POULTRY NOTES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23941, 17 October 1939, Page 9

POULTRY NOTES

B* Terror Over-feeding •During a Lancashire Conference a Mr R. Rodwell, a noted breeder and a wizard at winning laying trials with his birds, remarked: "The man who says you cannot overfeed a layer is an 'idiot." Of 100 poultrymen, 5 per cent., he stated, fed correctly, and 90 per cent, overfed. Managers of laying trials did their work even more conscientiously than breeders, but he considered that most birds returned from tests too fat. Continuing, he remarked that intensivism and continuous dry mash were the curse of modern poultry keepers. He liked all his birds, chickens and hens alike, to come running for their food. They should even run after him after he had fed them. He calculated that the proper ration for a breeding pen of 14 birds in full lay and a cock, was one cupful of grain and two handfuls, but the handfuls should; only be given" if the birds , galloped to him. He was a great believer in red wheat and in feeding the pullets before breeding on grain alone. But he gave them one feed of wet mash weekly and included flowers of sulphur in it. and he considered this one of the finest tonics he knew. Young chickens decidedly sheuld not be overfed and he believed in doing them well for the first eight to 12 v/eeks when they were turned into runs in groups of 80 to the acre. For the first three months they had milk and water, chick grain morning and evening' and a dry mash mid-day containing such best-C[uality ingredients as pea-meal, bran, barley-meal, fish and meat meal, powdered charcoal and cod liver oil. At three months they only had this mash twice a week, fed wet. In Mr Rodwell's opinion the age a heavy-breed test pullet should*come into lay was seven to eight months—or nine months if you could do it—and six to seven months for light breeds. The birds should always be kept on the hungry side. As a comment on the foregoing I will add: How many times in these notes have I remarked, " Hungry birds are healthy birds "? Breeders All-Bran Menu The Feathered World (Eng.) tells of a poultry man in Lancashire, Mr Norman Pickup, who feeds his intended breeders on bran only. For the last five years he has run an Accredited R.I.R. farm of five acres, and 800 birds on an exposed hillside. Under the Manchester University costing scheme his farm showed a profit last year of 6s 4d per bird. One experiment is that of feeding pullets and hens on an all-day-bran ration from late summer until a month before hatching eggs are required. In January (July, New Zealand), no corn is given and no mash; the bran which is home-milled is given dry. Not onlv do pullets so fed give better production when put back on a breeders ration than sisters fed on normal rations all the time, but they do not punish the grass in the pens to a similar extent when on the all-bran diet. All the fat is taken out of them on this laxative menu, and it apparently brings them into fine breeding condition. Another unusual feature of the farm is the simple type of extractor cowl on the houses. This consists of an oblong wooden box seven inches souare, fitting over a "i hole in the roof Seemingly, the point Mr Pickup stresses is that breeders should be in a hard, vigorous condition when eggs for hatching are required. Factors foir Consideration The profitable life of a hen is short, ■eldom better than two seasons, and It must be «u«>eotod, *n4 * proportion of

birds are not worth keeping even for two years. Before undertaking the culling of a flock these question must be taken into consideration:— Have the birds given normal production during the preceding six months? Is there any fault in the feeding or general management? Are the flocks suitably and adequately housed, and are they suffering from parasitic infestation? Efficient management is, of course, accepted by everyone as an essential to the success of any venture, but there is a wide diversity of opinion as to just what constitutes efficient management in poultry farming. Rest During Moulting Valuable pullets may be wasted as producers if they are not allowed to rest during the moulting period. Damp Grain Unsafe Apart from the fact that damp wheat is not a safe poultry food, a damp sample may contain 5 to 6 per cent, more water than a dry one, and it is not economic to buy water at this price. The price of wheat is a fair barometer of the general run of food prices, and it is interesting to note that wheat prices at this time are high. You get less wheat in a bushel when it is wet than when it is dry, therefore it is uneconomic to buy it. All-grain Diet Poultry World (Eng.) answering a correspondent, says: "At certain seasons of the year it may be possible to manage birds' on a diet of grain only, but success depends entirely upon the quality of the grass over which they range. As a rule, it is desirable to make additions of pro-tein-rich foods to the diet in order to obtain adequate production. In its simplest form this can be achieved by providing skimmed milk, either fresh or sour, for the birds to drink, and feed them on a grain diet. In practice, it is impossible to secure continuity of supplies of milk throughout the year, and it is, therefore, usual to make up a mash." Nest Boxes Nest boxes should be provided at the rate of one box for every four or five hens. Shortage in this respect is often responsible for broken eggs and the introduction of egg-eating, a trouble which once started is by no means easy to stop. Vitamin D Deficiency According to Mr John Hammond, F.R.S., of the Animal Nutrition Research Institute, Cambridge, the lower production and fertility of breeds like Indian game were due to the low level of anterior pituitary substance in the blood of the breed. This scientist also stated that it was not the longer hours for feeding that made birds lay, but the extra light stimulating these anterior pituitary substances. This egg production was stimulated by artificial light, but It was not maintained; production was more level in countries Where the length of day did not vary. Although It is well known that a lack of vitamin D in the ration will result in weak egg shells, a drop in egg-production and a ioim of paralynia known as tgg

paralysis, it is usually thought that a falling off in laying is the first indication of a shortage of vitamin D. The New Jersey Experimental Station reports, however, that a vitamin D deficiency can be determined more readily by egg-shell quality than by the number of eggs produced. For example, the number of cracked and weak-shelled eggs produced in one day by a flock of 100 hens or more should not exceed 3 per cent, if there is an adequate supply of vitamin D. So if the number of weak egg shells exceeds this ratio, the chances are that more vitamin D is needed. Codliver oil or sardine oil will supply it. While the pullets have not yet been confined to the laying houses long enough for a vitamin D shortage to be felt, it is well to add either of the fish oils to the ration to guard against trouble when mid-winter arrives. Snrouted Grain as Green Feed All that can be said in favour of feeding day lucerne, in any of its forms, as a substitute for green feed, is that it is perhaps better than nothing. Such is the opinion of James Hadlington. the New South Wales expert, referring to substitutes for green feed when there is a shortage during the summer. In Mr Hadllngton's opinion, poultry-keepers have a most efficient substitute in sprouted grain, but it involves preparation and some, labour. „ , There are two methods in use for sprouting grain. One is to lay it out on a boarded floor in which holes have been bored for drainage. The floor should, however, be well above ground level, so that the space underneath can be kept clean Boards, or even 3xl inch battens, may be used for dividing the different lots. The other method is to use a rack or cabinet in which to do the sprouting. A suitable size for a farm carrying up to 1000 birds would be: 6ft high, 2Jft wide, and 2ft 3in from front to back, with runners on which to slide the trays holding the grain about 15 inches apart. The trays require to be of a suitable size, but must be made to fit loosely to allow for the swelling with moisture. The outer framework of such a rack might be built of 3x2 inch dressed Oregon, with 3xl inch runners on which the trays rest. The trays will require to be three or four inches deep, and, as in the case of the floor, holes must be made in the bottom for drainage. Trays made of No. 24 gauge galvanised iron have been suggested, and might be tried out experimentally. If the sprouting is to be done in an open shed, the framework of the rack should be walled in, to retain the moisture and warmth. Oats or barley are the two cereals most commonly used for sprouting, and either should be soaked for 12 to 24 hours before being placed in the trays. About two inches thick is sufficient, and from the time the grain is placed in them it should be kept watered and not allowed to become dry. A temperature of about

70deg Fahr. or higher is required for good sprouting. The grain is best turned over once or twice daily until the sprouts are about an inch long. To guard against moulds, the trays might be scrubbed out as they are emptied with a 1 per cent, solution of formalin and water. There are two methods of using sprouted grain; the one, almost as soon as sprouted, in which case the whole of the grain is fed. The other is to allow the sprouts to grow to three or four inches and cut it off the mat of grain, using it as green feed. Reilly's report that fair supplies of poultry were received for Wednesday's sale, with table birds netting satisfactory values. Cockerels: 5 at 9s, 2 8s 6d, 3 Bs, 8 6s 2d, 3 6s, 5 5s 6d, 4 3s lOd, 13 3s Bd, 18 3s 6d, 19 3s, 6 2s lOd, 18 2s 8d; hens: 4 at Bs, 2 7s 6d, 10 6s-6d, 8 6s 2d. 33 6s, 2 4s 8d; ducks: 2 at 16s 6d, 215 s, 212 s. All at per pair.