POULTRY NOTES.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLII, Issue 1017, 9 November 1917, Page 2

POULTRY NOTES.

(By "Utility.”) DUCKS AND DUCKLINGS. Although the months of August, September and October are undoubtedly the best period for hatching chickens, ducklings may be hatched later without injury owing to their making more rapid growth. Then is an increasing and unsatisfied demand for good table docks, the Pekin and Aylesbury varieties being usually the best tabl kinds. If tin' ducks have good surround ings and clean food the eggs will be sn perior in flavour to those laid by duck which wallow in dirty stagnant pools. 'I lit flavour of eggs is easily injuriously affectei, by ‘tainted meat, etc., and this partly ac counts for the prejudice against, (luck eggs. Some very excellent results from duck keeping have come under my notice from time to time, as given a good creek, am plenty of range, the birds will pick ti| themselves a great amount of egg-lavin'-’ food, and only require an inexpensive mash to complete their diet. The usual thing is to keep the ducks shut up until about nine hr the morning, when the egg laying business is practically over; otherwise tin eggs will probably be laid in the creek <u deposited where the sun’s rays reach them and if left long under these conditions tin eggs soon become tainted. 1 must confess that on a small place with no running water 1 am not favourably impressed with duck keeping; the duck's seem to me to foul the ground more than is the case with hens. An impression prevails that duck lings arc harder to incubate and rear than chickens; my own opinion is that the very reverse is the case. Given normal conditions the ducklings are easily hatched and reared, and quickly grow into healthy ducks. Ducklings, however, are mon timid than chickens, and are apt to stain pede if suddenly frightened, and for this reason strangers are not. welcomed on tin large duck farms in America. All animals profit am! thrive better if the owner or attendant is quiet and methodical in hji l movements, and this applies particularly (o ducklings. I may mention that it is a very unsatisfactory business running fow. and ducks together, the latter wander about at all hours of the day and night, foulin'; the drinking wafer and making 11 mess of things generally. Breeding ducks reqmr water to swim in, as this greatly improvethe fertility of the eggs. Stoats, weasel and rats are very partial to ducklings, am these enemies must bo guarded against a all hazards, TUB INCUBATION OK DUCK EGG* The incubator should bo run as near a. possible to 102deg. for the first eighteen days, and then raised gradually to 104deg until the. hatch is over. Duck eggs reqmr twenty -seven days to incubate, as agauis only twentv-one days in the case of net eggs. The. eggs should be of good medmii size and a-s fresh as possible. Cotmnenc turning the eggs on the third day, opening the ventilators, which (should have beei kept closed until then. Test the eggs on the fifth day, the infertile eggs when ex aniined through a tester will appear whit and clear all over; those of course shout* be removed. A second test should be mad' on the fifteenth day, and a third one on the twenty-fourth day. Bad eggs will playhavoc with the hatch. The eggs should bI turned twice a day. About the fifth day moisture should be given, either water o 1 damp sand in shallow pans, until the egg Ishow the first sign of pipping- Bomm ’ tlio waUr and spread over the top ot tm 'eggs a piece of blanket dipped in warn j water Then close down the machine u.nti. the hatch is over. Keep a watch on tin ail- cells of the eggs', the air cell can alway be brought down to its right «ze, but i* too low it cannot, be raised again- A liu 1 turning the eggs do not be afraid to g , | them a good cooling; leave them out long* 1 I if the weather is warm, and the further tb hatch progresses the longer may the an in, last Plenty of moisture is necessary. " : the natural state the nest is made ini reed i or other wet place, and the ducks get «"• the water every day and comes back to U •- 1 ,-rr.rs with wet feet ; there IS moisture CM I.y ; where, in fact. The low temperature > ■ ! necessary because the eggs take nearly Join weeks th hatch, and the shcM of 1 egg is more opaque than that of the i-jj and the evaporation, is Mowei. 1 weather is wet and”the air full of moisturn artificial moisture will not be W»an . The eggs should be carefully w atc.iod. ; they are "drying oft” too quickly, evaporation should be stopped witi exti.i oid Leave the ducklings m the men bat or for thirty-six hours, and I then rmnm*them to the brooder m a win in bask TUB BROODER. For small hatches of ducklings, it. is qu"-« ! simple matter to rear them in an oul-dpo brooder? or even a well made coop, with 'very little trouble. The hover may.be a 'square box, the floor being covered thickly with sand, with a frame on top, so as to i' - ‘ lightly over the ducklings. Across the f ’ a double curtain is tacked, with a si'-ift opening in the middle as an entrance. I '• ! attention is necessary for a day oi wo, ° 1 prevent the ducklings losing their bearings, but if they are pushed into this sleeping >.> '■ a few times after feeding there will be vmy little trouble. Ducklings require plenty o frosli air, oven man* so than cluckens, this must be taken into consideration wlmn ; making the brooder box. TilE FEEDING. I There are various ways of feeding, and the following has given good results. I' :r the first few days a mash of two small measures of bran to one heaped measure n pollard, mixed with milk, and not ft 11 1'” so dry as for chickens. Keep a little by them for a day or so, but do not coax tin m 'to eat. Then food regularly four turns daily just what they can finish up. A mile course sand should be mixed with the food ! until they are a week old. and then a lim-i d allowance always left near, so that they cm help themselves. On the third day toe mash should he composed oi equal parts d bran and pollard, and if convenient, in ij Inva a furilior addition of stale bread .-oak 1 in milk added to it. During the sic-ml weelc a- little minced meat should be add 'd jo th*’ mash, and increased in quant.tv very gradually, as well as chopped gre n 1 siuli once a day. A little bone meal is *xcellenl, especially where space is limited and the run small. The mash given above v. dl be suitable for quite three weeks. Aft r ! that it- may be altered either to two pail.-, i of pollard to ouo‘part bran, or equal parts lof maize meal/ pollard, and bran, well I mixed with cold water. The foremen!ion -d ! formulas are recommended by the Gove l nI meiit Poultry Department. After lh<‘ ducklings are a- month old. they should he fed three limes a day, v, ill l a. good , mash consisting of tv-o parts of pollard, one part of maize meal, or : pea meal, or barley meal, and ten per cent blood meal,'mixed with cold water. (Imp- , ped green food should lie given twice tt I day, fed separately, and always have plenty i of grit and clean water before the ducklings.

BROODY HENS. It is quite a common practice to encourage the brooding instinct, by allowing the, hen to remain on the nest day after day. This brings (ho bird down in condition, and the setting hen soon gets poor. Mach evening the broody liens should be removed to a separate pen, where there are no nests. A pen or coop within sight of the other fowls will hasten the birds’ recovery. In a few days the bird will cool off and resume laying. Should she be neglected it will take several weeks to bring back (ho condition necessary for laying. All this moans loss of time and expense. It is helping to reduce your profits, so do not ignore the broody hen. She is frequently (he earliest winter layer, as she responds quickly to the moult. Those who keep heavy breeds should give this matter close attention, as not only is there a direct loss in egg production, but the broody ben starts the germ of forti lo eggs loft in the nest and spoils (he commercial value of eggs for the market. A nest full of eggs encourages the liens’ natural instinct, to sit, therefore remove the eggs at least twice a day. They will keep longer, and the brooding instinct of hens will bo kept- within its narrowest limits. PROFITABLE POULTRY. The result of the Ha wkesbury Uolh'ge (N.S.W.) single pen tost afford* sonm interesting data to poultry keepers. I hove hie of the total food consumed by the 540 birds included in the various tests was £177 8s 6d, averaging 6s 7d per head. The lotal value of the eggs, after deducting freight and selling charges, was £SBO 19s 2d, leaving a surplus of J8403 10s Bd, equal to discharging all liabilities and showing a profit of nearly 15s per bird a very handsome return. The feeding was nu simple lines, no special foods, tonics, etc., being used. The morning mash was composed of 601 bs pollard. 201bs bran, 12lbs lucerne meal and 81 bs of meat or blood meal. The evening ration was made up of two-thirds wheat and one-third crushed maize. PRESERVING . EGGS. The best method is to use silicate of soda, better known as water-glass, li is both

cheap mul effective/ If the water-glass is of full strength the proportion of one part to 19 of water will usually bo found to bo right. The water-glass should bo placed in an earthenware vessel, or a zinc bucket, and very hot or boiling water should be poured on it in order to make a thin solution. The remaining part of the water should be boiled, and may lie added and stirred together while hoi or after it lias cooled. When the liquid is quite cooled, half lill the vessel in which the eggs are to be kept —a. kerosene tin thoroughly scrubbed out to remove the odour of the oil will do —and place the eggs in it. If there are enough fresh eggs to lill the vessel, place them in first. and pour the cool mixture over them till they are covered. They should be quite clean when put in, and are better if not more than a day old, though they may be added when a week old.. The test ot the strength of the water-glass, is that, if too strong, the eggs will float even when quite new laid. Eggs may be added from time to time as they are collected until the vessel is full. About fin inch oi witter should cover the top layer, and the vessel is best covered over and kept in a cool place. Care should be taken that no tainted egg is included, as it will turn the solution musty, and have an injurious effect on the flavour of the others, although not actually spoiling them. They should bo washed when taken out for use, and those intended for boiling should be pricked at the larger end or they will crack with the expansion, since the water-glass stops up the pores of the shell, by which means the preservation of the eggs is accomplished. As the solution prevents an} air from getting into the egg, so it prevents any from escaping when the egg is boiled. For general cooking purposes the eggs preserved by this method arc as good as the best. It is safer to pul clown infertile eggs (that is, eggs from a pen m which no male bird is kept), but eggs from a breeding pen, if put down fresh and before germination begins, may be placed in the vessel and give good results.