POULTRY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Volume 23, Issue 2684, 23 August 1905, Page 32

POULTRY NOTES.

Br Tebbob.

— The all-ab3orbing topic amongst poultry men from, now onwards, far three .months at. least, wilt be chicken-hatching and rearing. First of all, of course, it must be presumed that breeding' pens have been made up to- produce just what is Wanted for show or for layers, and that the birds are being fed for fecundity rather than, for prolific laying, for what is wanted from their pens is not baskets full of eggs, but fertile eggs from healthy birds. The ideal breeding pen. ia composed of a rigorous cockerel and' fully-matured second-, year hens, but third and fourth year hens

may be included to- much better purpose than, pullets. Where pullets are used the male should be a second-year bird, so as to ensure maturity at- least on one side. The chickens, when first hatched, should liot be bothered with food for the first 36

hours, for What they want above all tilings j Kit that stage is just and that only, "■ white they digest- .the yolk absorbed im-t -before emerging 'from, the dsell. Their , Jirst supplied meal Should fee some dry, hut freshly-ground, grain, with grit and granulated charcoal, and these should be constantly before them, in small quantities for the first six weeks of their existence. ' 3for the first four •weeks chicks -are kept Wonderfully, free of bowel trouble if water is withheld* from them, 'but moisture should be supplied by serving chopped green stuff" %t least once a day. A little cut-up^ onion, kale, or green grass answers this purpose Mmirablyj and «€ the same time is an jexoelfent means of supplying the- necessary idigestrv© juices wherewith to digest the grain food. AIT grain food should be supj>Ked in draff or other loose litter, to compel scratching', exercise, and great card ■ Should he takent to- ensure absolutely clean, sleeping quarters. V Without subjecting the chicka to cold Irands or rain, see that they get all the Outside fine weather available. Grit^ and 'charcoal are not mentioned in the *fbrejoing merely incidentally, or as a mattur of small importance, but as absolutely necessary for best results; try them, ", Finally, don't forget the dust-bath in a , iiry sunny 'corner. I have this season seen chickens thoroughly enjoying, a dust-bath within 4-8 hours of hatching! —Dr Louis Dechmann, of Needham, Mass;", U.8.A., wiiose theory regarding the ' utility of grit "for poultry was recently referred to in these columns, deals in the course of a second paper to the Reliable Poultry Journal with another matter of great interest to poultry men. He points out "that not sufficient attention has been given to the role*w<hioh the blood-forming or nutritive salts play in organism," and contends that, as a result of the neglect, decomposition of the blood, and consequent anaemia, which, again, develops into consumption, the precedent indications of -which appear in dianrhcea, weak legs, and lofcher symptoms, accounts for 50 per cent. t>i young chicken mortality. As has been often suggested in fhese columns, there is absolute danger in the tendency— so manifest — to concoct rations for growing^ chicks and adult fowls with the sole object of nerving the maximum amount of nitrogenous and the minimum amount of carbonaceous materials conducive to rapid growth * jmd large egg yield, and Dr Deohmann, who is a physiological chemist, and also ityles himself a , rational poultry breeder, ' tnswers those' who would argue that, n% Jhe-, salts required are present probably in Sufficient quantity in all ordinary food, it ■jb unnecessary to take them into account TaJ poultry-feeding by quoting the great - Yon Liebig, who emphasised the point that )lhe thinnest ingredient oi nourishment ~jhould not be missing if sickness is to be Prevented. Dr Dechmann further says: — "When, we- have once perceived that the Jack, of iron -or of any other important Jnineral or chemioal ingredient in tlie hiooct ■^ md nerves W the cause of sickness or oii tease, *c are in a -position, by adding them. In proper proportions, to restore the organEm to a healthy state"; but as he infers, ''prevention is better than cure," sickness taay be- prevented by incorporating what p 'necessary in the daily food After sneakKg of the action of some of the nutritive Jalts in forming electric energy and the linew substance which forms the basis of the spleen, the lungs, the stomach, the intestines, the muscles— in a word, which forms the .basis of the whole body— and explaining how, though as necessary ingredients of the blood, they are used up, Jrad require replenishing (notwithstanding .kheir infinitesimal proportion), the doctor augments his argument by saying: "No peoessary ingredient of the blood should be left out of account if we are to fully replace all the matter consumed by the life processes." Concluding! & long and interesting paper, - Dr Dechmann gives the following three mixtures of' grain, showing their ratio as Regards nitrogen and carbon, and two prescriptions for the addition, of nutritive salts, which latter, lie explains, may possibly txok \e present in necessary proportions -n ££ am food owing to poverty of the soil ra which )t is grown, through over-cropping or otherMixture I.— Thirty pounds of oats, 151b wheat, 151b maize, 151b buckwheat. 151b sunlower seed, 51b bloodmeal — 951b; ratio, Mixture ll.— Thirty pounds of oats, 20ib fcyheat, 151b maize,, " 15lb buckwheat. 7.5Ub

f bloodmeal, 7.51b beef -scraps— 9slb ; ratio, 1:3.5. Mixture lll.— Thirty pounds of oats, 151b wheat, 151b maize,. 151b buckwheat, 101b bloodmeal, 101b beef-scraps — 951b; rat'o, 1:3. All these should be thoroughly ground and mixed, and given twice a week as much as the chickens or fowls like to eat at one meal. To either of the grain mixtures given above it is recommended that 51b of nutritive salts be added as follows: — Ninety -five pounds of mixed grains, 31b phosphate of lime (ground fosfogrit would do. admirably), lib nutritive salts as per following prescription: £lb common table salt, ilb naturalcondition powder (see prescription) — iOOlb. Formula of Dr Dechmann's natural-condi-tion.powder fcir laying hens, and to produce fertile eggs: — Pulv. rad. calami, so grammes, pulv. rad. gentiana' 50, 'pulv. _.fol. auraniii 50, pulv. fol. trifol. menyanth 40. puJv. berba absynthii 50, pulv. herba oentaurii 60, pulv. cortex cinnainonii 20, pulv. fruet. juniperii 80, pulv. fruet. phytolaoca decand 100—500 grammes. Formula De Dechmann's nutritive salts for hens: — Kali sulph. 85 grammes, ammonium snip. 70, calcium fluor 5, calcium ?hos. 100, magnesium phos. 50, sodium pfaos. 0, sodium sulph. 20, sodium acetat. 20, sodium chlor. ("commercial" salts) 90, ferric trioxide 36.25, magnesium dioxide 1.75, silicic acid 2—5002 — 500 grammes. —By inquiry of Messrs Kemptfiorne, Prosser, and Co. it has been ascertained that the above prescriptions can be conooeted by New Zealand chemists. A" regards fcho' grain mixtures, fanciers inclined to give Dr Deohmann's theories a trial should, for economy's sake, substitute some other available and reasonably cheap grainsfor those recommended, which are expensive. The chemical mixtures are harmless, as they contain no ingredients foreign to the healthy body. — The Chasse et Peche writes as follows: "Everybody knows s that the egg constitutes a food very easy to assimilate, even Eor the stomach of sick people. A chemist of Wiesbaden has found the means of making them, useful for the cure of certain maladies — anaemia,, for instance. By means of special breeding and feeding, he increases, in a very notable proportion, the quantity of : iron which the eggs contain in their natural state. Dr Aufrecht, of Berlin, has analysed • these eggs> and has found that they contain 3 per cent, of oxide of iron — i.e., eight times more- than, the ordinary eggs. ; Far from hurting the hen's health, th& 1 ferruginous food is excellent, as it does not ■ affect either the taste of the eggs or the • taste of the fowl's flesh. The production ' of ferruginous eggs costs 5 centimes, (id) ' per egg more, but it is evident that should ' this invention get vulgarised one will be ' able to obtain for these eggs higher prices ; than those- which are paid' for the ' natural ' egs." — The dust bath is a necessity among < poultry. It is as important as the wash basin in the human family. .- The dust bath is' a natural method of keeping the feathers ! and skin clean, and keeping down vermin. i — .Remove the droppings from, the floors < of tlie hen-houses at least once a week during' the spring and- summer months, cover : an inch deep with road dust or sawdust, scatter slacked lime liberally under the ' perches and in the nests. If you have any t choice breeding stock mate them, and 1 keep the eggs for hatching. An occasional feed ' of cracked corn may be given after they, are ■ three weeks old, but their principal diet until they are six weeks of age should . b& oatmeal slightly wet with hot water or , sweet milk, rice, broken bread, meat (cooked , or raw, chopped_very fine). Never give cooked potatoes to the young stock. Every j night remember to empty all the water vessels, and fill them again the next morn- j ing with fresh water. We hear many com- I plaints of poultry dying off by the score. '. The cause will be found in dirty, ill- ', ventilated quarters and impure water. ', — Sometimes a fowl which has hitherto j , appeared perfectly well is observed to stagger about, holding its head' either to one side, or tilted back & good deal. It has got a brain seizure, and if not quickly treated will soon die. Very frequently, in- ; deed, it does perish, despite any treatment. Such troubles are generally caused by gross overfeeding. The treatment is to remove ' the affected bird to a rather dark place of , moderate temperature, and feed very sparingly on bread and milk. First of all, give a goodi purge of Epsom salts, and follow twice a day with a powder composed of three grains antipyrin and two grains ' salicylate of soda ; mix with a little moistened flour, and put over the bird's J throat. A few drops of acid, hydrobrom, diL, pxit into, the drinking water (keep in an eathenware vessel) now and then, as the bird is recovering (just as much as will elightly acidulate it) will help to bring her round. Keep away from all male birds, or j other feathered etock until recovered. A ' common barndoor fowl is not worth such i treatment, but many a fancier would be glad to save a good specimen of a pure ( breed, if possible. j — Pryor and Co. (per Mr E. Reilly) report: — Poultry is in short supply, and all lots coming forward are eagerly competed for. Hens : We sold 8 poor and light at 3s, 182 fair at 3s 6£ 79 good at 3s 9d, 116 very good at 4s, 37 special at 4s 4.d; roosters— 72 fair at 4s, 122 good at 4s 6<l, 72 special 4s 9d. Ducks: 42 fair 4s 3d, 26 go.od 4s 6d, j 57 special ss. Turkeys: 52 gobblers— very ■ g-ood birds— Bd, 37 hens, very good, 5d per lb. Eggs : These have dropped considerably. , During the past week we so-ld 7 cases at j Is Id, 8 cases at Is, 16 cases at lid per I dozen; market weak. Purbred poultry: i We catalogued 284 birds at our sale last ! Wednesday, and sold at from 2s 6d to 10s each, silver Wyandottes being in best demand, pullets fetching 63 to 10s each. White Leghorns also met good demand, pullets selling at 3s 6d to 7s 6d, cockerels from 2s 3d to 10s each. 1 —On Saturday night (says the Milton ' Mirror) Mr D. M'Gill lost some fowls, and the thief failed to completely cover up his tracks. Next morning a thin buff line of Orpington feathers from the fowlhouse led the seekers after knowledge to obtain a glimpse oE the lost specimens quietly picking their morning meal in the thief's backyard. —Mr Guest intends (says the Free Press, Balclutha) to try for a record hatch at his poultry farm, Kakapuaka, this season. Ke hopes to attain, to the neighbourhood of 10,000 young stock. The large incubator and brooder houses, the latter heated by steam, are in first-class trim for the season's operations. THE RECENT CHAMPION SIIOW. O THE EDITOR. Sic, — In reply to Mr Crawshaw's letter in your issue of the 16th inst. I beg to state that I make, iure of my facts ere I rush

into print. I reiterate my statement that some of the birds were without water, and this was admitted by a member ot the committee, and his excuse was "that some of the tins were leaking." Surely with the surplus in hand the Fanciers' Club could have either invested in some new tins or had the old ones repaired. I have to thank you, Sir, for the indulgence and allowing these letters to appear in your widely-read journal, and having drawn attention to these defects, which can easily be remedied at the future shows, this correspondence will be closed as far as I am concerned.— l am, e t c Cael Ruben. St. Clair, August 21, 1905. REARING DUCKS BY THOUSANDS. Duck-breeding in the United States is of but recent growth. Ten years ago (says Feathered Life) there were not half a dozen plants of any importance. To-day they may be counted by the score. This business started in New England and reached a substantial growth there. James Rankin, of South E&ston, Mass., waa the father of the "gigen duck" business in that country, establishing and carrying on the first plant, turning out over 10,000 young- ducks yearly. The business rapidly grew and spread, and for several years has centred around Eastport, Moiehes, and Speon on Long Island. In July one can stand at the head of an inlefc at Eastport, about half a mile long, and see on either shore flocks to the grand total of over bO,OOO birds; big white fellcws, weighing from 41b to 61b, the latter ready for market, and all under 10 weeks of age. Within a radius of eight miles of this point 500,000 spring ducks are reared every year. . The large white Pekin duck is bred almost exclusively. The hatching season opens in November and continues until the breeders stop laying in July. Breeders lay from 90 to 100 eggs <-ach. The young ducks are pint on the market at from nine to ten weeks old, at an average weight of 61b. The season usually opens in the spring at from Is 3d to Is 6d per lb, and some years has fallen to 6£d in July. Last year B£d per lb was the bottom price, and it bids fair to be the lowest price this yea-r. It usually costs 5d a pound to put a 61b duck on the market, including eggs, fuel and feed, labour and marketing. The duck farm under notice is situated at Crystal Springs, Oil City, Pa, It is typical of the well-appointed conservativelymanaged duokery. It is owned by B. F. Brundred, who is engaged extensively in the oil business. Many wells are scattered over his farm, which is thus made to do double duty. The main buildings are set off on a side hill, where there is good drainage away from them. Part of the breeders axe kept adjacent to a series of terraced ponds and part over at the head of a ravine, where the hills and timber give them shelter from the cold blasts of winter, while affording shade and a cool brook to swim in in the spring. The young ducks after being taken from the breeders j are scattered along a ravine for a ~jnile, i where they have both shade and cool-run-ning water. The camera man got so enthusiastic photographing the youngsters, bunched up in shady nook's in lots of 1000 and 2000 head, presenting so many artistic ■views that all his plates were used up before he had gone- halfway round. There were about 20,000 youngsters along this ravine, from six weeks old up to marketable age. In their first full plumage, as whit© as snow, it was a sight to make even an old-timer break out in admiration. Mr Brundred has invested several thousands of pounds in his duck farm, and his manager, Mr P. MTEvoy. turns out from 35,000 to 40.000 swing duoklinsps every year, and about 5000 chickens. Mr M'Evoy not only draws a substantial salary, but also eets a percentage of the profits, which together equal the salary drawn by many a manager of large corporations. THE LONDON POULTRY MARKET. The Department of Industries and Commerce having received many inquiries as to the ruling prices in London for ducks during Christmas and Easter weeks, requested 1 the Produce Commissioner in London to specially report on the market. This report is now to hand, and reads as follows : — The market in London for table ducks is not so good at Christmas time as during the months of March, April, and May. Towards Easter the demand is at its best, and prices are then highest. During these months the price obtainable for good quality ducks from New Zealand would probably be from 2s 6d to 3s 6d each. Naturally, prices vary according to the season. Ducklings from four to §rx months old and weighing from. 41b to s£lb each are most suitable for the London market. The birds should be thoroughly graded according to size, and packed 12 in a case. The cases should be lined with thin white cloth, similar to butter clofli, in order to keep the contents clean, and to permit the circulation of the cold air for freezing. The preparation-dressing and packing of ducklings already received from New Zealand has been perfectly satisfactory, and can ba continued with safety. The eases should be cl&arly and n&atly printed with the owner's brand, number of birds in the case, description of the contents, and net weight of the s,ame. The cases should also • be numbered 1, 2, 3, .etc., so as to facilitate handling and to check the .specifications se-nt along with them. If properly fattened and packed, and carefully frozen and handled, there should be no fear of obtaining other than -satisfactory prices for ducklings arriving from New Zealand on the London market during the months specified. POULTRY REPORT. Messrs Waters, Ritchie, and Co. be? to report that for the past week there has been a very brisk demand in the local market fo» rnostpvs hf>ns. and ducks. Drices for all well-grown fowls in good condition being considerably in excess of export values. Geese, on the other hand, have not been selling too well, and we cannot recommend consignments of these at present. There has been about the average demand for turkeys in good condition. We quote for the local market as follows : — Roosters, 4s to 4s 6d per pair ; hens, 3s to 3s 3d per pair ; ducks, 4s 6d to 4s 9d per pair ; geese, 5s per pair (poor demand) ; turkeys, 7^3. and 4£d per lb. Export rates remain unchanged — namely, first grade hens 3s, roosters 3s 3d per pair.