POULTRY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2387, 30 November 1899, Page 44

POULTRY NOTES.

Bt Tkbbob.

tr--In the month of Januarynext I shall have occasion to visit various localities between here anti Christchurch, and I intend to take advantage of the opportunity afforded to visit seyeral poultry men whose invitations I have heretofore been unable, owing to distance, to accept. I make this notification so that all Jbreeders and fanciers who would like a visit may arrange witl me in due lime; and to enable me to plan my pngagementfj with an eya to the strictest economy of time I fhould like to have all invitations in hand by December 31 at latest. Having seen all that 1 can see in connection with' poultry matters, both en routo and at Christohurch, I expect to be able to furnish a report roth interesting and instructive. — Chickens that appear backward in the matter of growth or activity should be examined for vermin. I have inspected the weakly chicks in several runs '.atoly, and invariably found lice upon them. Because in one cafe the chickens I scrutinised were brooder-bred, the owner was terribly surprised wlien their Vxmdition was pointed out, and I don't think lie hoe yet finished conjecturing how the 1 4 rouble came about. As my readers will remember, we have learned, from correspondents, that vermin infest poultry even where the utmost attention is paid to the cleanliness rf the buildings, &c ; consequently, it is evident that they cannot be altogether suppressed unless the birds themselves are reguJarly treated in some effectual way. So far as I can gather Keating's Insect Powder is the safest and readiest means of coping .with vermin on birds. — Writing on early laying! one who has studied the question cays : -"We believe in forcing^the pullets to early laying, but not with stimulants. Good food, and plenty of it, will bring about the desired effects much quicker than anything else, and leave the birds in much better condition. Well-fed pullets generally lay when six months old. Only half-fed they take from nine to 10 months. We highly manure our trees for early fruiting ; we libei'ally feed the soil for early crops — then why should it not be natural for us to be generous in the 6upply of feed to our pullets for early profits? But avoid stimulants. Wo do not feed cayenne pepper for this reason. It produces liver troubles. It will make hens and pullets lay, but it leaves them in a weak condition. Generous feeding builds up the constitution. Egg foods are, as a rule, composed of such stimulants as .cayenne, and consequently we have no use for them. Same with condition powders — they generally put poultry out of condition. We were amused to v see an advertiser booming his patent egg food by crying iJown the other preparations on the market by claiming they were too stimulating. Yet, if his food does all it is claimed to, there must be nothing but stimulation in it. A man half full of rum i 6 generally a strong man, but continuing the beverage he becomes very weak. Stimulation wears off. Nature eno fool. Give her ample food, and she will do the rest to perfection. — Now that the early-bred chickens are talcing their .place, in many establishments, fcmongEt the laying stock the dangers of overcrowding may once more be referred to, and here exist-3 a very fruitful cause of loss to even the old-established fancier, for it is wonderful to reflect upon ihe perversity which characterises the actions of men who should, and do, know better than to crowd 100 birds in a space that is only fit to accommodate 50. Overcrowding is recognised on all sides as a suicidal policy, as it inevitably leads to epidemics ai}d fights, which ruin the future of many a valuable bird ; yet, in all seriousness, we believe Hhat scarcely half the members of the fancy are able to summon up Bufficient courage to weed their stock down to numbers ivhicb their experience tells them are the best for all. Of course, it is expecting a good deal from a man when he is advised to kill, or to practically give away, birds which he knows are well bred, and likely to be xiscful for stock purposes; but when lie realises that

the retention of these is a standing menace -to the health and welfare of still more valuable companions, no one can applaud his common sense if he elects to run the risk. In the -, case of beginners the difficulty of weeding out becomes increased, for these ladies and gentle- ) men cannot be expected to be able to select • which birds should be retained and which got ; rid of. Still, if they cannot get advice from , friends who do know, it is better for them. \ to rely upon what judgment they possess, ' rather than rim tho risk of almost certain loss ! in the immediate future, and have their pros1 pects for the forthcoming season most prejudicially affected. j — With regard to the experiment men- . tioned in the following paragraph frqm the , Melbourne Weekly Times, it would be in- [ teresting to know the temperature at which :,Mr Bradshaw kept his eggs, have been' given to understand by an American scientist ' that eggs subjected to a temperature below S 40dog Fabr. are rendered useless for hatching i purposes: — The cool storage of oggs for -pre- • serving purposes is reported to be a success. I and if the temperature is not allowed to be- ' come too low, the eggs will keep fresh and ', good for a' long period, andi when broken will be similar io eggs that have, been kept only a few day.i. Mr G. Bradshaw,' of Syd- ■' ney, has been experimenting in various ways, 'and some time ago put down some eggs in the cool chamber, with the object of testing them 'for hatching "purposes. He found that , after they had been five weeks in the chamber ' the eggs hatched fairly well, but after that • period none -of the eggs would hatch. There is no doubt that if eggs would produce good . hatching results after 'being six 'or seveu | weeks in the cool chambers, it would enj courage the importation of a large number 'of eggs for setting-from Great Britain. The I expense of securing a change of blood would be minimised if the breeder could eecure it by importing a eetting of eggs from England instead of, as at present, having to go to the 1 expense of importing birds. Apart from j this, the cool storage of eggs^must be an ad- ! vantage in the way of ensuring an average j price for them, and if reasonable care is taken i to put them _in the chambers when perfectly ' fresh, they will keep as long as required. | — Adam Chick, a Connecticut poultry man, j has been breeding calm chickens in the at- ' mosphere of peace. It eeems strange that foi j this purpose he has chosen game fowls. On • thought, however, fighting requires self-con-trol. With these ho has crossed the Se- ! brights, and, as a result, has secured the j brainiest breed in the world, says an ex • change. One of his pets is a pullet," which ; will, at call, fly to his shoulder and eat her j food from his hands with evident enjoyment. She has a remarkable capacity for laying east at the drop of the hat, and when Mr Chick deposits his chapeau on the ground, Mrs Dewey proceeds to present him with a fresh Connecticut egg. This performance, however, will not permit of an encore. It occurs but onoe a day. Mr Chick asserts ibhat he has greatly enlarged the capacity of this breed to make eggs. He says it is possible to secure eggs every day, except in morilting time,He has, however, 'one. hen of religious pro' Iclivities, whom he calls the '" Christian Hendeavourer," who absolutely refuses to lay on Sundays. He does not desire to develop that strain, and will probably make her a martyr ' to her religion. ; — The following pretty little story ap- , peared in a recent issue of the London Daily | News : — A young man who lodges with a Mrs i Sanders, of 1 Salisbury terrace. Long lane, ! Finchley, and who works at Mr Peter Kay s : nursery, at Church End, Finchley, has just ! had a curious experience. He placed in a ' cupboard at the nursery an egg he intended ito take home. But he forgot all about it. ' Three weeks afterwards he heard a squeak, and opening the cupboard discovered that the hot-water pipes which passed beneath it had given it the virtues of an incubator, with ' the result that the egg had been hatched. He , took the chicken home, and it is now being ; kept in Mrs Sandera's kitchen in a basket • near the fire. Six days old yesterday, the '• little creature is " doing well." SPANISH WHITE FACE. Dear Terror, — Will you please inform me whether the white growth on the side of the ! Spanish fowls'^head can be prevented from 1 obscuring the eyesight. I have a Spanish ' rooster. This white growth has totally obscured his sight on one side, and partially on , the other. If thews are alternative methods ' of treatment, would you kindly give them, a? 1 I am quite a novice. — X. Y. Z. i [I don't think that anything can be done . to prevent the too free growth of the white ; face in Spanish What my correj spondent complains of is the achievement of special breeding — the result of a fad for tha abnormal of one featur-fi — and I all that can be done without cruelty is to j "breed away" by selecting for the future | breeding pens birds that are the least deformed. I intend to refer again to this quesi tion next week.— TERROR.]