POULTRY NOTES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23223, 22 June 1937, Page 3

POULTRY NOTES

By Terror

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS “Mable” (Milton).—The trouble you refer to is pendulous crop. You will notice that the following paragraphs deal with that trouble. “Rustic” (Roxburgh)—The reason your fpwls are laying double-yolked £ggs, and why one which died in the nest was badly ruptured, is, I have no doubt, because you are over, and improperly, feeding. Your potato and pollard mash should have bran added, and the potatoes should not predominate. On a free run, when birds get grass, grubs and grit, the served meals, with skim milk added, should be reduced in amount till the birds eat eagerly. “V. H. M.” (Weston).—My reply to “Rustic” almost applies in vour case. Double-yolked and soft-shelled eggs are generally due to over-feeding. Giving oyster shell for a month and lime for a week will not supply enough shell-making material to prevent the laying of shell-less eggs. Oyster shell must be always within reach of the birds. You are over-feeding your birds. Drastically reduce the amount served for a couple of weeks at least, and watch results. Make the birds really hungry.

Crop Slack, Pendulous Symptoms.—The crop hangs low down, swings about from side to side, or bulges out on one side only. Cause. —The above symptoms may arise from different causes; for instance. it may be due to very irregular feeding—one day starving the birds and the next feeding to repletion, so that the crop is over-extended by the swelling of the grain before it is passed on to the gizzard. Treatment. —In such a case as abovementioned we have occasionally found that by giving a few drops of tincture of iron (say, five or six) in a small quantity of water twice a day, and feeding very sparingly, a cure may be effected in the course of a week or 10 day:. But generally speaking, the only effective remedy is to open the crop, and, after thoroughly cleaning the same, to cut out sufficient so that when sewn together with fine catgut, first the crop and then the outer skin, each with three stitches—that is, tie off each stitch as made, so that each is separate from the other. The best needle to employ for this purpose is a curved, surgical needle, which can be obtained from any chemist. Do not sew the outer skin to the crop itself, or an unsightly disfigurement to the bird may arise. If the cut away is a large piece an extra stitch may be required. A little forethought must be exercised in cutting the crop the right shape, and the operation will not be found very difficult.

Another Cause.—At times the crop is filled with wind and watery fluid. Treatment. —Place the bird between your legs with its head hanging down in front of you. With the left hand stretch out the neck in a downward direction, and with the right hand evacuate the contents of the crop through the mouth. Professor Will recommends feeding on bread soaked in brandy and milk a few hours after the operation. We have, however, obtained better results by administering a couple of teaspoonfuls of port wine twice daily, and feeding entirely on oatmeal porridge made somewhat sloppy with warm milk. Feed sparingly, ana see that the crop is emptied of food before giving more. If wind should again collect, prick the crop in one or more places with a clean needle. E. Cobb. F.Z.S. Ducks

A laying flock of ducks can be carried on for four years, and some individuals will even do well up to five years old. The latter, however, should be discarded, and young ducks introduced annually to keep the flock up to strength. The great difficulty at the beginning of the season is to get strongly-fertil-ised eggs for hatching. There is always a danger of over-mating, and under-mating gives just as bad results. The best results are got from a fairsized flock, say, of 28 to 30 ducks. With such a flock there should be at least eight drakes. Two drakes can be allowed to seven ducks if kept in smaller lots. The ducks’ breeding pens should be put together about May. as it sometimes takes some time before the drakes take up with the ducks, which, of course, results in unfertile eggs at this time, when every egg counts.

Do You Know These Things? Beard.—ln chickens a group of feathers pendant from the throat, as in Houdans and some varieties of Polish; in turkeys a tuft of coarse, bristly hairs 4in to 6in long, projecting from the upper part of the breast.

Disqualification.—A deformity, or one or more serious defects that exclude a bird from an award or score. A fowl

so excluded from competition is said to be disqualified and is unworthy to win a prize.

Faking—An attempt on the part of an exhibitor to deceive a judge at a poultry show except the dubbing of Games and Game bantam males. Pinion Feathers. —The feathers attached to the segment of the wing that is most remote from the body. Hackle Feathers. —The long, narrow leathers growing on the neck. Squirrel Tail.—A fowl’s tail, any portion of which projects forward beyond a perpendicular line drawn through the juncture and back. Under Colour.—The colour of the downy portion of the plumage, not visible when the plumage of the fowl is in natural position. Wry Tail—Tail of a fowl turned to one side —permanently so. Turkey Rearing.—Recently we have heard a great deal from England and America of turkeys being successfully reared intensively, but it still holds good, I think, that success in rearing turkeys is generally achieved when the birds have a free range, and when the stamina has been maintained by the use of the best unrelated blood. Nature should be followed as closely as possible. The most popular breed of turkeys until lately was the American bronze wing, which gives a large carcass and is the hardiest of all breeds The standard weights of bronze wings are: Adult cock, 301 b; hen, 201 b. Owing probably to the smaller size of families and of the kitchenette ovens, there seems now to be a demand for a turkey of a medium, or even small, size, and it is reported that inquiries are now being made by America to England for turkeys of a smaller size than the bronze wing. Management.—The farmer should not expect his fowls to pay unless they receive the same attention as his other farm stock. The Cambar Breed The only birds of the new Cambar breed in New Zealand belong to the New Zealand' Government. They reached the Dominion from England only a few weeks ago and are now housed in the poultry division of Massey Agricultural College, Palmerston North, where they can be inspected by interested poultry-lovers. When the flock has been developed, birds will be available to poultry keepers, but this will not be for some time yet.

Culling There is no matter more important to the poultryman than culling unprofitable stock. It is only the hightype layer that will show a good profit over the cost of production, and every inferior bird retained in the flock reduces the profit on the money-earn-ing stock. While February and March is the best time to cull, good weedingout can be done the whole year round. The safest principle is to cull out at all times birds showing any_ weakness in constitution. Drastic culling should always take place after the pullets' first laying February is a good month to detect the hens not worth keeping a second vear. The birds that should be culled are those that are showing signs of moulting, those above the normal weight of the breed, those with bright yellow legs, those with poor development in the abdominal region, and those of weak constitution, dull eye, loose feathering, and sluggish appearance. It is the bird that lays well in other than the natural laying season which is desired and most profitable. For a bird to do this she must necessarily be a late moulter. It would be a mistake to cull birds at any time that show indications of laying-power such as no sign of moulting red combs, a fullness in the abdomen, and an active, businesslike appearance,. While the width of the pelvic bones is no guide to laying capacity, it is, nevertheless, a fact that the position of these bones is a fair guide as to whether the bird will lay in the immediate future or whether she is taking the usual rest before moulting. When the bones are close together and the breastbone close up to them, it may be taken for granted that the bird will not lay for some time, and therefore will be unprofitable to keep; whereas if the pelvic bones be well apart and there be a good distance between these and the breastbone, with a fullness of the abdomen, it may be reckoned that the bird will soon come on to lay, and is therefore well worth retaining in the flock until she shows signs of moulting. Of course the man with a trained eye does not require to handle the bird at any lime to discover whether she is in a laying condition or not.

No hen except a noted layer and a desirable breeding bird should be kept beyond its second laying season. After the second season a bird will produce most of her eggs during the natural season, and thus not provide a small number of eggs, but will give these when the cheapest markets rule. A common mistake made is not to market birds until the moult has practically set in or until they have just got over it. They should be marketed immediately they commence to take their rest prior to going into the moult. —New Zealand Agricultural Department Bulletin No. 66.