POULTRY NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15174, 13 December 1912, Page 10

POULTRY NOTES.

' HEALTHY SURROUNDINGS.

In order, to have a healthy flock of fowls you must provide fthealthiul surroundings, such as yards and houses. If the yards are small they must bo scraped over, then sprinkled with lime, and after a few days I a solution of carbolic .acid .or phenyl© r sprinkled over the ground. This "will sweeten the soil and kill all germs that j aro lurking about. Tho droppings from tinder the roost should be removed at least twice a week. You cannot expect hens to bo healthy and. lay eggs when tho ccndi- j tions are anything but good. FIGHTING LICE. During the summer months there will bo a battle against lioe. Those hens that, have a good dustbath may be able to keep themselves clean. It is a good plan to dip all fowls that seem, to bo infested. | Give them a good start and by the aid i of dustbaths even' fowl should keep itself j clean. Whitewashing poultry-houses does i not rid them of vermin. The wash acts I for a while, but in order to make it most; effective carbolic should bo mixed with it and tho mixture sprayed on quite hot. In such manner all vermin— tick will bo killed. FEEDING DUCKS. In order to havo ducklings make a natural and normal development, accompanying mixtures aro fed,, at various timfts. . L mixtures aro all made crumbly, moist, but not pasty. .. The proportions mentioned sro by measure, not weight. During the first four days a mixture of four parts wheat bran, one part each corn meal and i low -grade ilour, and 5 per cent, line grit | is fed four times daily. At time is liidro given than the ducklings will eat up clean. Then the' following mixture is fed until, tho ducklings are lour weeks old : Four parts wheat bran, ono part each corn meal and low-grade flour, 3 per cent.'lino grit, 5 per cent, fine ground beef - scrap soaked, and plenty of cut green clover, Cabbago or rye. Both the mash and the green feed are fed four times daily. !or tho next four weeks the mixture consists or three parts wheat- bran, one part each corn meal and low-grade flour, 5 per cent, of fine grit and also of beef scrap, 1 percent fine oyster shells and as much finely, chopped green stuff as th& ducklings have been eating before, this green stint mixedin with the meal instead of being fed { separately. This, mixture is fed \ four limes a day. Often this mixture is changed when the ducklings ale six weeks old, | though usually, not until eight weeks old. when the following mixture' is fed : Equal [ parts corn meal and wheat bran, 15 per cent, low-grade flour, 10 per cent, each of . Veef scrap and green food. 3 per cent, grit. This feed' is given three times a day. When eight to ten weeks old, tho feed consists of one-half corn meat, equal ; . parts of wheat bran and low-grade flour, : 2 10 per cent beef scrap, 3 per cent, grit, 1 ! per cent oyster shells, and not more than ! 10 per cent, of green food three times a * day. Between the ages of eight and 10 < weeks the ducks should be ready for the ■ market. They should be killed and ; dressed before they ~ begin' to 'develop their i lecond coat of feathers, because the de- { .relopmeat ■of these feathers ' not only makes a drain upon the system, but it fills the skin with pinfeathers. " :-j FOOD FOR POULTRY. . Practice of feeding poultry on meat and other stimulating foods, which has been increasing sinco the introduction of tho American system of supplying hens "®ith cut bone, is of very , doubtful, value. The fact that poultry ar& omnivorous feeders is no proof that either-laving thefts or fatting chickens require meat. It is quite true that where hene aro at liberty on an extensive itin. they find insect food for themselves, especially during warm weather, although tho quantity can scarcely be worth consideration. \Vhere,- however, they are-confined and. fed exclusively on vegetable foods, no difference in their power oi production is noticed. Livestock of large* Ttmdi) ' have <frequently -been fed on animal food, such as dried blood, which ifl a constituent of a. well-known, food for cows, while pigs are constantly fed on butchers' offal. So far as have been recorded, i here is nothing which warrants tho use of such stimulating foods as red ■■ meat, while there •is abundant evidonee' against its; employment, especially in the case of the pig. Animal food, milk excepted, has no value in increasing the woiHtifc of the carcase, while it diminishes the°valuo of the meat/ and is frequently " followed by an outbreak of disease.' In feeding poultry for tablo there is no greater mistake than to add meat to the ration, which should chiefly consist of foods rich in starch and oil, such as _ ground oats, maize, ; and, barley, and; milk . with some animal fat.Of necessity the ration must contain albuminous matter, inasmuch as there can be .no production of lean meat, which is a nitrogenous substance, unless food which contains nitrogen is provided. Neither starch nor fat, howover, contain nitrogen, but it is present in milk as casein, in oats and barley, and, indeed, in all cereals and pulses. It seems to be inferred, however, that because a fatting chicken is producing flesh as distinct from fat, it needs abundance of flesh-making —i.e., albuminoid matter but this is not tho case. A cow in milk Requires only 2{lb to 2£lb of this matter per day; nor ie there any marked difference in the case of the laying hen, in spite of the fact that an egg is a highly albuminous food. An egg contains about three-fourths of its weight of water, the albuminoid matter reaching an- average of only 13 per cent., whereas the oil reaches 10 to 11 per cent. Poultry feeders, however, do not' provide oil or fat for their bens, because of the oil in the egg. In the process of metabolism a portion of the starchy matter of foods ie converted into fat—a fact, which has been demonstrated by the complete removal of every trace of 011 or fatty matter from tho rations. Assuming an egg to weigh 20z., it follows that the albuminoid matter it contains approximately weighs a dram or one-eighth part of its volume. As this constituent of food, therefore, is required for no other purpose than the. repair of wasted tissue in the hen and for the provision of the albumen of the egg, it follows that the .uso of stimulating flesh food is as unnecessary as it is undesirable. Nor is there apparently any need for the pulses and other food rich in albuminoids. Pea and bean meal are sometimes recommended for mixing with cereal meals lor laying hens. Peas, howevor, contain over 20 per cent, of digestible albuminoids, and beans 23 per cent., or nearly one-quarter of their actual weight. Thus a hen consuming an ounce of food of this concentrated character ■would consume nearly a quarter of an - ounce of albumen or its equivalenta quantity which is equal to one-eighth of the requirements of the average man. The usual poultry foode —ground oats, bailey meal, toppings, bran, dari, _ and buckwheat— contain albuminoids in sufficient quantity to provide for the requirements both of laying hens and fattening chickens, and they all havo the merit of comparative cheapness. Good barley, at 25s a quarter, is of greater service than peas and beans costing-50 per cc-nt. more money, for, apart from its lower price,. it is more easily digested. Foods which aro too rich in albumen exact more • from the system than foods of other kinds, inasmuch as the excess which is not utilised must, of necessity, be excreted by tho birds. Bone possesses tho double property of providing albuminoids and phosphate of lime, in both of which it is rich unless it has been boiled. Boiling, however, removes the matter containing nitrogen, leaving only tho minerals behind. Bone flour may be used for growing chickens with great advantage when it is prepared from boiled bones, but it i-< detrimental to use raw bone with regularity. I remember the wonderful Brahma's which v.'ere produced in the early days hv Horace Lingwuod, the foremost 'breeder .of his time. Their great size and rapid growth were attributed to the use of bone, hut wherever raw bones or flesh • are too freely used, the birds are forced leg weakness follows, and they fail. There is no branch of British live stock which can maintain its size unlet* the food eontains sufficient phosphate of lime. This fact is Constantly proved withooutr t large breeds of horSes and. cattle. Thus, immediately the Shire or the„Shorthorn is transferred from soil ; rich in phosphate of lime to land devoid of this material; there is a reduction in size unless the mineral is artificially supplied, but the . provision of a. stimulant is practically unknown. : i, ; . 4-. ". '' . ' •"