POULTRY KEEPING.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 4986, 11 June 1926, Page 4

POULTRY KEEPING.

WINTER EGG PRODUCTION. (By F. C. Brown, Chief Poultry Export, in the. Journal of Agriculture.) The season is now at hti-ml when maximum prices rule for strictly fresh eggs. As the great bulk of the adult birds will be resting and undergoing the. moulting process, the pullets must lie chiefly relied upon to produce these eggs. Thus the chief concern of the poultry’keeper at the present time should be to give the pullets the best possible attention in order that they may produce to their maximum capacity. The poultry-keepe.r who succeeds in obtaining a high winter production leaves [nothing to chance ; he realizes that such eggs are an out-of-season and artificially stimulated product. In the spring and summer months, when the hen lays naturally, it is a simple matter to secure a. good eggyield, but even with the bird bred to lay in winter it is entirely different. Tho slightest error made in managing the pullets when commencing to lay is hot only apt to cause a false moult, but in addition to give the birds a setback that is not. recovered Ifor weeks, and sometimes months. In short, everything shoud be done to. provide conditions resembling these that prevail in spring and summer — in other words, the natural laying season.

In the first pla.ee, the house should be roomy—not merely enough for the birds to roost in by night, but sufficiently large to accommodate and to provide exercise in comfort for all the birds when 'unfavourable weather conditions pi evail. It is of the first, importance that the; birds be fed under cover at all timems, and not compelled to wa,it about in the yard for feeding time on cold and wet days. Exercise in another important mattter which must not be overlooked. The. value of exercise,as a means of promoting winter laying is not so generally realised as: it should be. To induce exercise the floor of the. house should be thickly littered with straw', and the dry grains of the evening meal scattered therein. Sufficient, grain should be given so that some is left over for the birds to scratch for in .the early -morning.

Hahd-in-hand with good housing and comfortable conditions should go regular and liberal (feeding. There is no l greater mistake made than the idea that the heavy layer when fed on the right class of food can be overfed and become too fa,t to lay. Another important point is not. to subject the laying pullet, to. frequent changes of food. The more uniform the treatment they receive in all respects the less risk will, there be of their going into a prtemature moult. Only the best grain materials .available, should be used. At the present price of eggs it will pay to feed the best foods irrespective of cost, within rea.son. In this connection poultry-keepers should beware of some of the so called pollard that is on the market. Some of the samples which have recently come under my notice .would he next, to useless for promoting egg-production. Indeed, it is a rare thing to see good pollard these days, even at its present ex-

treme price, and it would appear that a. substitute will have to be found to wholly or partly take its place. A good material for this purpose is finely ground wheat. One part of wheatmeal to two parts of bran is recommended, the proportions being varied according to the quality of the wheat. Unfortunately, as with pollard, much of the wheatmeal on the market is of a decided inferior quality, and where possible poultry-keepers are. recommended to choose their own sample of wheat and get it ground specially.

The mash should be made as appetising tgs possible by moistening it with meat soup, milk, or hot water. For the evening meal, wheat, when available, should be looked upon as the stable grain. It is, however, a good plan to mix oat.s and maize with it. During cold weather the grain r.ation may consist of at least onethird maize, but in hot weather this .should be given in a less quantity. The manner in which the birds appreciate the different kinds of grams must also'be taken as a, guide. When it is observed that they are leaving any particular grain, this should be given in reduced quantity. iOf course, this only applies where all the grains are of good quality, as fowls dislike inferior or damaged grain.

In addition, the ration should include meat, or meat-meal, preferably fled by itself. These forcing foods .are specially demanded to ejnsure a good supply of eggs during the cold winter months of the yeay. Care must be taken, however, that such foods are not oversupplied, especially in the mash, or it will have the inevitable result or bringing on ovarian troubles, protrusion of the oviduct being a common phase. Greecn food should be provided in abundance, and likewise the grain materials referred to. Grit is another essential to the well-being of fowls of ajl ages, and should be always available for them to pick at. It should be remembered that fowls have no teeth with which to masticate their food, and that grit a.cts as a substitute. Proper digestion cannot take place unless the gizzajrd contain gravel, grit, or similar material, and without good digestion a bird cannot maintain good .health and a highly productive condition. In addition to grit, laying hens should have crushed oyster shell or other fresh sea-shelj always in reach to provide egg-shell-forming material. Burnt or charred bones, put through a grit mill, are a,1,50 good for shellmaking, and are much relished . Finally, care should be taken tha.t there are no cracks in the back or sidewalls of the house to let in cold draughts—a most common cause of colds and the forerunner of roup. The common symptoms of colds are sneezing, eyes watering, and a, discharge from the nostrils, to which dirt and dust adhere. In severe cases the discharge will usually be found on the feathers under the wing, owing to the bird .sleeping with its head thereunder. When any of these symptoms manifest themselves the first essential is to find' the cause and remove it, for, as with most troubles affecting poultry, it is next to useless trying to cure the trouble if the cause is not first removed.