POULTRY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2652, 11 January 1905, Page 31

POULTRY NOTES.

Bx Terbob.

1 —From reliable sources I gather that, ' ow,ing to losses suffered by exporters last season, there is little -prospect of the comparatively high prices ruling last year being paid this year for poultry for export. Actualities, however, will of course depend, a| heretofore, more upon the necessities of buyers than upon their wishes; and for the good of the growers, who, there is every reason to believe, have bred largely upon the promise of last season, it is to be hoped rthtffc the demand which Mr Hyde alleges to exist will operate in their favour. In the real interests of farmers I do not, however, advise holding on to their birds for high prices, for I have always held that 'it is better to realise upon consuming stock directly they cease to be remunerative, ■whatever price offers, for little good results from 3d extra at a cost of 4d extra feeding. — Messrs Waters, Ritchie, and -Co. (per Mr .Edwin Reilly), Crawford street, report:—^Poultry, supplies have come -forward 'freely 'the pjjSt week,- and we cleared' all our consignment ■ ..at I .the - following, prices : — Young roosters in 1 -strong demand, 3e 3d' to " 4s' 6d •'• ducklings,, fair demand, light and poor, 3s-to.3s.6d';rjgopd birds,-, well, grown, 4s ed-to ss; ducks, off sale, 3s to 3s 6d; : hem-, fair demand, 2s 6d to .3s 3d; geese, i off "yale," 5s per pair ; " turkeys— 4iens, S3 ;"_ I gobblers, 8& per 1b ; eggs in 'fair, demand ' at 9d per- dozen, at, which price .we placed large consignments for export. Export ■ poultry. — We are now arranging our orders, and will shortly advise export prices for ducks, chickens, hens, geese, and turkeys. — The annual laying competition of the ! Utility Poultry Club (Eng.) was begun on !> October 10. Black Langshans headed the ilist for the first four weeks, four pullets i producing 42 eggs, and scoring 83 points. White Wyandottes were second, with 44 egg's; scoring 81 .points. In the latter -instance the loss of points was occasioned by | the comparatively smaller size of the eggs. | — According to the opinion of Mr J. JK. I Felch, J a leading poultry writer in America, the best food for laving hens is as follows : — 801b maize, 151b "oats, 101b wheat, 101b barley, and 151b wheat bran, thoroughly, mixed together and fed moist. Twentyfive per cent, of meat food may be added with good results. — The would-be successful poultry man must be a good feeder. By good feeder we do not mean a heavy feeder, but correct feeder. No matter how good the breed may be, or how pure, it will prove a failure , without proper feeding. Now, perhaps, someone, will expect us to follow that _ remark with a set of rules for good feeding. But, instead, we wish to say that feeding is a science that has to be learned just like any other science. The closer we follow Nature in the feeding of fowls the better we are likely to get on in the poultry business. And in . the v natural state fowls are largely -insect (meat) eaters. It is only in the, late autumn and winter that wild fowl i are grain" eaters. Then in the wild ] state every instinct of maternity has passed ' out .off the gallinaceous mind. The fowls nave past off their young, and have Exit one desire — to lay on fat against the day of •• short forage and, severe cold. It is only with the return of warmth and a supply of ' vegetable and animal (insect) food that the instinct for maternity revives and_ egglaying begins. — "Clarion," Sydney Mail. — Writing from England, Mr W. L. Rae says: — The success of the Orpington as an all-round utility fowl is proverbial, but the fact that 838 of these birds were exhibited in London on the same dates is a proof of their marvellous popularity. The 715 Wyandottes also found a wonderful proof of the vitality of the Wyandotte fancy. Old English game fowls have completely ousted their long-legged relations from the j show pen, as 356 of the former were shown, against 152 of the modern type. The success j of the utility breeds at all our big shows is an indication that poultry-keeping is an increasing industry amongst us, and if the present methods of promoting the breeding of poultry are continued, they must in time make a difference in the enormous trade , now done in foreign eggs and poultry. Egg- ] ' collecting depots are now being established i all over England, and the fattening process, ! hitherto almost exclusively confined to the county of" Sussex, is now largely carried on in most of the poultry-rearing districts. The low price at which incubators, rearers, and other appliances can be obtained has greatly developed poultry-keeping on up-to-date lines.

— Writing of the sale of this season's champion in England, the Stockkeeper says:— The United Wyandotte Club held their show at Wood Green. Champion, trophies and a host of specials were awarded. This undoubtedly was the best Wyandotte show we have seen this season. It was sensational in character, and, as is well known, a record was created in price. The Dairy partridge cockerel was purchased at auction by a lady who gave the fabulous sum of £165. Gelds were a grand section;

! Mr C. Preston scored with his champion i gold cockerel, also hen, whilst Mr O. F. Bates secured the winning card in pullets. Mr O. Duxbury showed us a brace of magnificent old gold cocks. Mr C. Preston won in silver coekfl and hens with a brace of beauties, whilst Mr Bates captured the cockerel and pullet classes. We have seen far better quality at a club show. Buffs pencilled and laced, followed. Whilst tne buff makes but little improvement, the pencilled are gradually growing in favour by coming in leaps and bounds. No wonder this pretty variety is so popular. There were 16 cocks and "oookerels and 22 hens or pullets in the two classes allotted — We announce a sensational deal (says the same paper). The Dairy winning partridge Wyandotte cockerel, claimed by Messrs Abbot Bros, for £50, was resold by them £• M l j ohn £ co for £60 ' wh ° exhibited this bird at the Alexandra Palace Show winning first and special, and which was claimed by Miss C. Rilofc at the record price of £165. This is a great compliment bred le the rS bifd OOre ° f KeisU «*' wh ° . —The breeding of poultry for egg-farm-du g rint iL kC MV Xte " d Ve^ oonsflerabTy aTTJL?? M€X * i fe 7 y€ars - The Production tro.ffi , for marketing purposes entails leas trouble^to the poultry keeper, besides returning him cash week affcenweek. There is a constant demand for eggs, and although SS d i the S xcess quantity can be controlled by producers preserving the surplus | now- cot for fresh eggs, and therefore ifc wmm — The general usefulness of a breed w SLJi -ii he comparison of certain lS rinn^lr in n^lZ thAs't hA5 ' <*«"«* been eJafe - .tetter country for many years and a considerable portion of the annual revenue derived Jby Canada and tf£ UnS egge. .Line breeding is practised by many owners for- the foundation of their "Ttook of poultry, and breeding for layine mir poses alone-has-led to the production of 2- s ™ <*-«™*l varies in the kSpers. g nVmUr Of » oultr r fi1 l?,^ c f £ a ™S 'been written upon the subject of-hne breeding durin" the la<^ few years, I am glad to^have come acrS ar '.excellent and easily understood chart which may be taken as a guide, and which Witness repr ° duce m next issue of the rn .~ "Utility," of the Melbourne Weekly limes, writes:— A very common complaint with poultry is acute dysentery or diarrhoea. Though this may occur at all seasons of the year, it is more prevalent in ,warm weather. One frequent cause of this ailment is impure or stagnant water, and the remedies in cases of this kind require to be strong and quiok in their action, or death will speedily occur. The best- treatment is to administer chlorodyne m doses varying from four to six drops according to the size of the fowl, repeating it <3v«3rjr six hours until imnrovement can. be noticed. It should be gfven in a little sweet milk, and in very severe cases the dose may be repeated in four hours instead of six. Another cause of diarrhoea is an inflammation or heat set up by hard masses of foreign, substances accumulating in in gizzard, preventing the organs from doing thoir work properly. Oil is the better remedy to use in cases of this kind, and salad oil will bo found a useful aid in removing" obstructions. A teaspoonful may be given at once, repeating every day for three or four days "if necessary. Another form of dysentery is brought about by irregular feeding. Birds travelling a long distance by rail to shows, etc.. have often to go without food for a considerable time. They acquire an abnormal appetite, and when food is given them, eat so much that they overload the crop." When they ,partake of water, an additional strain is added, and this, in many cases, ic^-xespon-sible for the death of a large percentage of poultry that are sent from one show to another throughout the season. Food should always be given very sparingly after i poultry have had a long journey without any nourishment, and only a very little water should be supplied. Broody hens will also often 'contract diarrhoea whilst per- I forming the process of incubation. Overloading the crop with food and water is the general cause of this, and it will seldom appear if the hens are taken off and fed and watered regularly every day. The chlorodyne remedy is the best treatment in these cases also and a change of diet will generally complete the cure. Boiled rice is the very best food in oases of diai'rhoea, and the addition of boiled milk is also very effective. — The feeding of poultry may be changed now that the warm weather has fairly set in. And where fowls have a free range less food is to be given. The birds, if not locked up each night, should be off their roosts by daylight, and their early rising will result in the revr*rd which ever comes to the maw of the early bird. Light | feeding of meal or grain, according to weather conditions, may be given before roosting. With birds penned up, the following course of feeding will be useful. It has been followed successfully by Mr H. Pye, the principal of the Dookie Agricultural College, with the pens of birds now competing in the egg-laying contest. Mr Pye says:— "ln respect to the feeding, I have had several letters requesting information as to the object in using oaten ana wheaten chaff. Green feed was recently comparatively 6caree, and it was partly owing to that fact also the bran and pollard ' with the meat scrape, and soup needed a-» little more bulk, as the mixture in itself contained more than sufficient nutriment, in addition to the other food, for the production of an egg, and for the repairing of the YVasted tissues. There is also a

j certain amount of nutriment and digestive stimulants in the solvable or assimilable products in the chaff, whilst the woody fibce or cellulose, though not digestible, gives sufficient bulk in "ord'/f to economically distribute the richer part of the food, thus leaving a smaller percentage of assimilable food to be excreted. Itmust be borne in mind that I do not advocate chaff in rations poor in nutritive properties, but in those sufficiently condensed to need bulk for ecnomical feeding. Thu3 a soup tabloid taken without a fair amount of water will neither be sustaining I nor satisfying, owing to the need of a distributing agent. The chaff is soaked the day before in order to lessen the mechanical notation. Lucerne, clover, and lentil chaff , are better than oaten chaff, under most conditions, and. especially when animal food is lacking.