THE POULTRY WORLD

Hawera Star, Volume L, 25 October 1930, Page 11

THE POULTRY WORLD

TRAP=NESTING

ITS VALUE TO BREEDERS (By “Tight Feather.”) Trap nesting and single penning has been the main factor in building up flocks of worth while hens; in fact, it. j is the only system of obtaining reliable I data whereby the poultry keeper may keep the best and reject the r'esL_ As there is a black sheep in every flock, so there is of tell in a flock of hens some birds which lower the egg average of the rest. This writer, for many years, was a consistent user of the trap nests, in addition to which for several years some of the birds were confined in single pens. The benefits derived from trap nests are many. It is a moot point which is the most useful, trap nests or single pens. The latter may be the best, but at the same time they are the most costly to erect. Practically the same results may he obtained by the use of a dozen nests as from 50 single pens. These two systems are the only reliable method of building up a strain of profitable fowls’, and every poultry breeder will find in time that it will he absolutely necessary to trap nest a section of his stock if he is to keen it: up to standard. Stock breeding lias now reached .such a standard that purchasers de--1 maud a record of the parent stock of the birds they are buying, and especially when buying cockerels. Stock without such a record, no matter how good, cannot command the price when put upon the market. One well-known poultry writer has this to say: “No matter how experienced the culler is,’ hand and eye selection is only guesswork and should not be relied upoji. 'Trap nesting governs hatchabilit.v, real-ability, prepotency, ability to transmit laying ability from dam to son and sire to daughter, all of which are of more importance than actual number of eggs when it comes to building up a strain. At the moment commercial egg farmers are too fully occupied to spare the extra. labour and time to trap nest their birds. They should, however, make it a point to trap nest their leading pens during the winter months, and the amount of extra information gained will be surprising. Certain birds they will cull which they would otherwise have carried on. These birds, which are found out, would in their short career have handicapped the strain and reduced the standard so much that little or no progress would have been made. A profitable strain of layers with a high average record must be the aim if commercial egg farming is to be a financial success, and this can only be achieved by a systematic trap nesting. Trap nesting gives the owner a knowledge of his stock which he could never have gained otherwise, and if he is a_ true poultry farmer it will arouse an interest and enthusiasm which will make his work a pleasure.” It will be found that the extra labour does not come to a great deal after all. It is not necessary to he in continual attendance to reset the traps. A few extra visits will he all that is necessary. This special handling will also tame the birds to such an extent that it will make observance very easy. To facilitate matters, the trap-nesting houses can hi* those which arc nearest the dwelling house. When such an interest is thoroughly aroused much extra data can be added to the record sheets, such as colour of egg, texture of shell and so on. The enthusiast will thoroughly enjoy the work of keeping such records absolutely correct, and he will watch with redoubled interest the growing stock bred from such recorded birds. The mere monotony of collecting eggs will have disappeared, and every day will give tlie thoughtful noultryman food for thought. He will also find that he has more than doubled the value of bis stock and eggs, and if he is successful in gaining publicity in time he will be able to fix his own prices for breeding stock. All this will, of course, take time, but under the old, slipshod system he is wasting time and getting no further forward. The cost- of the tap nests need not be n big item, and batteries of 30 or 45 can be made at home if the owner is handy with tools. It is more than 20 years since

“Tight Feather” installed his first 12 trap nests. So startling were the facts disclosed that he (.steadily increased the number until 45 traps were in continuous use. It has been said facts are stubborn things; -one cannot get past them. That is the redeeming feature about trap nesting; it tilings out facts clearly, saving a lot of guesswork- and groping in tlie dark.

Some of the things the system does: Denotes Ihe drones, which may lie culled out- at an early date; shows clearly the pullets which, though laying well, for various reasons will not be desirable for the breeding pen. It enables one to know at a glance which lien lavs tin* small or misbaped egg. or the* oversize egg .as undesirable as the one too small, the egg with too thin a. .shell or too thick. With the constant handling one gets to know the elm raced rustics of the liens, which is not possible in any other way. If proper monthly score cards arc kept it enables one to trace unerringly where any undesirable weakness or breed fault has originated. Perhaps the greatest .compliment paid this writer as a poultry breeder was when, after two Government poultry instructors bad seen all over bis plant, they agreed that if any fault or weakness made its appearance by his system of trap-nest records he could immediately locate where it started from. This writer only knows of one trap n ester in the Taranaki district., although some Taranaki layers are equal to any in the poultry world. Tf individual records were keot and advertised many orders would come this way which now go elsewhere. There may lie Some single

testing carried oh; however. (his >, <•ril >< ■. wlit > has horn asked. «-ii 1111 o t with one exception sjiv just whore. KXI’KRIM KNTAL KKKDIXC TICST. The feeding test experiment being earned out oil the plant of .Mr 0. 1,, (hivliml completed th<“ iinst lour urrks on 11 1 *-■ 9th imst. with the following resuit: \o. I ih'i). with the addition of whey paste to its ration, laid 193 and live soft shelled eggs, a total of 198, which equals 7.2 per day; weight averaged ■over 26oz:s per dozen. Xo. ! j pen. fed on Air (Jaybird's usual formula. not including whey paste, for the 28 days laid 178 and two softshelled eggs, totalling 180, which is 0.12 nor dozen; weight averaged over 2Gozs per dozen, being, if anything, slightly heavier eggs. The test is over a period of three months. Careful note will also he made of the condition of eaeli nen. I have previously! mentioned that Mr Caviare! is also; adding whey paste to his chick food j this season, with the result that the chicks are thriving on it. Anyone interested in aviculture is invited to inspect both the experimental liens and chicks at any reasonable time.