POULTRY NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 156, 30 June 1914, Page 12

POULTRY NOTES.

FEEDING PULLETS.

The aim in feeding pullets intended for layers or breeders should be to keep them growing as rapidly as possible without forcing. This is indeed a fine point in feeding, but it can, and should be done j if we want the best results. The forcing into premature maturity is caused by feed- j me a stimulating diet, too much meat and | too much ground feed that is easy of digestion. One small feed of ground feed each day, that can be cleaned up in ono Lour, if dry mash, and in five minute if moist, is all that should be allowed in the way of soft food. This will be sufficient to nourish the system and ease the digestion. To feed lor growth give as good a range as possible, or good-sized yards, feed plenty of good wheat, oats. either soaked or sprouted, and the same with barley, some prefer rolled barley and that is good, but avoid maize ,and too much fattening food. Green feed can be fed in abundance, and this, with good sound grain, will promote a good steady growth, if enough is fed. , WINTER LAYERS. A yonng hen given the proper care will begin to lay early in the winter and will keep it up throughout the season, while many of the early-batched pullets will lay a few eggs in the autumn, start to moult, and as & result will not produce eggs until spring. August pullets may escape this early moult and lay better, but for steady laying the hens one year old that have been brought carefully through the moult will lay more regularly and five larger-sized eggs as well. If it is desired to secure a- number of eggs for batching during the winter hens are much to bo preferred to pullets. Precocious pullets are:not dependable for this. Their eggs mat hatch, but the chickens frequently lack,the .vitality and physical force necessary: for; sturdy growth in the unnatural envirfflu&ent of the winter Eeason. The summary of all this is that whether it be pullets or. hens they must be in proper order for 'this work and be kept therein throughout the season.' Old hens will not lay through the winter. Observation shows us that the older a hen tho Liter will be her average time of laying and fewer her eggs. Yet old hens are valuable. Some breeders have., hens four and five years old that they would not by any means.kill or sell, because they are invaluable as breeders. But such bens do not lay until spring, and as winter egg-producers are practically useless. A ben which his passed her second year has outlived her usefulness simply as an egg-producer. You may try to get winter eggs from old birds, but yon will fail as hundreds of others have before you. Depend, therefore, on the early pullets or the yearling hens only for your winter egg supply.

HEN LICE. The two most common kinds of hen lice are entirely different in their habits. One kind is lively and infests every part of the body, subsisting on the skin and feathers; the other remains on certain parts of the body, sucking the blood, where it may often be seen with its head buried in the skin and its body erect. It «.eems that these parasites are very particular about their habitation and worn to take up with juso everybody that, comes along- Theobald, -in "Parasitic Diseases of Poultry," aays: "So particular are bird lice that it is quite the exception to find one species on two distinct kinds of birds. Fowl lice will not attack the dsck nor duck lice the fowl. Nearly every bird has its own particular Mallphagan parasites. They may possibly pass to some strango host for a short time, but they will' not live and breed. Moreover, particular 6pecies attack restricted areas on. the same host and aro seldom found in the other positions." A leaflet of the English Board of Agriculture gives the following points on the life history of hen lice. "Eight distinct . epecie3 of lice attacks fowls. Dark, damp places when dirty are sure to harbour all these pests, especially when badly ventilated- It is said that breed effects their presence, but observation tends to show that all breeds are more or less subjected to infestation. Lice and other parasites flourish on unhealthy birds. All lice breed rapidly. The eggs or nits are laid upon the down feathers as a rule; they are- often beautifully sculptured objects", oval in form. In from sis to ten davs they hatch into small, pale active, lice, which at once commence to irritate the birds."

PRESERVING EGGS. Frank T. Shutt, chemist, of the Experimental Farm, Ottawa, writes: "For the past five fcasons we have compared limewater- with 'water-glass' solution, with the invariable result that the former preserves the eggs at least equally as well as the latter. Taking into consideration quality, flavour, and appearance, we have adjudged the lime-water preserved eggs unsurpafsetl by any kept by the many and various methods that we have had under trial. We do not believe that eggs can bo stored by any method and have the flavour of the fresh-laid article -at least, that is our experience, and it is a largo one. If you wish to add salt to the lime-water, do not use more than lib to 10 gallons. Some of our results warned to show that this quantity was an improvement, but larger amounts most certainly affected the flavour of the egg. Ceo only frei'h quicklime in making the iime-water. Keep the eggs covered with the solution. Good spring water will » 'suffice; but if there is any doubt a»s to its purity it should be first boiled and allowed to cool before adding the lime. For eggs in lime-water, cold Ftorago is not necessary, but a low temperature— fay, between 40 to 50 degrees Fahr— is desirable. As lime-water deteriorates on exposure to the atmosphere—the limo precipitating out as carbonate—it may be renewed to advantage, say, every wcond month. We have found a 2 per cent. solution of wat r-glass (21b to 10 gallons) equally efficacious with a stronger solu0> cream of tartar to the lime-water. In gome degree it may preservo the limewater from deterioration, but otherwise it is undesirable."