POULTRY NOTES.

Manawatu Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 1977, 19 November 1921, Page 3

POULTRY NOTES.

(By “The Cackler.”) THE FLUSH SEASON. There is no doubt that the present price of eggs has Hit a lot of poultry men very hard. No one anticipated eggs reaching so low a price. When one considers the high cost of feed, which is practically the highest it has reached, viz., wheat at 10s to 11s per bushel, it is no wonder the question is asked, “Docs it pay?” We have the grand foresight of our worthy Cabinet Ministers to thank for a igreat deal of this trouble. Instead of prohibiting the Chinese pulp altogether (which New Zealand poultrymen have not the faintest hope of competing against), they still allow it !to come in. It was stated to the commission in Christchurch that ; there was a big carry-over of preserved and pulped egg of our own, and to satisfy Uie bakers they allowed a ircdu'ced importation of Chinese pulp. I Then we had the drop in the meat I market, which contributed a great Ideal to the demand lessening for eggs. I The public are always after the I cheapest food. There is feed to be [got at a very reduced figure from Australia, if the Government would only allow it to be imported. I would ask the members of Parliament this question: “If one industry has to take the marke value of its produce, why not all?” If things do jnot improve, I am afraid our soldier friends, whom the Government have placed on poultry farms, will have a tough time of it. Do not think I am pessimistic, for I have seen times like these before. Those poultrymen who were in the game in 1916-17 will well remember. It is the results of such I times that I do not like, for people igot. rid of their birds wholesale. In | the next few years there was a great 'shortage, and up went the price of | eggs, which reached figures beyond i the reach of the poorer-paid of the | public. The poultry farmer, of course, was profiteering, they said. So I say to all, hold on to every bird you possibly can, and time will show that poultry will pay. It is up to all poultrymen in this district to combine, and insist that this Chinese stuff is kept off our market absolutely after next April, when it is to come before the Board of Trade for consideration. More especially to the men in large ways of poultry, I say come off the fence and help others who arc helping you. Do not do as in the past, leave it to the small men to fight this battle of yours. Combine! Now all your chicks are practically off your hands, it gives more time to see to the odds and ends that should have 1 been done, but the time has not been to spare. One of the most essential things to do is to spray out the sheds, to kill any eggs of the red mite that may be lying shout. As the hot weather comes on, they will bp multiplying, and will suck the life, blood from both pullets and adult stock. This is one of the biggest troubles just at present. One cannot expect strong, healthy stock when they are being tormented all night with the red mite. See that all the perches are movable, and all the points of contact either sprayed regularly or dipped in tar. Then, another important thing is to see that no birds’ feathers touch the walls when on the perches. Keep perches far enough away from walls, so that the mi(;e cannot travel back and forward from wall to bird, and bird to wall. I prefer to keep the perches eighteen inches away all round. 1 Now, this is where the benefit of a spare fowl-house comes in. Place all your pullets after three months’ old into the shed that is intended for them to live the winter in. Do not shift them again. By so doing, your pullets get settled down, and come into lay without a check. Then you are on the fair way of a supply of eggs in the dear season. The committee that is arranging the Poultry Conference, which is to take place about March 16th in Palmerston North, have things fairly well in hand. Mr. J. Jarvis is chairman of the above gentlemen would be glad help make this affair a success, both for the visitors and local men, either and Md. S. Hutchinson, vice-chair-man. If any poultryman wishes to to hear from them. It is the committee’s intention to make the affair as educative as possible, and of as practical a benefit as it can be made. Good luck to them.