POULTRY NOTES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22256, 8 May 1934, Page 3

POULTRY NOTES

By Tebboe. Personal Whilst congratulating our local fancier on big outstanding success at the Papanui Egg-laying Competition, poultry keepers fenerally will be pleased to learn that Ir C. Bartley is renewing his interest in the local fanciers’ clubs, and if his health is improved, as all will hope, he will join up again and will no doubt prove a useful member. Mr A. E. Gillam’s yards now include a very nice selection of our modern favourite breeds. Amongst them a Minorca cockerel is outstanding, also some very Hue white and black Pekin Bantams. Mr Gillam has been most successful for several years with his homing pigeons. I learn that he is now interesting himself in Yorkshire canaries, and has already a fine aviary of them. With his knowledge of breeding there is reason to believe that he will make a name in this fancy as he has in Others.. A local Minorca breeder, Mr W. Growthef, has entered three pullets in the Papanui Egg-laying Competition. The local fancy will wish him every success. The Minorca is a layer of large eggs, and before now the breed has won at competitions. Table Shows

The Cage Bird Club is bolding table shows at its club rooms, and, according to reports, they are creating keen interest. These table shows should certainly be instructive and help to raise the standard of breeding. , A representative gathering of members from both the Fanciers’ and Utility Club attended the funeral of the late Mr <L J. Jowsey, who was well known locally as a judge and showman. He was an enthusiastic fancier, and will be greatly missed as such.

The Dunedin Fanciers’ Club Show, which takes place next month (judging by the numerous inquiries already received respecting entries), promises to be a most successful fixture. Owners of poultry (fancy or utility) pigeons, canaries, and dogs who intend exhibiting will help considerably if they make entries as soon as possible. The schedules > will be out shortly, and can be obtained from the secretary, Mr G. Thomson, 15 Main road, North-East Valley. The following championships are to be competed for at the June snow of the Dunedin Fanciers’ Club;—Utility Black Orpington (male), old English Game (any colour; male), roller canary, homer pigeon cock (275 miles or over), smokeblue or black Persian cat (female; over eight months). The judges for the ensuing show are: — Utility poultry, A. S. Jarvie (Wairnate); fancy poultry and bantams, W. Tibbies (Dunedin); homer pigeons, W. Watson (Dunedin); fancy pigeons, R. Bankshire (Dunedin); Yorkshire canaries, T. Morris (Dunedin); Norwich canaries, R. W. Thompson (Christchurch), cats, Mr A. Laurenson (Dunedin); children pets, Mrs A. Thompson (Dunedin).

A Timely Warning Many people will be purchasing birds to add to their own flock. Those doing so will act wisely if they keep the new birds away from their main stock for at least a week, in.case they may be suffering from disease, and each of the new importations should be treated with insect powder for fear of introducing vermin to the flock.

Separate Pullets from Hens >. The birds that are expected to lay during the winter should receive special care. The hens should be well fed to complete the moult successfully. Pullets should be separated from the older birds now and fed intelligently so as to develop bone and frame and hasten them to maturity in order to have them well before the really winter weather begins. If pullets have started laying already it is quite likely they will continue right through the winter, and if they have not begun to lay before mid-winter they will be unproductive until the spring. If the liens are helped through an early moult they may be depended upon to be winter layers. A change of food does not alter the balance, and will help the hens through the moult and assist the pullets in their laying. A sudden change is not advisable; let it be gradual. A change is pleasing to the fowls, renders the mash more palatable, tends to an increase in consumption, and makes better production possible. A Balanced Ration

The mash shpuld be balanced as nearly as possible to allow for one part nitrogenous to three or four parts carbohydrates and fats. Well balanced as a mash may be. however, it will not have the same effect on every bird in the flock or pen. One bird may put on fat to such an extent that it cannot lay eggs, whilst the rest keep in a fit and productive condition. The poultrymau cannot contrive a different mash for each fowl he owns, consequently the birds that don’t suit the well-balanced mash provided should be disposed of. The owner or caretaker should watch’ his fowls. Some day lie will notice that a bird, in seemingly good condition, docs not rush with the rest of the flock to the mash trough. If such a bird is picked up and examined •it may be found that its abdomen is hard as a ball of lard. If killed and opened up there will be found internal layers of solid fat obstructing the free action of the heart and liver and constricting the expansion of the oviduct so that eggs cannot pass through it. Such a bird could not be productive. The owner has balanced the mash one way and the fowl has balanced it another way. War-blinded Poultry Farmers

In the report on the last period of the National Egg-laying Test, for which 24 pens of 6 birds each had been entered by war-blinded ex-servicemen trained as poultry farmers by St. Dunstan’s, the manager says:—“Of the different sections in the test the best performance was that of the St. Dunstan’s section. The birds in that section have laid consistently well since the start, and they do great credit to the blind ex-servicemen who own them.” Altogether nearly 200 St. Dunstnners have been trained at the St. Dunstan’s Poultry Farm at King’s Langley, and are now settled down on their own little homesteads carrying on successful poultry farms. St. Dunstan’s helps them to find the best market for their produce.

Egg Quotas The Poultry World (England), in a recent issue, said: —“ For a long time now there has been the rumour that eggs were to join the quota list; where there’s smoke there is often fire! If there is any truth in the statement that 70 per cent, of Britain’s total consumption of eggs in the spring is represented by foreign supplies, it is surely time that something was done for the home producer, who gets it in the heck both now and later on, when countries enjoying summer seasons flood this country with eggs in our winter periods.”

High Egg Yields Thomas Shaw, M.G., N.D.A., in the course of a lecture recently given in England, stressed his opinion that high yield need not mean loss of stamina in the following terms;— The truth of the matter is that, provided birds are sound constitutionally, are managed sensibly, and are fed naturally there can ,be no, harmful effect on their health and vitality frorn an abnormally heavy egg output. The poultry farmer has departed from the natural jaws which the general live stock farmer jias always observed, and this is at the root of the trouble. Indiscriminate breeding, artificial methods of management, and unsound feeding are the three factors above all others which may be held accountable for present high mortality, rates. The first two of these factors can only be remedied over a period of time. It is not possible immediately to relegate breeding to conditions of extensive management, nor, in the near future, can there be any real hope of leading the poultry industry back to natural' methods of management, which are really indispensable. In the case of feeding, however, some action can be taken now to safeguard the flocks from the spread of disease, and to do something towards lowering mortality rates. There has been far too much reliance on the chemist and too little regard paid to feeding and natural laws. There is a grave danger lest the poultry industry forget that the substances necessary for animal economy, such as protein, vitamins, mineral matter, etc., wonderful as is their preparation in the laboratory, occur naturally in the fresh, wholesome foods which constitute a balanced diet. All that is necessary for proper feeding can be found not in It’s penny wise and pounds foolish to use inferior coal —insist on Kaitangata.— AdvU

chemical , preparations ' and vitamin extracts, but in fresh, natural feediug-stulfs. It should not be forgotten that the chemical composition of a diet or mash is only the beginning of things that the poultry farmer needs to know about that mash. It is more important v to know that the mash contains fresh, wholesome foods, which are palatable and which arc suited to the particular stock fed than- it is to know the precise chemical composition. The further a bird is taken away from the egg yields that it would have given under conditions of Nature, and the more removed its general methods of management from natural conditions, the more essential it becomes that its feeding should not violate natural laws. Whilst the poultry industry has relied 'on “balancing ” its masb by the addition of chemical mixtures prepared in the laboratory, and of special vitamin preparations, the general live stock farmer has preferred to base his feeling on the successful experience that he has obtained by the use of different foods for his live stock over many years.

.Whilst it is not possible to assess in figures, such 'as the chemist would appreciate, the value of such factors as freshness and palatability, it remains trufi, nevertheless, that these and similar factors are the fundamentals which control the success of any feeding system. In the purchase of poultry mashes or individual feeding-stuffs it is not just sufficient to know their chemical analyses. This is but a small part of the information that the poultry farmer really requires. It must be remembered that fresh, wholesome foods are the basis of the mash, and that with such feeding it is possible to breed confidently for higher egg yields and to obtain them without, at the same time, undermining the foundations of a sound constitution. Only by the return to a natural system of feeding can birds be maintained in the healthy, vigorous condition which will 'enable them to give high egg yields whilst remaining in a thrifty and healthy state.

Reilly’s report; There was a good yarding of poultry for our sale on Wednesday, and on the whole prices must be considered satisfactory. Hens—l 6at 6s 2d, 12 at 5s 6d, 16 at 5s 4d, 12 -at 5s 2d, 14 at ss, 16 at 4s Bd, 18 at 4s 6d, 22 at 4s, 19 at 3s lOd, 20 at 3s 6d, 18 at 3s 4d, 60 at 3s 2d, 26 at 3s, 7 at 2s lOd, 81 at 2 S Bd, 121 at 2s 6d, 21 at 2s 4d, 58 at 2s 2d, 37 at 2a, 9 at Is 6d, 6 at Is 6d; cockerels —17 at 9s 2d, 12 at 7s, 17 at 6s Bd, 12 at 6s, 15 at 4s Bd, 16 at 4s Od, 18 at 4s 4d, 44 at 4s, 15 at 3s Od, 12 at 3s 4d, 2 at 3s 2d, 6 at 3s, 4 at 2s 4d, 8 at 2s; ducks —25 at 6s, 18 at 5s Bd, 16 at 5s 6d, 15 5s 4d, 16 at 5s 2d, 4 at ss; pullets—l 6 at 12s 6d, 10 at 9s, 16 at 8s 6d, 18 at Bs, 12 at 6s 6d; inferior — 4 at ss, 2 at 4s, 4' at 3s 6d; bantams — 4 at Is 2d, 6 at Is, 9 at 8d (all at per pair).