BREEDING SEASON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20300, 6 July 1929, Page 21

BREEDING SEASON.

AN INTERESTING PERIOD.

TREATMENT OF BROODY HENS. HANDLING METHODS DESCRIBED. BY UTILITY. It will be generally admitted that with most people tho breeding season is the most interesting period of the year. There are very few who do not take a keen delight in the operation of hatching, and if any parents want to interest their children in poultry tho easiest way is to do it through the medium of a broody hett. Tho smallest child will go and watch it several times a day, and many a successful exhibitor dates his interest in the fancy from the childish glee which captivated him when he first saw a chick's little head peeping out from its mother's wing. The usual theory is that a broody hen does much better if left severely alone, but tlieie i 3 u fairly strong argument against this method. Chickens are quick to follow the mood of their mother: if she is quiet the} take little notice of humans, except to connect their appearance with the adveut oi a meal, whereas if the mothei is shy and restless they are qUfck to run away and Seek cover. Consequently there is <* good deal to be said iti favour of constantly handling the mother, so that by the end of 21 days she h&3 full confidence In her attendant. Best Form of Nest.

This facility of handling, as well as other important advantages, can most easily be gained by setting the broodies on tho ground, and it is hard to better a benzine can as a cover. Take out one side, and put. it flatways over the aest. Take oil the top, which becomes the front, and leave in one nail to Drake it b dooi, putting a brick against the other end, to keep it shut. VVhOtt taking the bird off, the easiest way is to lift up the box by the front, thus leaving it on edge, and the broody can then be readily handled or taken off.

Never pick up a broody by putting both hands underneath, for most likely there will bt two or three eggs tucked under the wings, and if these drop on the nest several will be broken. Pick her up by the extreme ends of the wings, and she will keep perfectly still while being lifted off and put on the ground. If that does not wake her up sufficiently to make her commence- eating the grain, gently lift her up again till she does, but do not startle her The object is to get her to eat at once, while keeping her tame, for otherwise she will usually give a startled call ana rush all over tho place. Leave her off for ten minutes at first, gradually increasing the time from Week to week. She must be driven back for the first few days, and possibly may even have to be caught for a day or twd, bnt if she is put back very gently, and even allowed to walk for the last two Or three feet, she will soon find her way. Making the Nest.

After a week or so, according to how readily she learns to go back, the door may bo lifted right up, and left open all day, for there will be no harm done if she goes off for half an hour in the heat of the day, to get a dust-bath and eat some grass. The best way is to scoop out a hole, shaped like a saucer, about three inches deep, and fill it with straw or pine needles. It must be hollow enough to keep the eggs from falling out, and flat enough to keep- them from crushing toward the centre The ideal shape is to leave them sufficient room to move about when the hen step." on them, so that she does not break them For this reason it is preferable t< let her sit on a few china eggs for the first day, to give her a chance to work the nest into tho right shape, and also to maki* quite sure that she is really broody. Many a hen is put right off her broodiness by being removed to a cold nest in 3 strange place, and for this if the hen ia at all flighty, a safer way is to set hei in her old nest for three or four days, and then move her to the new place some evening. It is contrary to nature foi a hen to lay in one place and sit in another, and they often require to be humoured a little at first.

Guarding Against Lice After all the care that one gives to a broody, it is very galling to find lice in tho nest, for this spells disaster to the chicks. It is best to take no chances, but to dust the hen with insect powder, and particularly to dust the eggs while in the nest. The hen does not like it ? so do not do it the first week, and the chicks do not like it, so do not dust the eggs during the last week, but during the second week they cannot be dusted too well il the hen and her chicks are to be entirely free of lice. A Napier correspondent asks if experiments have been made with White Leghorn cockerels, and whether the result i» an attractive table bird, as with the other breeds '' Leghorns are used so much for egg production that there must be a large number Of cockerels available for fattening, if it could be done," says the correspondent This statement is quite correct, but the fattening is only profitable if the birds are fed til! ten or twelve weeks old, when they are known as broilers. Even in America, where there is an enormous amount of caponising and fattening, Leghorns are not touched, but are got away as youn" as possible, when from to 21b. in weight. It is very risky to oporate on Leghorns or any small breeds, and the gains would bo very small, whereas it is easv to operate on tho American heavy breeds, and such English breeds as Orpingtons and Sussex, When these weigh 21b. to 31b. they are usually not much more than skin and bones, in ideal condition for caponising, and then they rapidly improve. After the age of four month's the operation becomes risky, and should not bo performed except by an expert.. ________