FANCIERS' COLUMN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2649, 21 December 1904, Page 57

FANCIERS' COLUMN.

The Ouga-mtßeu har »eem- appoin-ed-the official orf»a o fee pn&licatioa-af annonneements at the • Dunedia, Fanciers On* ' "■> ..ANSWERS TO COBRESPOKDJSI^S. Fowls as a Hobby, Wellington. — Crooked neck in chickens just hatched is attributed to a variety of causes. In incubator chicks it 1 is sometimes thought to tie -due to_too>%h temperature, causing both crooked neck *nd misshapen legs.' Too much moisture is also thought to cause' crooked neck, owing to excessive pressure within the sheL making "it difficult for the chick to extricate iteelf soon enough after full development to prevent the, permanent hardening of the neck muscles into the bent position, in which the «hick reposes within -fee shell. Hatched under hens as -yours axe, however, and occurring in such numbers, it is evident that the cause must- be looked, for in "the breeding stock. Apparently your> chicks are constitutionally weak, probably through inbreeding. I saw a. number of Orpington chicks some years-back hatched from a* pen of birds ah obtained from Sydney eggs. The whole pen' were no doubt 'sired, by the one bird, and the cockerel was very,, possibly full "brother to some. of the hens. - The chickens from this pen hatched late, and several came, with crooked' necks. -• Through- being so long confined within the shell,, they — having' probably fully digested' the yolk — looked- large and healthy, as yours did, notwithstanding the deformity. The Reliable Poultry Journal of America answers a similar question to ycuxs as- follows: — Q,: What causes chicks to hatch with crooked necks? A.: The. cause is^ believed to be -a lack" of ■ vitality in tfie breeding stock. It happens that almost. all chicks so deformed are among the latest to hatch, and on that' account some poultrymen believe it is caused'ty their being- too long- confined in "the shell, giving time for- the muscles and muscular tissues to haiden. before- they assume their proper position. ' j