POULTRY NOTES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22654, 20 August 1935, Page 3

POULTRY NOTES

By TebsOß,

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS " Starting.”—Thank you for your complimentary remarks. You cannot do better than start with Leghorns or Black Orpingtons, but only one breed at a time. Half a dozen or, at most, a dozen birds would be sufficient to start with, and in the interest of your neighbours do without a male bird. Irrespective of the present cost of fowl feed, a small pen of birds will prove profitable because household scraps will go a long way in providing the mash. You won’t require to go in for breeding because you can always procure day-old chicks at a reasonable price,, and of good laying strains of the breeds I have mentioned. The shed you mention is quite large enough for a dozen birds, but you should run up a scratching shed of about _ the same size for the birds to exercise in. This would cost very little, as the fence would form the back. All you would require is to provide a wire-netted front and a roof. With plenty of dry litter on the floor the birds could be made to exercise for their grain food. It is a good plan to have the grit bos and water vessels placed on a shelf high enough from the floor to prevent the birds scratching the litter into them.

Half-grown Chickens Either half-grown or recently-hatched chickens enjoy the rays of sunshine and the generally improved conditions appertaining to spring or early summer when there is luxurious growth of herbage and production of insect life. It is a pleasure to see the quick, vigorous growth of one’s young stock under these conditions. It is surprising the amount of natural food that is observable to chickens’ eyes. Nothing of an edible nature escapes their vision. ‘ Chicken rearers during September, October, and for a month or two later may proudly' survey the fruit of their labours as they watch their chickens disporting themselves in natural surroundings. _ All poultrykeepers cannot give their chickens the range on fresh ground which is so desirable, but they should at least arrange things so that they can bask or romp in sunshine as much as possible, and provide them with as much fresh green stuff as possible, also a little meat or milk as substitutes for the insect life they would gpt on range. The importance of fresh rearing ground has been impressed on my readers over and over again. Tainted ground is responsible for innumerable troubles to chickens. Finely-chopped onion tops are valuable if daily fed to chickens, indeed, they practically ensure a clean bill of health.

The Stud Male An Australian writer refers to the fact that for a stud ram as much as £SOO has been paid, and says prices as high as £SO have been paid for ft stud cockerel, and there seems no good reason why birds bred on good lines should not be worth this figure compared with rams at 10 times the price. The average poultry farmer looks askance at the stud breeder who would ask him more than half a guinea or so for a breeding male. If he could only realise the influence that the purer breed of the parents has, whether on the male or female side, each one of which influences only few offspring, the quality of the whole flock would be thereby imprbved. If the resultant pullets be mated to the same male, or males of equally pure origin, the improvement will continue, and he will realise the real worth of the well-bred stud male, and that the production of each a bird is possible only by the expert breeder.

Insect Pests Destroyed Every one knows that kerosene kills every insect it touches, and some apply it to the perches in one way or another with good effect. A good way to use kerosene ' for the purpose of killing insects is to use it when aflame. For instance: Take a fairly stout stick about a yard or so long and tie on the end a piece of old rag bunched up. Dip the latter in kerosene till it is well soaked, and set alight. Run this along under the perches so that the flames lick up both sides of the porch, and then run it along the top and apply also to the sockets. The flame will kill every insect and also their eggs or nits.

Culling Chickens Many a brooder is of ample dimensions for the chickens it contains because the experienced owner has ruthlessly culled out all the manifestly weakly ones. Culling out in this way makes it easier to raise the chicks retained. An overcrowded brooder tends not only to kill off quickly the weaker chicks, but makes it difficult to rear the stronger birds. When the chickens are removed from the warm brooder further culling may be unnecessary, but danger may still arise—healthy at first as the chicks may be —unless they are divided into small units. Where large numbers are being reared units of 50 are the largest advisable. For a Time Only While grown stock can stand a certain amount of overcrowding for a time without any disastrous results, chicks suffer from the effects of it almost immediately. Beware of Fires Every chickeu rearing season brings a report of losses in incubator and brooder houses by fire. Sometimes the cause is dirty wicks, sometimes overfilled or overturned lamps. There are other causes, but many a fire can be promptly extinguished if a box of sand is kept handy wherewith to smother the flames. Toe-picking Toe-picking or pecking is a trouble which breeders have to contend with every rearing season. It seldom occurs when chickens are at large with the mother hen hunting and scratching about for insects, green shoots, etc., but when reared in brooders, toe-pecking is very prevalent. It may not occur with one brood, or with any brood one season or for several seasons, but eventually it does, and sometimes many chickens are lost. The toes of a chicken l on a barn floor appear as tempting tit-bits and are pecked at and very often blood is drawn. This attracts others, with the result that if the injured bird is not removed it will in due course be killed. A little piece of lean meat on a chicken’s toe is sure to attract other chickens, and in pecking for it blood may be drawn. Wounded chickens should be immediately withdrawn before they are more seriously injured, because once the cannibalistic habit is started it is sure to spread. Painting the toes of the chickens with Stockholm tar is a preventive of the trouble, as the toes do not then look so much like little worms. The best preventive, however, is to provide plenty of black earth for the chicks to scratch about in. ' This dirties the toes, so that they do not attract. When the trouble occurs among older chickens it is thought that the cause is a craving for minerals, and so salt is added to the drinking water.' Whenever you hear a chicken in a brooder continually cheeping,, investigate at once, and you will save trouble.

Balls on the Toes It often happens that some brooder chicks get balls on their toes. These balls are secretions of food, droppings, dust and moisture, gathered on the snowball system. They should be removed as C

soon as noticed. Catch each chick and hold so that each little ball in turn, resting on a piece of wood, can be lightly tapped with a small hammer when it splits and - falls away. Do not attempt to pull off one of these balls. The toe nail will also come away, and sometimes the tender toes. Do not wait till these balls grow to such a size that the chickens find them too weighty to lift their feet. The smaller the ball is the easier it is to remove. These balls are not so likely to occur if the brooder floor is kept dry, and sloppy food ia not given. See that the chickens cannot get into the drinking vessel, and that drippings from the water do not fall on to the adjacent earth.

Cannibalism This trouble generally starts amongst chickens at the age of about three or four weeks, and, we are told, is frequently the result of constipation.' Large accumulations of dry foecal matter plug the vent, and the strain in passing this causes bleeding. Chickens go crazy at the sight of blood, and attack ravenously;. Use plenty of green food, and if constipation is noticed add a little Epsom salts (in solution) to the mash —an ounce for 100 two or three-weeks-old chicks. ®The same trouble somtimes breaks out among pullets starting to lay. Constipation should be watched for. Testing Eggs During Incubation The incubator company generally supplies an egg-tester with the machine, but one can easily be constructed. A tube of cardboard supplies the view. The egg is place at one end held in the right hand and the other end of the tube held in the left hand is applied to the eye. If the egg is between the operator and a strong light it can readily be seen whether it is fertilised or clear. The testing should be done in a dark room or after nightfall, as a better view of the condition of the eggs can then be obtained. Do not test the eggs in a cold room. The eggs should be tested on the seventh day, or if vou are not experienced in testing it is better to wait until the tenth day. By this time the development of the chick should be far enough advanced that the fertile egg can be readily distinguished from the infertile one. An infertile egg will be perfectly clear, and should be removed from the machine. The fertile ec;ff will show a spider-like formation, and this will float as the egg is gently turned. Test again on the fourteenth day. hometimes the egg will show fertile on the first testing, but the germ may die. If a black spot shows with red lines coming together in a circle the germ is dead. A weak or imperfectly fertile egg will show a dark spot surrounded by clear, reddish fluid. All eggs showing this will not hatch, and should bo removed from the machine, for if allowed to remain in the egg chamber they will decompose and give off gases which would he harmful to the hatch. On first testing any eggs that you are doubtful about, mark them D with a lead pencil, and test them again on the fourteenth day. By so doing_ it will help you to gain knowledge of testing. Eggs that cool quickly should also be marked for examination, as they are likelv to contain dead germs. An egg with life in it will be much warmer than one with a dead germ. Blisters on the Breast

The poultry-keeper is often surprised when picking up a sturdy cockerel to find what he terms a “ blister on its breastbone (says Poultry World, England). It is really a kind of cyst, in the form pt a bag of fluid under the skin, and is caused by irritation. In many cases birds with long and pointed breasts suffer most. ... ~ . At the early stage it is as well to pass a piece of woo) into the fluid by the aid of a needle, cutting off the ends and leaving . the wool there. That will help to drain the fluid off. Some slight operation and remove the cyst, it a soft bed of straw can bo provided after treatment that will help matters. Neglected cases sometimes get worse, and a hard substance may form, which eventually affects the bone itself. There are certain breeds which are more prone to these troubles than others. Birds that are excessive in bone, very leggy and V-shaped when girthed at body are more certain, I find, to give trouble than the more compact and better balanced type of bird with art-shaped body and neat bone. The selection of the parent stock can assist matters, and this is best decided by the number of cases met with in one’s chickens. Battery Brooding for Chicks

“R, M. C.,” who is a regular contributor to the Poultry World (England) says: “ Battery brooding is a method ot rearing that has never appealed to me. Whilst others have been very successful in this direction, I have always felt that my lack of sympathy with these appliances would result in comparative failure. My talks at shows with various makers have merely confirmed my beliefs. They one and all, at least unofficially, believe that breeding birds should never be reared in this way. On the other hand, they are enthusiastic about the possibilites of this appliance for the production of table birds. It seems that many of their clients find impossible to grow and fatten their birds at the same time. In this way the rather laborious final fattening stage is eliminated, with consequent saving. It makes table production more of a specialised job than ever. DUNEDIN UTILITY POULTRY CLUB At the last monthly meeting of the Dunedin Utility Poultry Club (Mr A. Burt in the chair) Mr L. Cocker, Government poultry instructor, addressed the members present on the subject of incubation and the management of chickens. He pointed out that the selection of stock was of utmost importance, there should be constitutional vigour, correct type and productive capacity. With regard to the working of incubators he advised strictly following out the maker’s instructions, departing from them only when local conditions made it imperative. The testing of the eggs, he said, should be carried out between the third and fifth days. In the feeding of chickens, Mr Cocker sug’gested that a good ration for the first six weeks was rolled oats and milk, and, said he, there must be plenty of grit and green food. Then the bran and pollard ration mixed 1: 2 can be given. Mr Cocker, after answering questions, was accorded a very hearty vote of thanks for His address.

Reilly’s report:—There was a fairly heavy yarding at onr weekly sale, geese and turkeys being excessive of requirements, heavy cockerels bringing good values. Hens’: 1 7s, 3 5s Bd, 14* 5s Cd, 10 ss, 10 4s lOd, 5 4s Bd, 3 4s 6d, 40 4s 4d, 28 4s 2d. 2 4s, 1 2s 8d; cockerels —1 8s 2d, 3 7s Bd, 1 7s 4d, 5 7s, 1 6s Bd, 7 5s od, 2 5s 4d. 1 4s 6d, 6 4s 4d, 6 4s 2d, 11 4a, 1 3s Bd, 1 3s 6d, 4 Is 4d; pullets—s Gs 6d. 4 Gs; Bantams —5 lid, 4 8d; geese —3 7s lOd, 4 7s Cd, 4 Gs, 8 5s Gel, 17 ss; drakes —2 6s 2d, 2 5s Bd, 1 5s 4 cl. 5 4s lOd, 3 4a 8d; clucks—2 7s 4d. 4 5s lOd, 3 4s lOd, 3 4s 6d; ducklings, 2 2s: all at per pair. Turkeys: Hons—--1 Bd, 5 7id. 11 7d; gobblers—B 8R 1 Scl; all at per lb.