THE POULTRY RUN

New Zealand Times, Volume LIV, Issue 12651, 11 January 1927, Page 12

THE POULTRY RUN

EGG PRODUCTION HOW TO SECURE BEST RESULTS (By GEO. H. AMBLER) To ensure the best results in egg production,' attention must be paid to the feeding, because so much depends upon how the birds are fed if economic production is the result wished for. Breeding and feeding go together. A well-bred and well-fed hen will lay over 250 eggs per annum, but the same hen, not well fed .will lay only 1 iiO to 180. Ordinary hens, well fed, will lay 160 eggs, but the same hens not well fed will lay only 100 to 120 eggs per annum. 1 have always tried to get the best possible results with the least possible outlay, but 1 have never stopped for money’s sake. If I thought a hen would lay more eggs on a certain course of feeding, 1 have never hesitated to pay for that food. Feeding is a matter deserving of greater thought than most people give it. If breeders would exercise more thought to the kind of food to use, better results would be secured. Foods and feeding, whether wet or dry mash form probably the most important element in poul-try-keeping, which the novice should study. No matter what may be the family record of the individual bird, no matter how dee.p a blue is her blood, unless she is sensibly fed on some scientific lines it will not ho possible to give of her best. GIVE FOWLS GOOD FOOD This is what the average farmer does: His fowls have usually full access to the best grain his farm grows, but what are the common results ? Abject failure, due in the main to the ill-balanced and illogical nature of the diet. The conditions on the average farm are perfect for poultry-keeping, but if the owner gets 70 to 90 eggs per fowl per annum he is satisfied, and does not trouble to inquire into possibilities. With proper feeding this average could very easily bo doubled. Yes; give fowls good food, but let the diet be sensibly balanced so that the menu can efficiently provide for the purpose for which it is served. The cow, when she is not in milk, demands a totally different diet, both in volume and quality, from that which she requires when siie is in full yield. That is commonsense. The laying hen is exactly on all fours witn the dairy cow. Her possibility may he anything from 160 to 280, or even more, eggs per annum, but unless she is properly nourished with assimilable food containing the necessary elements in approximately balanced proper tiops, how is she, any more than the dairy cow, to yield to the limit cf her possibilities? HAPHAZARD FEEDING BAD In every sense haphazard feeding is bad economy. It is not only a waste of good food, but it ts a tax upon the animal, and leads to reduced returns —whether these be beef, milk or eggs—financial loss, and disappointment. The person who keeps stock should study the functions of the animal machine, and always rememoer the purpose he has in view, when he arranges the diet of the animals he manages. On this page our studies have been in connection with the laying hen. The rapid development of this egg machine has been such that the diet which satisfied the low fecund lien of 50 years ago cannot serve equally well the high fecund hen of to-day possessing some three times, her possibilities. Her return of some 2SO eggs or more per annum creates a demand upon her resources w'hicli has to be provided for: She herself is moie or less an artificial and man-made machine and man must provide the proper fuel in a suitable form, or otherwise his purpose fails, and the machine breaks down. This point requires only a few moments’ thought to satisfy the veriest novice. THREE ELEMENTS Food has certain functions to peiforrn. ft has other purposes than merely to satisfy tho appetite. Food is made up of three prime factors—albuminoids, oils and carbohydrates. The albuminoid element is undoubtedly the most, important element • of all feeding stuffs. It is tho fiesltlorming element, or. is, at least, the principal flesh-forming constituent. It is of high importance to the egg farmer, because it composes some 75 per cent, of the solids of the egg; therefore, a maximum return in eggs cannot be expected unless this element is fed in suitable proportion. The carbohydrates usually predominate in most foods, and include sugar, starch, and digestible fibre. The value and use of tho _ carbohydrates is increased b.v good milling, the degree of digestibility being intensified by the fineness to which the grain is reduced in the process of grinding, rendering it more accessible to the gastric or digestive juices. The carbohydrates are used up in the body for the generation of heat and energy, and, if fed to excess, they serve to fatten, or, in other words, go to set up or store layers of fat within the body. The oil element oxydises in the blood, and sustains the heat of the body, and is therefore a very necessary food constituent, more especially in the winter months The digestibility of all foods in use for the purpose of encouraging productivity of whatever character, be it eggs or milk, is of the utmost importance, because the process of assimilation comes before the egg, and the more rapid and the more complete this is, the greater the flow of eggs if the physical machine is a suitably-toned one. The modern laying hen, therefore, is merely a convertor, and, it may readily he imagined what a strain the creation of some 200 eggs per annum means to the digestive organs unless tile foods provided are properly proportioned and capable of ready assimilation. NATURAL TASTES All classes of live stock are provided with -natural instincts in taste respecting diet to cover their physical requirements, but the domesticated animal, including tho laying hen, is very largely kept under intense artificial conditions and is prevented from exercising those instincts. Deprived of the opportunity of obtaining natural medicine, diseases of a mysterious character often develop, and frequently the trouble is wrongly diagnosed, by the “expert.” This explains in some measure the health and vigour of birds with an open run. but it does not prove that birds cannot be kept in perfect health in clo.so confinement. Almost everything depends upon common-sense management and a thoughtful organisation of the diet Do not forget to keep a supplv of shell and clean grit before the laving hens. If you have not a hopper, fasten an old kettle or pan to tho wall

in such a way that it cannot bo overturned, and keep it filled. AVe have known birds on cement and boaru floors to suffer severely from lack of grit. Shell is equally important for the production of sound-shelled eggs. It is advisable to kill off old hens just before the moult, as during the moult they lose about ljlb in weight. Immediately they have finished laying kill them and so save tho food bill.