POULTRY NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15197, 10 January 1913, Page 9

POULTRY NOTES.

MEAL FOR FOWLS.

After the morning mash and the- evening grain the next most important food is meat. Birds under natural conditions require grain, insects, and herbs,, and these must be supplied to them in domestication, and more so as we require more from them. A hen in her natural state lays from one to two dozen eggs in a season; we expect her to lay from ten to twenty dozen, or about ten times the number. Insects are largely composed of protein matter, and our natural substitute is meat. Also as eggs are almost entirely made np of water, albuminoids (protein matter) and fats, it might be anticipated that the chief value of all meat foods for poultry is as egg producers.

■ ABOUT COMBS. The ornamental appendage, known as the comb, is one of the chief considerations of the poultry fancier, but it is also, an indicator of health and prolificacy. Ailing fowls will quickly display, a pale- ; coloured and even an almost ,' black-tinted comb, whilst an unsightly covering of, white spots is sometimes seen. A pleasing contrast is the blood-red comb which adorns the heads of well-conditioned fowls. Lack of nutriment or anaemia is followed by pale comb and wattles, and is remedied by generous diet and an iron tonic, whilst ventilation or increased supply of oxygen in the night house will soon improve matters. .' >•'•■.-• ■■•■;;;; ><•(«■ Diseases of 1 the liver or advanced casesof indigestion will alter the comb from red to purple or a dark-red colour; the cause is generally to be found in overfeeding on starchy food and the omission to compel the birds to. exercise. An exclusive corn diet will cure the trouble, and it cannot be too widely known that all poultry succeed best when, fed in moderation on a spongy or milky mash once daily. Epsom salts or Glauber salts: (which are tasteless) will be of service, also green food (including finely-chopped green onion tops) and plenty of sharp flint grit. Empty grit boxes and ill-look-ings combs are usually closely associated, and unless the hen's grinding mill or gizzard is regularly supplied with) grit the liver, and digestive organs will quickly be impaired. It may here be stated that in some flocks almost , from the hatching day, the tendency to liver troubles commences, the reason being that the chickens have been fed too soon after hatching with soft food, instead of small flint grit, which should be the first meal of all chickens.

ADVANCING THE MOULT. The advantages of. a good moult must not be overlooked. ,It takes- about 12 weeks for poultry to complete the moulting , process, and if winter-layers are required there must be no delay in enforcing a moult if such a. course be necessary. It may be argued -that; Nature should be allowed to do its,.work unaided, hut. it must be remembered that it is unnatural for feathered life to lay eggs in midwinter, and present-day poultry are more or, less ,fed and kept under artificial conditions in order to obtain the best results. " If fowls are confined to a warm,« sheltered • house and fed on -rations for a week or so, the feathers will soon moult, and at the \ first signs nourishing food in abundance may be given. Food of an '{ oily nature will assist the old feathers to i loosen, and one of the best additions to the-niOTning mash is linseed mealone tablespoonful per bird —which may be given on alternate mornings throughout the.' moult. During . fine weather sulphur may ;be sprinkled on the food, one teaspoonfnl to every three fowls. Buckwheat meal is also • advised. .'■ •

i ■";',■■. V ;„.-. ... ..., -:/." ; * '■ : ''~ .'■';/• ■■■■ ' -'>'i "'THE FAT FOWL. j ,Very few breeders can tell if a fowl is fat. The usual practice is to feel . the breast. This examination may-show that the breastbone is fairly supplied with flesh and vet the bird may feel light in comparison with its bulky appearance. This is due to the fac« that while there may be a little flesh on the breast there'is. very little on other parts of the body, and what is more' important ; there' is no fat mixed with the flesh. A really well-fattened chicken or duckling appears much heavier than it really is whan handled. This is due to the layers of fat in the various tissues, and is the result of good feeding. Old hens and sometimes pullets of the heavy breeds accumulate large quantities of internal fat; found principally on top of the gizzard. When .this .accumulation is removed the birds are often found to be thin. The process of fattening poultry is rather slow and must be gradual in its methods. A thin skeleton of a fowl can be fed to produce a fair breast but with no meat elsewhere. They must be well-grown, well fed, and free; from internal parasites before the final topping-up takes place.

IMPROVING THE FLOCK. It is more often the case than not that the ordinary poultry-keeper will ; have' a mixed race of fowls that have no special inherent faculty, either for fattening or producing eggs, the consequence being that the best result is not attained for the food eaten by them or the; trouble entailed in earing for them, To improve such flock should be the object of every progressive poultry-keeper. For—putting aside table poultry should hens be kept that will only lay a comparatively few eggs each season, when a little trouble would in a year or two produce a flock of hens whose laying capacity would increase the i returns ,by a hundred percent.? Where an improvement, with the view suggested, is , contemplated, the owner, having some knowledge of his most productive hens, should select a* few of these, taking care that only robust, wellformed j birds were chosen. j. These selected dames should be placed in company with a typical male of the best egg-productive breed and strain. The eggs uroduced from this alliance will then have to be used for hatching, and the progeny resulting well cared for. All the male chickens should be cleared off promptly, and only the pullets reared to maturity. With the same pen of birds, a further season's hatching fe to be carried out, and under similar conditions.

SELECTING PULLETS.. .;«.., Pullets as they mature into laying form should bo placed under strict surveillance for the purpose of , deciding; which are the best layers, for from them and them only is the stock to be raised during the following season. As it is not advisable to breed from pullets, no male should be run with them, and their eggs may be sold"for market, or used as may be otherwise desired. In the following season, the young hens being then in their second year, the best layers of them,' some six to eight, all chosen and robust birds, are to be placed with a yearold cock of the same breed as their own sire. It should, of course, be of a different family, and without doubt be of a highlyproductive strain. The pullets from this new alliance will, if proper steps have been taken, be of great merit as egg-producers. The system may still bo carried on further, and further care taken that, in breeding, hens of at least two years old be used, that the hens be of undoubted laying capacity, and be well-formed and robust. Then the male bird must be: mature, but still be young and vigorous, and from the best laying family. Further, that the bird's powers be not overtaxed by giving him too many hens to run with. Six to eight hens are quite enough to breed from, tho object being to obtain robust chickens of undoubted laying capacity. The system suggested will in a few seasons bring a poor laying stock of hens into the front rank of egg-pro-ducers.