POULTRY ON THE FARM.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1648, 30 September 1903, Page 69 (Supplement)

POULTRY ON THE FARM.

(By J. W. Hurst.)

A PAYING SIDE LINE.

Having dealt with the art of chicken raising and fattening, I now propose to give such information as many be helpful relative to other branches of poultry keeping which may he carried on in conjunction with the.usual work of the farm with very little e>. trouble, and will periodically bring in those additional sums of money which tell their own tale in the annual bal-ance-sheet. Whilst other Home countries have suffered more c/r less severely from the general agricultural depression, it improbably not too- much to say that the chicken industry has been the salvation of Sussex ; at any rate the district has come through th)3 period since 1881 better than agricultural districts have clone generally. The ratable value of nearly every _ parish has increas’d, and in some cases considerably—which proves that the population lias held its own, and is an eloquent tribute to the profitableness of poultry. It is not unreasonable, therefore, to argue that what has been done in Qne county, and with one branch of the poultry business, can be done elsewhere .in other departments. The fact of the matter is, that the generality of people are profoundly ignorant of poultry keeping on business lines, and the general distrust of it as a profitable undertaking is constantly increased by those incompetent persons who, having failed at most other trades, rush into poultry keeping, as an easy road to fortune, with the resulting failure; and they then rush into print with execrations on the whole thing. Curiously enough these are believed in preference to' those who are able to speak from experience, which I will describe as genuine in contradistinction to that of those who write after a short trial in ignorance and failure.

It sho.uld, however, be obvious to the most casual reader that as poultry is an article of universal consumption; with its markets, and an ever-increas-ing demand and supply; the producers do not exist solely for the honour and glory of benefiting the public—if there were nothing in it the supply would decrease rather than increase, the countless poultry growers of the world would not continue to “live upon the losses” from generation to generation. If the production of poultry and eggs did not pay the producer the supply would fall off, the markets be closed, and the consumer forced to grow his oavu or go without. An increasing supply would suggest some margin of. profit. It is, by the Avay, a very curiouis fact that many producers do actually delude themselves into the belief that they exist upon losses —only the other day a farmer told ine, in all seriousness, that his crops only covered cost of labour, that the dairy was worked at a loss, and that the fowls .(of which he has"sdme hundreds) did not count for anything. Upon remarking that be seemed fairly prosperous as things go, he naively explained that it was by taking one branch AAdtli another that he made a living, which reminded me of the apple-woman, who said ©he lost on each pennyworth she sold, and that it was only on account of having numerous customers that the business paidOn the other hand, no one who is in

a position to writ© with authority would tho responsibility of 7 encouraging those who are without capital and knowledge to embark upon poultry keeping as a means of livelihood. These articles, however, will deal rather with those birds, and branches of poultry keeping, which can be run, so to speak, as a side-show. Should the sideshow prove, by experience, to be attractive and profitable.' it can always be made a main feature. A good motto for ths beginner in poultry keeping would be “go slow.” After experience is gained, “full steam ahead.” WATER FOWL. A branch of poultry keeping which, except in a few districts, is generally neglected is that of breeding water fowl —both marketable and ornamental, for there is profit in the latter as in the former. There is, in fact, a fairly steady demand fox’ ornamental water fowl to stock and replenish both public and private lakes and pends, and as a rule fancy prices are paid for the birds. To breed water fowl, either for table or ornament, special conditions are necessary; but inasmuch as they exist upon the majority of our farms they need present no real difficulty. It is necessary that .there should be water; either a pond, or, better still, a. running stream, or, as is often found, a piece of rough marsh-land. There must also be a good grass range, and how often does one see a piece of rough grass land absolutely bringing in no profit. Circumstances may, or may not, make a wire-netted enclosure necessary, bur of that the breeder must be the judg3. In the ease of purely ornamental water fowl however, it may be stated that as a general rule it its necessary, to pinion them, otherwise they will certainly migrate. In clipping the flight feathers, the two outermost ones should be left uncut, a 3 this prevents the appearance of the bird from being spoilt. After the moult of course the operation must be repeated, but this extra labour is preferable to the methods of maiming to secure more permanent pinioning, which are sometimes practised. Ail varieties of wild ducks soon get tame if properly managed. There must be no excitement caused by trying to handle them, and especially at breeding time they should he left alone as much as possible. To give them, every chance there should be plenty of cover near the stream or pond. The eggs are best hatched under silkies, these little hens being most useful for hatching and rearing all kinds of. valuable binds, as they are such careful mothers. The breeding of waterfowl has been very successfully carried on at the Zoological Gardens London, on a small shrub-covered island, where the birds • wore left'entireily to their own devices. Where profit is desired, however, the more successful method Is to employ hens for incubating. With regard to housing all classes of waterfowl it is not so generally known as it should be that although they delight in water and marshy land, yeti their sleeping quarters cannot be. kept too diy. This is one of the first and most important items to bear in mind. Reverting the more usual course of things, I will first refer briefly to tho more ornamental breeds before passing on to the strictly utility varieties. A common waterfowl, xvhich is not only largely used for ornamental pui-poses, and also for stocking wildfowl pre- ' serves, is the COMMON WILD DUCK. This is a bird which is more widely distributed over the whole European continent than any other. It is held to bo the parent stock of all tho farm breeds of ducks. It pairs in March, and even when domesticated continues to be strictly monogamous for generations, so that the birds must be run in pairs. If raised for the purpose of stocking preserves they must be fairly strong cm the wing before the Ist of August. Another duck, which belongs to the double class, is the CAYUGA DUCK, so named from Lake Cayuga, in Ameidea, where it is found in large numbers. It is a good bix'd as a side show for the farmer, as it is in demand for ornamental purposes, and is also, a prolific layer, very hardy, and matures early. In colour, a metallic black, showing greenish on head, neck, and Avings. A bluish bill, and brown legs. Its flesh is. as good as any, and the bird is a goo’d one to fatten at a less cost, too, than the Aylesbury. Among the more purely fancy breeds, for which there is only a demand for ornamental purposes, I may mention the Mandarin duck (the most gorgeous in plumage of all), the Carolina d,uck, the whistling duck, the Japanese and the eider duck. For all* of these good places are given by fanciers and the owners of ornamental Abaters. Before mentioning those breeds specially suitable for table purposes, I Avill refer to the INDIAN RUNNER DUCK, which is primarily a layer of large eggs, which it produces the year* round, being most prolific, the supply being .unaffected by our AAinter Aveather. They commence to lay at between four

and five months, and on a suitable range find moist of their own food. Although not a table breed, yet. owing to their excellent laying qualities. their eggs are available for hatching before those of other breeds, and the young which mature quickly are always profitable to sell at the commencement of the season when size is not looked for. The flesh is. of a richer flavour, and the texture finer than that of most other ducks. Unlike other breeds, swimming water is not necessary to ensure futility in the eggs; what they chiefly need to be profitable is plenty of liberty. The weight of the drake is about 51b, that of the duck about 41b. The colour, Avhite and fawn. With ample range good results may be obtained b> mating four ducks to one drake. On the whole, it is a duck which is \Yell worth more attention than is at present given it. EGG- PRESERVATION. Tho Ontario Department of Agriculture have published tho following note of the results of the experiments in egg preservation, which ay ere made at the Ontario Agricultural College last year. Several methods of preserving eggs were tested in our poultry department during the past year. -The eggs for this purpose were taken eaifly m June, and Avere tested in December. Many of the same methods that proved fairly successful in previous years Avere again tried. Method No 1: A solution composed of one part of Avater glass (sodium silicate) and five parts water tii-a? had been previously boiled. This tv as a very strong solution, and unless an egg Avas absolutely fresh it Avould not sink iai the solution. The eggs from this solution Avere of fairly good flavour, and all Avere Avell preserved. Method! No 2: This ay us similar to No 1, bxcept that eight parts of water were used instead of five parts. The eggs in this were as nearly as good eggs as in No 1. This is a good preservative where it is desired to keep summer eggs for Avinter use. Method No 3: Tins was composed of ten parts of Avater to one part' of water glass. There AA*ere no bad eggs in this solution, hut the eggs were inferior in flavour and in poaching quality to those kept by methods Nos. 1 and 2. TEMPORARY IMMERSION.

Method No 4: This consisted! of the same solution as No 3, but in place of allowing the eggs to remain in the liquid they were removed after having been in it for a week, except the last lot, which. AA r as put into the*solution. This lot was left in for the remitivjer of tho season. (a) The eggs, after being in the solution for a week, Avere removed and placed in an ordinary egg case in the cellar. They Avere all good when tested, but ewap orated considerably, and Avere lacking in flavour, (b) These were the second! lot of eggs to be placed in tho liquid. > They AVer© hanjdled similarly to those in (a),, and were about equal quality. (g) These eggs wore allowed to remain in liquid. They were well preserved, all being good. They xvere scarcely equal in quality to those from No 2 method, but were superior to those from No 3. A LIME SOLUTION. Method No 5: A lime solution made as follows: —Two pounds fresh lime xvere slaked in a pail, and a pint of salt was addled thereto. After mixing, tho contents of the pail Avere put into a tub containing four gallons of water. This Avas vtell stirred an left to' settle. Then it Avals stirred thoroughly a second time and left to settle, after which the clear liquid Avas poured over the'- eggs, winch had previously been placed in a ©rock or tub. Only the clear liquid Avas used. These eggs tv ©re well preserved, buit those from the bottom of the tub had a decidedly limey taste, and the yolk of them was sonidwhat hardened. CHICKENS DYING. It would appear that these' chickens had died from a stoppage interally, as the staggering about is a very usual sign of this. Chickens should not be fed on hard-boiled eggs at all, but on soaked "biscuit meail and groats. It is an excellent plan to give young chick-, ens a dose of castctr oil every Aveek; it is not necessary to give a largo dose, about a teaspoonful to six or eight, young chickens, mixed in their soft food for tho first feed in toe morning. It is most essential they should have fine sharp flint grit given to them from the second day after they are hatched. It is very necessary that constipation should be avoided!. SOME FALLACIES. We have thousands of chickens hatched away from home from us, and many of them are hatched artificially. Somo people hav'e an idea that chickens thus' (hatched are not so strong as those hatched by liens, Avhile 'others go as far as to say that they are quite useless for breeding purposes. This is a fallacy, as it does not affect the birds in the least. It is about the same as tho idea Avhich some folks have that hens will not lay at all 'unless they have a male bird with them. This is altogether Avrong,; |hey Avill lay just as well without a co&ti as with one, and the eggs Avill keep longer Avliere they are not fertilised; in fact, double the time. A male bird keeps tuc bens

together, arid of course it is more natural for the hens to have a companion. A pen ahvays looks complete whoh a. nice male bird is strutting about. When hens have their liberty it in much the best plan to have a cock with them; if not, they are apt to stray too far aAvay, and the owner loses a large number of eggs. Then again, in cases where cottages have a pen of birds to run about oh waste ground where others are running, if they have no male bird to accompany them they are almost sure t-o be coaxed away by others. The male bird of the other party will entice themi to accompany his hens* and they will do so. Iu such cases, the eggs will* be laid away from home, and the birds will come back to roost and feed. Under these circumstances it ia economy to keep a male bird —and: a good fighter* too—so that he can look to the-interest* of his own liens. We mention this on account of receiving so many letters on the subject. There are numbers of fowls kept on. the outskirts of the towns where there ia Avasie ground, and the cottagers and others x\ r ant to utilise tho space to tho best advantage. We have seen as many as eight lots of fowl& running on ono piece of ground undivided. The eggs cannot bo .depended upon for sitting purposes. For instance, they-eouldL not be sold am “pure,” although they might be laid by pure hens, accompanied by a male bird of their oxvn breed—neither as a first-cross, for some of the eggs are almost sure to be crossed by the other male birds. “ THE DEMAND FOR GOOD' POULTRY. It has been said that when poultry , farms and yards became numerous throughout the countiy the demand would decrease, but happily we have uot found it so, for as the supply of good poultry increases xvill the demand! become more universal for what, less than a quarter of a century since, was deemed a luxury among the ay or king classes.