Notes for the Poultry Keeper

Manawatu Times, Volume LV, Issue 7009, 19 November 1932, Page 9

Notes for the Poultry Keeper

(By M. Watson Stewart, Massey College.) Growing Stock,

We are apt to feel that when ce chickens have beon reared to eight weeks, they can do without much atontion until they start laying. They certainly are by that timo over most of their “chickonhood” troubles, and you can teU by evenness oi g ro^ h .“;*J vigour whether your rearing has been of*the best, and how many first-class pullets you are likely to have for the Hvintr dch in. tho autumn. But* don’t imagine they need no more observation until laying eggs. Ihcj certainly require far less attention but 5S .» dry m.*, "t; ,0, maldoj! strong r:™XL months ’that the chiokcns make steady growth, and use your ob scrvntUm tl Control their fc'to* X» ■“orowing” weather such as w have tads" fir nil spring, tier. » little of voung stock not making go The 7 difficulty, where early chicks tom (rood laving strains are concerned, will father be to prevent the pullets coming So lay too soon, and perhaps moulting m i?cMcSns arc on free ran S® ” g^rSg^eS^pS rf „'e The erect “bulkiness” nmst b indeed by tbetr rate of maturing, judgect y your birds well, even may, J whether yours is an early depend on wnetner y , • r va ry or late maturing strain, for birds vary o-reatlv oven withm the breed. ° ’ November Chick Mashes Bor early hatched pullets from now rss^sl»%»«s d .»»T“ “nos, 10 p*« s p„ts of“ a i M „f m t;b.n P "e of Umforstcome-d I 'bone flouri-nllPj of salt If milk is given the stock, t .Ifa'id bouen.™!, and of curse the fi-Hnit -milk, may be onuttea. _ The grain feed should be, again for cariy stock, three parts of plump whit nats and one part of wheat. This keeps the birds in hard condition and assists to develop tho frame y ittout ing the ovary too Tapidly. Bran also has this tendency. . . - n It is not wise to cut out protein in the growing mash altogether, as not found that it prevents the birds coming into lay if they possess the early Maturing factor, but that instead they lay very small eggs and do not develop"bodily. The same thing occurs if the quantity of food is cut down, is impossible, it seems, to over-feed a growing pullet if the best results are foTe obtained, but let it be a wisely balanced ration. High fecundity and early maturity are xeiated, so one must expect the latter when breeding for egg production. Tjie;Late c h ic Ks We are still getting quite a steady demand for hatching eggs at the col We farm, and can only put it dow to^the fact that would-be poultry keepers could not get broodies earlier for they are doomed to disappointment if Shey hope for winter eggs from Decem-ber-hatched chicks. Whenever they are hatched, chic should have a bigger tein in their mash up to Isix weeks of ZhSS parts of brau, 30 pe.te of pellard, 25 parts of maize meal, 5 parts of meat and bone meal, 10 parts of dried milk, H parts of lime or steamed bone flour, and i part of salt: also, i they are kept. intensively, 2 parts of cod liver oil. With late chicks this mash might well be continued until to weeks instead of six. ~ , Much maize is not advisable fo chicks at the growing stage, M it undoubtedly tends toward maturity with out body development. No one wants under-sized hens, laying small, unmarketable eggs. They only Mve to be culled after all the trouble of rearing and Toom for housing. Layers’ nations While on the subject of rations, wo must not forget the egg machines. .Two-year-olds may well bo culled from now onwards as they stop laying, for only the poor ones should go out of lay yet awhilo if they are properly fed. One is tempted to cut down the rations a little at this time of year it the birds are on free range, thinking they will thus find more for themselves. By all means, if they have good range, let the layers go a little shoTt m the morning. But remember, a good layer has been producing eggs probably for eight or nine months and has very little body reserve at this Season. If she is starved now, she is bound to stop lay-

EGG LAYING CONTEST 32nd. WEEK’S RESULTS Following are tho 32nd. week s results of the egg laying contest being conducted at Massey College.— SINGLE PENS

ing and moult. So give even your free range hens a good feed at night. It is more economical to cut down the grain feed than the mash, so feed the latter at night. ‘Remember that the summer conditions mako no difference to intensively kept birds. They can make little or no use of extra green food that may be available now for egg production, although it is very good for them from a health point of view. So mako no difference in either quantity or quality of feed in the summer months as long as the birds are not on free Tange. Hatching and Rearing Gear It is well worth while looking forward already to next rearing season, and putting tho, appliances away in first-class order as they are finished with. Utensils and spare parts can very easily be lost in the eight months, until, they will be needed again, and it is a thousand times plea'santer to start a rearing season with things already clean and repaired, apart from the better preservation of the articles themselves and the reduction of depreciation.

Incubators must, of course, be very thoroughly scrubbed inside, and all trays, thermometers, regulators and so on be stored inside. The rod from the regulator down to the thermostat should be lightly rubbed with grease, as it often gets rusty and prevents smooth running in the future. Lamps Should be emptied of kerosene, and wicks either well cleaned or thrown away. Much

the same applies to brooders. Make all parts as clean as they were when now —or at least as free from “chicken” remains. Chicken coops or small rearing boxes should be scrubbed, allowed to dry in tho sunshine, and then creosoted. This preserves the wood, but is at the same time an excellent disinfectant, so that the boxes should be painted with it inside as well as outside. Do pot, by the way, ever put small chicks into a coop still smelling strongly of creosote, for the writer once killed a hatch by so doing. The small chicks were poisoned by the powerful fumes. Get the chicks used to larger drinking vessels as soon as possible, to save labour in filling small ones. Clean and store the small ones as soon as they are out of U3e, or they may soon bo hidden in long grass and will not be there next year

Turkey Troubles There is no doubt that small turkeys aro lazy. They expect their mother not only to find food for them, but to told it up for them to peck. Likewise, they will not bother dealing with any lico they may acquire from the hen. As a rule turkey poults do not dust themselves until quite big. Lice worrying them keeps them from doing as well ate they should, to put it mildly, so dust small turkeys and tho broody with flowers of sulphur quite frequently.

W. H. Barker Section A * 1 103 2 114 » 3 139 E. M. Galvin 1 136* 2 173 G. H. Cross - 108 F. Ecob 1 16G 2 144 it 3 1401 A. b” Watson - 1S4 C. Goodsdn - 72* L. B. Maunscll 1 142 2 156 » 3 142 a Mrs. Stewart 1 2 133 136 » 3 164* S. G. Batten 1 150 B. B. Camion - 151 Mias MitclieU 1 o 139 144 a 3 165 v 4 132 it 5 166 it 6 173 a T. Bruce 1 2 128 152 a 3 96 A. J. Shailor 1 2 153 138 it H. Bushton 1 2 144 128 it 3 153 it 4 150 S. G. Batten 2 3 129 ISO* it 4 135 it 5 164 it 6 109 it 7 119 it Section B 159 153 Mr's. Hellaby; 1 2 Mrs/ Youngson Larsen Bros. 1 2 149 186* 114 a 3 132 a 4 200* 17 T. Douthwaite - 127 54* M. Galvin — team results Section C

F. Ecob— 177 158 156* 136 145 149 (29) 891 M. L. Boyce — 141 125 146* 157 125 108 (28) 802 M. Macrae — (34) 778 95 134* 170 97 146 136 Mrs. Stewart(31) 702 136 97 HI P. B. Harrison122* 89 147* (27) 672 140 141 107 82 112 90 Section D Mrs. Hellaby— 124 170 150* W. E. Jones — 134 10S 140 (32) 826 (35) 768 136 110 135 131* 106 150* McLean and Whitworth(28) 765 107 133* 97* W. Bish— 113* 145* 170 (24) 570 161 47* 52 Larsen Bros. — 116 134* 601 (24) 559 85 121 92* 114 81* 66 * Disqualified, egg weight clause. t Bird dead.