POULTRY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2309, 2 June 1898, Page 35

POULTRY NOTES.

By Tkreob.

AN, EGG-LAXING COMPETLTION'.

[ The pullet 3, from the Dorking' hen favour the j hen in colour, but have black legs, and' the query is, Wiiencs' are bhe black legs derived, since both- pareinta, ha»ve white 1 ?' It can; only be accounted! for as a> "'throwback-" of a taint In the* breeding; of eitlieE of the parents. ! The* cockecels front the same* hen: are; Dorking 'mi colour, and have white legs and the typical fivei toes, bub are somewhat of the game- buikL Both tlie pullets- and! cock- ■ erels from tlie, Plymouth Reclchen are perfect j bamed rocks, ia colouring., bufr ara> inclined to be a bit leggy. All the chicks from- ther buff ', Cochhi hen are a pur© buff,, and have ) feathered* legs.. The chickens from the~ silver 1 Wyandotte hen have given, the moat* rateiv • esting results. Some of the pullets are veuy ! much like> the Indian* Gflme hit feather ,' colouring, but they have dark legs, tlere 1 , | again 1 , the- dank legs show themselves, though ' both parents have? white. Other*, of the pul- ; let 3 are' very far from, beiag bad golden ] Wyaaidottes, as regards, colouring, and are very handsome birds. Mr Bradshaw has followed 1m experiments | with a commendable attentroa to'detail, taking ' the trouble, to weigh each o£ the chickens i weekly, with- a view fo' ascertaining which cross will prodnca- the" (test taibls. birds. The figures are both .interesting and: valuable-. The fortnightly, results wera as follow-: —

♦Killed. The chicks were l^oz weight when hatched. Oru the average from four weeks, old they; put on 4-oz weekly until nine or ten' weeks, old. when soz to 6oz were registered weekly,, aud after attaining sixteen weeks tlie increase was greater. These chickens had no special feeding, care, or attention. It will be seen that when. 18 weeks old the three cockerels averaged 4^lb each, and when 19 weeks old 41b lOoz each, the Dorking cockerel being, the weightiest at a "trifle over 51b. The Dorking cross cockerels are in every respect grand table birds, and' superior to> the others. After reaching six weeks the youngsters had to fight their own way among the old birds, and had they been treated otherwise would liava put on more flesh. One result of the Game cross was noticeable in the .young, birds.- — tltey were always in killing condition.

This is. also -interesting- in another respect. It shows tha.t even half a dozen or so of fowls will yield a sufficient family supply of- eggs and poultry, while at the same time, the work of attending^ to them? is infinitesimal, and the cost of feeding very little. These few hens kept up a constant supply of eggßy and over 20 young' birds have- been killed: during the last few weeks, while> there are at present some 30 others of killing size on hand, a»nd numbers of chickens- of various ages coming on. One secret- of Mr Bradshaw' a success is thai he subdivided his small run-, and planted a rotation of maize. Thi& has afforded a» splendid shade, and given' a constant supply of- excellent green food.. — Sydney Daily Telegraphs

The Witnesa Canterbury agricultural cocre=poadenfc describes the Sydeaham Poultry Society &s "tha bes6 lot of. workers. I evar knew, nofc excepting the commjttes of fche O j»go A. and P. Society.'" c

Tie details ofe an interesting eompetitnon rrwntly carried oufc ander the auspice* of tihe ce^fj-fopmed British Utilifcy Poultry Club have J !f.t baen mad'a public. This club was estabLLshcd some- lAcaa. ago* for fche purpose o£ en.cf.u'agirg- the development" of thai useful** as crsdncu from, the ornamental, points of dfeitifistic fowls-, and thescompftidfcion; in question is fihe irsfc of a serress of contests of » kindred *h »raeter wfeieh; ib is- the intention of, fche *x cutive fco carrjr ouft- in various pactsiofr the €. nnitj. This competition', lastiDg 16 weeks, h.^-Tiuiog; November' 3- and ending Februajry 12. vfaa. heldatrNorfehallerton, Yorkshire,, under

.' •- pejtsonal superviafon - of Mr. Simen Hunter.

ft.suarag: — Every pen (except two) had' a i o s< 7ft by 7ffc by Bffc, with grass run 30yds- by 3'3j .i^ specially erected on Lresh ground. The tuu.ii were sheltered with hedges.

Eua<s, Morning. — Barley meal, sharps, and fiTooiA oats aealded. and mixed: with horse beef gr..«y r with, which wa« added a little msafc cwictt a weekv

Evening. — Wheat;, cata,, or 1 barley, oyster. th"l\ ftinb gzrife,. andif restr. epsing water ad lih. Ib w»a hoped that at cocrect recosd< could be kept . oi the- corn consumed by each peny but owtEg- to tile, sparrows this waa f auadi impos.fciUo,

t oouiciods. — une. wesa was auwwca dbiulo *he competition for tiro birds to>£ettl« dawn in, but? only afew of the conspefcitorsav&ided thsmtelvfis {tftlce'oppoEtuaity, and itr-ia'believedithafc tteJHiinsy stopped foe some time those birds tk*»> bad started tv la jr before being- sent.

The method of scoring, by which, two points iff te. to-be given-for eveiiy egg aver l£cz, aad' one port-nt. tor every egy under that weight, has hob been u^ed', as no egg failed, to- scale lie:*. Tte compctUiioa; lasted 16' weeks, with the follewiiig resaifc :—

The subjoined notes on the competition have been- prepared': — Pen I (White Leghorns). — These were the enwU'estr fnrds and smsFesfr eaters* and laid 1 the stcallesfc eggs (rather 1 over nine fco fche'lb), aud laid well till the cold weather arrived. Fens If and VII (Mmorcas).— Laitf the largest eggs- (weighing- about seven to the-Ibj. Fen VII was checked a week in the second month owing fco fchs- removal fco a new pen. Pen 111 (Orpingtons).— Promised well at ffrst. Unfortunately two of them' fell 1 ill durfng the last! month' — one 6"yiDg.dunßg the last weeS:,. the other recovering. Pen IV (Liangshans,, mostly Croad strain).— Laid well till nearly the close of the competition, when one bird went broody, and another, after laying- a few deformed egge, stopped faylngv Pen V(Farorolleß)'.— These wese not nearly full' grown when competition Began, but when they started fcheyliaid well. After the Minorcas they laid the largest eggs. Pen VI (White Leghorns) .— These Md weß, bufc after third week one bird w;enfc mfco 1 moult, and for nine weeks never laid an egg. The Favorolles and Langshanu wer« the largest eaters, the Leghorns fcne smallest, showing that (except Minorcas)' t£e largest eaters laid the largest egg?.

3OSIE' INTERESTING CROSSING RESULTS. Th, crossing,! it is a generally accepted principle that the male parent exercises the greater influence upon the feathering and appearance of the resulting progeny 1 ,. Of course, there are exceptions, to this rule. The writer saw a very interesting instance of the exception at the residence of Mr George Bradshaw, at Waverley, a few days ago. Mr Bradshaw has mated an old English black-re J (whfte-legged) game rooster with several hens of various breeds, including Dorking, Orpington, silver Wyandotte, Plymouth Eock, and Buff Cochin. No other roostei: is kept, and yet hardly a trace of the old English game colouring is to Be. found in the "young stock. The pullets from the Orpington hen might easily pass a3 purebred Orpingtons, being black m both leg and feather, and the latter having the required green sheen. The cockerels, however, have wlute legs &nd a sort of duokwinur eolowing.

Dorking' 1 cockerel Ooi'king gullet Orpington* cockerel Orpington pullet..., Wyandol* c* cockerel . . . Wyandotte pullet Plymouth Bock* cockerel PJyinouth Bock pullet ... ■i » ;—; — i — ST|4 2 4 2 4 2 31 2 * 24 5 ■2 14 1 h 9 IT 88 »J 12 19 i H § 20 15 18 ,13 16 If, 20 15 'si tS! so; io 23 30 •2634 20132 22 58 er: N 50 36 44 3-2 111 ? >■ i* o. o.' o Bi>7l!Sl 42 55 65 80 4^Bo 42\r>2'M Si 69,78 4|!58'62 50 (33

_- Months; £ Ist. 2cd. 3rd. 4th. I-WhrCffLegliorns.'... 41 62 91 143 a— Black: lliisorca^ ... XS- 55 90 161 3 — Black S. 0. Orping.tons 20 43 74" 10& 4- Langshaos 20. 59 92 146" B-iVvorolTes...- ... 0 0 15 8:5 fi~'*]irteLegßorns ... 28 57 82 136 7-DrackMinorcatr ... 7 59 98 143 *! O >" ri 355 4 4fti 1 27 1 6 36i 3 203- 7 34 5 37J 2