POULTRY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2274, 30 September 1897, Page 7

POULTRY NOTES.

THE POULTRY E VTABLISHMENT AT fcEA.CLI#F ASYLUM.

Newspaper accounts of visits to the breeding yards of tho'e who raise birds for exhibition at poultry shows are common enough, bub can Scarcely be expected to interest anyone outside the fancy. A description of a large and skil-fully-worked establishment, where profif; ab market rates is made the object, may prove instructive to those who are now turning their attention to the poultry industry.

THE ORGANISATION OF THE POULTBY DEPARTMENT

at Seacliff Asylum is the work of the present medical superindendent, Dc Truby King It has taken some years to get things i'n'o thorough working order, but the cireful attention and skill brought to bear have not, in our opinion, been thrown away. It must be observed, however, that what is profitable at a public institution, which pays little for labour, and has a market within itself for eggs and table birds, may not be found co remunerative where these special advantages cannot be had.

From 600 to 1000 fowls are kept, the number varying with the season. The bulk of the fowls are kept on THE COLOSY SYSTEM.

Houses to hold 50 to 70 birds are ranged »t intervals along the rising ground above the asylum building, at such distances from each other as experience .'hows to be enough to prevent the different flocks from mixing. This distance does not require to be ao great as might be supposed. Care is taken, however, when adding a new house to have someone stationed at it to feed the fowls there at the same time as someone el-se is feeding the neighbouring colonies. The birds soon get to know their fteding ground, and on hearing the cry of the feeder run to their own house, not towards the voice. The housing provide 3 for shelter from, wind and rain in addition to the place for roosting. In the roosting houses the ventilation is so arranged that it can he regulated to suit the season of the year; and there are several provisions for sheltering the roosts from draughts even when the maximum of ventilation is used. The roosts are low, with dropping boards underneath. There is plenty of peat on the estate, and dry peat litter mixed with wood ashei is spread under the roosts. Ptjat dried and powdered has remarkable deodorisirjg and absorbsnt properties. Oo the leasb stirriog up it completely isolates the droppings, and where it is spread to a depth of three inches, if a stick or hoa ba run along under the roosts every day', a cleaning out once a month will be sufficient to keep the house quite sweet. Plenty of light is given by a gojd-sized window in each house. The nests are so arranged th?,t by lifting an outside-hinged board the eggs can be removed without the attendant having to enter the hou«.e.

THE YA.UDS.

To each house is attached a yar o, boarded up high enough to give shelter from w ind, the upper part of the fence being of wire netting. The fowls are confined to this yard during the early part of the day. It was found that having a damD Btiff soil to contend with, these yards

were very apt to become sodden and unhealthy. An expedient to remedy this was adopted, and those well able to judge consider iv ingenious, scientific, and ot practical value. Clay lightly burnt becomes pormanent'y porous aud friable, and valuable potash salts are liberated and rendered available fcr plant life. TJi at heavy soil has its tex'ure much bentn'ed by an admixture of burnt clay has long been recopnißed, though the special chemical value of the latter as a manure is of comparatively recent observation. A layer of the burnt clay is used to keep the fowlyards dry. This is frrquently raked, and au inch or two is periodically removed from the surface, enriched by the hen mtnurp, and ured as gardendressiug. The meful qualities of the burnt clay are, it is needless to say, much increased, and the value of the combined manure to the garden far more than repays the labour involved in burniDg and distributing. The fowlyards are thus kept dry and wholesome, not only without any expense, bub with a positive gain to the garden.

STOREHOUSE, &C.

The house for keeping and preparing the food contains bins for corn, meal, &?., a dresser for cutting up and preparing, a vat for mixing, and a boiler for heating and steaming. Mincers and vegetable choppers are used to minimise labour. A feature of the feeding is the use of dry red-clover hay. It is chopped up into £;n lengths, steamed, and a proportion (abcut one-sixth) mixed with the morning soft food. It is claimed for clover-hay thab it is 'a good egg-producer, and that birds supplied with it seldom lay thin-shelled eggs. But at Seacliff all risk of this is obviated in any casa by the free use of broken oyster shells and bones. Bes-ides clover, cooked vegetables are mixed with pollard, kitchen fcraps, &■}., for the morning meal, and a litt'e meat is given. The evening feed is of uncooked grain, mainly wheat and oats.

The most interesting sight to a visitor is undoubtedly

THE itfCUBATOR AND BROODEB HOUSES — at least at this time of the year, when breeding operations are going on. The incubator hoiue is built with a view to ihnintaining as even a temperature as possible. The walls are of arone 18in thick ; the roof of thatch 10'n thick. The upper portion forms a shed, in which chickens are houted in the breeding season. There is provision for ventilation without draught. Ib will be readily seen that the eff-cb of the frosts and of the Bun in varyiug the in«ide temperature is minimised by such a structure. This is a great help to an incubator, for though they all profess to be selfregulatiug, a eudden change in the temperature of the surrounding air will affect the very best of them. The full importince of such precautions as this in artificial hatching is not generally recognised. They mean nob only so much time and so many egga saved, but also that the constitutions oi the chickens hatched run less ri^k of impairment by excessive changes of temperature.

Every effort should be mide to raise the percentage, because where there is a low percentage of hatches in artificial incubation, those that do hatch are liable to be weak.

Previous to this year outdoor brooders and hens have been used for rearing, but now the hoSwater pipe indoor brooder (described in the Agricultural department's leaflet No. 38) is used with excellent results. The brooder house adjoins the incubator house »s a sort of lean-to. Experiment is being made with a new system of warming by means of a furnace underneath the brooder hous«, a stratum 2ft thick of burnt clay interspersed with waste clippings of zinc, galvanised iron, &c, lying above the flue and acting as a st rer of heat and & means 'for the introduction of warmed fresh air at the fl^or level. The air slowly risiag through the porous clay bed can be warmed tj any desired degree, and. is then diffused evenly through the room. There is very little fall in temperature observed in the house after the fire has gone out, and it is not found necessary to keep the fire going more than a short time each eveniDg. The heat given by this means is sufficient for all but the youngest chickens, and those can be safely housed in the brooders. The brooder house appears to be a little cramped as regards height, but this could not well have been avoided owing to the position in which it was decided to place it.

THK CHICKENS,

Both pure and crossbred chicken* are being reared. The crosses are mostly for the table, such as Indian game-Orpington; the purebreds of the lajlug sort, such as Minorca, &c. Attention has hitherto been given more to the egg-producing breeds, because to supply the wants of the institution in this direction was felt to be the primary object of the poultry yard. Now, however, that this has been satisfactorily accomplished, an effort is being made to render rearing for the table a profitable undertaking. To this end the Indian game has been added to the list of breeds.

The breeds of fowls now kept include Minorcas, brown and white Leghorns, And*lusians, buff and black Orpington?, aud ludian game. . The main flock, however, consists of crossbreds. As will be seen from the advertisement in another column, the asylum authorities have decided to assist with their stock the Agricultural department's scheme for supplying settlers with purebred cockerels and sittings of eggs at a reasonable Ogure. This will be a great boon to many in Otago who are not in a position to pay high prices for purebred birds, and we hope it will be largely taken advantage of. A feature of the poultry establishment at Seacliff which has nothing to do with the industrial aspect of the matter is its general attractiveness as one of the amenities of the place. The varied colours of the houses, the picturesque planting, and the provision of facilities for readily seeing the birds in all their stages make the fowl farm a favonrito resort for patients and. visitor^