Poultry Notes

Hutt News, Volume 17, Issue 24, 17 November 1943, Page 7

Poultry Notes

("By' Red Comb).

CUTTING FOWLS' WIN OS. Some of the light breeds of poultry—Leghorns particularly — give considerable trouble by Hying over wire-netting fences. This can be prevented by cutting the wing, but there is a right and a wrong way of doing even so simple a thing as this. Thoughtless persons often clip all or some of the feathers of both wings or all the feathers of one wing. Neither is correct. The objective is to unbalance the bird when it attempts to fly, and therefore it is necessary to cut the flight (or outside) feathers of one wing only. Cutting all the wing feathers exposes the body to cold and rain. Where six or seven only of the flight feathers of one wing are cut, the body is still well protected by the remaining feathers. Cut the flights of the right wing always, as the ovaries are on the left side and require the full protection of the left wing. DAMP UTTER. While daftip litter is a menace to the health of adult fowls, its effect on chicks may be fatal, losses soon assuming epidemic proportions. You should be assured that the litter is perfectly dry and free from mould, the area in the -vicinity ,of ithe lUrinking fountains requiring most attention.

Heavy mortality has been traced j to this cause, the chicks dying from a disease known as aspergillosis— more commonly referred to at I "brooder pneumonia." It is a fungoid disease which attacks the iungs and respiratory passages. The fungus, which is widely distributed in nature, readily establishes itself in damp places and once it gets a footing the chicks will soon be affected. As soon as the chicks are strong on their legs raise the drinkers from the floor by means of wire or slatted platforms. PII) YOU KNOW THAT— ! I1AI) EGGS During the first eight weeks of egg control in England, 17,000,000 bad eggs were delivered to retailers. The trouble was due to ships carrying large consignments being damaged by torpedoes. It is not known if the suggestion of dropping them 011 Berlin eve) eventuated! WATER. In proportion to weight, fowls drink twice as much water as beef cattle, sheet* or awlne. One hundred hens will drink five gallons ot water daily—even more 011 hot days. ,1,000 YEARS AGO. Baked clay tablets recently unearthed in Babylon reveal how close its business relations were with Nineveh. One pf ( the tablets recorded the complain of a dealer who claimed that a shipment r of chicks had arrived in bad condition. —And that was 5,000 years ago! SHELL) SHOCKED. After bombing raids, poultry tanners in Britain frequently find some of their birds suffering from shell-shock. They are unconscious, many appearing quite dead, but a great number revive after ail interval of a few hours.