POULTRY NOTES. By Terror.

Otago Witness, Issue 2571, 24 June 1903, Page 49

POULTRY NOTES. By Terror.

The Dunedin Government Poultry Depot is unusually busy for the season of the year, and, contrary to last year's experience, the indications point to a still busier period. In view of the pessimism shown, in some quarters a« to th-o vaius of lands opened up by the Otago Central, it may be well to mention that a line of ducks just received from Mr M'lntosh, of Ida Valley, arc pronounced by the grader to have been the best lot of duek 3 lie has yet handled. Out of 100 head not one was rejected. — Mr P. Carolin, of Mornington, lias lost the Minorca occkerel respecting whioh I reported so favourably a few wcoks back, and has now to depend upon a decidedly inferior bird to uphold the honour of bis pens at chow time. In saying inferior, I mean, of course, in comparison with tho best bird, for as a matkr of fact Xo. 2 is a handsome bird — hard to fault. The Hendry hen which took first at the last Gore show, and which was passed at Duncdiu by Mr Maude, beoauise of being rather much spiked in comb, iis now looking evciry bit as handsome as in her pullethood, i>nd will, I doubt not, hold a g"bod pos.tion when exhibited. ' A couple of pullets bred from her will also take a lot of bea'ing.

— Mr Westland, of CavershaTn, has two magnificent cock-ere's in his Minorca penp Tho larger of tlic. two is excellent at all points barring that his logs are not exactly of Minorca type to my fancy, £md No. 2 Ls a good all-round bird. — Mr J. Renshaw, also of CavOTsham. has a Minorca cockerel of very racy type, beautiful in feather and correct at all pointa. This fanoiec ia an adopt at conditioning birds, and can be relied upon to chow them in the \cry b?st form.

— Mr Irvine, of South Dunedin, has, as u.rua 1 , a numb.r of birds (Minorcas) fit for exhibition, but this year he will depend upon pulk-ts to score. Of those he lieb three penned, *nd one or two in the yaid of ve-ry superior quality. l'hey are not noticeably large, but are well furniiiKd generally, — Tho seventh, annual show of the New South Walei Poultry Olub, said to be tho best end Largest of tho eoaison's big metropolitan shows, was opened on the 3rd hut. with 997 entries, as gdin.=t 1201 last year, and sb against nearly 900 for the forthcoming Timaru :-hcw -uid considerably over 1000 for the Chri»ic:rureh fixture. Apparently New Zealand poultry exhibitions bid fair to compare favourably with tl.ose of th^ Commonwealth in point of (number of entries, if not in quality. As to tho latter, I bupposc we must leave it ta others to speak.

— OiM! feature of t.Le evert mentioned wes % falling off in Mediterranean broedf — Minorca c-las^s particularly being few in number, but the quality is reported to have bc-en all right, and the winning' pullet in the class .scored for be-=t bird in the 6how. Tine Bona\enture Poultry Farm scored heavily in numerous c'as=cs, as did othe-r well-known brecdoie, the namw of J. E. Pemoll, L. I/. Ramsay. Dr T. Fia4,chi, and H. Cadell appearing throughout tho list. Wyandottc-s and Orpnißtoiw appear to have been tl o chief fca-turO; of the show.

— "Animal im-al" and dried blood (now supplied by Me.-strn Nimmo and Blair) are n eat products highly reoomm-oii'-lcd and much us°d on tho larg- poultiy plants of the United Stat.e for lo'h forcing growth ol ohickens and promoting layag in adult birdc The quantity rr<'omm<. ndo<.l to be given is one part anirral rn-eal to 25 parts soft food, and ono )>art to 20 parts other eoft food for chick < u-. Hy thoLr u^p. young bird 3 are ma<lo to lay on fle-h rapidly, and at the same time to form bone contspoiulingly, with the result t'"at leg weakness is obviated — tl o latter being a matter of iufficicut lmportanc? to interest both fanciers and brecJpiT, for Market. Ducks and fowk fed with "animal"' foods are n ;t only ready for market much =ooner than Svh&n fed on grain alone, but th'ir flesh is more tender and plump. Fanoiers now preparing their birds for show will find that tit© use of these foods rapidly promotes gr&wth of combs and wattles aj well as general grewth and .s r n^t'i ; and those seeking wrr — pa r 'iniC'r'v v. lirre green cut bone is ii .? p.o\: K'l- Will find gratifying results fclVlW l'~ T-C.

-- Tl"> 1 a it trp ic--t th-'ory is that the real i.\!,k> of t''> ("nfrAance is not that it c aSiep us to breed from the phenomenal

layers, but that it enables us to avoid breeding from the poor ones ! The trap nest shows us that amongst chicks from identical parentage there are 200-egg-a-year hens and 30-egg-a-ycar hens, and the object is to get rid of the latteT. How necsasary it is to do this ia the more evident when we contemplate the fact that Nature favours the poor layer, which is a reversion to original conditions. The 50-egg-a-year hen is, as a rule, Lardy, active, and vigorous, and her eggs aie fertile and hatch well ; ehe survives under conditions in which the 200-egg hen would die. All si c eats goes to ccmserve her own individual health and comfort, and all she lays is for the promulgation of her species. The poultryman whose object is to further his own interests rather than those of Nature h?s a constant fight to get rid of the 30-ogg hen, hence the trap nest should be welcomed by him. — In poultry raising conditions govern. Poultrymen should mskl^ a noto of this axiomatic faci and ever boar it in mind. Remembor it particularly when hearing of now housing and feeding met; ods. The question to a-sk oneself is: What are present results? — Even if those> recommencing new me-thod* get Letter results than you do, still don't change until you have reckoned the cost, for there may be more exp^ns-p- in the proposed new system without sufficient extia profit to warrant its being adopted. — Phenomenal layers are ©ftci\ what they are simply because they live under favourable conditions — i.e., hatched out early, well housed and fed, and always provided with facilities for exercise. A<? a eoncequenoe the hen starts to lay bo-fore the severe weather comes in, is able to continue without eet baol:, and, aided by spring and summer conditions, is ab'.e to keep up he.r strength fcufficie-ntly to go on with the process. In all this she is what she is. a phenomena! layer, not so much by heredity as by a combination of accidc-nte in bar life. If phe had been hatched later phe would have boen overtaken by winter before starting to lay, an'l as a consequence would — such is the rule — have postponed business till the spring. Her character as a layer is an acquired one. and those who breed from her ■with the expectaticsi of obtaining offspring of equal fecundity may more than li'ko'y be disappointed unless th<> n«w generation have precisely similarly favourable, conditions; not forgetting, of course, equal constitution to start with, which latter necesparv adjunct is unlikely if the motheT overlaiel her strength. One of the greatest authorities in biology. Adolph Wei?mann, Jays it down as a fact in the theory of heredity bhut acquired characters, such as tho«e above record-d, are not eapablo of transmission, end that only those that aro coratitutiona.!, congenital, or germinal can be handed down. — The Wellington Poultry, Pigeon, and Canary show takes place on tho 2nd, 3rd, rod 4th July. Every likely section is fully catered for separately — the- only noticeable exception being "that buff Leghorns, whioh threaten to be popular, will have to be satisfied with incorporation in the d'&ss for Leghorns, any othsr colour. An art union is run in connection with this show. The judges are : for poultry, Messrs A. .Doig and J. Oasey; G. Remingtrra for turkeys, ducks, and ge*£e ; ,Mr W. H. Smith for pigeons ; and Mr F. E. Cooper for canaries and cage birds. — The Southland Poultry, B : rd, Pet. and Dog show ia scheduled for the 29th and 30th July, and entries close on Saturday, the 11th of that month. The last statement is mentioned in two conspicuous pla*^, and in large type, in two parts of the schedule, and the result should be the prevention of much correspondence on the part of the secretary and misunderstandings on the part of exhibitors AH the usual olasj-e<? frenera.lly arranged foT by leading societies nre provided for in all sections. The secretary is Mr R. Olark, P.O. Box 87, Inurearffill. The judges are: for poultry, Mr F. Dacre, of Ohristehurch ; pigeon and pete. Mr A. F. Clark; dogs, Mr G. E. Wharton. — I noticed a paragraph in your column on tho preservation of eggs a short time ago, and if you think it will be of interest to your readers — and I think all farmers ought to be — the following information may give some encouragement to them as eggs were selling at 6d and 7d din Maniototo the most of the rummer. I have iu.-?t sold in one deal to one firm in Dunedm 600 dozen preserved eggs at Is 3d per dozen, which is probably tn e larfffefc single deal ia tho 1 lie. which has taken plac-. in Mauiototo, and I have still some le-ft. This you can Bee is hotter thsm selling at 6d or 7d during the s\imxner months. Tho actual outlay i.= about id per dozen ; that dop» not include labour, whioh. is not a great d<~a.l. Some of these eggs were preserved in ovo. some in prewrvita*, and some in Jlr Sprosen's eggine. I will be only too glad to give anyone intfresied all tho information I can im. the matter. I am sure that, farmers generally wilJ thank Mr Clunie for his information. Jpvident'y tlio poultry industry will be an important one in Maniototo and the Ida VnlW .libtnet shortly, judging by thf splendid ducks now arriving from there in Hun<x'in. Mr Cluni-e is to be congratulated on the siicce-SH which has so far attended li:e enterprise in establishing the fir<-t poultry farm in Maniototo, and we hope he will go on and prosper. That Mr Clunie is a sucoe?<sful farmer in other directions, may bo reali^ptl when it is stated tliat at the la.^t Dunodin winter phow he managed to ECinex two thiid prize 6 for oats — viz., Danish and Garton. — Drar Terror, — Two good young pullets died this week. On opening them we found one kiclm^v in each was ve-ry much diseased, being 1 fwoll-em and veiry dark in colour, almost black. Can you tell us the cause, and if theri* is any euro? All thp> other organs wore, quite healthy. Tlio fowls were drooping about tliw* or four dav.s, but were a Sftiod wciffht \vhp.n thry diod. They were fed on wheat, oats, fresh meat, milk, and pepper, and had a praas run, and; also lime nnd ashes to dust themselves in. and rnrnint; water tluoueh their yard. — A Reader of Poultry Notes. [I bops I ■will bo pardoned for sa-\ing that I fancy my correspondent has mistaken some other organs for the kidneys. The kidneys of a fowl are iong and flat, and imbedded in tho back and aro so generally overlooked in dissecting that it is commonly supposed that tho fowl lacks them altogether. Anyway, I conjecture that the birds spoken of aro .sufT-erins' from congestion of one or other organ, probably the liver, through overfeeding, and would recommend the discontinuance of pepper. Give loz of glanbor salts dissolved in hot wat^i, and mixed with tlie food for 20 fowls, if more fowls axe fed of course increase the amount of salts accord ingly Repeat tho dose say twice a wc«k for a month.]