FEE POULTRY RUN

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXVI, Issue 109, 21 April 1936, Page 4

FEE POULTRY RUN

11 Choice of Stock for a Breeding WORTHY OLD-STAGERS I ‘‘lt is poor policy to discard a layer H solely because of its age, especially on | a breeding farm,” states F. C. Atkins, Y writing in “Poultry” (Eng.) on the g question of culling older hens. Quite a > number of the hens will be obviously / worn out by, o? before, the end of their / second season; but the carefully select- •’ cd cream of the two-year-olds will pay .’i their way for a third season and equal " the performance of most younger hens. ‘ It is sound practice to cull the oldest ; hens most severely, but any among them which seem too good to discard ought to be retained.

■ Once rid of the idea that a hen is ■s’ necessarily worn out at a certain age, !t it becomes possible to weed out the I wasters among the younger layers with greater detei urination, without too greatly reducing the strength of the llock. The more worthy old-stagers will fill the gaping ranks and genuinely contribute towards maintaining the standard of quality.

For breeding purposes, good old hens are a first-rate asset. It stands to reason that a hen which has stood the racket for more seasons than usual has a potentially high breeding value. Not only should it produce progeny of high fecundity, but it may bo expected to hand on some of its own exceptional stamina.

Poultrymen who automatically discard their layers when they reach a set age-limit are apt to be too lenient in culling the more youthful portion of the stock. They prefer to deal in wholesale methods, clearing the old hens out in a body at the end of their season, and when the house they occupy is required for the new lot of pullets. This is certainly a very simple method; but it is doubtful if it is good business. It is preferable to get rid of unproductive stock as soon as they cease to lay, and not before. This means that culling may start, on a small scale, in the late spring and continue well into the autumn. Almost always it will leave a residue of hens which have resisted all attempts to catch them out of lay. These are the ones which have earned a reprieve and may be kept for another season with considerable advantage. If these are added to the flock of younger hens, it is a more profitable proceeding. PICK GUI’ YOUR BREEDERS.

Now is the time to pick out tho stock for breeding as in another four or five weeks mating should begin, especially with the heavier varieties. The hens and pullets intended for breeding should have a rest after coming through the moult before being put in the breeding pen. The strain of laying through a whole season, particularly the best layers, and the subsequent strain of moulting, constitutes a drain on the system, and a rest is necessary so that the birds’ natural vitality may be restored to its full strength. If birds, male or female, are to produce strong, healthy, good constitutioned progeny, they must themselves be healthy, when bred from. It is better to wait awhile before putting birds into the breeding pen if they are not quite ready. With cockerels it is a good plan to run them with threo of four stray hens for a couple of weeks, about six weeks before mating, and then give them a month’s spell. They are not likely to be so savage then as if put straight into the breeding pen without being broken in. Of course, only the most vigorous and best-constitutioned birds of either sex should be used in the breeding pen. POINTS ABOUT FEATHERING.

“I would always back the tightfeathered pullet of any breed to beat the loose feathered bird in laying,” says W. Powell Owen, writing in the "Poultry World.” "The tight-feather-ed pullet handles sleek and silky, is firm and solid in body, with full abdomen; the loose-feathered one feels light in comparison, has partly or entirely empty abdomen even when in lay. Such a pullet —if of the real feath-er-duster typo—will look large, but can be squezzed in the hand almost to nothing. Excessive feather can be seen when the pullets are moving about and are viewed from the rear. The cushion feathers will be long and give a rather full appearance to the back near the tail, the thigh feathers, too, will protrude outwards and beyond the line of the abdominal fluff. In the elosefeathered pullet the front appears full and rounded, the cushion feathers lie down instead of being upright, and there is a distinct line of the thigh fluff an inch or so in front of tho outline of the abdominal fluff. The pullet with excessive fluff usually looks a broody type about the head, with rounded skull, low-set eye, thick neck anfl sunken eye from too prominent brow. The ideal tight-feathered pullet has a refined skull and neck, highly placed and an outstanding eye, smooth face and absence of brow.”