inferior productive and physical character. In the long run it is likely to prove very expensive. - and it." may spoil the whole venture. TAMPAN (ARGUS PERSICUS). (Contributed by Atlas Preservative Co. Ltd.)It appears that the Tampan is a fowl tick, and is a nocturnal blood-sucker, visiting its* host at night and leaving before morning, when it crawls into crevices and cracks in the woodwork of the chicken houses. If there are no cracks into which it can crawl it may be found in corners, congregated in great heaps. , • Its action in feeding on the fowl includes an mnoculation (Spirochaeta Marchouoxi), and this is the chief transmitting agent of what is known as fowl spirochaeti. The ticks themselves become infected by feeding upon infected fowls, and are thus capable of transmitting the disease in all directions. “ , . , The female lays her eggs in batches of 20-100 in the cracks and creviwss, and they hatch in three weeks, taking the form of six-legged larvae, which crawl about in search of a host. The larvae remain attached to the skin for 5-10 days, then drop off and moult into nymphae. Nymphae and , adults are only temporary parasites, attacking the host by night and hiding by day. The first nymphae stage endures for three weeks, then there is s further stage before the final or adult formation of the parasite. Females feed more voraciously and rapidly than the males—usually about once a month —and lay eggs after each feed. Life cycle from egg to egg is about ten months.

Extracts from publications by the Union of South Africa Department of Agriculture. Reprint No. 16 of 1921: The fowl cannot itself be treated. Poultry houses are the only vulnerable form of attack, and carbohneum is recommended, as it persists longer and dries well into the wood when sprayed on by the ordinary hand bucket sprayer. The tests made show that the effects of unsprayed .“ticks” placed on boards that had been treated many \veeks before with a carbolineuml solution failed to deposit eggs, and gradually died off. Seed ticks were driven out of their cracks and died in a short time on the sprayed surface of the board. Principal constituent of carbolineum is anthracene oil. Creosote oil is destructive but difficult for use - as a spray, owing to caustic effect on the operator, but when applied with brush destroys all ticks touched. Treatment.—ln the early morning remove all moveable material—roosts, loose boards, etc., and pile in a heap for treatment; burn all non-valuable material. Spray entire inside of house, taking care to introduce spray into cracks. Repeats should be made in 20-30 days. Chickens should be kept out during the night following owing to irritation of eyes and mucus membranes set up by fumes. Tendency of ticks to crawl upwards. Roosts supported from floor and kept free from walls and roof recommended. Fit roosts so that they can be -easily taken apart for treatment. Extract from ‘ Farmers’ Bulletin,’ U.S.A. Department of Agriculture, 1921 edition : General.—A further authority states that a form of treatment such as carbolineum is equally effective against the chicken “ mite.” whose Mbits are also nocturnal, but they do not trouble to hide. Huge clusters of these may be

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found in the chicken house. The effect on the chicken from attacks of “ tick ’’ is weakness, colourless combs, loss of appetite, egg power, and gradual death. Owing to its various stages of form and httbits of periodical feeding as many “ ticks ” will be found about the chicken houses during the day and night as upon the host itself. Their habitat will also he found under the hark of trees. The bark should, therefore, be scraped smooth some distance from the ground and treated. In tropical Africa the “ relapsing ’’ or “ tick fever ” in humans is produced from bites of the “tick” known .as Ornitbodoros Moubata “ Murray.” Native huts are its breeding grounds. These should be thoroughly treated.) According to Professors Kotzebue and Oken the Tampan, known also as the “ Miana bug’’ (Miallah de Mianeh), is virulent, and its bite produces a form of sickness in. humans. The Tampan (Argus Persicus) is also found in Roumania, India, North Africa, Australia, South and North America. It also attacks ducks, geese, turkeys, pigeons, ostriches, and canaries. Fumigation is useless. Another authority states that to eradicate “ tick ” poultry houses should be sprayed with kerosene emulsion, three applications at intervals of five days (minimum). Fumigation useless. Tests for longevity observed insects laying eggs four months after isolation .and lived in isolation over two years. Eggs hatched in nine days. All young “ ticks ” died. It was found that the stronger female ticks sucked the juices from the weaker.