POULTRY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2310, 9 June 1898, Page 35

POULTRY NOTES.

Br Teehob.

*. " There ia no enemy to'Sucoessf ul poulfc&fra:sing, that, compaws! ia its daafccucti'veness

with 'lihe'common hfln> louse.. Says theiEanciers' Gazette: "Lice simply worry the fowls- Co deafth. Ifc is, just- the 1 same,, ■winter and summer. r J!he. best-c ure and preventative is keeping" the houses- clean, and giving, the fowls plenty of dust in which' they -may dust themselves." • . • The bone-cutter is' as- necessary to the pGultrytaan as. his feed-mill. Ib enables, him to. usean excellent aud cheap, food,, "aud gives him- a profit where he. might- otherwise be compelled' to> suffer' a loas; It, is claimed that a bone-cutter' pays foe itself in, eggs, and' really costs nothing 1 . Bonesi are now one of? the staple atjSirles' of food for poultry, and' no ration, should, have them omitbad. They lire foody- griii, and liow?, all combined in: one, ».nd the hens will leuve all other foods to receive the cut bone. Ifeut'fine^. even chicles and ducklings will rselisb such excel!-- it food, while turkeys grow rapidly on it. To meet with success 1 requires the* uae of the. beat, materials, wnd green bone beats all other substances* as' food, for poultry. A pound, of cut green bone ia suffi1 eient for- 16 hens one day; which means that ■ one halfpenny will £ay for the bone-fo? that number of fowls. If one quart ofi grain bo fed 1 at night) to 16 hens,, aud one pound of bone- in the morning, it; should' be ample for each day in winter. Tn< summer only the bone need be given 1 . Such a diet produces fab, starch, nitrogen, phosphates, lime, and all the substances j!tquired-to enable the hens, to lay eggs. As an egg is worth about twopence in winter, ib is . pUin- that ib is cheaper to. feed bones, than grain, as the greater number of eggs> not only ■ reduces the total-, cost, bub increases the profib • as well.. • . • For t1.03« who breed simply and solely for egg production crass-breediug is good, ber cause ife mingles. distinob blbod' aud charocl-eris--tic3 and produces a, new type 1 that; is sure to be i v'gorous and hardy. If fowls ara kept, chic-fly 'for the* eggs — and with' most poultry-keepers iv .a small way this is, bhe- csae— ib, is be.-ter to have , a non-sitting' breed. Of these- tha Minorca, Leghorn, Andalusian, or Hamburg will- be found very satisfactory, though they all lay white eggs. If coloured eggs are desired black La«igshansor silver Wyandotfes* arevery good layers, particularly iv the- winter. Tbis^season we are i crossing, silvec. Langshans. and white Leghorns for the special purpose of getting a winter layer of good' Big eggs with the muoh-tc-be-deaired brown tint. The' cocks are Leghorns and' the hens Langahansi Laugshausars nob only good layers, but also- good table biuds; and thus the, ( cockerels from< tfiis' cross will' make very decent table birds. RLosfc of the produce are white. ■ . • I would 1 dinect abtenbion to. Mr Sproaen'a . advecbiaemsntr af the head of ! fchis*column. As : readers have. learned' from my notesi of the" last few weeks, this, genbletnan hau- a. particularly good staring of birda — in 1 f acb, i dbubb whether ' there is-a.fancier in New Zealand who can boast better results than- Mr' Sprosen- has had' from ' his Minorcas'.

". • Id is, said by fihose of admitted! experience that thereiisno such thingasia "besb-breed."' of poultry. Some-are goodifor one thing, somaFor another. Good-, layers- like Minorcas and- Leghorns, are of- course' a- great desideratum,, bub i good tfa-bliß birdsdilce- Indian gamecounfe highly also, and the Langshan and! Orpington,, which answer both, purposes,, have, of course, their admirers. There is*. Bbilt another breed,- however, that is invaluable at times-, and this is- the! sibbing hen*, as 1 evidence read' the fallowing from, a Home fanciers' journal: — For the- second year in succession! Mrs CampheW, of Uley, Gloucestershire, complainst that her hatching results have been" seriously effected by her inability tO'pi'ocuue a Gufßaiency ,of broody hens, to hatch the; eggs- which she desires to set. Twelve months ago.- her repoct, ' wassbadi enough, botrtoik time ibiis>even< worse, ' as up to the present she' has not-a-sibglo chick, , owing fcoc the- fac!; thai Ihere^hsaf notj been a , single- bcoodynera to bs: obtained in the* neighbourhood- for love- or money. The dearbh of ; hens 1 ,, according to tha* opinioTa- Mot Campbell ■ expresses-jiff entirely attributable totha.fact.bhat the farmers in- her neighbourhood' have bred- so , largely into the. Leghorn* that, all 1 desire to. sit has been obliterated in the hens and pullets of 1 ths district.— a state o£' affairs which is most decidedly hard; upon* those poultcy-bceeders i who*, like, our correspondent, prefer a rational • process of incubation 1 to the use; of- machines. , Perhaps' the- most remarkable* feature of Mcs< Campbell's! communication', however, is her ', reference to- the: success, which, has attended- her' 1 efforts to* breed out 6ho> incubating faculty in her Buaamas'. as she informs us : that;, by - a rigorous policy- of breeding by selection, she ! has practically reduced' the* oacirpanfcs of, her yard to a nonraibbing variety, and,, at. all events, scarcely any. of her hens evince any desire 1 to- sib. hefore* April. The*, result; now is. that Mrs. Campbell is about* to found a gtrain of sitting hens' for her own use, and the maberiala she . proposes focming it out 06 are- ailky banbains crossed with white rose-combed darkingp. We i are, nob aware whether this' cross has been tried' before- Ear sibbing purposes, bub the hens belonging; to it should turn out good, mofahers ;- whilsb the 'appearance oEa purple* roseconib upon white plumage' should, cerfiainly look well, ttfeaawhile, as Mrs Campbell ha* practically bred . out aay desire to incubate amongst her Brahmas, ib might be worth her while to see what. suceesß would attend' her endeavours to produce a- sitting strain of Lsghorns. j