TABLE POULTRY, CAN IT BE POPULARISED?

Horowhenua Chronicle, 13 June 1936, Page 3

TABLE POULTRY, CAN IT BE POPULARISED?

PRODUCTION METHODS THE CLASS OF BIRD NEEDED. The production of poultry, ecpecially intended for the table market in Australia, is unfortunately very backward as compared with some other countries. Owing to past neglect of the table trade, the average fowl sent to the market is not in very high repute. It has almost come to be a recognised thing that tablo poultry consists of worn-out layers, and too-young or surplus cockerels that have been carried along, with no special attention, until they approximate somewhat the marketing age. The low consumption of table poultry in Australia is understandable, when wo remember two related conditions: poultry farmers will not face, the trouble and expense of producing really iirstclass table poultry, because they do not get sufficient return to warrant the extra trouble, and the public will not buy poultry because of its very indilferent quality. Until this vicious circle is upset, there seems to be little hope of any substantial improvement in the table trade. Fortunately, however, a few breeders are giving time to producing a better table bird, and gradually the public will be encouraged to eat more poultry meat —if its quality improves as it should. It was easy to say, during the depression now happily past, that people could not afford poultry meat. Even if that were the real reason for the smallness of consumption, the time is now here when a bid should oe made for a definite increase in this consumption, and such increase can only be brought about by delivering quality goods. With the surplus cockerel problem largely met by the adoption by most mass producers of the system of killing off all unwanted sexed day-old cockerels, the oversupply of table birds should shortly be met, with a consequent rise of prices and an outlet for specially reared birds for the table. Why Not More Popular?

In an endeavour to ascertain just why people do not eat more poultry, the Bureau of Agricultural Economics (U.S.A.) recently macxc a purposeful study of the question by going direct to average consumers and listing their lindings under the headings of nationality, income and size of family. The study brought out the fact that of 5,404 families interviewed, 70 per cent, use poultry occasionally. Of these the Jews wore the largest consumers, followed by Americans, Russians, Polish, Irish, and Mediterraneans in that order, whilst Negrops were the lowest consumers, suggesting an economic explanation. They also discovered that the greatest consumers were families of four and five persons, the four’s slightly leading.

Wc cpiote the above because of the thoroughness of the technique which our American friends put into such studies and because we have no comparable information regarding Australian consumption. If at all rcvelaut, it surely shows that if 70 per cent, of families ate poultry meat during the depression years, there should be a great increase of consumption if and when better economic conditions return. Milk Fed.

In general, it can be accepted that the average Australian eats quite as well as the average American and it is therefore a reasonable expectation to believe that with improving economic conditions in Australia we can fairly presume an increase in poultry consumption in the near future. One factor, however, must not be lost sight of: American table poultry is practically all milkfed , and bred for this purpose, and although culls arc disposed of in the markets, they return low prices and are mainly used tor broilers. “Fried chicken,’ ’ so universally popular in America, requires a specially grown and fed bird, and herein, in our opinion, lies the secret of the popularity of fried chicken, and likewise comparatively poor quality birds may explain the lack of popularity of poultry meat in Australia. Reports from California show that the average price for table poultry in January was; Leghorns up to 3lbs. per lb.; coloured breeds up to 31 bs., 1/per lb. These prices rverc not for culls but for milk-fed birds prepared for the table market. Production Methods.

The belief therefore that the prospects for table poultry should induce more consideration of the subject by some of our smaller producers, commits us to some service along these lines. On farms where cockerels are not reared to a suitable marketing age, or whereon pullets only are raised, part of the cost of replacement of layers falls upon the returns for eggs, whereas if the cockerels were made to show a profit this would reduce the cost of raising the pullets. One poultry farmer friend, who does not yet resort to chick aexing, carries on his surplus cockerels to about four months under ordinary conditions; he then places them in a large shed with no litter and feeds them a fattening wet mash for two weeks before marketing them. He claims that they only cost him twopence extra per bird, and, although not ideal table birds for the besf prices, he nets I/- to 1/6 per head more than if marketed straight from his yards.

The Eight Class of Bird. When asked how he would start to produce fowls for a profitable table market, Mr J, Stephen Hicks, the wellknown English breeder, said that ho would first decide upon the class of bird to produce, then the breeding stock ; most suitable for producing it, next tho system of rearing, and finally the kind

of farm needed for the purpose. The 41b. chicken is the best all-rounder at which to aim, as at that stage it probably shows the greatest prolit, proportionate to expenses. Ho would try to find a cross and a system of feeding and management that would give chickens that were both white-fleshed and plump straight off the run. In other words, he would not put the birds through any > special fattening course. The main idea would be to try to evolve by breeding and sensible management a chicken that would be plump enough in its natural condition to warrant marketing straight away.

’ The ultimate aim wmuld be to produce only the one type of chicken, so that all consignments would be more or less automatically standardised, but that was not to say that it would be possible to discover the ideal cross immediately. In starting, the plan would be to install at least two and probably three different first crosses as breeders and work later as the result of (1) The ease in rearing; (2) the rapidity of growth; (3) the quality of the carcasses; and, (4) the price obtainable for the finished product.

The most difficult problem of all to decide upon would be that connected with rearing. Without denying that others have been remarkably successful with batteries, Mr Hicks admits that he has always been attracted by open-air methods. He would probably prefer hovers of one sort or another, transferring the chicks into the open at six weeks of age and running them on range until marketed.

‘‘Personally, I do not think it would be worth while as an enterprise,” Mr Hicks states, “unless a fairly constant flow of chicks were forthcoming during at least eight months of the year, or, say, thirty-live weeks, with an average of 300 a week. If this were maintained j it would mean that 4,800 chickens of various ages would be on the farm at one time. It would also mean the maintenance of something like 250 breeding stock, if (as I think should be done in order to be able to rely on the

quality of the output), the whole of tho chickens arc bred on the home farm.’ 7 Mr Hicks goes on to say that all this implies a considerable acreage, and that would be one of the first points to be studied when selecting a site for this kind of enterprise. With restricted quarters there were bound to be ‘snags' sooner or later. Five acres would be required for breeding stock, and at least another live acres for every 1,000 chickens being got ready. Thus in tho proposed instance the acreage would need to be not less than thirty in all — preferably larger, in order to provide for systematical resting. Finally, the holding would need to be so situated that transport to the city would prove neither expensive nor lengthy. But whilst this may be theoretically correct, it is probably too ambitious iu tho somewhat limited held which Australia oilers at present tor table poultry. Perhaps the beginner will understand tho position more clearly if we mention that the cost of feeding a bird up to the time he attains a weight of 2Jlba. is about 1/2, while 1/8 should be sufficient to produce a 4-4£lb chicken —that is to say, the additional 21bs has been obtained for a food cost of about Gd. In normal circumstances the risk of serious losses occurring after a bird is three months* old is negligible, while other charges which must bo provided for during the time required for increasing the weight by an additional 21bs should not be very considerable. Therefore, as the smaller bird does not realise a higher price per lb. than one weighing 31-41bs, it is evident that chickens of the latter weight are more profitable. It has been said that the trade for 241 b chickens represents a convenient outlet for the pullets, as wholesalers do not like them when the ovary is becoming active. This however, indicates that the birds are precocious, and probably of a laying strain, not the table type. All things considered, the chicken appears to be a very doubtful pro* position from the producer’s and paM ticularly the beginner's, standpoint.—> i Tho Australasian Poultry World.