POULTRY NOTES

Northern Advocate, 15 September 1934, Page 15

POULTRY NOTES

NUMBER OF FOWLS IN A PEN. The number of liens with the coelc must depend upon the condition of the male. A vigorous cockerel'can manage six or eight hens:better'than four, andthough it, ;ia usual: to start with the smaller lot and add more hens as the season gets on, I-ami not sure but that it is. not better-'to put the whole lot in the pen and never disturb them after. Breeding; pens should .not be changed when once started, for it means clear eggs and weak germs,' unless there is. absolute necessity. Should a hen turn up ill, move her out, or if the cock is not tilling his eggs,- then change him, but these arc things that do not often happen when the birds are well selected.

The cock must be fed liberally, and. with- stimulating food, because so much depends upon him. Sometimes he will not feed with the hens, which means that he must be taken out and given a good feed alone, or you will soon have him out of form. During the cold weather the breeding peri is difficult to manage, because the hens need outdoor exercise; yet when it is raining they will not move far. The best plan is a good roomy house in which the birds can be fed when it is raining, and leave the door open, so. that they can get out if it turns fine. On a short grass run the birds do not hurt' on the floor to dry their feet before much, so long'as' there is some litter on the floor to dry their feet before going to roost; but if the outside is earth, it soon becomes mud, and then sticks to the feet, and makes, the birds uncomfortable. . FEEDING THE BREEDER. « ' " Do not force the breeding birds in any way except with the meat in the food, but never use forcing or hot spices, for these unduly excite the egg organs, and though you may get eggs they will not be fertile or the germ strong enough to hatch out; then the object is defeated. The house must be perfectly dry, so that the litter can be moved about easily; then the food thrown down in the house will amuse the birds and keep them busy scratching for hours. ' V " For breeding stock ■ the food must be sound and good, but riot of a forcing nature. Change tlic diet a little whenever possible, and give enough without any waste. You will soon find how much they need, and when walking away as - -if “fed up” you can see they have had enough,' It is easy to confuse the result of a change. Probably the'birds do not like the new food, and then will not eat it'at first, but if left they may soon have a turn, and perhaps cleat it up. The change may bo good for Hi cm, but they do not always like it; just-the same as a hen will cat maize' first every time, and yet, it is not a good or suitable diet for all .meals.

NEWS AND NOTIONS. It is common to see several male birds running with a laying flock, viz., birds which serve no useful purpose whatever, and which simply consume food tor nothing, said the Chief Poultry Instructor (Mr P. C. Brown) in the course of a recent address. Mr Brown stressed the fact that in a laying flock male birds are neither necessary nor desirable. More eggs am! better eggs will be produced without them, and further, infertile eggs will

keep longer, preserve better, and be

more suitable for export than those that are fertilised.

Fowls do not fatten -while they lay well, -and maize is one of the best feeding aids to sustained production yet discovered. Many poultry farmers now use it solely as the''whiter grain feed, 'but most poultry kcepets find that a mixture of two parts maize to' one each of wheat and oats will give the best results. Such a grain mixture will help to balance the mashes, for.it must be remembered that'wheat, in : the form of bran and middlings, now constitutes at least half the weight of nearly all good mashes.

. It is understood that there is every possibility of regulations being introduced at an early date to" govern "the sale of chilled eggs. At the moment there are no regulations, in. force for control .of the sale of chilled eggs,-the result being that large numbers-of eggs which come out of cool store are mixed with new-laid eggs and sold at prices which would not .otherwise‘.be obtainable. The producers 'have protested that .such marketing is not fair to them or to the consumers, and have urged,that, all eggs which enter--the cool stores should be, staniped yvith the word “ chilled.’ ’

Many breeders, do not .pay .sufficient' attention to the temperature of., the brooder in'the daytime, failing, to ise that the chickens need, ■warmth when they are running abput ancL. tbat if the brooder is not warm enough they will crowd together at intervals on: a: cool day to get : warm. Such crowding leads to trouble and maybe avoided if heat in the brooder is "kept going in the daytime'/

A peculiarity of the muscovy, says A. S. Wcedon, discussing ‘breeds of ducks in the West Australian'“Poultry News;” is that if the:'drake'is crossed with an ordinary duck the" result is what is known as .a 1 “mule” the eggs of which will not hatch out, as thev are sterile.