POULTRY NOTES.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLII, Issue 10106, 13 October 1917, Page 7

POULTRY NOTES.

(By ‘‘Utility.’ ) THE INCUBATOR. In a lecture at Port Adelaide, tlio poultry expert .‘dated that the incubator .should not U; placed at a loss distance than, say, twelve inches I rum a. wa.ll. Good ventilation and absence from strong draughts were essential. To a large extent the question of moisture and evaporation was governed by ventilation and the surrounding air current's Water should be used in the pans during the lirst week, as it was important to check evaporation at that (reriod. Careful experiments made with wet and dry bulb thermometers and special hygrometers showed that the best results obtained when during the lirst week the moisture content of the air on the machines was 65 per cent, 60 during the second week, and $0 to 45 during the third week. In cases where (he moisture content Was too high, it could Ire counteracted only by more ventilation, or by longer periods of cooling the* eggs. In lard; and pipe machines the ventilation enters below (he eggs, and pusses out above them, i.e., the cool air displaces the hot stir, which raises, and so forms a current, slow or fast, according to circumstances. In .such machines the water tray should be below the eggs. In those hot-air machines in which hot air is forced from the heater along the distributing pipes, and then through the eggs, and out by a bottom or side d.mtilrdor, the air currents are in the opposite direction to wind they are in tank machines. If the water May then tw placed below the egg;, it is inelfective. If it be placed just above (ho eggs, then the moisture in tiie form of vapour is drawn down to the eggs, li was pointed out that an average egg contained 05 per cent, of water (.■eld in chemical combination with the vari .■us components of the egg. If the loss be too rapid, the future of the embryo will be. imperilled. The object of supplying moisture in any way in the egg chamber is to retard evaporation. Evaporation is re-

tarded, and may lie stopped in tin atmosphere charged with moisture, while it is accelerated in a dry atmosphere, especially in a strong, dry, air current, TTllv FEEDING OF POULTRY. Tins most general ami popular system of feeding flocks at the present lime, and one which produces good results, is as follows: In the morning a moist mash made up of two parts pollard and one of bran by measure. A pint or gallon measure should be used for preference; to merely gues s the quantity wanted is seldom satisfactory. The lending properties of the bran will be enhanced and rendered more easily digested if it is steamed, that is, pour very hot or boiling water over the bran, covering with a bag. The proportions may be with a bttg and allowing to stand for fifteen minutes. The proportions may he varied according to the quality of the pollard, the whole of the material of the mash being moistened with meat soup or skim milk, when available, and mixed to a crumbly condition, not sloppy. It. should he fed in troughs—not on the ground. A piece of wood running over the middle of tlie trough will prevent the fowls getting into it and dirtying the food. There is much to Ire said for this trough feeding; if the food is merely thrown on the ground the fowls will probably contract noxious matter from the soil, as. although it may appear clean, it seldom is. after the fowls having Iteen running over it for a time. The troughs should be kept clean and sweet, food not being allowed to accumulate or become sour. For the evening meal, wheat, when available, is the staple grain, but it is u good plan to mix oats and maize with it. increasing the quantity of maize in cold weather, and giving more oats and less maize in hot weather. The common alternative. when moist mash's are not fed is to use a dry mash, which consists of ground grains, pollard, bran. etc. The mash is fed in a h.um .T, a.nd is alw ays .Indore the birds, grain lying fed in the evening in the usual way. The chief advantage of the dry mash a s against the wet is the minimising of labour in feeding. litis .system of feeding is becoming very p tpular, especially for thosts who IcetM) poultry for their own use, and who have to leave for their work early in the morning, and have not the time to mix a wet mash. The following is a suitubfr mixture for dry mash feeding, and should be thoroughly mixed dry: 651 bs pollard. 171bs bran, 121bs maize meal, lOlbs crushed oats, 61bs meat meal. Quantities may b' mixed to suit individual cases. Whatevei system of feeding is adopted, an amp/e supply of crushed oyster shell, grave.', grit, charcoal, and clean water should be always before the birds. Green foods, such as chaffed lucerne, clover, watercress, or cabbage, lettuce, mangolds, etc., should be fed during the day. That good results may he obtained from both the web and dry mash systems of feeding is evident by flit results obtained in egg-laying competitions. In the New Zealand 1912-1913 egg-laying competition, when wet mash was fed, the world’s record was put up with 1632 eggs from six hens, for the year. At the Victoria test, 1914-15, when the previous record was broken, and a grand total of 1699 eggs established, a dry formula was fed. Tito dietary used at the N.Z. egg-laying competition under the moist nuish system | was as follows: In the morning before ( seven o’clock one-third of a pint of grain ■ (oats, wheat, split peas, or cracked maize) I thrown in the scratching shed. At 9 a.in., j a further amount, of about 11 ozs grain was fed. The mash consists two-thirds pollard I and one-part bran (by measure) mixed with i soup ami meat. 1 luring the morning either cabbage or clover (chaffed), kale, rape, or mangolds was supplied. The evouI ing meal was two-thirds of a punt of wheat. ! All the grain was fed in a deep litter, and la little more than the quantity stall'd win | given if the birds seemed very hungry. 1 All that the birds did not eat up eagerly jw as removed, and. less given next _ day. Ground oyster shell and metal grit and I fresh water was always before the birds. 1 T|„. following formula (introduced by the ; chief poultry expert) and method of feeding wrich produced the world’s record under the dry mash system at the recent Victorian test: Mash, bran wheaten pollard SSllbs, lucerne pollard ]4lhs, pea-meal 221bs, oaten-meal pollard lllbs, ground oats with portion of husks removed 19ilbs, dry molasses of black sugar moat at 8 u.m„ about 3oz. of cooked minced liver to each pen; loz ol salt, mixed with the liver, was allowed to every hundred birds. The quantity of dry mash used per day for a pen of six birds was 12oz including minced liver. For green loot! fresh cut lucerne and silver beet was fed liberally at mid-day: whole grain was fed at 4.30 every afternoon, the amount varying according to appetite and weather conditions. A system adopted by some very successful poultrymen is to use both the wet and dry mash at the same time—the dry mash is always before the birds, and a morning wet mash is also fed. The advantage of this system is that it helps to keep the flock busy, the birds never get very hungry, and if as we are always being told, ii is almost impossible to overfeed bens of the good laying type, then the system of wet with dry mash feeding should be ideal. There can be no question that the hens greatly appreciate and relish a carefully prepared morning mash, and anything which stimulates the appetite should stimulate the egg-laying organs as well.