POULTRY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2861, 13 January 1909, Page 35

POULTRY NOTES.

By Tekkoh. —It does not fellow that an early-laying pullet will ultimately prove a good eggproducer ; rather, it should be assumed that a pullet forced to lay at an unusually early date will fail tc give satisfaction in the long run. 'JLhere aie differences of opinion regarding this point, however ; some saying that the early layer will prove to be a :ontinuous layer, and many illustrations can be givtn in verification. The aim of the breeder of poultry should be not to purposely encourage early laying, but — and this is not so contradictory as it may appear on first thought — .arly maturity. If a bird lays before fully matured generally, the constitution will suffer ; but if maturity of the organs is established and ordinary size attained at an unusually early age, then laying, if delayed by shifting to fresh quarters or otherwise, would not be neither beneficial to the bird or profitable to the owner. — The best way to prevent , poultry getting too fat is to giv§ plenty of exercise by widely scattering or partially burying their grain food, And by feeding fat-form-ing foods in the rnaslt as sparsely as possible. Too fat birda should not be fed on potatoes or maize, nor should pollard bulk largely in the morning feed. _ — Indian runners are specially adapted to marshy meadows and pastures. They are such good foragers that upon suitable ground they =eldom want feeding. They will lay well for years — four or five at least. They begin to lay if well done- to at 17 or 18 weeks old. They seldom or never go broody. They aie prolific layers of good large eggs, and will lay all the winter through. They are easy to hatch and rear, being very hardy. They axe excellent for crossing for egg-production. They seldom exceed 41b in weight. They are the most profitable duck to the farmer. — The profit or loss with hens very often depends on how long- they are kept, or to what age. If they are kept too long; or beyond their period of usefulness they\ eat up move or less of the profits which they may have made in days gone by. Then if disposed of at an early age, or before " they "have reached the height of their egg-producing capacity, there T« again a loss. Some hens do ;iot reach the most ■ profitable age as layers unti! a year and a-half- old. We £nd thai most people" make the mietaike of keeping thorn too long. A hen that has laid pretty well all along is generally iooked upon as a valuable one to keep, but there must be a, limit to her days of profit-making. There are some . strains among all of our most popular utility breeds that are endowed with remarkable vitality, and will keep on laying long after tho others have quit. Some of them will have longer laying seasons and j 6till lay at an older age- These are the hens one should endeavour to cultivate, but it ie only now and then one knows, or will take pains to find out, which hens these are. Heavy breeds reach the unprofitable age earlier than the lighter and more active kinds. Those of the egg breeds, as a rule, j hold their laying qualities longest. For the Asiatics we would say that two years would cover their most profitable age : for the "American class — the Plymouth Rock, for instance— say two and a-half years, but the Leghorn variety, we think, may generally 1 be kept with profit for three years. How- : ever, it will not do to follow any set rule j in deciding the time or age at which a ' hen should be marketed. i — A pullet on a Lamdowne poultry farm (writes the Wairarapa Daily Times' correspondent) hatched out and ieared a brood of turkejs, and when they were three weeks old the pullet etart^d laying again, the j brood of turkeys nestling all round her at ! the timej aiid after the eg? was deposited in the nest the he-u mothered the chlckfi as usual. The export trade of poultry from the ( Dominion has fallen very low. For the six j months ending September, 1903, 12 pairs j Wijre exported, while during the corres- I ponding months of 1907 the- numbers ex- | port ad were 1700 pairs. In November 10 pairs were ssnl out of the Dominion i A silvsr Wyandotte rocjter mothering a I brood of young turkeys is to be seen on a. j povJtry farm at Lansdowne (says the Wairarapa Daily Times). The spectacle is too funny for words, and when other fo?/ls go ! nenr they are viciously attacked by the rooster. "Another curious sight ia a turkey gobbler sitting: unon a nest of eggs, having turned off the female bird. . ' CROP-BOUND FOWLS. I Frequently w« are asfked to give advice sas to the best methods of curing crop- j i bound fowls. The complaint is very com- . mon, especially where a earless system of feeding is in vogue. If fowls are starved 1 for a time and then fed extravagantly on J wheat, maize, peas, or barley, they aro ! apt to become orop-bound ; but the mcit common cause is- when birds are given long green grass after they have been kept away from green food continuously. The grass forms into a hard ball in the crop and cannot pass out, thus causing- a stop- i page, and subsequently the crop becomes bound. j If the feeding be careless, the crop may become so distended with hard giain that , when swelled afterwards by the moist eeoretiona intended to assist digestion the outlet into the stomach is hopelessly closed by the pressure. With patience, an operation is seldom necessary ; but some warm water should be poured down the throat, after which the distended viscus is. to bo gently and patiently kneaded with the hands for an hour or more if needful. How- ' ever hard at first, it will generally yield and become soft after a time ; and when relaxed, a half teaspoonful of Epsom, salts should be- given and the bird left in an empty pen. Usually there will bo no further difficulty, bivt the fowl so affected must be fed sparingly for several days, to allow the organ to contract, otherwise a permanent distension may result,^ which, indeed, is sometimes the case afcer the greatest care, but be}-ond being unsightly causes little injui7 to the bird. J

' If such palliative meane fail, an incision must be made near the top of the crop. "Let the bird 1 be laid on its book, gently remove some of the f-sathers from the crop, and select a spot for your incision free from any large vessels, which if cut will cause troublesome bleeding and weaken the bird. The incision in most cases should be in inch long. The handle or bowl of a very small teaspoon is convenient *o remove everything, and then pass the finger (greased, and the nail pared smcoth) into the crop and feel the outlet. It is I quite possible that a bit of bone or other j matter may be the cause of the obstrucj tion, and if this is left the operation will be useless. Then have what is called a I glover's needle ready, charged with horsehair, and put four or five stitches into the inner membrane, drawing it carefully and closely together, and at least three stitches in the outer skin. Place the stitches in the outer skin in .*uch a position that they may be within the inner etitencs. Take special care not to sew up the two skins together, s>s it is almcst certainly fatal. Fe-pd subsequently on sopped bread not very moist, and do not allow the bird water lor 24 hours, -as it is apt to find its way through the wound, and delay, if not prevent, the heahng. There is not the slightest necoss-ity to remove the horsehair subsequently. The operation should nol bo delajed if the other measures do not euoceed in 48 hours, as delay adds to the danger, and. a sour, horriblo stench from the bird's mouth is a .plain indication in favour of operating a* once. , VENTILATION IN POULTRY-HOUSES. In the Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Soeioty there ie a paper on "ventilation in Poultry-houses,'" by Mr K. .). J. Mackenzie and Mr Edward J. Russell, D.Sc. (London), who write: — '"The problem of determining t-he correct number of birds to put into a poultry-house is a difficult ' one tc. solve, and one requiring something more than mere empirical knowledge. An inspection of the best-known houses on the market, which are recommended by men of gr-eat practical experience, shows thit at lea-t two distinct and mutually inconsistent views are held on the subject. One id r a is that each bird must have a certain amount of floor space, or, what comes to the same thing, of pcrch-rocrfi : if this requirement is fulfills,-! the height of the house is not supposed to be of importance. Houses buill on this principle aim at securing a maximum floor-space ; they are low, pnd are consequently t h» least expensive on the mo.rket. The othev view is that each bird must have a certain cubical space, but there is no agreement as to the amount required, and some practical men recommend six, others eight or ten, feet. These houses are usually high — 6fc or 7ft, — and more or less cubical in shape, so as to fibtain the maximum number of cubic feet for a given quautitv of timber. : "It. is imposible to reconcile these two hypotheses, and experience a lon a is hardly likely to decide between them, since the health of a bird depends on many factors, of which its roosting accommodation is only one. Actual measurements ara needed of the amount of air required by poultrj* and ■of the amount of impurity produced in poultry houses, -and these measurements we rave endeavoured to supply. The experiments were carried out at the South Eastern Agricultural College, Wye. — Consequences of Overcrowding. — "It is important to bear in mind the fact thafc the lirds in an overcrowded house are breathing in some poisonous matter, and their health must obviously suffer. Thepractised es'e soon discerns a pale, anaemic i look ; if any disease appears their low con--1 dition renders them especially liable to take it, while to certain diseases they become particularly susceptible. Tuberculosis is perhaps one of the worst of these ; in our experience it, generally results from overcrowding. Wo have also noticed that ! outbieak3 of diphtheritic roup ai\; liable j to be .particularly virulent and disastrous : in houses where ventilation is bad and the i accommodation is insufficient. 'Swollen head' in turkeys is another case in point; for some years one of us has had this disease under observation, and it has almost invariably boen found associated with 1 overcrowding in the coops when 7/oung. j '"Colds, the couah and discharge from the nostrils known as roup, pip, and other diseases of young birds may al v o be traced to the same cause. Even if The birds do not actually fall victims to disease their low condition prevent* them from serving their proper functions. "The production of eggs in late autumn and early winter" is somewhat out of the ordinary course of Nature, requiring a combination of youthful vigour with a high state of health in tin birrfe. Suitable food is wanted, and other necessary conditions must be attended to, amongst which one of the most important ia an ample supply

of fresh air in the houses. During these months the birds may be rocsting from 12 to 14 or ever more hours per day, and it ia obvious that if the house is overcrowded mucb of the advantage gained from care in other directions will bs lost. Many cases of failure to obtain winiov eggs which have come under our notice could be attributed to overcrowded houses. There is also reason to believe that chickens hatched from eggs laid by birds living is badly-ventilated nouses are delicate. "Some birds prefer to roc^t out rather than remain in an overcrowded house, but the effect of exposure is generally to reduce the number of eggs : there is also the risk that the birds may, and the certainly that some of their eggs will, bo lost." — Conclusions. — The "writers of the paper enter minutely into other aspects of the subject, and formulate the following conclusions : — 1. A poultry-house should not contain, more than nine volumes of carbonic acid m 10.000 volumes of air. 2. In order that this degree of purity may bo attained each bird must be allowed 40 cubic leet of air per hour. 3. "This 40 . cubic, feot must be supplied at a reasonably slow rate. Under conditions known by experience to be favourable to the birds the air changes in a larg.s house four times and in a small house five times per hour. This appears to us to be a very suitable rate of change, HATCHING CHICKS IN CHINA. At the present time the hatching of chicks and ducklings is extensively carried on in China. Records of that country are oredited with showing evidences of the most extended aufcifieial hatclxsries having { existed tliere over 2000 ve-ais ago. In the | seventeenth annual report cf thf Bureau jof Animal Industry, United States De- ' payment of Agriculture, is recorded by I G. D. Brill, special agent, what he saw of ! artificial methods of hatchery. The hatchsry buildings a.re qu'fcs simple of construction — just sufficient to protect 1 from sun, rain, and winds. One- building 1 was olmcst 84ft long, 10ft high, and 9ft ■high to the oaves. Tha walls on the outside ire ii-ade of sun-dxied brick, about 6in thick, amd whitewashed. They are plastered with mud on the inside. One side wall adjoins living rcoms, and is made with reeds plastered with mud about an inch thick. Sometimes all the walls are made of reed 3 a.nd mud. The roof is of native tik-3, 'aid very loosely, with some mats on tha under aide. As in nearly aIV Chinese bui'-dings, the weight of the roof ! is supported by the wooden frame inside t of the walls, which ajso helps to support the walte. The floor is of beaten- earth, — Description of the Interior. — Completely filling one side — and thm dlher also, except for a 6oor space and "^sufficient room for a nran to test the eggs — are round, barrel-lifte naud-and*briek walk, wkh earthen jars S3t into them, very much as an old- fashioned farmer's boiler est/ into the brickwork. The jar has either a flange or bulg« in it, which supports it on the mud-and-brick wall. It is very deep, and comes witin six 01 eight inches cf the ground. The conical bottom is filled with allies to the depth of eight or nine inches to keep the temperature more uniform and! avoid sudd-en changes when doors are open. a.nd there is a strong wind. On the top of the ashes ie thrown a bit of an. old mat or similar material, to keep the- basfc&ta of eg,gs clean and to prevent raising a dust w-hen they are taken out. For holding *b& eggs a basket is used that leaves a space of about one inch between it and' jhe inner wall of the jar. The itop of the basket is on a level with the top of the jar. Rounding full, they hold from 1200 to 1300 eggs each. The outer cover ie 3ft high and 3ft in diameter. The whole is covered with a thick mat or cover, so concaved on the under 6idc as to leave a space of about six inches between the eggs and the under surface of the cover. The mat is made, by taking the dirty ! old cotton of quilts and making it into a ! rope-like mass about two inches in diameter, j and then coiling it round 1 and round? and" ( binding it with rice srraw. Wh-tn completed it is from two to two and a-half inchea 1 tbiok. The ba.r pel-like o\en or stove has a i opening about one foot in diameter for I putting in the fuel, the lower edge coming dowr to ths ground. — Testing the Temperature. — Inside the fpac3 is so narrow between the platform . a>nd wail that tho men at work can Lvacf therr.r~olv.ps against the wall while changing tlwir r?g<rfe with both hands. The light" coaies tln-or.gh raper-covered window*. The door open-3 in-fo a livingroom, lo prevent tlio influent e of ctaaugcaM? weather baiti-g i:h. Mr Brill states aa follows:— In this room were 22 of these

ovens, holding on an average 1300 eggs T each, or a total of 14,300. On the two platforms above were nearly as many more, or a total in the room of over 26,000 *zg&, ' ihe deficiency being accounted for by tlicea constantly tested out. The incubators beg.n run»k>g about ths middle of March, and continue foT fouT months. j After Hie eggs are put into the baskets a slow, smouldering lire ma<le with very • fine charcoal is started. After a day the eo-es are taken out, a handful at a time. asd put into a similar basket which stands ; on a four-legged frame beside tns oven at a. convenient height for a man to change them without, stooping- Aftei this tn.3V are changed from two, to four times each «lay If th* temperature is about ng-nt, twice is sufficient ; but if they "get too hot th© covers are lifted, the mat covers taken out of the openings to let air in around the bottom of the jar, and they are charged to another basket and left ,out for a short time. If very hot they may be taken out on flat basket-work trays tor a short time. Ir testing temperature no thermometer is used, the eggs being simply ibouobod to the eye-ball, a few being taken from each basket at irregular intervals. After four days they are all tested -to sea , it there is a living germ m them by hoklin«- them up to the light and looking through them. The eggs containing no living germs are ?old on the street for food at about one-sixth of a cent each, or j the original contract price of the eggs. , —The Average Hatch.— j After being tested they are kept in the jars for seven days more, being changed as before. This makes a total of 11 days in the jars. They are then taken into a bamboo basket, resembling a dustpan, and rolled out on the mat on the platform ! >bove. HeTe they remain" until hatched. , The only heat they receive is from the •room, except that when the weaihea: becomes cool they are covered with another I quilt like the one bernea^ them. Aft&r they are hatched the chicks are put in shallow baskets for a short time to gain strength, and they aire ready for sale. The j average hatch ia from 60 per cent, to 70 . per cent., above 70 peT cent, being con- j sidersd very good, and below 60 per cent, i very poor. After testing, they say that 90 per cent, of these remaining will hatch, j barring accidents. Sometimes they are t«3ted several times to ccc if the germ is alive. As with everything eka in China, they have no fixed rule for this work. One I man is always in the room Ti'giit and day, | except for very short intervals. The egga j are never sprinkled with water or moos- j temed in any, way. Duck eggs are treated , in the same' way, except that they are left in the jars for 1* days before being placed on the platform. The man who does the testing of the eggs, both as to temperature awl fertility, requires long training, but when he becomes an expert I he receives -large wa.g'ee. CENTRAL PRODUCE MARI, LTD. Messrs Roiily, Scott, and Gill, proprietor*, report for the week end nig Saturday, 9th inst: — Poultry: Ait our sale on Wednesday last only c limited supply came forward, which proved insufficient for local demands. Hens realised 2s 6d, 3s, 3s 6d, 4s, a-nd 4s 4d per pair ; cockerels, 3s 6d, 4s, 4s 6d, ss. 5s 6d, 6s: ducks, 3s, 3s 6d, 4s; ducklings, 4s, 4s 6d, ss, 5s 6d, 6s, 6s 6d; goslings. 4a and 4s od. No turkeys came forward. Eg>g3: Th© market has been fully supplied. We secured 13 Id, Is lid, Is 2d, Is 2£d. and Is 3d per dozen for »ur consignors. Butter, pats, 6W, 6jd, 7d, T£d; separator, Bd, B*d, 9d, lO^Tlld. Pigs. 4?, d and sd. We advise consign ments of poultry, especially good prime hens and young locsters.

TABLE OF POULTRY FOODS. • . Kind. j Action. j Digestibility Use. (• • Eemarks. Wklt 7 Feeding .. T. ' E^y .. . ." Freely ... •• •■ •" Somewhat expensive. Indian Corn F&tten.ng .'Fairly easy, Freely m winter, Should not be used with and Meal ' sparingly in summer' white exhibition fowls I I j at time of moult or will i I I tinge them. Oats and Somewhat heat- Soni c what Plentifully, especially Cost somewhat prohibitive | Oatmeal . . ; ing but very tcugh fibre , to laying hens . . I ! feeding . . . . and a good j I deal of itl Barley ar.d Feeding .. .. So m c what: Sparingly >.ot as good a food M Barley Meal difficult .! . i wheat. Thirds and Average feeding So m c what Well in mixed rations Price moderate. Pot*!^ .'.''Fattening - l E? *y '.'. !' Freely for fattening Contains much starch and . I fcwla, not for layers , -water; not suitable for 1 ' layers. Turnips .. Slightly aperieat Easy .. ..In lieu of green food Not a rich food, mostl» || j water. Carrots Feeding .- •• Easy .. ..In lieu of green food Much richer as ft food i I I ' th&n turnips. Buckwheat ' Rather fattening Fairly easy In lieu of wheat .. If price is lower, not I • otherwise. Millet .. 'stimulating ..Easy .. ..Sparinglj Best for young birds. Grc-nbone Fe-din- and Faiily easy Sparingly and to Take<» the place of animal | stimulating . | layers mostly .. food. Rye .. •• F-attenins . Easy .. . Carefully, not too Greedily relished by fowls j . freely Cotton Seed Fattening .. DjfDcult • • Occasionally only .. Cheap in America, where ! j j used extensively. Brewers' Stimulating and Feii.'y easy Sparingly Generally cheap. grains . fattening .. ' Rice .. .. Very fattening Easy . .. Freely to broilers only Somewhat astringent. Bran .. ..'Feeding and Fairly easy Carefully in mixed Relaxing. I shell-making. rations _ Sharps •• Feeding . . Faiily easy ( Li m.xed rations .. Cheap. Milk .. .. 'F^tienin"- . Easy .. .In fattening and for Can bs used sour for j ° j yourg chicks . fattening. Peas an d Flesh-forming . Only fairly To harden flesh and Too rtpensive for general beans ..j digestible I feathers use. Sunflower .. 'Very concen- Faiily eas;. Very epariujly .. , Expensive, J | trated ....