POULTRY NOTES. By Terror.

Otago Witness, Issue 2390, 21 December 1899, Page 44

POULTRY NOTES. By Terror.

— Show birds will moult best if the sexes are separated, and it is a pretty general practice with breeders to shut the cocks — and, as the season advances, the most promising cockrek — apart by themselves, bo that their new plumage is not likely to be damaged. Such pens must be provided with good shade — trees or vines if possible, — and if several are side by side, the fences must be of iron, matting, or boards, at least 2ft in height, to prevent the birds fighting. As the new plumage grows it is most important in most breeds of show birds to keep them from the sun, and it is a common practice to keep them shut up in their houses except in tiie early morning, and for an hour or so in the evening. Far Ixitter than ordinary houses or sheds are bush houses, or shades of creepers and vines, which allow the birds the benefit of plenty of soft frdsh air, while keeping from them the sun and fierce wind. Too much shutting up, as may be expected, affects the health of tho birds, and liver trouble is a frequent conseqr.enee. To this may be attributed a great deal of the delicate health of show birds, and it would be well to consider the advisability of penalising pule or jaundiced looking faces at least equally with tanned plumage and peached lobes. Of course, this is taken into account in considering the condition of birds, but by many judges scarcely so much as it should be.

— Although there may be a decided difference between the form of diphtheria amongst poultry and that among human beings, some of the best authorities affirm that the fowl diphtheria can be transmitted to human beings, and that the dangerous disease from which human beincs suffer can be transmitted to the poultry. If this is true, it is certainly wise to exercise care in the handling of diphtheric poultry. It is almost impossible to apnlv local treatment to infected fowls, without the hands becoming contaminated, and it often happens that the foetid breath of the bird will be inhaled. The aim of the poultry breeder shoufd undoubtedly be to aim at cou-

trolling the disease at si very early stage, when it can be treated through the medium of the drinking water. The oanger of contagion is then minimised. Disinfectants should be freely used upon the hands after any infected fowls have been treated, and should any of the clothing come in contact with the discharge from the birds' nostrils or mouth, they should be removed at once and disinfected before being worn again, as clothing is in pome cases a medium of infection.

— Mrs Comyns-Lewes, the able editor and proprietor of the " Feathered World " (London), has been telling her impressions of the methods of American poultry raisers in a number of recent issues of her paper. Viewing the mechanical work of our breeders, especially on the big plants, she writes : — " In their knowledge of incubators and brooders, , and the extent to which these artificial aids are utilised, some of the farms visited came to me almost as a revelation, one of these having under one roof no less than 40 incubators, each of 360-egg capacity, with brooder houses on a similar large scale. The attention, too, paid in all yards visited to every airangement that might tend to economy of labour was in marked contrast to some happy-go-lucky methods I have seen at home. From the passage-way back of a single row of houses, or running between a double row of the same, an attendant can feed, water, and collect the 'eggs from a large number of fowls without entering any of the house 3, with a vast saving of time, and, therefore, money, over less carefully-planned places. In larger establishments a tramway runs from the food house above the outdoor runs for feeding, and a similar labour-saving appliance for serving food exists throughout the principal buildings." — A well-known poultry breeder writes to the Melbourne Leader: — " I was very pleased to see among your poultry notes a paragraph re pullets or hens for breeding. Most writers condemn the practice of breeding from pullets. In our experience we find we get equality good and as strong chicks from earlyhatched well-grown pullets as from hens of from one year old upwards. You will perhaps remember our first appearance in any show. This was at Essendon Show, in 1596, where we won first and second, special, and champion prizes in golden Wyandotte pullets, and first in «old cockerel. The special was for the best Wyandottes in the show, 64 birds competing, the judge and several others remarking on tho unusual size of the birds (eight months old). These three birds wei'e bred by a cockerel 10 months old from pullets nine months. We had only a trio the first year to breed from, so there could be no mistake. We set every egg those two pullets laid during the season, and we have never had chicks do better. Of course there is a vahfc difference between an early hatched, wellgrown pullet and a late, immature one. Those two Essendon pullets are still in our breeding pens, and it is from these that our best birds have been bred. I was very pleased to see your correspondent's letter re silver Wyandottes. There can be no question about the sterling qualities of tho Wyandottes, any colour."

— No man is justified in handling mongrel poultry — not m this day and age of the world. It is the same with poultry as with horses, or cattle, or sheep- — -the most money is to be made in producing thoroughbred or standardbred stock. It takes no more house room or yard room, no more feed, no more time and labour to raise 100 or 1000 pure blood fowls than it does to raise an equal number of mongrels, but the value of the product in one case ranges from twice to several times as much »3 in the other, according to your skill as a breeder, and the market you reach.

— Dear Terror, — Seeing a correspondent, "XYZ," wanted to know what he could do with a Spanish rooster that was getting his eight obscured, I will give you my experience. 11l the first place, having the rooster there is nothing for it but to cut away the growth. Great care must be taken not to cut too far into the eyelid, or ho might bleed to death. Wash carefully out, and place a bit of cotton wool over the eye, and put away from the other fowls for a few days. The cause of this obstruction is bad breeding. Never breed from a. bird having this fault, and on no account breed from a hen that is inclined to have an overhanging growth above the eye. Select birds with a fine, thin face rather than a big, coarse one, and you will get a more useful fowl than (what, I am sorry to say, they have gone in for at Home for some years past) a bird with nothing to recommend him but face. — I am, etc., J. ROSE. [I have to thank Mr Rose for his letter in reply to my correspondent of a week or two back. Authorities on Spanish fowls are few and far between in this part of the world nowadays, and we are fortunate in having at least one in our midst who has made a study of the subject, and who is aiming at reinstating this one-time favourite breed in its old position as premiei esttf producer. — TERROR.] — Dear Terror, — Would you kindly tell me through your Notes and Queries how to choose out hen oggs for setting to as to produce pullets?—BETSY. [There are many otherwise well-informed and experienced fanciers who would jrive a large sum of money to anyone who could give them the information "Betsy" asks for, but, so far, as I know, the question has never been satisfactorily answered, and I don't think it ever will be. For my own part, I shall be less sceptical in the matter of judging the sex of eggs when I meet with a breeder who can give reliable information concerning the sex of newly-hatched chicks. The latest pronouncement from the " Scientific World " is, I believe, that eggs are of no sex at all until they have been in a state of incubation some days, when they take a turn which decides whether the embryo will in due course crow o. lay eggs. For my correspondent's information, however, I may say that I know an experienced breeder who maintains that he can tell the sex of eggs by examining the air chamber at the large end of the egg. If the bubble is at the very end the chick will be male, if slightly at the side female. This theory will, I fear, however, prove unsatisfactory in practice where really frjesh — newlylaid eggs — are to be set, for when first laid eggs have no air chamber at all. — TERROR.]