POULTRY

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXII, Issue 4806, 8 November 1902, Page 7 (Supplement)

POULTRY

NOTES AND NOTIONS. (By “Cackler.”) The motto of a quaint Bohemian society in Sydney might well be adopted by many poultry-keepers, especially by those wno breed and sell purebred stocn and eggs. The motto is “Boost high and crow low."

Hr Cunningham, the noted Leghorn breeder, of Palmerston, is expecting some aristocratic stock by the next San Francisco boat.

An important detail in fowl management is that laying hens should bo treated with ©very care. They should never be driven, frightened or roughly handled, but, on the contrary, should bo treated with every care and consideration.

An excellent idea followed by a correspondent is to set his hens in pairs, and wnen the chicks are hatched to give ail of them to on© of the two hens. The hen whose chickens aro taken from, her is then set on more eggs, and she is allowed the chicks she hatches the second time as well as the chicks from, a third hen.

Ik is argued by many poultry-keepers that fowls do much better on only two feeds a day. Considering the way in which fowls are generally overfed, and rendered useless by the overfeeding, it would be well for the business if the system were more generally adopted. From the number of eggs bought for hatching, but which have proved infertile, it is evident that breeding stock is not being judiciously fed by many breeders. It is absolutely essential that the fowls must be kept active, especially the male bird. The same rule applies with all classes of stock. Male animals which are pampered are generally rendered useless for stock-getting, and, on the other hand, breeders who feed their stud animals on just sufficient food of a light, wholesome nature, are generally the most successful. Too much grain and warm mixtures are used, and not enough green food. Comfortable and well-ventilated quarters, good runs, abundance of fresh water and. grit, and light, wholesome food, as indicated above, is absolutely essential to tlx© successful production of eggs for hatching purposes. One of th© most important defects yet disclosed in connection with the use of incubators in this colony is the unreliability of the thermometers being used in connection therewith, X have been informed that some thermometers supplied with machines have been found to he wrong by several degrees. This means that when th© thermometer declares Ike temperature to be 103 degrees, it is :n reality only 100 degrees, or in another case, perhaps, 106 degrees. No doubt this is the reason for some of the many failures lately recorded in hatching. •operations. • When the factory system of buttermaking, entailing constant use of a thermometer, was introduced to the colony, th© same difficulty presented itself. Cheap German thermometers were imported, of which fully twenty-five per cent, were found to be inaccurate. Where ‘ economy is th© main tion, these cheap and nasty made-in-Germany articles are being used to the probable vexation and poor work of ihe buttermaker. At the present time, up-to-date dairymen would not think of working with an untested article. With the *work of incubating, the accuracy of the thermometer is all the more important. It is, therfore, to bo hoped that some means will bo taken whereby poultrymen will be able to secure theirnometers guaranteed by a reliable authority. Possibly tho Dairy Expert may be induced to secure the co-operation of the Government Chemist, Hr Aston, in this work. Hr Aston has done excellent service on behalf of the dairy industry in connection with testing factory glassware, and no doubt he will found .willing to undertake the equally- important work of testing incubator thermometers. ;

Some fowls may he characterised as sitters, others as non-sitters. The nonsitters are usually good layers, and do not bear confinement well. They begin laying earlier than the good sitters, but do not make good mothers. When a hen becomes broody, allow her to remain on her own nest for a day or two, then take her at night, dust her thoroughly with insect powder, and place her where yon wish her to sit. Have her nest filled with china eggs. If she keeps the new nest for a day or two you may remove the china eggs and place those selected under her. Keep fresh, clean water and grain where they can get it at all times. Dust all sitting hens with insect powder several times during the three weeks, giving a careful dusting on 19th day of incubation, putting some in the nest at the same time. Every possible precaution should be taken to see that there are no lice to trouble the young chicks. Dice destroy more chickens every year than all other diseases common, to featherd animals.

The keeping power of eggs is greatly increased when they are unfertile. If end wishes to preserve eggs laid iu summer for winter use, it will he a wise and sensible precaution to remove all the male birds from tho flock.

If a hen is gorged during the day she will go into a corner and mope, and soon cease to lay, hut if fed heartily at night tho food is digested by morning, and she comes out bright and active; while she is going through with this digestive process, see that she has warmth, ventilation- and perfect cleanliness.

There is a considerable difference of opinion, even among acknowledged authorities, as to the length of time during which tho influence exercised by a male bird while running With a flock of hens affects their fertility. Dr H. B. Greene writes upon the subject;:—"The answer to this question must be somewhat conjectural. A male turkey by one act fertilises all the eggs (or, rather, the greater portion) that the hen lays during the season. But with the fowl, pheasant, grouse and partridge, my personal opinion is that one successful coitus will fertilise a batch of eggs numbering as many as tho hen would lay to form a nest and hatch. In the case of tho fowl, there is no reason to suppose that as many as twenty could not thus be fertilised. Certainly, twenty ova are frequently attached to the ovary at the same time, of different sizes and stages of development."—“Exchange." “I have been experimenting lately on the eggs from certain' hens, to find out if there is any great difference in the way they hatch, their vitality, etc.; and have been greatly interested in the dis-, ooveries made. , The eggs from the abnormally fat hens seldom hatch. The chicken usually dies on or about tho twelfth day of incubation. When an egg hatches a day or two in advance of time, one usually concludes that it was quite fresh when put in; but I now find that it is the eggs from the active and most healthy hens that break tho shell first. Five eggs from a little game hen, which were all over five days old, were the first to hatch. Invariably the egg from the sleepy, lazy hen will hatch late. Out of twnty-seven hens whose eggs I experimented with, I found two quite sterile. They both lay fine large eggs, of good shape and shell; but though 1 must have tried quite a dozen of their eggs, not one has ever had a sign of a chick, en. I have even mated them with different roosters, but without avail; and, strange to say. they fire the worst-tem-pered hens in the yard, always quarrelling and beating the others."—"English Fanciers’ Gazette.”