POULTRY NOTES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23887, 15 August 1939, Page 3

POULTRY NOTES

By Terror

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS "Anxious" (Maori Hill) asks how best to supply mineral salts to his fowls? He says he has heard a lot about how necessary they are. An abundance of green food, both grass and other herbage, and all vegetables of the cabbage family, together with milk or dried milk, are all rich in mineral salts. Calcium and phosphorous are supplied in shell matter—say, oyster-shell grit—and common salt supplies the extra sodium and chlorine needed. However, green food in abundance is rich in mineral salts. Scientists who have done so much to help in the correct feeding,of poultry have shown us that minerals control the growth of various organs and tissues, and are also most helpful in their repair when run down by overwork, or damaged in any way. Mineral salts regulate the secretions and excretions of the various glands of the body and assist in the maintenance of the proper balance of the fluids which play so important a part in the bodies of our birds, hence the frequent reference to them. The Late Will Hooley Many of my readers will regret to learn of the passing of Mr Will Hooley. He was a well-known poultryman in the Old Country, and was recognised by the poultry world generally as an authority. He was a brilliant man whose knowledge and work was of inestimable value to the industry in general. Protecting Smallholders The Bill introduced into the British Parliament in regard to the marketing of eggs provides for the smallholders protection. It is evidently recognised that he is an important factor in the supply of eggs for consumption. It is reported in Home poultry journals that a strong hint that small producers who sell eggs and poultry retail "at the door" may be exempt from grading and testing their eggs was given by Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith in answer to a question by Mr R. de la Bere in the House of Commons. The Minister said: "I would invite the attention of my honourable friend to proviso (ii), sub-section (1) of clause 7, which is intended to enable the proposed Poultry Commission to exempt, where it appears to be desirable, any class of sale, either absolutely or subject to limitations, from the grading requirements to be prescribed under the clause." It Is the Average Production that Counts In large part, profit in poultry keeping depends upon getting a high average egg production per year per hen, and poultry keepers should develop their flocks by proper feeding and by correct management to secure this high egg production per year per hen. Management includes many things besides proper feeding, and just now* judicious mating of the breeding pens is the most important. See that the male bird in the breeding pen is healthy and strong, and the son of a good laying hen, and that the hens are daughters of previously wellselected pens, and are the layers of 2oz and more weight eggs, and typical specimens of the breed they represent. It is as well to remember, however, in order to avoid disappointment, that mate as we will, the hen is not a man-made machine, but a living production unit, "and that the members of a flock vary very much more widely than would so many machines. Each hen in a measure is a problem unto herself. Every year the most experienced have to cull out from their laying flocks birds which are weak in respects which render them unprofitable to keep. Breed from Sound Fowls This is.a tact—if.you Tweed from an unsound bird, male or female, you will pay for your faults—often heavily-' Far too many poultry keepers are content to hatch and rear what they.can without regard to quality. Many hatch and sell, and retain for future use what were not sold. Instead of this foolish practice, they should arrange to hatch and rear for ■ replacements and take care that all conditions previously proved are fulfilled. If your poultry are bred on sound lines, they have a good start Their fousing must be of the pattern that has proved suitable in jour locality. Do not over-crowd. See that each bird is worth housing, and do not. waste expensive equipment on culls, etc. &ee that all buildings are properly ventilated, yet free from draughts. Finely-ground Wheat Bad for Chicks Dr W. E. Poley. of the Purdue University. Indiana, says ■ that opultrykeepers should be careful not to feed wheat too finely ground, because this 2 apt to cause beak malformation. Finely-ground wheat in the ration resulted in crooked beaks in 75 per cent, of the chicks before they had become three weeks of age. "is hard to believe that the giving of An/v-ground wheat would cause crooked beaks in chickens in such a short time The writer of these notes would Prefer to believe that a deficiency in the diet of some requisite element fpr the production of strong beaks fgd to me oarent birds for a generation or jo back was the cause. Perhaps t was the lack of stone grit, the grinding of which in the gizzard produces the silica so necessary for the making of strong beaks, talons and feathers. However, a scientifically-conducted investigation has shown that there is a lack somewhere in the .feeding of the birds at the Purdue University. Abnormal Eggs Abnormal eggs are more interesting than profitable. They are interesting in the fact that it may constitute a record in size, but it is also interesting in showing that there has been poor management as regards feed on the part of the owner. In the interests of economy it is always desirable to prevent the production of abnormally large eggs. It may be accepted as a general principle that any oddn'ess in the shape, size, or composition of an egg is an indication that the poultry-keeper or the hen is at fault. It mav be that the feeding, or the method of management, is wrong, or that the productive organs of the fowl are in some way diseased or disorganised. Verv common cause? of abnormal eggs include overfeeding, overfatness (some hens will fatten on any method of feeding), or over-stimulation and to that extent remedial, but if the root of the trouble lies in some deepseated derangement of the egg organs killing is the best way to stop further feeding to waste. No Room for Doubt! Pullets reared slowly appear to be physically stronger than the precocious type, and respond better to the change in liberal rations. With regard to this now accepted fact Mr Powell-Owen, who may be regarded as a world-wide authority says:— " I have before me copies of old eggrecord cards on which appears p column for ' number of days to first egg.' In those days any birds starting outside the accepted period were deemed to be inferior and undesirable for breeding. Such details, however, werp recorded to find out the pullets which were quickest into lay. "It seems strange in view of today's more enlightened experience that there could have been a period in the history of the industry when the cockerel to crow first and the pullet to lay first should have been considered the ideal. No wonder utility stocks lost size and bone! "To secure slow maturity by selection one must not only weight the pullets, but also be prepared to accept for higher standard weights than rule to-day. One cannot succeed if the strain is deficient in bone: it is the super-refined type of pullet which matures so rapidly and lays at so earlv an age.

"There is nothing strange about a 3ilb White Leghorn pullet producing its first ezg when 4i months old and a 4Jlb pulleTof the same variety starting to lay when six months old. It is the natural sequence of things." Hens Too Fat Some individual fowls will run to fat no matt»" how they are dieted and made to take exercise, but when numbers of birds in a flock lay on fat it shows it is time to reduce the percentage of such fattening foods as maize and potatoes very considerably and to make them take exercise by burying their grain in litter. Dangers from Creosote A Home poultryman points, out that there are dangers in the Use of creosote, and I think it well to pass " on to my readers. He saysi "I have just lost 100 chicks from putting them in an ark a fortnight after creosotmg inside and out. The creosote Was of good, heavy Quality, and In the .fortnight's grace the weather was dull and wet. Just when the chicks were put in it came out hot. and the outside must have sweated through, l washed out the inside after the losses with' paraffin, and. now there is no more trouble. But I thought your readers might be warned about leaving the creosoting. until it is too late. Profiting by the above, I have now creosoted my brooders In good time for next year." Fowls Are Not All-grain Feeders The Feathered World, In an issue just to hand, says: " The .theory. advanced by Mr W. M. Golden and other prominent breeders that the fowl is naturally a grain feeder was, knocked on the head by a remarkable experiment reported by Dr W. P. Blount (East Sussex) at national test open day last week. Or Blount described how Sir Guy Hambling some years ago imported wild game fowl from Ceylon. When he examined them he found that their crops and gizzards contained, insects, berries, berry stones and grit: and both caecal worms and ceecal coccidia were present in small numbers. These jungle fowl were shot in bush country 40 miles from the nearest road by an A.D.C. to the Governor of Ceylon. They were then packed in ice and rushed by air and boat to England. It was admitted that the birds may not have had access to grain, and that if they had been taken in the harvest season gram would have been found in their crops. Dr Blount also agreed with Mr Golden that the sole function of the gizzard .wakto grind. But he was convinced from the above investigation that the jungle fowl was omnivorous—i.e., eats every-thing-and not merely graminivorous. The intestinal parasites also seemed to indicate that they were normal in some birds In Dr Blount's view a layer could not be kept profitably without animal protein in addition to grain. Grain in itself was unbalanced, it did not supply sufficient calcium, and there was probably an excess of oil and phosphorus. Twenty-five per cent, of poultry troubles, Dr Blount considered, arose from the digestive tract. Continuous feeding caused the food to pass through semi-digested; it irritated the intestines and encouraged the growth of poisonous toxins. He liked to see. a full crop, as obtained on a feed, for example, of pellets. Green Food for the Winter Months Barley is a good autumn green feed. Lay in a supply of dried lucerne. Be careful in preparing it, as its value lies in its leaves. For this purpose, cut the lucerne before any flower buds open. A little of this dried lucerne in the mash will be appreciated in the winter. A few square yards of ground is sufficient to provide lucerne for quite a number of birds throughout the year. Eggs Purchased on Quality Poultry keepers should note that eggs are purchased to-day on quality, and even if some of the eggs are sold or bartered on a different plan the loss for rejected eggs falls on the poultryman. No firm can stand the losses through heat affected eggs, rotten eggs, dirty eggs, and eggs with cracked shells. The producers ultimately suffer for these. Remedy for Fleas One quart of soft soap dissolved in two quarts of boiling water, and while boiling (but not, of course, on the fire) one pint of kerosene added The mixture must at once be thoroughly emulsified by pumping for five minutes or so through a syringe This stock, when once properly mixed, can be diluted when required with rain water, preferably hot, at the rate of one pint to ten of water. Spray with a "Four Oaks" pump any house or appliance where fleas are present.—Kathleen Allport. in "British Duckkeepers' Association Notes." Reilly's report only a small penning of birds for Wednesday's poultry, sale, a good demand being experienced for table birds. Hens: 4 at 7s 4d, 5 7s, 16 6s Bd, 22 6s 6d, 26 6s 4d, 40 6s 2d, 10 6s. 8 5s 10d, 6 5s Bd, 2 4s; cockerels: 2 at 9s 6d, 2 Bs, 2 6s lOd, 7 5s 2d, 1 4s Bd, 2 3s 2d; ducks: 2 at 10s lOd. 5 10s 6d, 2 9s 6d. 9 8s 6d, 8 8s 4d, 5 7s 6d; pullets: 20 at 10s, 69s 4d, 12 9s 2d, 2 7s. All at per pair.