POULTRY NOTES

Evening Star, Issue 22974, 3 June 1938, Page 3

POULTRY NOTES

“ T.D.” (Kaikorai).—l have no doubt that there are plenty of Buff Orpingtons in Otago, hut I do not know of any breeder of them to whom I can refer you. You will find particulars respecting the breed in this week’s notes. PEDIGREE BREEDERS SUE FOOD FIRM. In the course of the hearing of what 1 is known as the cod liver oil case, held before the Official Referee in the High Courts, London, during March last, Dr H. P. Bayon said: “It is a very bad practice to rear a chicken that has suffered from rickets for breeding purposes.” Messrs Tippett and Hubbard, poultry farmers of Colchester, claimed from Messrs Brooks Ltd, £916 damages for breach of warranty in delivering supplies of chick food to the plaintiffs, according to" the plaintiffs’ specification. The formula included 2 per cent, of cod liver oil. It was admitted by the manufacturers that five lots of chick mash delivered in the spring of 193 b •contained less than 2 per cent, of cod liver oil, but it was denied that that deficiency caused the trouble from which the chicks suffered. _ The case for the plaintiffs was that 306 birds died, and, in all, 893 were seriouslv affected—two-thirds of the •hatch for the season. The plaintiffs supplied their formula to the manufacturers in December, 1934. and delivery under it was without complaint until the early months of 1936. Dr Bayon’s statement arose from the' fact that the claim apparently included the damage done to the stock as future breeding- stock, and Mr Beyfus, K.C..suggested that birds that had suffered from rickets could be brought up successfully. For the plaintiffs emphasis was laid on the fact that the claim was based uii the value of the stock as pedigree stock which had been systematical! line-bred without resorting to outcrossing.

Counsel for the defence said that the claim worked out at 32s 4d jier chick, and that, as the whole profits of the farm were only about £250 a year, the claim was preposterous. In reply to Mr Beyfus, Mr Richard Harvey Tippett, . partner with Miss Hubbard, said they kept no books on the farm, and he could not give any idea of the amount of profit made each year. Receipt counterfoils produced showed sales of stock birds at varying prices up to eight guineas. Dr Bayon, recalled, in answer to His Honour Judge S. R. C. Bosanquet, K.C., the Official Referee, stated that he would expect the ricketty deterioration _to be arrested in a week by th» administration of cod liver oil, unless the disease were more advanced than was supposed.

There was a definite lag ,in disease !u respect'of recovery. “ All this about vitamins,” Dr Bayon added, “ is a very complicated business. Chicks will go off, their • appetite, and you riuist take that into account.” The Official Referee reserved his judgment. GOOD ADVICE., Commenting on the foregoing High Court action the lawyers (says- the ‘ Feather World ’) made a strong point of the fact that the poultrykeepers concerned did hot keep accounts. This omission made it very difficult to prove the extent of the losses for which the poultrykeepers claimed damages. The poultrykeeper who does not keep proper accounts is not only in a weak position in any legal action either for or against him; he simply does not know what is happening in his own business.

Contributions and question* for answering Simula be address'd to " Utility-Fancy," Poultry Editor, 'Star Office, and raeaivad not later than Tuesday of each week. UtilityFancy ” will only answer communications through this Mlumn. (Advertisements for this column must be handed in to the office before 2 p.m. en Thursday.)

By “UTILITY-FANCY ’*

Many poultrykeepers, especially unsuccessful ones, say .they have no time to keep books that will tell them what they know already: that they are losing money. The answer is that accounts enable them to know where they are losing it, and where they can save it. We do not know a single poultrykceper who is cpnsistently successful, who does not keep careful accounts. - THE BUFF ORPINGTON. The Buff Orpington, when first introduced, became , very popular with fanciers. It makes a handsome show bird, with) its rich, level, golden colouring. It is a good winter layer and table bird. , —General Characteristics.--Cock.—Head,, skull small. Beak strong and curved. Eyes- bold and bright. Comb small, straight, and red, firmly set on and evenly serrated, free from side sprigs. Face.—Smooth. Ear Jobes small, elongated. Wattles rather small "and oblong, well rounded at the bottom. Neck of medium length and abundantly covered with feathers. Body.—Deep and broad to tail, broad breast, well rounded, wide and slightly rising saddle; compact tail, slightly short and high; rather small wings, carried closely, the ends almost hidden by the saddle hackle. Carriage.—Erect and graceful, that of an active bird. Plumage fairly close, but not so hard as the game fowl’s, or as soft, loose and fluffy, as the Cochin Handling firm, as befits a table bird. Weight, 71b. Colour.—Beak, white or brown.' Eye, red or brown, red preferred. Comb, face wattles, and ear lobes bright red. Legs, feet, and skin white, Plumage clear, sound, .even buff throughout to skin.

Scale of Points. —Type 30, colour 20. condition 15, head 15, legs and feet. 10, sine 10 ; total, 100. FEATHER EATING. Nothing has been found to check feather eating so much as a good, regular supply of green food and vegetables, which, by cooling the blood, seem to Check the vice, especially if occupation and exercise be given at the same time by suspending the cabbage and other green stuff at such a height that the birds have to jump, or at least reach .high to get at it. It has been definitely proved that birds lay more if given green food, when in confinement. For chickens green food is better if cut up and given in troughs. Grass may be given in this way in troughs, when there is Ho grass run; the little ones are not liable to get crop bound, as is the case • where they are able to get at long, stringy grass. Another way of compelling exercise is to force the birds to scratch in fitter for their grain food. As a rule it is idle birds that take to vicious habits. DETERMINING SEX OF EGGS. It was announced last year that a Victorian visitor to England had secured the' Australian agency of a machine which was being perfected by a 'British scientist, and which would, it was claimed, be' able to determine the sex of the chicken that would he hatched from any fertile egg. Now comes advice from America that Dr Wm. Punk, a retired professor of the University of Michagan. has perfected a machine which he claims can not only determine the sex of the egg, but can change the sex if desired. The egg is placed in contact with the machine, which gives a “male” or “ female ” signal, upon which the eggs

are separated into their respective classes. A Japanese doctor some months back made a similar claim. For many years we have heard of methods of detecting sex of eggs, but so far all claims that have been tested have failed to stand the test. EGG SIZE AND HATCH ABILITY. According to Mr E. M. Funk, of the Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station, an analysis of the relationship between hatchability and large-size eggs in the station flocks has shown a tendency for birds that laid large eggs to produce eggs which did not hatch as well as those produced by hens that laid small or medium-sized eggs. The breeder who strives for large egg size, therefore, may be reducing the hatchability of the eggs from his flock. ACIDOSIS. We hear and read a great deal about acidosis—i.e., trouble caused by eating too much acid-forming foods. The chief acid-forming foods are meat, fish, and cereals and their resulting meals. The main alkali-forming foods are milk, fruits, and vegetables. In providing fresh ■ green food there is a double benefit. Not only does the daily use of green food do much to counteract any tendency towards an acid condition in the system, but all the kinds commonly used are tonic foods as well. It is an absolutely essential food, and a special point should be made of giving it to adult fowls, chickens, growers, Tayers, and breeders every aay. There is a belief that many of the troubles _to which fowls are subject, including possibly fowl paralysis, are caused by the feeding of two great a proportion of acid-forming foods. START WITH GOOD STOCK. Poultry keepers are very often handicapped at the outset by starting with breeds unsuited to their particular requirements, and when that occurs it is then one long fight to overcome difficulties that might minimise success in other directions. If a start has been made on wrong lines, restocking is the only way of righting the initial error, since the most astute management cannot possibly convert a Hamburg into a table fowl or a Cochin into a nonsitter; at least, it cannot be done in one man’s lifetime. TEXTURE OF COMB. The texture of the comb and wattles is a very important point in determining the value of fowls as layers. The softness and good appearance of the comb and wattles are very visible signs of the good layer, and they are signs which one-can distinguish easily from the fat and coarse appearance of those same appendages on the bad producer. The neck of a layer should be short, thin, and well carried.

CHARCOAL ASSISTS FATTENING. According to the German research workers, E. Mangold and H. Damkohler, the- feeding of charcoal in the mash greatly accelerated the rate of grciwth in fattening cockerels. The feeding of from 5 to 10 grains of charcoal per hen daily checked or prevented diarrhoea caused by feeding cane sugar in the mash or boiled potatoes as a sole diet. The voluntary intake of charcoal averaged 1.8 grains per hen daily, or about 1.5 per cent, of the total ration.

The addition of from 5 to 20 per cent, of charcoal in the ration of chicks or mature hens had no other noticeable effect. The presence of charcoal did not affect the digestibility of protein, but, slightly increased that of cacbohydrates, particularly crude fibre.