Poultry Notes

Evening Star, Issue 21636, 3 February 1934, Page 23

Poultry Notes

EXPERIMENTS AT NATIONAL POULTRY INSTITUTE. Reports of experiments conducted at experimental stations give at times very contradictory results, showing that conditions under which the experiments are made cannot be identical. The breed of bird tested, the season they are tested, climatic conditions, description of housing and range, quality of food served irrespective of kind, must be the same under every test before the results can be accepted as definite guides. For instance, wbat dependence can be placed on the following recent finding of the National Poultry Institute (England):— “ Over a period of eight mouths pullets fed mash-and-graiu rations containing different levels of protein, have given striking results. Pen 1, receiving no protein supplement, gave a winter egg production of 50 per cent; pen 2, receiving 7J per cent, mixed protein supplement in the mash, gave a similar production; and pen 3, receiving a 15 per cent, mixed protein supplement in the mash, gave a significantly lower egg production. Under the conditions of the experiment ail three pens had practically no grass in the runs. The results indicate so far that suitable cereal rations, when supplemented by calcium and common salt can give good egg production without the addition of high-protein supplements. The points will be tested again in further experiments on the feeding of different levels of protein supplements both with single and mixed proteins, which will be commenced in the autumn.” The following finding by the institute will interest duck breeders; — “ Comparison of pens of White Runner ducks fed on fish meal and meat and bone meal over a period of three years have shown that these foods are of equal value for egg production. Further studies have been commenced to compare soya bean meal and fish meal in the laying ration of ducks, and the results to date indicate that they are of equal value for egg production. “ Experiments to test barley meal versus Sussex ground oats in the ration of table ducklings have shown clearly that they are of equal value, and that the utilisation of either of these products will be decided by their relative costs. Studies are at present being made with different levels of soya bean meal supplements in the ration of table ducklings.” NEVER DESPAIR. You never know, the unlikely thing may happen. Why not give it a'try® A Dunedin lady poultry-keeper procured from Balclutha some Khaki Campbell duck eggs. They arrived by rail. In the luggage van they were tossed on to the top of a basket, and, in that suitable position, no doubt got a lot of shaking en route to Dunedin. On being reached for on arrival, a mere touch sent the box of eggs to the floor of the van, with the result that when the box was opened the contents appeared as a mess of white and yolks. Mrs Trevor Stedman, the recipient, is, however, not easily daunted. She investigated and found that three of the eggs were unbroken and six were cracked, each having several fractures. She covered the cracks with gummed paper and thus, with the three sound eggs, had a setting of nine to place under a hen. She now has a clutch of six strong and vigorous ducklings! We may gather from this experiment of Mrs Stedman’s that strongly fertilised eggs will stand a lob of rough usage. THE SLIP BACK. ‘An American winner at competitions says: “Poultry respond to breeding faster than anything I know of up to a certain point, say, 170 eggs. After that the flock average increase is slower, and if breeding is neglected thev slip back.” This expert breeder might have added that when the averegg production and better health than thereabouts Nature begins to speak ; and it is not a matter of “ slip back but of “pull back -i.e., when the peak is reached by a strain it cannot stay there: descent is inevitable. MAIZE VERSUS BRAN FOR EGGS. The following findings are not surpris--111 “ Studies of the replacement of 20 per cent, maize in a inash-and-gram ration by 20 per cent, brau, indicates that high bran feeding gives as good egg production and better health than the high maiz.e feeding. ' ■ “ Cross-bred pullets in slatted-lloor houses gave almost as good_ egg production as birds in semi-intensive houses, and better production than in-tensively-housed birds. “ The replacement of 14 per ceiit. maize bv 14 per cent, bran in the •Towers’ mash had no appreciable influence on the rate of growth, mortality,, rate of feather growth, or food consumption. “ Chick rations supplemented witn 15 per cent, mixed proteins 'gave as good results as rations supplemented with 21 per cent, mixed proteins. SELECTING BREED*S. “ Without selective breeding the development of recent years could not have been attained. It is not so much that individual hens have laid mole eggs than that flock averages have been improved. There have always been highly fecund hens, as records show. The advance made has been by reduction of the poor layers, although on the best farms these are more numerous than is admitted. Laying trials show that we have reached, if not exceeded, the maximum production compatible with maintenance of vigour. Poultry farms are being conducted profitably even at recent prices for eggs on an average production of lot) to 160 eggs per bird per annum, if ' the winter output is a fair one Those who fail to do so are working on wrong lines. . . Probably every egg m excess of the number stated imposes a tax winch Nature cannot sustain. Breeding from pullets and breaking off broody hens, denying them a rest for which Nature is craving are blunders of the first magnitude. These arc instances of overstepping the limits of artificiality. Instead of trying to cooperate with Nature, some poultrykeepers seem to have tried to get.as far away from her as possible. the penalty is being demanded to-day, and it is a costly one. Wbat must be done is to get back to Nature to a greater extent, and to face the problems which are presenting themselves by breeding on wiser lines and providing the more

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natural environment. Can the quality of eggs be maintained where there is denial of natural and fresh foods and where production has been forced to the utmost limits.”—Sir Edward Brown.

FOODS AND FEEDING. Inferior or unsuitable foods have never proved a success so far as eggproduction is concerned. GETTING AWAY FROM NATURE. Crowding fowls in batteries, keeping them on wire floors and feeding them only from troughs is getting away as far from Nature as possible. Fowls thus kept ' are denied exercise, they have scarcely room to move about, and are denied ‘ the pleasure of scratching for their food, supplied and natural. TO PREVENT EGG-EATING BY FOWLS. One result of feeding a too-forcing ration is that eggs arc produced from the ovary too quickly for the shellsecreting glands to cover them with strong shells. Consequently thinshelled eggs and sometimes unshelled eggs are produced. Breakages occur in the nests, and egg-eating by the fowls follow. The way to prevent this bad habit occurring is to watch the feeding, don’t give an over-supply of meat and fish, and be content with a reasonable supply of eggs. Another cause of egg-eating is too few nests. The fowls struggle for turns and the eggs already laid are broken. Fowls take an astonishing short time to find out that eggs are palatable. LIKE BEGETS LIKE. Fanciers and utilitarians generally admit that the art of producing good specimens depends very much upon several leading influences, among the chief of which is that of pedigree: That like begets like is a truth which should never be absent from the mind of any breeder. The leading characteristic of the sexes, whether as regards colour, size, symmetry, strength of muscle and- bone, temper and other emotional attributes, are as a general rule transmitted to the progeny. Blood will tell, and so much so that it is calculated upon to a certainty by breeders, and high prices are given for birds to breed from which can boast of possessing the best blood and highest ancestry. In fact, old. experienced fanciers will be found to keep a strict record of the genealogies of their past and present stock as a guide to future mating, and for breeding with stock possessing the highest lineal descent. My advice is to look for good parentage and the high points of excellence consequent upon it if the would-be successful fancier would excel in the hobby he has chosen. I say “ fancier in this connection because unless a poultry-keeper “ fancies ” his birds as well as the eggs they produce he is unlikely to be successful as a utilitarian. VARIATIONS IN EXCREMENTITIOUS MATTER. When the droppings of a fowl are crisp and small, and black, white, and grey, they denote health. When the faecal matter is unusually massive, and looks as if it has been whitewashed over, broodiness is suggested. A white frothy yellowish substance (somewhat resembling -what figures as “ pea-soup ’ in the menu of an inferior restaurant) is diarrhoea, and a very common symptom of liver trouble. Other variations—a more or less normal excrement with what appears like a streak of raw beef steak in it, a viscous brown or yellowish-brown dropping that looks as though it had been squeezed out of a paint tube, and a very moist motion resembling the raw white of an egg with a dash of Chinese white in it—are all signs of intestinal troubles, from simple diarrhoea to dysentery and enteritis. Tt is impossible for the amateur to distinguish between the different phases of liver trouble, and the best thing to do is to treat the fowls immediately. Keep them in dry and reasonably comfortable quarters, and let them have absolutely sound food. As medicine give each bird about six drops of chlorodyne in a teaspoonful of warm water every four hours. Do not make fowls jump for their green food. Fix it securely, so that the birds can reach it with ease, and see that all vegetables are dry and fresh.— ‘Poultry’ (England). AN IMPORTANT WEAPON. In the course of an address delivered at a Chelmsford (England) poultry conference, Mr W. V. Blomb, F.H.C.V.8., said: “Probably the most important weapon the pouitry-keeper possesses against disease is his power of observation in detecting and killing unhealthy birds—i.e., cubing. Ibis practice cannot be too strongly recommended, for it is the weaklings m the Hock wnich go down first, and not only spread tlie disease, but survivors also retain the trouble on the farm, lor some animals are obvinusiy dangerous •carriers.’ A good poultry farmer will never retain an ailing bird, if one is detected it should eitner be killed immediately or placed m a hospital cage and treated lor its ailments. Rigid culling from incubator to breeding pen should be the practice of every astute poultry man, and the smaller the associated hospital the better. Routine medical treatment as a preventive of disease is not to be sneered at; a monthly dose of aperient medicine and an iron and copper sulphate tonic against auannia, lowl pox i 1 roup ’), and colds can be most satisfactory. Similarly periodic delqusing by painting the perches with nicotine compounds and tne provision of dust baths aid in maintaining health. In hot weather plenty of cool water and shade should be provided to protect the birds against exhaustion and sunstroke. IS IT SNOBBISHNESS? “ Nothing annoys me more than to hear people declare that they loathe poultry, as poultry, and /that they merely keep them tor what they can squeeze out of them. That is a phase of commercialism with which I am entirely out of sympathy, and I am not quite certain whether it is due to snobbishness or to mere lack of real interest in one’s job. At any rate, I cannot fancy the business prospects of a person who regards the creatures he keeps tor productive purposes as a necessary nuisance. Hens are not very intelligent creatures, and we can never admit them to intimate friendship like dogs and cats; but the person who despises the hen while trying to make a living out of her seems to me to invite trouble.”—The “Major,” in ‘ Poultry.’

[By UTILITYFANCY.]

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LEGHORN VERSUS MINORCA. I learn that Mr Peter Sinclair, of Mosgiel, who has for many years been a great advocate of the White Leghorn, has taken a fancy to the Black Minorca, and declares that as layers they are putting his Leghorns in the shade, BREEDING. In an interesting paper on breeding, read by Mr E. Lomax at the Harper Adams, Conference (England), ha states:— “Is it wise to breed from pullets?, What are the dangers, and is this practice responsible for some of our present troubles? To this, as to most other questions connected with our work, it is impossible to give an unqualified ‘ Yes ’ or ‘ No.’ “If the mortality in the average trap-nest house is taken as similar to that experienced in laying trials, we shall lose some twelve pullets out of every 100 put in. A large proportion of these twelve will die after producing a number of chicks, and unless these are traceable we may have- 8 or 9 per cent, of pur stock raised from birds which have died from one cause or another before completing their first; year’s lay. For every hundred pullets put into a house in .September (March m New Zealand), 1932, there will probably be not more than seventy from which you would care to breed in January (July in New Zealand), 1935, and yet the 30 per cent, wastage may have been used to produce chicks under a system of pullet mating.” TWENTY-NINTH ANNUAL PAPANUI EGG-LAYING COMPETITION. Leading Pens, Forty-third Wick, Elided January 26 (300 days). Test I.—J. H. Shaw Memorial Challenge. Light and Heavy Breeds. Week’s Weight. Eggs. oz. drs. Tl.

G- AVheeler (B.O.) ... 4 9 9 221 Miss A. M’lntyre (AV.L.) ... 5 11 221 J. H. Jones (W.L.) 6 12 3 220 AV. Turner (W.L.) 5 9 15 219 E. J. Boss (W.L.) ... 5 110 218 C. M. Goodman (M) 5 11 2 216 W. Stephenson (B.L.) 5 10 9 215 Test la.—Experimental. L. P. Hawke (B.O.) 0 13 5 239 J. H. Jones (W.L.) 5 10 13 233 Miss A. M'lntvre (W.L.) 6 14 2 230 J. Campbell (B.O.) 0 , 0 0 227 AV. Stephenson (B.L.) -4 ' 8 10 220 A. D. Fabian (W.L.) 6 12 0 208 H. Cotton (B.O.) ... 6 12 7 206 Test 2.—White leghorn Single Hen, (Owner enters three birds.) Week’s Grand Total* Totals. to date! C. Bartlev ... ... 7 6 0 249 243'231 AV. Turner ... 5 4 5 219 234 234 S. Dick ... - ... 5 6 6 -201 239 236 A7 C. Goodlet .7. ; 4 WW 1 180 239' 226 H. Tabart ... 5 2 4 235 194 214 M. C. Craig ... 6 5 5 21.3 200 221 Green Bros. ... 6 6 6 1S7 237 209 Test 2a.—Experimental. E. Anderson ... 5 6 6 230 185 237 AA r . Keen 4 5 6 203 206 234 J. Liggins 5 5 5 183 172 150 Mrs AV. T. Andrews 5 6 4 219 218 178 J. H. Jones ... 4 6 0 194 232 183 Test 3. —Black Orpingtons and Australorps. H. Cotton 7 6 1 216 247 176 B. Cotterell ... 3 2 5 173 204 220 J. Campbell ... 1 1 6 186 163 2o0 A. S. Cormack 0 5 6 *202 174 191 Test 3a.—Experimental. L. and S. Broraby 0 4 3 212 235 213 J. Campbell ... 0 .3 7 144 231 233 B. Cotterell ... 5 4 4 167 244 211 Test 4.—Any Variety Light or Heavy Breeds Other Than AVhite Leghorns or Black Orpingtons. Week’s Grand Totals. Totals. S Atkinson (L.S.) 3 3 0 140 186 187 C. Sanderson , (R.I.R.) -. 0 6 3 187 138 178 A. Dalzief (Lang.) 2 1 0 155 230 96 Miss F. Kerr (Buff O.) ... 0 3 6 130 l<o 1(3 Test 4a.—Experimental. L. J. Glasson (L(S.) 1 5 1 165 143 203 AA r . D. M. AVilson (M.) 5 5 5 161 157 151 L. P. Hawke (S.AAL) - 6 6 5 169.132 lo7. Test 5.—Flock Teams (6 Birds). Week’s Weight. Eggs. or. drs. Tl. M. Holroycl ... 33 65 3, 1,187 Miss H. Weddell ... 2o D 7 1,181 M‘Kie and Cookson 21 44 10 1,1( 4 Verrall Bros. ... 26 50 3 1,164 J Liggins ... ... 33 69 11 W. S AVard ... 16 46 5 Test 5a.—Experimental. Miss H. Keddell .30 65 2 1,347 w Turner 28 59 6 1,211 U. C Craig ... 20 43-12 1,037 Tost 6.—Single Ducks. (Owner enters .3 birds.) Week’s Grand Totals. Totals. 7 7 0 282 291 183 A ’(I.R.) F ‘... R0 .!! 7 6 4 240 252 228 F ‘(K.C.) AS .^° 1 . t . h 5 6 6 175 271 209