POULTRY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2506, 2 April 1902, Page 54

POULTRY NOTES.

Bt Terror.

— Attention is directed to the bargains offered by J. F. Roberts and Co . Abbot*foid. Mr Roberts has a reputation for keeping only the best in tho breeds he fcuours. and his prices are certainly of the "popular" order. — Dear Terror,— Could you tell me if many men are employed at the Government Poultry Farm, or any other poultrj' farm? Coulcl you say how much a young fellow (19) would get for wages, and to whom apply to get on the Government farm at Milton? I sent in tho above questions before, but you were awaj- on your tour. — I am, etc., Bantam. — Whose strain? I saw a couple of very nice Minorca pullets at Mr Wilson's, Waitati, last wcok. On .being asked what I thought of them, I remarked that they reminded mo very much of some I had seen at Mr Irvine's South Dunedfci pens. "That'a where I got the -eggs from," "was the rejoinder. This is what should be. Every breeder of any reputation should have a recognisable strain, and if it can be so managed, that, like Mr Irvine's, it is a good laying strain, so much the better. —It is lenorted • that Mr Harwood has resigned the .secretaryship of the English Minorca Cub. This will be a serious loss, I should saj', to the club, as Mr Harwood was, e\en in the colonies, a very popular secretary. —An egg when it is laid is a wet egg (the shell is wet), and the longer you can keop an egg wet the fresher it will remain. This i.5 a truth, expounded, I (believe, for the first time, and has never before appeared in print. Why do we hear so much, especially through the winter months, a?out bad and stale eggs? We know that hens, with all their faults, never lay stale eggs : we also know, to our cost, that but few hens during the wjiter lay any eggs at all, good or bad ! Then where do we get our stale British egg? from? We stupidly make them stale by drj' storing. If all British eggs were wet stored the day they were laid, suc'i a thing as a bad or even indifferent egg would become a novelty, a curiosity, instead of 'being an everyday article of commerce. We all know that an egg becomes stair by keeping, but let r^" arlcj, 'by improper keeping. If an egg is kept a week it is tar from fresh ; if kept a month it becomes very stale, even objectionable; if kept three or four mccithfl it becomes what is termed " the egg," " shop egg," " the foreigner," " not warranted," or to be more precise, the bad or rotten egg! We all know what dry I storing is when we look at a ! lot of eggs in a shoo window, or upon a siielf iv the farmer's larder. We? storing is the placing of eggs the day they are laid in glass water, and leaving them there until they are sold or required for immediate use. It mattars uot whether they have been "wet stored a week, a ; month, or even five or wx months, they continue equally fre^h and always 'good alike. Surely this is a matter of some importance to the British farmer, the shopkeeper, and to every housekeeper? Theie is one way, and only one way, of forcing our farmers and shopkeepers to practise a little care and attention c.i the freshness of the egg.3 they supply. Let all housekeepers refuse to purchase Brit if h e^ijs from any shop unless they see them taken wet out of the preserving pan, and let all shopkeepers refuse to take in farmers' eggs x \eept with a guarantee that they have ah Ibeen wet stored the day they were collected from the nests There is no more trouble to wei store than to dry store, tho only difference being pracing the eggs in a dry box or basket ai the one case, and into a bucket one-third filled with water glass in the other instance. Where then is the extra labour? Lime water has, for a century or more, been used in many private families as a preservative, but water glass is far better. Tho American and our own agricultural experimental farms f.ul colleges have conclusively proved that glass preserved eggs, even after six months' storing were as nearly equal to a " new laid " as a pref-erved egg can p0.5sJbly be. Eggs kept in lime water after several months' immersion are apt to partake of a limey flavour. aJid are only useful for kitchen purposes, but not for the egg cup. I can speak personally as to the efficacy of water glass, for I have just finished two 9gal barrels- of eggs, which 1 s-o preserved Ia c t spring ant! summer. These fgg= r roved as sound fiiid good as when I stored them nearly six month" back; and, indeed, many of thorn when the top was removed, retained that "milky" matter so characteristic of an egg taken .-.traight from the nest. All foreign and imported eggs are of necessity more oi les« stalo and of unceitain age, having been laid vref-ks and tomr-times months before they n-acli our market,. But the foreigner is more alive to his own interest than we arp, and already they arc beginning to practice thf> wot storing in water glass, and unices wo iiif-nd our ways the clay is tiot far distant whon the stale, dry-stored egg will bet onio thf '-ppciahty of tho British fj-.-mor and '•hopkoeppr It took ?0 T-ars before our farmoi- <ould be induced to adopt, c\on hore and thcie. tho Dutch factory fi.y-.tom to s-ecuic a good butter of uniform quality: how many year-, will it take u>- 1-cfore we ■ hal trouble om=ohes to prp-oio\e the fic-''ii -s of our csq-? As water glass is now nn ai tide of commerce and quite rlir-ap. lot u= hope that a jar of it may *-oon !■> (ome a r:\turo in tho lardor or ptorcrooin of all householders in town or country, who c<-":i aprcciate a fresh egg in preference to a. more or less stale or bad or:—Fanoior-' Gazette. — The American Poultry Herald, jivst to hand, contain-, a summary of recent researches respecting egg preservatives made at the Stat« Experiment Station of Montana: — ''With a view of testing the relative valuo }f hmo and salt mixture- and water gla-s a,, egg preservatives, we pick'cd about 60 dozen egg-, in two lot=. The mixtures were: Xo. I—Lime,1 — Lime, frc->h. o^lb : salt, 421b ; water, Bgal. No. 2.— Water gla's ; cne part water glass to 13 parts water. Tlie.-ie eggs remained in the .-olution for about six months When examined the v.atrr glas- \va^ found to bo the bo-t picklo, although tho lime nnd >-'ilt served it-, pin po'c \cry well ; still, thj white 1 - of tho eggfe presei\cd in tin-: mixture wcix- much j

more watery than the whites of those pJ*» served in the water glass. These were diff> cult to distinguish from fresh eggs, sinctf the white was quite firm and yolk stood up upon it just as though freeh. Another advantage in the water glass is that it does not seem to affect the shell of the egg as the lime mixture — eggs from the lime acid salt mixtur? being much more liable to crack, either it. cooking or handling. • We do not fox r. moment advise the selling of preserved ejgs for fresh-laid, but we have no hesitancy in saying that when the market finds that these preserved eggs seem almost as good as the fresh eggs, it will certainly be willing to pay a price I which will leave a good cash margin in j favour of pickling. Water glass or sodium silicate is a liquid of a smooth, slippery consistency readily soluble in water. The water used should be quit© pure, and if not it must be boiled. The jar should be covered to exclude any dirt, and keep at the temperature of p. cool cellar. Sometimes the specific gravity of tho solution is greater than that of the eggs, in which case the tendency will 'be for them to' float, when they may be forcod clown by a plate or similar airangement with a weight on top." — " Improve the quality of your poultry *' thould be the watchword of every poultrykeeper. The necessity for improvement should be recognised, not oily by the breeder of pur© stock,- but also by those who keep poultry for general purposes. .If 'fowl? are kept for the purpose of egg production, the owner should endeavour to improve their egg-producing qualities by 'tire addition of stock from noted laying strains and varieties. The cost of this does note amount to much, and if the egg 1 productionof the general flock of hens i» increased 20 to 25 per cc.it. through the addition, thp money, if judiciously laid out, should be well spent. — A bag full of good stone lime exposed j to the .iir gradually resolves itself into a ! very fine powder, and just a little of this , sprinkled round the roosts every day is 1 splendid for keeping the fow'house sweet nnd nice. One cannot drench the house \ with liquid dis'afeotant e\ery day, though j it is good to do walls, roof,- and all, once a fortnight or thereabouts, bt-.t the powdered air-slaked lime is easy to use, and only nominal in co-st. It may not be generally known that air-slaked lime make's better whitewash than that which is waterslaked, but it must not be too old. Speaking of lime reminds one that lime water is absolutely the best and most convenient remedy for diarrhoea amongst chickens. Limo water is simply a saturated solution of lime— air slaked for preference — and may be made by putting a tabletspoonful into a quart jug of water, and frequently stiv- ! ring it, for 24 hours, afterwards letting it j settle, and pouring off the absolutely cfeav liquor. It should be added to the drinking water in the proporticu of one to four; in severe cases it may \>o increased to onehalf — Poultry-keepers should give the repa.ring of the fowlhouses their attention clrri ing the nxesent month. Tho whole of tha ! buildings should be subjected to a thorough examination, and everything nut in order before- the winter arrives. A few palings and a pound or two of nails will go a, lonj; way in this respect, and the money is well spent. Many birds lose their lives through leaky roofs, exposure to.- draughts, etc.. during the eokl weathpr, and these loreea could be easify 'prevented by paying attention to necessary repairs at the right time. The housing- of poultiy during cold and wet weather is quite as important as a correct syetem of diet, and poultry-keepers will ficid that it pays to provide warm and comfortable quarters for their stock. Somo people argue that fowls do better in the open air, even during the winter months, and they contend that it is their natural state to bo out in the weather. But poultry will do far better with proper accommodation, consume less food, and produce more eggs, than when they are allowed to roost on trees, fences, etc , during the winter months. —Of all tho crieil© 1 : 5.' oorr'-t'C poultry" turkeys have the chsracie.- o f 'zn.ig in? nv-Vi difficult (o rear. It.i-v r ihs n,oii attention, durirg l'\e er.r' : ". ytsgoe of thc-ir growth, and if Ihls ai U -. c".^.-. le lie p.-.ici ti:e probabilities arc ita.v. vhsre w/:l b& a vny arious los?. In the first pi.^e, it is moc-i imporla i f that bin' 1 ! raised Uictid iuive Efficient e^pce, a3 i f id aV< *;n-e"y ii^eleos attoaipting to rea" iui-'-ceys in v_ 'l.mted mil. This is wherp pouH'v L>:-?ec>v. .»:ake ..• /nirtako. and when fsi'ure n:r- - them they put it down to, every cause but the nghf one. It miij. be reme-mbti a d ..hat ihc cwrkey Is r-^lly tho last of oa.- iic Tsr-c'c f>rw!s thai has been brought from its »vild Ktate unde? domestication, and f hr> infiuion of fresh blood from America intrt-^u'e : again some of .ue wilder iiistijirt 1 . -si vhu... <:.s ii>o A-s^r^a.') w'd turkey is :ii!o7ireJ to rca-: where it ,-. :!1. con&nc-aien, rv_-;5c !f l.i-i ':>i lieto pine R.id r*i?. It 'hai '.::<^-i r- l-j^-r.y c. t lay gr«;' °trer~ upon iia\ ng ■* /!?.• <-oU rpon wi.lcli to r:»ar turke)-.'. W'.a.. 1- v-^% of rdl 'o bo doslrcd i- that fie ro-' -bf.'.l be porous, rarry.ng off the water op^fdl'y. an:l not bo heavy olav Warmth !3 al.-o »3 bcritial, and a cole l bleak o'.a'-e \.oukl r.oi be ,uitable for this nurpose. Some districts are more suitable for rearing turkeys, became from the nature of the «oil insects and prul>-« a.iv most plentiful. a;>d w, the tyrksvs fce'l en th'-a? to a larpe <-\'-->.u, t!>?y thui thma better than when- Mi«y nr? scarcer.