POULTRY INDUSTRY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19832, 30 December 1927, Page 14

POULTRY INDUSTRY.

WELFARE OF THE BIRDS.

HEALTH AND PRODUCTION.

SEASONABLE HINTS. BY G.II. Every small poultry-keeper should know the condition of his birds in order to be sure that the feeding is correct. I am afraid that many tons of food aro wasted every year through feeding blindly by rule of thumb. Far too many give 40z./ per day, year in year out, regardless of whether the birds require more or less. Evan relying on egg-production may lead one astray, so I will try to give you a few hints which will enable you to combine the egg results with actual condition and use tiio two as a guide to your feeding. Healthy birds should bo active and have a hard, tight appearance, with a bright sheen on the feathers, a bright comb, face and wattles, and should always be alert and ready for their food. These aro Outward signs and can be observed daily. As often as may be convenient, say once a fortnight, handle your birds. It does not take many minutes to go through a few birds at night when they aro on their perch, to find out whether they are too fat or too thin, and one very quickly becomes accustomed to overweight or underweight. A bird in good, healthy, laying condition should have plenty of flesh on the breast bone but not too much fat in tho abdomen. The latter should be soft and pliable and well developed. You find that in your best layers it handles like a silk bag of eiderdown. Birds that have an abdomen like a football or bladder of lard are too fat, and the feeding and management need attention. Maybe you aro giving a fattening diet or overfeeding, or perhaps you aro not giving sufficient exercise. On the other hand, you may find somo with shrunken abdomens and very little fiesh on the breast. These will require more or better food. Points to Remember. In going through a pen of birds in this way careful note should be taken of average condition. For instance, in a dozen you may find ten in the pink of condition and two very fat. Naturally vou would not cut down or alter the food to try to get the two right, but rather consider that these two were of a coarse, lazy type, likely to fatten under almost any conditions. These should be watched as regards egg-production, and. it not " paying their way," used for tho table. Again, supposing you _ found all the birds but one on the fat side and that one very light and thin, you would consider that the one was in ill-health and needed individual attention, while tho remainder would need better management. Four points to remember in poultry feeding are: Birds require (1) nourishing food; (2) bulky food; (3) clean, palatable food; and (4) easily digested food. The object of feeding is to replace the constant wastage in frame, flesh, fat, horn, blood and feathers, and last, but not least, to keep up vitality and produce eggs. I attended a lecture" on poultry-feeding a short time ago and heard one speaker advise wet mash as the best system, to be followed by another who tried to make it quite plain that the dry mash system is " the one and only," and yet another who suggested that the two combined would give best results. I mention this to make "it quite clear that there is no one and only way of feeding poultry. Different people have different views and different methods, and what gives excellent results to one may give very poor results to another.^ Personally, I think it is not so much, whether a mash is wet or dry, but what tho mash consists of that is so important, as is also the quality of the ingredients. If vou are given a formula for a mash make certain whether the parts are by weight or measure, because, as you will readily understand, with light ingredients like bran and lucerne meal this. point will make all the difference. Also be sure that the quality of each ingredient is as good as possible.

Attention to Young Stock. If you are trying the dry mash system, make sure you are using a good mash which the birds like, and «nlso know what quantity they eat. Some people hang up a hopper of dry mash in the house and open it for two or three hours' daily, but never worry about the quantity eaten. Possibly it has some ingredient that has gone musty, and, not being palatable, the birds are not e&ting of it per day. The July and August birds will be showing their quality now. II you are breeding for show purposes and find that some fall very short of the ideal, clear them out and give more room to the best. Should you have doubts of them, take the six best cockerels and put in one run, treat the pullets the same, and then look after the It is these which will pay for all your trouble, and bring honour and credit to the yard. One usually sees it advised to prit all the chickens out on a free range and let them have iheir liberty. Of course,'there is a great difference between close confinement and full liberty, and I would prefer the latter, but where a few runs are available it 'will be better to sort the best out and keep in small flocks. They are more quickly looked over, can be fed a little differently if necessary, and it can be seen at a glance when they do not get enough. Do not he afraid to use a liberal bone and flesh forming diet. For grain there is nothing better than good sound wheat 'and oats, but the latter must be short and thick, and not nearly all husk and chaff. The wheat can be boiled for a change, arirl though the birds may be shy of it nt first, when once thev try it nothing will keep them' back. This will help growth "and assist in forming bona and frame.