POULTRY NOTES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23004, 6 October 1936, Page 3

POULTRY NOTES

By Terror !

The Styrian An exhibit at the World's Poultry Congress at Leipzig which is said to have excited a great deal of interest was the Styrian fowl exhibited in the Austrian section. It aroused, seemingly, quite a lot of enthusiasm. It is specially bred for the Hungarian table chicken industry. It is not guilty of laying large-sized eggs, but that seems to be a secondary condition to the table chicken breeders. There are two varieties at present, light coloured and dark coloured. The males are of what is known as the black-red colour, whilst the females have rather a close resemblance to the Wilsummer. They have wonderful white skin and legs, and excel in breast meat. Mr Jordan, the well-known South African poultryman, has already had several pens of Styrian fowls sent out to South Africa. New Table Bird Cross j An English poultry journal tells of an interesting new table bird cross. A White Leghorn is a quick grower, but is of little use for rearing to three or four months with a view to fattening for table. But one rearer of table birds crossed White-legged and Blackred Old English Game with White Leghorn hens. The cockerels obtained were of the Leghorn type, were wonderfully well fleshed, weighing about 71b. These cockerels were mated to Light Sussex hens. The progeny were all colours, but the great points common to all were that they had white legs and particularly meaty breasts. So meaty were they that they could be killed at any age without any special topping off. The weights attained were excellent. A New Sexed-linked Breed A new breed, for which sex-linkage within the breed is claimed, is to be submitted for acceptance by the Poultry Club of England this year by- its originator, Mr W. Pearson, Wymondham, Norfolk. The fowls are known as Wyndham Silvers, the male baby chick showing silver wings and silver front, the colour of the female being brown with grey wings. The weight for adult cocks is 71b, hens 51b, and the latter is stated to lay as brown an egg as that of a good Rhode Island Red. It must be very comforting for a baby chick to know—if it can know—that it is a "Wyndham" or "Cambrae" chick, and conseauently not liable to that "indecent" operation performed by sex-linkers on many thousands of unfortunates annually. Harden Up and Clean Up Chickens from five weeks of age will quickly learn to do without artificial heat unless the weather is particularly unfavourable, and will grow better out on free range. Hovers, brooder-houses and outdoor brooders should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected as soon as the chickens have finished with them. Removable parts should be scrubbed and left out in the sun to dry. Oil lamps should be emptied and cleaned and put out of the way. Store the brooder equipment together so that you know where to find things next year. A list should be made of broken and missing parts, and the missing parts ordered now before you forget or lose the list. Interior walls should be whitewashed and coal stoves painted with Brunswick black to prevent rusting through the summer. Chick Sexing Provided that there are at least four candidates offering at each centre, the Department of Agriculture is, it is reported, prepared to control chick-sex-mg examinations at Auckland, Wellington and Chrjstchurch during August. Presumably Dunedin will have its turn later on when chickens to sex are more numerous. Canada Greatest Consumer of Eggs A message from Ottawa states that figures compiled by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics show that the Canadians eat more eggs Der capita than any other people in the world. The actual consumption is about 250 eggs, or more than two-thirds of an egg each day, for every individual in the Dominion. Poultry Statistics Recent statistics showed that 154,221 persons, or approximately 50 per cent, of the householders in New Zealand, kept poultry (writes Mr Cussen. Government poultry expert). The. returns further showed that 117,988, or approximately 77 per cent., of those householders kept under 25 fowls, and only 66 householders kept 1000 fowls or over at that time. The indication is that the greater bulk of the eggs and poultry produced in this Dominion comes from the farmers or small producers, and this no doubt will continue to be the position, although in recent years there appears to be a tendency in certain centres for more people to take up poultry-keep-ing on a larger scale. Abnormally Large Eggs A poultry keeper in England asked whether an Boz egg was a record for weight, and was told that it was not a record but certainly "a hefty specimen." The following information was also given the inquirer:— Way back in 1923, this journal contained particulars of a three-yoked egg weighing 9:1 oz. It was laid by a Light Sussex. , A year later, i.e., 1924, we recorded what is, so far, the record—an lljoz egg, produced by a White Leghorn. Such heavy eggs, containing two, or perhaps three yolks, are due to a number of yolk-sacs ripening together, leaving the ovary at the same time, entering the oviduct as twins or triplets, keeping company all through the process of shelling, and thus enterin? the world as one. If you can detect the hen which laid that Boz egg, give her a plain diet and put her on short rationsplenty of fresh green food and clean water, but little grain or mash for a few days. To Prevent Toe-pecking Ordinary boot blacking, we are told, and are prepared to believe, is as effective as Stockholm tar when cases of cannibalism occur. While tar makes a mess of the feathers, the blacking stops i he other birds pecking their unfortunate fellows, and after a time it dries and drops off, leaving the feathers clean.

The Poultry Thief In three cases of poultry stealing which came before an English cour' recently the thieves got their deserts Seventy, 150, and 50 fowls respectively had been stolen from different farms The thieves were sentenced to hard labour, one for 15 months and the other two for nine months each.

Broodiness a Safety Valve Mr Harold Hart, who was awarded Supreme Championship at the Harper Adams laying trials, and the British

record for Light Sussex under official test, says:— "For some years my attitude to broodiness has been that it is a mistake to attempt to ; breed it out.' Even if I were a commercial egg-producer pure and simple I would still set my face against non-broody stock if only for the reason that ovarian breakdowns are more common among layers which are non-broody or nearly so. "Broodiness is a boon to the birds which have laid hard all winter and early spring; and if they take a short rest at the time when eggs are cheapest the breeder has little cause for complaint, particularly as such birds will be more likely to live long enough to reach the breeding pens. "The non-stop, heavy layers may make a good showing at the laying test if they can manage to keep alive, but as future breeding stock they are of very doubtful value. Too often they break down after a year of continuous laying, and what is then the value of a high record? "It is excessive broodiness which is undesirable, and this is possessed by birds of definite type. Skulls are broad, eyes are small and deep-set, bone is thick, and plumage abundant.. Also, the eggs laid are usually warm in colour and strongly shelled. Birds of this kind make excellent table stuff, but as a laying flock they are unprofitable. "There are relatively few of them found to-day in laying flocks, but they are at least healthy and vigorous, which cannot be said for some of the finely-bred-non-broody ' birds which appear to be in increasing demand." The Yolk and the White A reader with a thirst for knowledge asked an Old Country expert: "Which is the more nourishing, the white or the yolk of the egg?" The expert (Will Hooley) replied:—"The answer naturally turns on what is meant by nourishment. From a simple food value point of view the yolk is the better of the two, because it contains not only albumen, but oil, or fat, which sends up the food value at once. The white of an egg contains albumen to the extent of 11 j to 12 \ per cent. Again, the yolk has up to 16 per cent, albumen and 30 per cent, fat, and, of course, much less water. The yolk also contains other things of medicinal value that are practically absent from the white." World Trade Decrease According to the Imperial Economic Committee's "Dairy Produce Supplies for 1935," the quantity of eggs entering international trade has decreased

by one-third in the past five years. But imports into the United Kingdom in 1935 were 6 per cent, greater than in 1934 and totalled 198,000,000 dozens. Denmark accounted for one-third of the total, and all Empire supplies for: only 24 per cent., compared with 31 per cent, in the previous year. Production in the United Kingdom itself also declined, although accounting for two-thirds of total supplies, and consumption is estimated to have declined from 150 eggs per head in 1934 to 147 in 1935. Liver a Fine Tonic for Turkey Poults If any of the young turkeys look out of sorts, say, before or during the time they are "shooting the red," try giving them a little liver. This is one of the finest forms of animal food obtainable. The value of liver has recently been realised in cases of anaemia in human beings. It is equally good for turkey poults. ' The most surprising thing is that coarse liver is quite as good as the finest sample that can be bought, such as calf's. It is not even necessary to feed the meat itself, for the liquor in which it is cooked contains the essential substances. Buy the cheapest liver obtainable, simmer it for two or three hours and make up the wet mash with the liquid. It is not necessary to give it every day—two or three times a week are sufficient. Judge Foods by Results How few, even among our experts, really know the nutritional value of the foods they recommend. It is quite easy to give a formula, the constituents of which you know are dependable. But you cannot say whether the same value can be obtained at a distance of 50 to 100 miles away. Every poultrykeeper, no matter what his position may be, must realise that the cheapest food is that which can be wholly and easily assimilated, providing the bird with nourishing properties, not only for the body, but for the eggs produced. A healthy layer is a wealthy layer. Why? Because, being well-built and strong, she will go through a season giving good production without losing her vitality. That can be done only by breeding from stock, well-fed stock, and feeding the chicks properly from the day of hatching. Careless breeding, and the feeding of mashes lacking in nourishment, have gradually undermined the constitution of ihe greater part of our stock. Hence they are unable to resist the growth of the germs of disease—just as Dr M'Carrison says that the youth of to-day are unable to sustain I a long period of strenuous games be- j cause the foods are lacking in nourishment.—P. H. Bayliss, in Poultry (England).

Egg Sexing? A paper read by Mr W. Kennedy at the World Poultry Congress refers to a new form of sex determination

which, if successful, will -undoubtedly supersede the present method, and which has, for some time past, been the subject of experiments,by an English scientist. This gentleman claims that, by a simple process, it is possible to ascertain, prior to incubation, whether an egg is fertile, and, if so, whether it will produce a pullet or a cockerel.

Reilly's report only a medium yarding of birds to hand, values being quite satisfactory for all lines. Hens — 10 at 10s, 6 at 8s Bd, 6 at 8s 6d, 1 at 7s 6d, 1 at 6s Bd, 10 at 6s, 38 at 5s 6d; cockerels—2 at 5s 4d. 2 at 4s Bd, 18 at 4s, 16 at 3s Bd, 2 at 3s 6d, 24 at 2s lOd. 42 at 2s 6d; pullets~l3 at 6s, 14 at 5s 6d; chickens—lß at sd, 17 at 4d, 54 at 2d; pigeons—9 at Is (all at per pair).