Notes for the Poultry Keeper

Manawatu Times, Volume LVI, Issue 7103, 11 March 1933, Page 10

Notes for the Poultry Keeper

By M. Watson Stewart, Massey College,

The New Laying Contest,

Although entries have come in very well for the forthcoming laying contest at the College, the pens arc not yet full and poultry keepers arc reminded that entry forms must be forwarded within the next two days. Two breeders in New South Wales arc sending birds, and while we hope New Zealand breeders have sufficiently good stock to keep the trophies in this country wo must wish the Australians all success in their enterprising efforts in sending so far. They apparently realiso the of the publicity that is given to breeders at such a contest, as advertisement/ as well as enjoying the competitive spirit. The object of the four laying contests that are held yearly in New Zealand, (and, of course, thoso the world over, too,) is to supply breeders who have not the facilities of trap-nesting their stock, with the means of comparing the value of their stock with that of other breeders under exactly similar conditions. Only by this means can one breed bo fairly compared with another. They have, of course, proved of great worth in showing the public where to go for reliable stock. Any breeder who buys in stock can win a contest once, but tho man whose birds put up records year after year, even if they are not the most brilliant, is the one who has uniform stock and will cherish his reputation too dearly to sell inferior stuff at- a reasonable price.

A new, or comparatively little known breed that does well at such laying contests is immediately iu demand, for breeders a.re ever on the look-out for the "coming breed," and it is necessary for a breed’s success to-day that it should have the laying factor well developed. Type is also considered at these competitions, the breeder's trophy for the Massey College Contest being awarded equally on typo points and laying ability. Also, apart from these direct benefits to competitors of learning the value of their own and other birds, and the advertisement of their stock, indirect assistance can be acquired through the statistics gained, of feeding costs, various aspects of relative egg laying, size of eggs compared with body-weight, and so on.

A pamphlet, has been prepared for tho guidance of competitors who may be new to tho task of choosing pullets to send to the contests and this can be sent, to anyone interested. It is hardly an easy job to pick the birds that will bring you most credit, but it is a vastly interesting one to any keen breeder, and equally interesting is the following of results from week to week.

Eggs Not Keeping. It is sometimes a puzzle to a perfectly conscientious poultry keeper to have complaint from a customer that one or more eggs were "bad”—usually when boiled. Unless for export, or egg distribution on a very large scale, it cannot pay to "candle” one’s eggs—which is the only way of discovering the odd egg which is internally abnormal. With tho usual precaution of removing the broodies, disposing of eggs at least once a week, and not including the eggs found in a "stolen” nest among those for sale, the only egg that can possibly cause the troublo is that in which a clot of blood creates a very unpleasant colour when boiled. The same egg, if broken raw, might easily escape notice as unusual, but although it be merely a spot o£ blood that has been deposited on tho yolk of an overloaded capillary, when boiled it goes

black and turns tho surrounding portion of tho egg black too, which looks particularly unpleasant. The clot is sometimes the sizo of one’s thumbnail, discolouring half the egg. However, if such a complaint arises there arc several points that may be looked to. Bo quite sure that no cracked eggs are left among those collected for sale. These go bad in a very few days, particularly, of course, at this time of the year. Remember, too, than an egg absorbs the smell of anything touching it. Should eggs be collected in a dirty bucket and possibly left in it, they might not only attain a disagreeable flavour, but actually go stale more quickly. Hens that arc over fat are liable to produce the bloodclotted eggs referred to above, and very occasionally a bird with a diseased ovary docs lay a thoroughly bad egg. Except that this hen would almost certainly go a very poor layer, and would therefore be culled in the ordinary way of things, the only way to find tho culprit would be by trapnesting the birds and numbering tho eggs. The less cleaning eggs need tho better they will keep, so keep your nest-boxes clean. Also do whatever cleaning is necessary whenever the eggs come from tho nest, rather than let them lio dirty. Even after considerable study of hatching operations, the writer had hardly realised how very porous an egg shell is, until some time ago she accidently spilt some thick, black enamel on a tray of eggs. Realising immediately that they could not bo fit for sale, the eggs were broken, at once, for cooking. But the thick enamel was already through the shell and the membrane, and tho eggs were useless. >So it can be readily imagined how easily eggs may lie tainted by coming in contact with anything objectionable. Sprouted Grain Experiments

Another useful experiment that was carried on last year in England at the S.P.B.A. Farm, was that of feeding wheat soaked for t-hreo days, to one pen, oats similarly soaked to another, and ordinary kibbled maize and wheat to tho control pen. All had the same dry mash before them always. The two sprouted grain pens gave about the same results, but gave larger and rather more eggs than the control pen. The reason for the experiment was the fact that it is realised that the first process that grain has to undergo in a bird’s crop, before any metabolism can take place, is merely fermentation similar to that taking place when the grain is sprouted for a short time. The grain can therefore be digested more quickly and fully, and a quicker output of eggs should result. This mode of feeding the grain should be used in the autumn and winter when days are shorter and eggs more valuable. Although damp, it can still be scattered in the litter, if desired, in order to make the birds take exercise and keep them in good condition, but it is wise, at this important time of the year to feed at least part of tho grain in troughs as it is thus easier to be sure the birds get a really good feed before going to roost. If they are only getting enough to maintain health, without a surplus for eggmaking, very few eggs will result. EGG LAYING CONTEST 4Stli. WEEK’S RESULTS.

Team Results, Section C. F. Ecob—--202 230 183 x 212 101 225 (24) 1306 M. Macrae — 159 221 x 260 140 x 235 195 (15) 1210 Mrs Stewart — 212 179 182 201 x 164 238 x (24) 1176 AT. L. Boyce—--177 134 214 x 24S 205 ISS (19) 1166 P. B. Harrison — 215 197 13S 84d 197 177 (16) 1008 Section D. Mrs Hellaby—--207 238 241 x 223:: 203 223 (27) 1335 IV. E. Jones--213 209 230 210 x 200 176 x (21) 1238 McLean and Whitworth —• 177 226 x 99x 189 x 221 x 237 (28) 1169 Larsen Bros. — 168 19S 175 139 x 147 x 131 (14) 95S W. Bish—--250 124 x 117 178 2.11 x GOd (23) 940 Signifies disqualified, egg weight clause. ’"d’l Bear bird,

Single Hen Results. Section A: TV. IT. Barker 1 .1.71 2 1S5 3 221 E. if. Galvin i 175x 2 215 G. IT. Cross — 151 F. Ecob :i 179d 2 225 3 149d A. E. Watson — 275 C. Gooclson — 137x L. B. Maunscll 1 223 2 2-16 3 21S Mrs Stewart 1 170 2 200 3 250x S. G. Batten 1 225 Mrs Cannon — 237 Miss Mitchell 1 205 6 241 3 216 ■t 212 5 234 5 241 T. Bruce 1 203 2 217 3 157 A. ,T. Shailer 1 235 2 21.1 H. Rushton 1 225 2 129 .3 23 7 4 233 S. G. Batten 2 216

3 20Sx 4 217 5 240 6 385 Section B. 7 1C 4 Mrs Hellabv 1 250 2 3S5 Mrs Youngson — 217 Larsen Bros. .1 270x o 190 3 307 4 302x T. Douthwa-ite — 3,89 E. M. Galvin. — 122x