EGGS IN SUMMER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21983, 14 December 1934, Page 7

EGGS IN SUMMER

KEEPING UP THE SUPPLY PROPER FEEDING METHOD

BY UTILITY

While every breeder is anxiously watching the egg basket, fearing that the unusually warm conditions in most districts throughout the Dominion have been tending toward a decided reduction in the eggy supply, it can* be claimed that far more than is generally supposed have it in their own hands to keep their fowls in full lay for quite a long time. The main care is to give them what really amounts to a continuation of spring conditions. At present there is really not much more to do than to take the common measures for saving the fowls from suffering any ill-effects from the early advent of summer, and there are three important headings under which this can be directed —suitable food and fresh water, ample shade, freedom from lice and other summer parasites which multiply so rapidly as soon as the warmer weather favours their reproduction. Food in Summer The provision of green food for summer has been so often recommended that there ought to be no necessity to givA. a reminder at this time of the year, and it is only mentioned in order 'to drive home the adverse conditions under which < those people are now labouring who have neglected this important point. Grass is a most excellent green food, but it is only at its best when continually cut short, and any plots kept in that order for mowing for the fowls have almost disappeared in some districts, there having been virtually no growth since the middle of November. This emphasises the point that no absolute reliance can be placed on grass, for as soon as it is most wanted it fails to produce the goods. However, this not so with silver beet, probably the most luscious of all fodder crops, and one must congratulate those who planted their requirements during September and October, for dn well-culti-vated soil this crop has not had a setback and is standing up well to the 6evere conditions. More Mash, Less drain All who now find themselves short of green stuff should make a firm resolve not to let September pass next year without planting a good patch, for it will always come in for cows or pigs, if not required for the fowls, and in any case it would not be wasted if buried to enrich the soil. It is only natural to assume that fowls will find a tasty mash much more appetising during the summer than the usual quota of grain, so the proportions might be gradually altered with advantage. Even the sparrows seem to have lost their insatiable appetite for grain during the past few weeks, and this alone is sufficient to accept as a broad hint that fowls should not have to depend on dry grain in order to get sufficient nourishment. They always like a little, and it helps to keep their digestive organs in good order, but mash can be their mainstay for the duration of the warm weather, and if fresh meat is not available it would be well to increase the proportion of meat meal in the mash. Bring it up to 5 per cent, by. measure, at once, and even up to 10 per cent in a few weeks. A cutter enables green food to be used without waste and also enables a greater variety of greens to be used, such as lucerne, green oats, spring maize and rape, in addition to all the softer fodders which can be fed whole. To keep the mash from getting too crumbly when mixed with chaffed greens, reduce the proportion of bran, but feed a full quantity of pollard. Checking Insect Pests

Insect pests will become very troublesome daring the next few weeks if immediate measures are not taken to keep them in check. Opinions differ as to the best means for making a general onslaught on these pfests, and most treatments involve the purchase of the particular variety of insecticide fancied. However, nobody need wait a single day for treating the house with one material that everybody has in stock, ordinary kerosene. This can be used in two ways, for two entirely different species of parasites, with almost a guarantee of success As soon as the birds have gone to roost and while it is still light enough to see them without frightening theni, take into theiri house a tin 6f kerosene and dip their . feet and legs in it, nearly up to the thighs, but not quite reaching tho feathers. This will cure scaly leg with a few applications at intervals of a week, or, better still, prevent scaly leg coming at all, and if the remaining kerosene in the tin is sprinkled over the ends of the perches it will keep the red mite at bay.

FOWL POX VACCINATION AS REMEDY What is the strength of all the urge to get one's chickens vaccinated? is continually being asked, the present being tftfe time at which it should b« done, if at all, says the Sydney Morning Herald. The first thing to remember is that chicken pox is a disease to which all young stock under 12 months old are more or less liable during the summer and autumn; but that all flocks of that age'do not take it. Once it breaks out in a yard, however, most, if not all, of tho birds of the susceptible age usually become affected more or less if they have not previously been immunised. But it is questionable if more than 30 per cent of the farms will have experience of the disease in a bad form whether the birds are protected or riot. It is a mistake for beginners to imagine .that chicken pox is. the deadly disease it is sometimes made out to be; the deaths that do occur are mostly from starvation followinc on the scab-bing-over of the eves, the birds being unablo to see to eat. rather than from the disease itself The worst feature of the disease is the loss of production from pullets contracting it after or just before they come on to lay, because such as do usually drop into moult and are off laying perhaps for two or three months. This is why many poultrS" farmers elect to vaccinate their younc birdß before they reach the stage of coming on to lay, in fact, while they are yet only half-grown, in order to have the possible trouble over and done with.

It should not, however, be assumed that pullets, having been vaccinated or otherwise escaping the disease, will not bo liable to the partial Vioult; there is still that liability from other causes and with early-batched Leghorns it is a.lmost a certainty. Poultry farmers are by no means unanimously in favour of vaccination, not even many of those who have tried it; and many prefer to take the risk or adopt other means of prevention or mitigation of the disease. The point, however, is that thdse who intend to resort to vaccination must do so within the next few weeks, or it will be too late.