POULTRY NOTES

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXIV, Issue 4883, 7 February 1903, Page 7 (Supplement)

POULTRY NOTES

THE SMALL FAHiJEIi AS POULTRY RAISED. (■‘'Yorkshire Post.”) “The following is an actual instance of what was accomplished by a scientific niiui, a, -no, as u poultry r.ccper iu a couiij;.; uttvoiy sum 11 way, not only kept an accurate recorU cl his worn, but conducted it on the basis of principles w-aich i,c personally saw were rigidly applied to ins practice. This gentleman lived iu a large lu'.vr,, and ins back garden permitted him to keep hi-, hens in a space which was not only coniined. but more or ic-s small, tie posscs-cd. in fact, a run v. hich he divided into two, each of .which was about 13 yards by 5. In each yard v. a . a. iicu.se Ti t Ciu lay l ift, and here his. buds were kept and fed, excepting that occasionally the liens Avere admitted outside the pen inlo tile remaining portion of tiio 'garden for a run, this permission being restricted to those periods when nothin;.' could lie destroyed; but to this we -li'inld mi.l (he fact that in winter j hey were allowed their freedom, a]l bench ii was still very much vcstr'cU-l bv the extent r.f Hie garden during; the vLiter Mionlli ; . Efforts Avcre made in grow os oiiud' green food ns’ possible i a the "o’fler, 'for the use of (lie birds, cabbage bcicr preferred, olii’.ough it bad to he pm reh a red. At o ! ber times the bens iece’ved lettuce, suinaeh, and sonic rape, veil fell wore specie 11 v grown, and during Hie Avinlr-r mold lr : mirebased and chopur-d nn. liana is a food of the cabbage order. Avldch crows very freely and luxuriantly. ■a small bed thickly sown providing a large quiulity of grenn food. The number of birds Avibb wldoh Hie OAvuer commenced Avcs ot), nml from (be«c eggs were received for batching chickens. “It v.v.s arranged to feed Ibo bird? on srfl food in Ibo morning and on bard food at midday and iu the GA’aning, the ciuaniity rmnnlicd denendinc upon tac bdrds’ appetites. And here it will be uoliced that judgment became necessary. Tn many eases a given number of liens are allowed a given quantity of food whether tlu-v ror-nire more or less or not; i'ut it is obvious that lUe appetite of hers varies iu. accordance with circumstances. and especially Avith change of weather. ‘The morning mixture was made up of bran, middlings, maize meal — Avliieh was not always supplied. Fifteen fowls consumed a quart of bran, a pint of middlings, and slightly more than a quarter of a pound of meal per day upon the average. The meal was mixed Avith warm Avater, cud during cold Aveatuer the water supplied for drinking purposes was also warmed. The hard com consisted of wheat, oats, and maize, the maize being cracked at midday. Care was taken 'to keep the houses perfectly pure and clean, and the floors especially were well littered, straw being chiefly used except in the autumn, when leaves wore' collected for the purpose. The litter Avas usually placed on the floor from 8 to 10 inches deep. There are not many poultry keepers with town yard accommodation who succeed in rearing chickens in any number. In this case 203 eggs were set, and 102 chickens Avere reared, of which 05 were cockihcls. “It may be mentioned in passing that in the present-year cockerels appear to have been very numerous in proportion to pullets, ami those avlio rear for early laying, and avlio obtain a few chickens in the early months, are naturally disappointed, ‘for although it is useful to nave early cockerels for the table, early pullets'are still more valued by tuo.-e who require plenty of eggs in the autumn anti winter. A careful account was kupt ot the eggs laid per hen. The greatest number wore obtained in April. Avhen each hen averaged 23 eggs; in May the average fell to 21: in June to 18-3; and in July to 15'J. In August the hens laid Id eggs apiece, in September 18i; then we fell to 9 iji October, 2 each in November and December gradually rising again, until in the following March the average number of eegs laid per lieu was 15|. The price of eggs is also supplied, and bore it Avas in exact proportion to the number of eggs laid. “The highest price was obtained in. November and December, and the lowest In April and May. The birds, however, cost the lowest to feed in Boptemoer and Nov-ember; the most in December, March, April, and May following so that to a, huge extent the cost of eggs was greatest when’ the eggs laid were most numerous. In July the cost of feeding was less than in March, although the eggs laid wore similar in number, no doubt because ot the greater abundance of foods supplied from the garden. Tho results of this experiment—for although it was a purely practical matter, the careful manner, in -which it was conducted converts it into a systematic test —were most successful. The birds cost about 3s -lid per head to feed, this sum representing precisely what was purchased; the birds averaged PIS eggs per head; and the eggs laid or sold or valued at market prices were equivalent to 9s per hen. It must not bo supposed that a small flock of birds of this kind represent what is possible in a large flock or in a number of flocks; nor can' it be' supposed that the money returned really represented profit earned on a business basis. The attention given was out of all proportion to what would be possible where poultry are kept as a means of livelihood. The experiment shows w-liat is.possible AA'here poultry are kept for home use. and where in consequence they receive some help from the food of the house, and from the labour bestowed without payment. "IVe would make one special reference to tills particular case. It will be observed that the food supplied in the morning consisted of materials which were largely composed of albuminoid matter. all tho three foods chiefly mixed together—bran middlings and meal being rich in nitrogen and when combined relatively poor in starchy matter.. This is of great importance. Again, it may be pointed out that although maize teas supplied with the hard corn, this being the most starchy of the three varieties used, and wheat, which is not a rich albuminoid matter, oats Avere mixed with thorn, thus influencing the ratio of albuminoids to the starchy matter, and modi? fying the mechanical action of the more binding foods upon the digestive organs. "An instance has recently come under our notice in which tho eggs laid by a flock of hens on a farm have been numerous as compared Avith those laid elseAvhere; and it is curious to observe that in this instance the birds were constantly feeding over grass fields Avhich Aver a dressed day by ..day with town manure. The importance of meat or flesh of some kind, especially that u-liich is rich in nitrogen and phosphates, can scarcely bo overestimated. The Americans have taught us much in this direction, and they have found that the employment of crushed or cut bone, which is not only rich in nitrogen and phosphates, but in lime, is one of the cheapest and most productive foods Avliieh can be supplied for the production of eggs.”