THE POULTRY RUN

New Zealand Times, Volume LII, Issue 12283, 31 October 1925, Page 19

THE POULTRY RUN

SOME USEFUL HINTS 'CLEANLINESS THE KEYNOTE TO SUCCESS (By Geo. H. Ampler for the “New Zealand Times*”) Tlio vital factor in connection with the poultry business is cleanliness. No matter how choice or how well your stock may be, you will fail to achieve success 1 unless you pay strict attention to this very important detail —cleanliness. The lazy man rarely gets very far on the road to success, for ho invariably neglects’ this highly important factor. Even the hustler will fail in his objective if he ignores it, though there is far less danger of his doing so than there is in the case of the lazy easy-going individual. The neglect of proper cleanliness is what puts many beginners out of business. They fail and condemn poultry raising when the fault of their nqn-success rests with themselves in not observing a proper measure of cleanliness in connection with their operations. The hardest work in connection with poultry raising is that which has to be performed during the heat of the spring and summer. THE SUPPLY OF WATER In regard to the water supply, do not let the water vessels stand in the sun so that the contents will get heated. If you do this, trouble will come. In renewing water, supply, do not mix fresh water with the stale, but empty the vessel and wash it out before putting the fresh water. Take time and attend to the main factor-cleanliness. Feed also as you would feed yourself—that is, in regard to cleanliness. Do not give any sour or impure food. Keep everything about th§ fowlhouse as clean as you would in your own home. PUKE AIR NECESSARY

havo all heard of the power of ind light.” and nowhere arc the beneficial results accruing from .hem more necessary 'and- more marked than in the houses devoted to the rearing and accommodation of poultry. Probably in the case of no other bird or even animaJ is there 6U,ch. a valid reason for giving plenty of air space. The particular reason in the case of the fowl is that it has no'*sweat glands, so that poisonous waste matter cannot be conveyed from i its body by means of perspiration. In order to make up for this deficiency Nature ha 3 endowed the fowl with nine air sacs, as well as two lungs, which naturally results in a very large amount of waste matter being carried off in the breath. Thesa air sacs communicate with tho lungs, and supply them with a certain amount of air in the intervals of breathing. This extra oxytrenation is no doubt connected with the higher temperature of the body of the fowl, which exceeds that of fever heat in other animals. The poisons excreted in ofhe • animals by the .skin are carried off to a large extent in the breath of the fowl Therefore, it Is not easy to exaggerate the absolute necessity for an abundant supply of fresh air in the sleeoing places of fowls The above reasons explain why a fowlhouse so soon becomes stuffy and evil smelling as the air rapidly becomes saturated with carbonic acid gas. If a fowlhouse is ill-ventilated or overcrowded, the birds that sleep in it •speedily become a prey to all kinds of disease They first lose their aopetites, then mope, and general ill-health is followed by some definite complaint, frequently tuberculosis, of which fell disease eo many fowls become victims, A test of insufficient air space or bad ventilation in a house is to go inside or put your head in earlv in the morning, srtd if there is a stuffy unwholesome smell, you may know that either overcrowding is taking place or that the ventilation is insufficient. In some parts of America where the birds are housed entirely during extremely cold weather, each bird is allowed five square feet of floor space, or eight to ten cubic feet of air space to each pound of live weight. A very great deal depends upon the degree of the cleanliness of the houses. Of course, in the natural.state the.fowl roosted in the open, and no doubt it thrives well, even now, if kept from ohickenhood in a natural state, and with a reasonable amount 6f shelter, such as is afforded by open sheds. There is a but, however, f.or although a bird may be in bettez health for being kept in the open, experiment has proved that reverting lo the natural.state does not always fill the egg basket any sooner or any better. An experiment was made to test this • point The result proved that the birds roosting out of doors certainly kept freer from colds and, appeared to. be more healthy, but they ate more and laid considerably fewer eggs than the fowls kept in houses. Those in the houses also looked glossier and were larger in frame, although they cost less to keep. It ie .well to remember that birds in a natural state lay very few eggs, and also that food is necessary to keep up the heat of the body. A Towl protected from cold at night naturally needs' less food" than a bird that sleeps out of doors. One of the strongest points about this experiment was that the housed birds began to lay one month earlier ‘ than those kept in the natural state. So not too much Nature, please, as in all things the middle way is safest: So, having come to the conclusion that 'some sort of houses are necessary, let us go on and see what number of birds should be allowed in any given space. SPACE TO BE ALLOWED TO EACH BIRD IN A HOUSE The dangers of overcrowding hare been already pointed out, and it may

be well to give a definite rule for ascertaining how many birds a given ht ise will contain healthily. The best way to find how many fowls a house will hold is to multiply its length by its breadth and its mean height, and divide by eight—this will give the maximum number of birds. If not pressed for room, divide by ten. Here is an example: Take a house 6ft high, 6ft long, and 4ft wide; i.e., 6x6x4 equals 144 ft. divided by 8 gives 18. Thus, such u house would hold 18 birds. If any house smells "stuffy” when entered late at night, or in the early morning, reduce the number of birds, if if is found by applying the above rule to be overcrowded. If this be not the cause, look to the ventilation.

Whatever may have been the cause, spray the house with a solution of good disinfectant and water. . It will be seen that tbe importance of providing a comfortable, well-lighted house of the hen cannot be over emphasised, for. when you figure it out, it is plain that tho hen spends over half her time inside it. Comparing tbe hen to the cow, we can see why so many fail at the poultry business. Many are discarding tho old way of housing the hen, .thank goodness, but we still find too many making the poultry the last and least of all else. Most of the cow stables are cleaned daily. It is not left for a rainy day, or cleaned annually or semi-annually, as is the case too often with the hen house. • * • * The early hatched youngsters will by now have reached the age and) size when culling can take place. • i • * Every broody hen and incubator should now be busy hatching out chickens. . a • * # . The art of chicken rearing lies in being able to rear to maturity even moro than being able to secure high hatching percentages. m a • * Keep the young stock growing all tho time so that when matured they will be a credit to their rearer. a a a a With chickens of ail sizgb and ages about and in goodly munhens, tho rearer is apt to forget bis adult stock. This is by no meajis to bo recommended. .