Poultry Notes

Hutt News, Volume 17, Issue 18, 29 September 1943, Page 4

Poultry Notes

1— —<s> (By lied Comb).

JKCiG EATING 1 I have been asked by a corresi j>ondent, to give the cause and cure of hens eating their eggs. There are several causes, chief among which are thirst, lack ol' ! minerals or vitamins in the l'oou, | overcrowding- of birds in the house, scarcity of nests and idleness. Ensuring that none of these conditions exist will do much' to prevent the trouble. Usually egg-eating is started by a soft egg or poorly shelled egg being broken accidentally. If this occurs frequently, the habit will soon be formed, the birds, or at least • some of them, learning to break eggs for the purpose. 'If such culprits can be found and removed the vice may not spread among the flock. The best cure for such hardened criminal is definitely the axe. The mustard egg remedy, is only a very temporary measure as the bird will sooner or later revert to her old habit. Hens too, have a very keen sense of smell, but a poor sense of taste. For this reason an egg filled with mustard is often 1 ignored. Generally speaking, it is a case of prevention rather than cure, and the bnst methods to follow are': — ' 1. Darken the nests and collect eggs frequently. 2. Watch for culprits and remove , them. 3. Provide plenty of drinking water near the nesting boxes. 4. Give the birds all the greens they will eat—this has the added ad * vantage of keeping them busy. 5. Provide plenty of oyster grit and see that it is always available. G. Add a dusting of common salt to the mash —say i-lb to each 100 lbs. HEN REARED CHICKS In discussing the hatching and rearing of chicks by hens, I notice that 1 have omitted to mention : 'scaly leg.' Hen reared chicks are more prone to sutler from this than those brought up artificially. Especially is this so when hens suffering from scaly leg 'are employed for sitting and rearing purposes. The first sign that the mites are "Working- beneath the scales will be noticed when the scales toward the lower part of tlig leg appear dry and raised. At this early stage it is easily Cured. Wash the feet and .shanks in warm, soapy water and apply a mixture of equal parts of paraffin and linseed oil. In advanced cases, scrub this mixture int,o the cracks with an old toothbrush and repeat week or ten days if necessary. THE (iROrtIAXJ CHICK .There is .something fascinating abput the creation of a new being. One cannot imagine anything more intriguing than the process of development ol' a living creature from a minute gelatinous mass into a mature and beautiful specimen of its Kind. The development of a chick is par ticularly interesting. Let us taice a peep at what goes on. At the end of the first day of incubation the lineaments of the head and body are apparent, the head occupying a .space equal to one-third 0i the body after i>o hours The heart had appeared and began to oeat at the 24th hour,- thought slowiy and irregularly. On the second day, blood vessels appear and puliation is easiiy noticeable. On the third day rudimentary organs appear, lungs, liver, kidneys and wings, while the bill and' lore and liina parts of the head btjgin to show. The white of the egg commences to decrease considerably, be ing used for nourishment and growth of the em-bryo. The system of blood vessels has now extended, the blood passing through large arteries and veins to the heart. From the fourth day, a rapid increase takes place. Voluntary move ment of the embryo takes place and the organs of sex appear. > At the fifth day a temporary breathing apparatus appears, a tiny sac-shaped membrane called the "allantois." This supplies oxygen to the heart until such time as the lungs come into operation. By the seventh day, the vertebrae of the spine are visible. The embryo is now about three-quarters of an inch long, by far the most prominent part being the eye, which all along has been far out of propor- . tion to the rest of the body. On the tenth day, the breast bones which have been separated, unite. On the eleventh day, the loops of the intestines are drawn into the ■ body and the chick is complete. The feathers have commenced to shoot and from now on it is only a con- , tinuation of growth. j Just before hatching, the chick [ pushes its head into the air space | and the lungs commence their work. The chick then proceeds to break out by tapping the ahull 1 with a small horn-like growth on the top of its beak, cutting completely . round the shell, saw fashion, until the shell breaks apart and permits the chick to emerge.