POULTRY NOTES.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 10526, 2 December 1916, Page 9

POULTRY NOTES.

; (By "Utility.") I CULLING. 'I As I pointed out in last week's notesj the best way of grappling with the_ problem of high prices for fowl food is_ by 'better management and careful culling'. . The heavy layer, well looked after, will j always yield a fair return, even if wheat •prices are high; it is the drones in the hive which make, such serious inroads upon the profits of the poultry run. Some of last season's pullets, unless cell, ig has been resorted to, will nol be worth keepi in,!>'. The usual practice is to keep the I good hens- two years, or rather two laying' i seasons, and then dispose of them. . iSxcepI tionally good type hens may be"*kept throe i years for breeding purposes only. Bach ! year the hen lays a small number oCegg'S, I the third year hens may perhaps give a j very small profit over and above the food I bill, but fourth year hens will show a loss, j A good test as ro whether a hen is layii.-j or not, is to go through the flock, in the evening, hen they are on the perches, and feel their crops. Hens with a full crop, should he laying', and those with I ompty crops may be set down as non- | layers. Lately I have killed several hens I for table purpose* on the strength of their non-product ive appearance—-not by the crop test, cod ii was noticeable thai when being dressed their crops were almost empty, which certainly bears out the sayine' that the good enter is the good layer, and the poor layer the poor eater. Ii was also noticeable that the hens 1 killed contained-no wet! developed eggs, but only minute oocytes (undeveloped eggs), so even had the hen lived, ii would probably be months before she laid again. ! have heard of people killing what, they thought was a WHStor, but ail inspection revealing ;i large number of eggs in a well developed condition ; this, of course, needless ro say. is the wrong' way of culling the (lock. ANOTHER LAYING TEST. Where the pelvic bones arc close together and the breast bone close up to them, ii may be taken for granted that il„. bird will' not lay for some time, and wiil be unprofitable ro keep. Whereas if H ie pelvic bones be well apart, and there is a good distance between these and the breast bone, with a fulness ol the abdomen> it ntav be considered thai the bird I will soon come c lay again, and IS therefore well worth retaining in ihe Hock. Of course the trained observer does not need to examine a bird to discover il she is laying. U a bird is about to take a long period of rest her abdomen naturally shrinks, and she will appear o have longer legs, than when she is m a lull laying condition. On the other hand, it tho bird will lay again shortly, or is m a laving' condition the width and dep. ■ ot the abdomen will be clearly indicated, the development of the egg clusters causes thi intestines to fall, and this forces on the, abdomen, and when this is full and deep . it may be safely assumed that the ovary, is in a forward stage of development, ami the bird is either laying or about- to lay. Hens too, above tho noraml weight should receive■ careful attention; it may be of course that the food given has been ot -, fattening description, or thai tlio biras tl, not have sufficient exere.se, or it may | be thai the hen puts its lood on its hack, and not for productive purposes. In tins ease the sooner it is disposed ol the Hotter Those hens, too, having a dull eye, loose feathering, and sluggish appearance, are not profitable. I read somewhere h.t it was a mistake to lake advice too hteially, and this applies ro culling. All IW circumstances surrounding the birds, their management, date of hatching, etc., mint o .©taken into consideration. II the bird. are" not properly fed, or otherwxse well looked alter, they will soon become unprofitable, and. the ordinary tests of laying , power may appear misleading. 1 am I-, suming-, however, in the above rema .... , thai the management has been good, o. at any rate somewhat near the mark. isi FACHED SHANK'S IN HIGH ' LAYERS. Thi-- point is one which may be of a great deal of value tc the poultryman when he is ending bis flock it. the fa and deciding, wliicli ot bis pullets he will keep over to uso as breeders the next year 'I ho has no trap-nest records, the co our of, the 'hank furnishes him one ol the nest nidieations he can have as to the way in wmch ,'e pullets have laid during their hist. vea r of life. Hi- h.st selection should alwavs 0 | course, be on strength and constitutional virour, but after having £"*«» out the good, strong, healthy birds, hi | ,hould then choo-c from among those th' ones which show the whitest legs. Poultrymen often make a mistake on I.lns point. One fvoriucni.iv hears of u poiiliryn.au practising just tlie opposiie-thal is, when he Cl ,ll s pi. pullet ■in the autumn for the breeders of next year. He will pick out earcfullv those which have yellow legs, by on j ng ,his, he i: systematically picking out the poorest layer.- in his Hock to ii c as breedcis. uhereas if he take- those with the white lep-s he is Evslc-maticallv inching out his best lavers for breeding purposes. -Exchange " Mlhoiigh ninny well-known poul-l,-v people have found that bleached shanks gb with high laying capacity, others are ot a different opinion, and maintain that there is ~o real lest in leg colours, and thai ;•> breed from fowls on this ground is unsound .„,i u . { have no'ved in mv own yard one or two bird,, who übvioujy lutve not contributed their Fair ol eggs, and in culling would take this i.icl into consideration. BAD LUCK. :\t, Brown, the Government Poultry experi. i« rather rough on those who suffer from a verv common complaint known as "bad luck."' This is what he says: "Bad luck has a lot to answer for, it is the cause of so many failures in poultry-keeping. The hen neglected the eggs—because she was tormented by vermin. Bad luck I Chickens were lost—drowned in a deep water-tray. Bad luck! The hatch tailed in the incubator —the lamp was not iillcd at the right time. Bad E'mck ! Anothei hatch failed—the wick was not renewed. Bad luck '. A poor hatch—the eggs, when taken out |o cool were forgotten. Bad luck 1 Chickens died Ir mi bowel I rouble-the lamp went out in the brooder. Bad luck ! No eggs forgot lo feed the fowls. Bad luck! Again, no eggs-ran. inc for davs, and no dry scratching place. Bad luck.' Disea-' breaks, out—had too much stock and s.ver-crowded the house,. Lost monev—thought" anybody could run poultry. Bad luck! There are Some people, however, who start on a sound basis, iinde'rstand something of poultry-keeping, consistently encleavoun m improve their methods, and conduct the business in a careful and methodical manner. Somehow, they never have bad luck: Ceifainiy, they occas ionally, like human being in general, make mistakes, but they seldom arc of any moment".' They succeed in the things that really matter, and thereby make poult," \ keeping the profitable work it is fo iha.*a who thoroughly understand it, and treat it as a serious proposition to me mustered and conducted on the same strict business principles as any other commercial undertaking', 1 TO PREVENT FLYING. There is nothing more annoying than to have the vegetable, garden destroyed by snay fowls, fowls may be kept within their yard by cutting or pulling some of tile feathers from one wing, po thai ihey'becomie lop-sided and /all when they'attempt to fly. Heavy-breed birds may neai.ly always be kepi inside a 4 or 5-fool fence. The light breads want something higher to keep them in, but ;u a rule a 6-foot fence with the netting .stretched on fencing wire at the top, so that there is little or nothing for a foot-hold. \vil| meet the ease. Shoulq the birds go or. r a fence of this sort, i'l is necessary to stretch a single thin who a-1 round, and six inches above the netting. Ji is invisible to the birds, which wbtsh thev fly will bump into it, and fall back into the yard. With U method of this kitxd in operation, wins cutting or pulling ahould not be necessary.