POULTRY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2389, 14 December 1899, Page 39

POULTRY NOTES.

Br Terror.

— A well -attended meeting of the punedin Fanciers' Club was^held in ilr Myer&"s rooms on Monday evening^ Mr Crawshaw. tiie secretary, read circular letter and particulars of constitution and -rules of the newij formed N.Z. South Island Poultry,. and Canary Association, -and the jclub'B delegate, Mr L. -iSpatz, having explainefl the objects of the association, and the proceedings -at ihe nieeting'ho attended, it was resolved after considerable discussion to affiliate.

The^e-lub anticipate fchat their efforts to raise funds foi the.paymont of foreign judges at tho ■i:ext show will prove Miceeseful, - as a. -.good deal of fiipport has already been u-eceived and promised.

Mr Spatz fthe Hrairman) .notified Uus meeting that he Vns already .in -possession of a valuable tir.p.ny i<- be competed for at the next show.

— Not long fciuce a man who has made a specialty of the family trade in strictly fre3h eggs and poultry remarked to us that few .poultry men -seemed to realise to-how-great an •extent the demand for 6ggs and poultry wa3 influenced by the quality of 'the .goods furnished. Then he went on. to tell haw a single 'bad egg,- with which he himself had had nothing .to do, had .affected injuriously and 'for quite a long time the clemand-for slrictty -fresh eggs ' in '-the 'family of one of his customers. Ihe little incident is -of value -also as allowing how "necessary .it is in a trade -of that Jkiudrto be able. so to -simply your customers >t"Uai they will deal with you exclusively. The family referred to were using four dozen eggs .per week. .The .staple - diet of the head of • the house was, foi breakfast each day, one or two boiled eggs. On one occasion tho lady wanted more eggs than our friend ablo.to furnish. When next he called at Ihe house only half the usual quantity was .wanted ; becaupß having exhausted the strictly fresh egg supply'they had had recourse to the grocer, and one of 'the slora egg* broken at tho table had been found much too stale lo use. Tho result was that tho principal consumer of eggs in that family dkin'.t -want even to Hunk of eating eggs for ir.ore -than three months. '1 his made a difference of rather moro 'than 25 per cent, in the amount of eggs consumed .in 'that family. Of course, he could always sell the eggs elsewhere, but the larger the sales -made at each stopping place the les3 time required to dispose cf produce, and therefore>the greater the profit . In i-elliug poultry the sair.o rule holds .good. Good slack of fine quality o.iG%te» a jireater demand far a like c.i 1 - c f B°°d-, while often an encounter with a tough and unsavoury fowl duils the appetite for, poultry of any kind. — There is amongst breeders a great deal of difference of opinion, on the question of whether occasional inbreeding ii or ie not desirable, some condemning it in unmeasured terms, while others look upon it as being absolutely necessary to success. ■ Between these two theories there -is a great gulf .fixed, and in tins' ho doubt the correct solution of the problem of inbreeding is assuredly to be found. So much, moreover, depends iipon the circumstances which govern each individual cate that it is impossible lo draw any hard or fast line? for crossing birds. One man may Imj the fortunate possessor of a strain which continues healthy and "vigorous for many generations, although much inbred, though sooner or Inter, no matter 'how robust the birds may be for -years, the evil effects of constant "fibbing"' will become appareut, and a cross .muet be resorled'to if strength and -size are 'to 'be maintained. On the other hand, another fancier who has had the misfortune -to start badly, either with a olosely-inbred stock of .birds which inherit family weakness of cou- ! stitution, or else some 'hereditary defect which is 'Constantly coming lo tho front, will of necessity have to seek a change of blood at a comparatively early Plage in his career as a hresder. The persistency which characterises the -methods of some breeders who cling to their own strains, in spite of the very obvious proofs that each successive generation of the birds is getting farther away in eqrne respects from the correct type, .must always involve disastrous results. Faults ljecome crystallised in tho breed, and if permitted to remain unchecked for a year or two will require an immense -amount of labou* to erpdicate. The prudent breeder, when compelled to seek for a nrosp, will endeavour to procure a bird of the same blood as ihal contained in his yard. -If, moreover, he i.* fortunate enough to come across a fowl which hits bred some stock, and to get a look at the stock ;n; n question, tho risk I ho runs is greatly reduced, a& lie will have some idea as to what the nature of tho cross will be in the end.

— 'Oeieals arc the foods best adapted for fowls. 'They give a large amount of nutrition in small bulk, and are easily ijres-erved. Wheat contains the ,lar£%t amount of nitrogenous substnnoes, 121 jier oent. Rye contain the greatest amount of carbonates, 63 per cent, j oats, the greatest amount of fat,

16"per cent., and cellulose, 11 per cent. The legumes, 'beans, peas, Sec, surpass all seeds in the quantity of albumen they contain. They contain also much sulphur, phosphorus, and other falts, and hence constitute a highly nourishing food, but not so easily digested as other grain. "Various roots are valuable Jor chickens, particularly so for the amount of starch they furnish. The most common is the potato, which when cooked makes an easily-digested food. Owing to the vegetable acid in the potato it is valuable as a preventive of scurvy and other blood diseases. Green vegetables are valuable as food, not so much for the per cent, of nourishment they contain, for it is small, but for their important organic salts. They supply especially the salts of potash. Fruits are valuable for the same reasons. They contain "but a small quantity of nutritive food, but promote intestinal action. When given to' excess, unripe fruit sets up an intestinal irritation, which must be avoided. — There is a story told of a fine old Cornish squire who only drank brandy on two occasions — whon he had goose for dinner, and when lie had not. — ! "; hen a hen wishes to set she is usually fat. If you break her she will lay five or six eggs and become broody again. Let her get rid of her fat. Give her one egg, let Tier stay on the nest two weeks, give her plenty of water, feed her once in two days, and then brealc her uo. If you must break her, however, get a coop with a slat door, slat sides, and open everywhere. Let it be raised a foot from the ground. Place the coop in an exposed location, where she can see everything around her. "Being disturbed and not being able to warm her airy nest, she gives up in disgust. — Montreal Witness. — Skim milk is not only a -cheap food but a profitable one for birds of all ages. As explained in "Kennel Notes" this week, it is nourishing and retains all the tissue-build-ing materials contained in milk. — Always crush eggshells before feeding them to hen?. — When the combs and wattles of^ the fowls are of a bright red colour, it indicates a good. condition of health. — When the- fov.-ls are busy scratching, the hens laying and singing, aud the cocks crowing, these ara signs of good health. — When you can entor the henhouse after dark and hear no wheezing, it proves -there are not. any croupy fowls in the f^ock. — "W4ien the edsje of the 'comb and wattles j is of a purplish red and 'the movements sluggish, there" is something wrong. - —It lias again aud again been demon- j strated that -wheat-is the best of all the cereals j for the .production of eggs. But next to this j is milk, and especially «our milk ; and if we add to these' a third substance — namely, gravel produced from broken granite of suitable size .and quantity wo have a3 nearly a perfect food as can be -'furnished for egg-producing fowls. But -there arc some details which oug^it to be attended to in order to obtain the best results. Thus, in hot weather and in all weather but that which is very cold, tho grain should be previously soaked for 24- hours and the water salted, but only moderately so. Butshrunken wheat or mill screenings when they are not musty and when they do not contain rotten or unsound grain are quite as good as clear wlieat, aud some say they arc better, ; because shrunken wheat kernels-eontaiu more j | of tho egg and flesh-making principle* than j ! pound ones.- But wo cannol always procure i wheat or 'wheat screenings, and then we must procure -tho best substitute. The following are good in the order named : — Barley., cats. cr?ckecl corn nnd whole -corn, and each and all should have the preliminary 24- hours' soaking. Buckwheat and tva will do very well as complements to the other grains, but when fed alone they aro unsafe; tho "former'be1 cause it is too stimulating, and the latter beI cause:it is too fattening and difficult of diges- ; tion. Meat, offal and scraps, 'broken victuals, vegetables and the like are valuable additions I to" the daily rations, but -they are unsafe if fed in large ouantities, for they not only injure tho health of the -fowls, but impair the quality and flavour of the eggs. Ono essential point which must not be forgotten in the make-up of the daily rationr— in cafe they t are not principally wheat and eour milk — tho constituent element of bones and eggshells jiuist bo furnished in the shape of burned | ! bonce broken small, or ground oyster shells. — New *35ngland Homestend.