POULTRY INDUSTRY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19321, 7 May 1926, Page 16

POULTRY INDUSTRY.

HINTS ON BREEDING. IMPORTANCE OF STRAINS. FEED AND EGG-LAYING. BY G.IT. «. In a recent, contribution I wrote of the groat advantage of strain, and the disadvantage of crossing strains. It is no fancy point I am labouring, it is an essential every breeder must fully appreciate. Of "course, when a breed has got a hold to tho extent of there being hundreds of first-class birds produced annually, that, in itself, shows a considerable! amalgamation of strain into one universal strain. By crossing, you w ill not always find the crudities that crop up when the strains are supposed to be crossed, because, in reality, two strains may bo (without their owner's knowledge, but very often with that knowledge) about identical. Still, even then, to me it has always been palpablo in tho produce when two strains have been crossed. Strains have to be crossed, of course. Someono has finer quality than ourselves. If they improve their stock as fast as we wish to improve ours, they will always bo ahead. So wo buy the best breeding bird wo can. But, if wo are wise, wo shall always go to the man from whom wo first purchased our stock, so long as he is ahead of us. The time may come when we shall catch him up, and" still find birds, held by others ahead of us. Some are constrained to purchaso when they hardly know where the strain came from, or how it was made, or whether it coincides with their own. But wo shall know when wo come to look at tho resulting chickens. I know a man who has some brown ones this year, where he expected, or rather bred for blues, some variegated ones instead of self-coloured >■ i<is. Ho wanted to increaso tho size of his birds, so lie bought tho largest he could lay hands on, irrespective of strain — beautifully-coloured birds, blue as a good Andalusian, and with perfect yellow legs, and half his chickens have dusky or black legs. But he got what he wanted, a few that came the right way, and a few that, apart from being no good as show birds, will prove excellent breeders. In my younger days, I used to ETo very much disturbed by such happenings as these, simply because I did not understand the cause of them, and no one was candid enough to enlighten me. Now, apart from strain, do not cross chickens derived from the same parents, unless you deliberately wish to reduce tho size. Then, along with it, you cannot help reducing stamina. The proper way to go about matters is to return tho pullets to the sire and the cockerel to its dam. Housing the Birds. The season of tho year is reaching that stage when we shall have to pay moro attention to the housing of our birds, especially of the laying stock. Up to the present the weather has been fine, so that the pullets and hens have had no use for the scratching-sheds during the day-time, though recently the cold and misty mornings have emphasised the advisability of giving the first feeds of grain in tho shed, among the litter, and letting tho hens out about nine o'clock, or whenever the conditions for egg production in autumn, and of course, to birds kept on the semiintensive system with good-sized open runs. Nor must wo forget that at this season cf the year the garden presents opportunities for giving the pullets and hens a run out every day, especially when there is any digging going on. The crops now standing are not such as will suffer much harm, unless the birds have been kept short of green food, and wo find that whenever we let the birds into the garden while we are digging, they invariably go where worms are being turned up, and they will feed for an hour before they begin to look round for something else. This not only promotes health, but provides food of a stimulating character for egg production. Those that are keeping poultry on a farm should remember that while the portable houses on tho fields provide excellent accommodation during the summer months they do not provide the right conditions for egg productino in autumn and winter. If laying stock are to yield good results from April to October they must have covered accommodation, where they can scratch in the mornings, and on wet stormy days. It is riot so much exposure that prevents laying among farm stock, but rather the lack of opportunity to indulge in warmth-giving exercise when the weather precludes tho daily range over the fields. Protection In the Winter. During the months before us the small poultry-keeper who runs a small flock of layerg at the back of tho house finds the most favourable conditions for his birds are more or less sheltered from tho cold winds, and he needs only to fit up a wellprotected, but light and airy scratchingshed, with not less than four feet of floor space for each bird, to provide the very best opportunity for these birds to produce eggs freely. He may give them a run out in the garden, or in a small enclosure, on fine days, but that is not absolutely essential if space is limited, and so long as there is plenty of exercising room in the sera tching-shed. Perhaps it is not sufficiently understood that a supply of fresh green food is essential to maintain production at a steady rate, for green food supplies an important part of the diet —viz., the mineral salts that tone the system. But how to provide green food in winter is a difficult problem for many amateurs, especially those living in towns, who have no garden ground for growing such food. For many it may be possible to secure waste greens, such as coarse outer leaves of cabbages, from local greengrocers, though this is very much inferior to fresh green stuff, especially as it may bo dry and stale. In tho circumstances, it is quite as good to give, sweed turnips or mangles, cutting them in two, and fixing the pieces to the vail of the house or shed, so that tho birds can peck out the flesh. Those who have gardens should bo able to ensure a good supply of green food without encroaching upon that required for domestic use. In fact, where only a few fowls are kept, the residue from tho kitchen supply ought to bo sufficient. Meatmeal and Other Aids. When fowls have arrived at tho eggproducing stage of development, stimulation may be secured by increasing tiie supply of albuminoids, and ono of the cheapest, simplest and best forms by which this can be given is by meatmeal or fishmeal. These aro foods which are becoming more and moro popular with utilitarians, and the results shown through my own experiments had decided me upon making a more extended use of these meals in future. The egg is largely composed of albumen, and since meatmeal and fishmeal contain a large percentage of albuminoids in an easily-digestible form, it is clear that, if added to the usual diet in reasonable quantities, good results must follow. You must, however, romembnr that • out of nothing comes nothing, and that if you desire eggs y o u must furnish tho birds with the materials wherewith to manufacture them; you must put the penny in tho slot, or you cannot extract tho tooth-' some chocolate. Many people look in vain, daily, for eggs, who aro only furnishing a bare sustenance diet to their birds. This is very unwise, and the fact must be grasped that a bird can furnish eggs only when supplied with the necessary materials to make them ; after tho hen has already received sufficient, food for her own bodily up. keep.