AMONG THE POULTRY.

Grey River Argus, 21 July 1922, Page 3

AMONG THE POULTRY.

HOW TO EVOLVE LAYING STRAINS. The best hiying White Leghorn (savs an Australian Poultry Expert, Sir J. Beard) was not a freak found in an odd corner somewhere, but has been the result of careful mating for some years past. A stock of layers could be produced from almost any breed it the owner would care to go to the trouble. No one recommends the Indian Game as the ideal laying fowl, but iu taking any six pullets of this varietysome will lay better than others, and if these were persisted with, and the same idea followed of only breeding from the best layers, it would be possible to get a good supply of eggs even from the much-maligned Indian. This is the principle which lias been at the back of the Orpingtons, Wyandottes, Leghorns, and Rhode Island Reds, and brought some of these ■strains up to such a perfection as regards laying. Even in these one might get a flock of birds which would turn out very moderate or uven poor pavers. It is more a question of strain \or that which is very like pedigree, /because not all are bred with the same care and accuracy. Y'ou could < , ?.> l ly have two shorthorn cows, both nice to look at, but one will give nearlv as much milk again as the other simply’ because she has been bred from a milking strain, and her pedigree warrants the assertion that she would turn out a good milker. The production of pedigree layers is worked out on very similar lines. One cannot breed from anything called a Leghorn and expect good results. An expert knows the difference between a good and bad layer at a glance, but there should be at the back of this the knowledge of what -strain the stock is, then the thought is more convincing. I have very carefully’ followed the different habits of some of the : same breed, and, just as there are j drones in the beehive, so there are lazy i fowls in the run. One will be always busy’ looking out for any tit-bit about, and if on a paddock or run will soon eat its ordinary food and then be off to see what it can find. The other will bo always round the trough to pick up the last grain, and then may’ wander round to see what i is about, but by this time the other I bird will have caught the early worm. I While the latter fowl may lay’ a fair • share of and do her part, it is the active little hen which is going to do a bit more than her share and earn you the extra profit which is to come t in useful. To breed from all fowls haphazard without considering what they have done is fatal, but the best layers should be used for reproduction, though as soon as you do this you are building up a pedigree. If you would make sure of the number of eggs laid by each bird, the trapnest or the single penning system is the only’ safeguard, for then it is easy to follow the weekly’ or monthly returns of each hen, and is a safe guide j .or next year’s mating. One often ' unconsciously raises a strain of layers and builds up a pedigree without any ; special method, but there is usually a ' keen insight into the character of the ' birds, so that when mating up only’ i the best layers are used. Some breeders are quicker at dis- ; corning differences in hens than others. I have known people keep fowls for • years, and though they got a certain | number of <'ggs per day they could not tell you which birds laid the differ- | ent eggs, nor even which ones were laying. Much can be done by ordinary ob- | servation, and anyone greatly’ interested in the industry will naturally’ find 1 out things which another person would never see, and yet this does not imply’ I lack of keenness to make headway. One has a natural aptitude for picking | up things, and is able to grasp the con- I ditions quicker than another; and, I though the dull one, may get there i eventually’, the other has seen through • the position and made headway. Good j laying fowls are bred on peuigree lines : and are not found easily from an or- : di nary stock at random.