BRANDING POULTRY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22401, 23 April 1936, Page 14

BRANDING POULTRY

Sir. —The article in Wednesday's II i: it a i.i), re the extensive thefts of poultry in country districts raises the question of Iho expediency of branding poultry for identification just as cattle and sheep aiul horses are branded or ear-marked for identification purposes. A few months ago 1 snw a short article in an American magazine about the branding of poultry and wrote away for particulars. When these particulars came to hand T wrote to the Department of Agriculture in Auckland and have just received a reply from the poultry instructor stating that the marking of poultry is bv no means new. If the subject is brought under the notice of the Poultrykeepers' Association and they requested the Agricultural Department to institute a system for the registration of brands by poultry keepers (as in the case with sheep and cattle breeders), no doubt they would receive sympathetic hearing. In America one of the States has a State service for the protection of poultry keepers. This service costs about five dollars per annum. For this amount an outfit for marking poultry is supplied, together with ink to mark one thousand birds. Registration of the brand is listed and sales and exchanges of birds between registered owners is recorded. The operation of branding (which is done in the web of the wing) is very simple and is practically painless. H. W. Ingram.