POULTRY NOTES. Br Terror

Otago Witness, Issue 2516, 4 June 1902, Page 49

POULTRY NOTES. Br Terror

— Tho output of the local Government Poultry Department for the month of May was IS3 cases, containing 3050 birds. For tho corresponding month last year the figures were 57 cases, containing 992 birds. Large as the increase is, it would probably have been much greater had not the price to the farmers been lowered during the latter portion of the month. It is a great pity, in view of the fact that this business promised really gr&at things, that lack of shipping facilities alone should prove a serious drawback. Though the demand in South Africa is as great as ever— indeed, eve-n with direct shipment in full swing it cannot be fully overtaken— the freezing chambers b till hold large quantities of birds, all r.'pre=&nting capital lying idle. Under the circumstances, exporters cannot be blamed for drjiw ing their purse-strings somew hat closely.

— Entries for the Christchurch show closed last week, and by all accounts they have been sufficiently numerous to warrant the expectation of a r?cord show. Many birds are going from Dunediu, and as heretofore let us hope they will do credit to t'ueir owner?. — Owing to an error in the schedule ot .ii-izis of the Gore Fanciers' Club, it was made to appear rhat the club's annual show was to be "held on the 11th and 12th of .liu.e. This should have been the 11th and 12th of July, which were the dates appointed to the club by the association. The L-!ub have the Minorca championship this year, and the show promises to be a great succ ess.

— Mr Wes=tlnnd, of Caversham, is, stronger than ever this year with his Minorcas. Amongst lm pullets two from Tonar's eggs and three of Forrester's strain (Melbourne) are of exceptional quality. The two firstmentioned — providing their combs come ail right — are amongst the finest I have seen lias season. In cockerels he has several good ones, bred mainly from imported eggs, the best of the lot being a Tonar bird, faulty in eye only. The cock bird, winner of tl ird at la=t oliow, vill stand high at our next fixture. He is just Maude's fancy. - Mr F. Stoddart, Mosgiel. whose pen I -aw in the owner's absence last Saturday, take.- the cake thio season, to my fancy, in pullet-, three being ideal birds. I could not fault thorn at any point. His cockerels, however, are not quite tho shape or size deM ruble.

— Mr Grant's birds, at which I also had another look, are progressing amazingly Mt Grant was again out (all Mosgiel was ap-pai-cntly at the bazaar), so I am still unable to speak of the breeding ot his stock, but I may lay that he has a wonderful show of Minorca cockerels. Taking after their sire — a Rogen importation — most of them, 16 or 18 in number, are handsome, darkeyed birds of good size, nice long backs, good tail carriage, a;*d strong head points. Strange to ay, th« fin^t bird of th» lot is light-eyed. I pm talcing a ,great deal this sfason of eyes in Minorcae, becauw. as all know, Mr Maude insist? upon this point being right. Amongst the pullets tf>f*re are aomo fair birds; thov will be easiei to judge ucirer show time.

— Mr Peter Sirclair is rapidly reducing hii stock of white Leghorns and Wyandottes (white and Filver). Apparontly he is parting wuh all without r«verve. but having bred «omewhat heavily lie lias still quite a mob to dispose of. Tho«n in seaich of a hiving; strain, and who at the same time would like .stock of first-cla->s show quality, cr.miol do better than avail themselves ol tins faiiL-ier's prpcent necessity. T?uc for tho good of the fancy we ■•annot help hoping thut Mr Sinclair wilt soon find what he is looking for — viz, suitable premi a c 3 mote convenient to his business.

— Without withdrawing my remark above respecting three of Mr Stoddart's pullets. I would say that the prettiest pen of puller*, taken as i whole. I have seen this season is Mr .Sprosen"B No 1 pen, of some eight or nine birds. Th*"<e are mainly bred from hi, third prize pullet of last year and a ''Smail" cockerel, and aro as even-looking a lot as can bo seen around Dunodin Providing then present heavy laying does not put them too far back, {here .should be a winner amongst them.

— Mr Spro«en favours me with tip follow inp record of the laying of five Lang-hau pullet* duriue: the month of May: — six day^, 5 e^-gs (all laid> : st-veii days. 4 eggs : nine doy^, 3 egg? : s>ix days, 2 eggs ; one day. 1 eps, : nnn daj, none; total for month. 98. — Following up their exceedingly liberal pnzp money of la»t year, the Oamaru Society, in addition to the usual prize money, offers &ome £60 in nold medals, cups, and trophies Taken all round, the classification ia good. Mr G. M. Bruce will judge ducks, geese, turkeys, and Dorkings; Mr G. JFomkin pigeons and pets ; Mr J. Mitchell game and bantams ; and Mr A. S. Palmer all other classes. Mr W. D. Burns i* still the secretary, and entn'es will close with him on June 29.

— Fancier? will learn with regret that Mr A Hendry lost his imported Minorca cock » fortnight a?o. In the evening the bird

was in splendid health. 0 •p-t^foci „ *rure£. and next morning he was found deal, in hisf coop by his owner. —An account of the aggregate number o£ poultry in the United State* has beea issued. Of the 5.7CQ.000 faruis, 5,100,C«;0 reported the total number of fowls three months old and over as follows: — 233,600,00(1 chickens, 6,700,000 turkeys, 5,700,000 geese,4>800,000 ducks. The vaiuoof this poultry was estimated at £17,100.000. The eggs' produced during the year 1900 were nearly 16 billions, valued at £28,860,000, and the value of the poultry reared and sold was £56,240,000. This would make the average number of eggs per hen about 65, but, of course, fowls of all ages and sexes are included in the return. The . report states that the- poultry industry is % one of the", largest in connection with agriculture, and? , the figures certainly bear o\it the assertion. • The extent of some of the poultry farms in the United States may be gauged when it is known that on some of them 82 incu-^. bators of 200-egg capacity each are usediduring the hatching season, whilst many" others have from 30 to 50 regularly working during the s&ason.

— The practice of giving a similar fixed quantity of feed to every pen is to be deprecated from two points of view. First," what would be enough for some varieties' would be too niuch for others, and thi'ts the. best laying qualities of the birds- will no in every case be shown. Again, it affords no data for ascertaining the number of eggs laid in proportion to the cost of feed- . ing. It ie in the natural order of things • that the birds laymsr the greater weightof eggs will consume the more feed, but it' may happen— in fact, often does happen in * actual experience — that some birds consume r far more feed than is commensurate with the increased supply of eggs. Another feature open to improvement in the laying competition which lias been previously referred to in this journal is the method of arriving _ at the ultimate result by calculating the number of eggs as against the greatest aggregate weighty Beyond question, this gives the layers of comparatively small eggs an undue advantage, and it is surprising that owners of Hamburg^ did not perceive this and ptit in a. few entries. Tha weight limit would not exclude many Hamburg eggs if a good strain were chosen.

— Dried eggs are placed on the American market by several firms, and are- said to ha a success in every way. The eggs are broken into a churning machine, and when, thoroughly worked up are evaporated and* dried. They are reported to keep perfectly, and are said to tafrte "precisely like fresh eggs.' 1 Tho addition of water is required when they are used. Tliis neiv industry, if the reports are correct, offers & vast field for interprise and oapital, as the demand for dried egga, particularly hx Alaska, on fcho frontiers," and on board ship, is increasing rapidly, and is practically un-< limited.

— Gandersheim, a, German village, has recently been en fete. The occasion wasthe honouring of a hen which had laidC its thousandth egg. Many of the houses, were decorated with flags, while, in i;hel evening the proprietor of tho lien enter-. Gained his friends at supper, at which the principal dish was a gigantic omelet. The, function was a splendid success, and the health of the hen was drunk with great enthusiasm.

—In the. Feathered World, Mr E. Cobh has the following instructive answers: — Buying eggg is a lottery, and I never advise the* purchase of such when it ia desired to breed!' really good exhibition specimens. I would*" far sooner have a really good trio of wellmated birds than £50 worth of egga. — Practically it does not matter wliirh, side of the face a Minorca pullet's conih hangs. The great thing is to get it ta hang well. Again, the number of serrations (provided there are not too many)' is immaterial. The chief point is to gefe the serrations broad and of wedge-shape l> not round like a pencil. The standard says from five to seven serrations.

— Leg weakness frequently happens with pullets — duo to the fetraiu on the system, of forming and producing eggs. Place th« bird in an exhibition pen, or similar small 1 abode, on clean, dry straw. Feed as usual, but administer daily a teaspoonful *of rod* liver oil and 10 drops of colchicum wineSee that the bird m free of insects.

| — One of thoso affairs which really agitate the hiarh officials of state as no so-called: political crisis can ever do, says the Paltf Ma.ll Gazette, has been happily settled oft the othpr side of the Channel. There were ducks in the Luxembourg Gardens — ducks that had been fed by the generous hand: of M. Loubet when President of the Senate. Stern men had announced their disfeatisv faction at the Bum these ducks cost the; i State, and were prepared to hand over the ■ innocent creatures to the bitter fate of a | poulterer's shop. But the President has j intervened. The ducks which he had so oftcu fed shall never be seen on the merci- , lejs tables of carnivorous men. The Director of Domains has been seen by thp President on the subject, and the ducks will I now pas* a hiDpy and untroubled existence in the Versailles Canal. France breathes j atrain nt thi« fortunate settlement of an affjir tb^ threatened her peace-. It ia j indeed good that thot-e ducks, hallowed by, t!'e P'-ps'donnal up-bringing, should he pre served from becoming food. They are- nov ! fjcrosanct, as t!ie poet sings — A stfk. a piece of orange-peel, The etuiup of a. cigar, Once tiodden by a princely heel, How boautiful they are! AAIERIC'AN INCUBATOR. EXPERIMENTS. The following is a summarised report oj oxpeiiments earriwl out at the Rhode Islanc pxperimentjil btition, under the direction of the Secretary of Agriculture. The repori--re'ates to those disease* which incubatoi chickens arc liable to when not properly cared for. In the summer if 1899 826 dead chickens from incubators were examined. Few-erf male 3 died than females, th© proportion being 387 to 439. Post mortem examinations indicated that the diseases of incubato*' chickens may be classified under four beads;. Diseases due to heredity or environment, td. mechanical causes, to imperfect sanitation/ and to improperly-balanced 'ration. Alters nare periods of heat and cold during im cubation bring about a considerable percem tage of abnormalities, 33 per cent, of th« chickens examined indicating a trouble ojS this origin. Diseases- due to heredity mayi be the result of congenital weakness result;^ inp in special susceptibility to sickness or mi malformations. Tuberculosis among cbickenai wa- in several cases contracted after hatch*' ing, through the infected brooder. Another sort of constitutional weakness is a failuroi ti absorb the yolk at the proper tim«-A Poultry-raisers freauently complain <*It

'•bowel trouble" as an important cause of death among incubator chickens, and this "trouble" was found to be caused by^ the non-absorption of the yolk, which happened in a large proportion of the chicks which died before hatching, and in 13.3 pei cent, of the hatched chicks abnormalities of the yolk sac were cotioed.

Many deaths occurred from overcrowding, or trampling and suffocation, in the brooders. The fatalities due to imperfect sanitation are more- important. Tuberculosis, according to the observations of the authors, was found in 15.1 per cent, of the dead chicks, tubercles being found in the lungs of 113 leases, on the walls of the heart in five cases, and on the intestine in one case. It was found that removing the "hovers" and Getting them out of doors in full sunlight reduced the presence of tuberculosis to a Ijonsiderable extent. The lungs were [found to be congested in 243 cases, or 29.4per cent. The greatest number of deaths (resulted from improper feeding — 75.6 per )oent. manifesting abnormality in the gall bladder. In such cases the green gall stains the adjacent organs, or even the abdominal wall, and a green area is to be seen on the outside of the abdomen, close to the Ipjosterior edge of the breast-bone. Experiments were conducted to determine the B»ygienic effects of different rations, 219 chicks being placed in four pens under eimilar conditions. AH pens were fed as much as they .would eat for 30 days. One pqen was fed, a diet of equal- parts of egg, j iiver, and grain, boiled together and chopped j •fine, with an addition of shced onion, oat | sprouts, etc. The mortality was 3.9 per «ent. The second pen -was fed on grain and green stuff, all animal proteid being omitted. The mortality was 9.5 per cent. The third pen was fed on grain alone, with « resulting mortality of 32.7 per cent. The Jfourth pen was fed on egg, liver, and green •tuff, all grain being omitted. The mortality was 63.7 per cent. > . The general conclusions of the bulletin xnay be stated as follows: — Careful examination of dead chicks will usually disclose the cause of death. Death from overcrowding can easily be corrected. In "order to reduce 4Jie amount of tuberculosis the brooder should be given as much ■ sunlight and air «s possible. Disorders of the" liver and gall bladder may be recognised from the green stain. In order to prevent this more animal food should be given. Diarrhoea is frequently the result of feeding a too-large proportion of animal food.