POULTRY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3015, 27 December 1911, Page 35

POULTRY NOTES.

BT TfcKBOB.

—At the. N.Z. Utility Poultry Club's egg-laying' competition the Misses M. and M. firadly's (Papanui) white Leghorns headed the lists at the 37th week (the record for the 20th will probably appear this week) with 1059 eggs; Kennedy's (Rangiora) S. Wyandottes corning second with 1034. At the second duck egg-laying competition, the Heretanga Poultry Company's pen of six Indian, runners is leading with 1098, and W. Knight (Hu'tt) is second with 1090. It will be seen by th© foregoing that clucks are doing slightly bettor work j than ths hen?, and judging by the re- ' ports which follow of the Queensland and„ New South Wales competitions our New Zealand birds stand comparison with Australia's -best. I

The results of the Gatton College (Queensland) egg-laying competition up to the end of November are to hand. Sixteen pens of six birds each are. competing. Fifteen are white Leghorns, the sixteenth being brown Leghorns. The leading pen is six pullets owned by Mr J. F. Dalrymple. They produced 135 eggs during November, and a total of 950. eggs up to date —a period of eight months. Mr R. A Smith's birds are second with 910 eggs, and Range Farm's and the YangareMa Farm's white Leghorns are equal for third place with 900 eggs each. A surprising feature in this test is that Mr 11. Padman' white Leghorn pen are lowest on the list, having 785 eggs to their credit for the eight months. The returns fiom the- Hawkesbuyry (N.S.W.) egg-laying competitions for eight months are to hand. In the first year test the Range Farm's six white- Leghorns are leading, with 981 eggs. Messrs Cowan Bros.' white Leghorns' are second, with 954-: Miss Vaughan's white Leghovn' 8 third, with 928; and Mr W. T. Poole's black Orpingtons fourth, with 92] eggs. In the two years' test, Mr Hammill's white Leghorns are leading with a total of 1981 eggs for the twenty months. Hillcrest Farm's white Leghorns are second with 1972, and Mr Hopkin's white Leghorns ai-e third with 1915 eggs. In the test for ducks Mr J. P. de Beyer's six Indian runners are leading with 974 eggs for the. eight months, Mr G-. Roger's six Indian arunners being second with 959 eggs. Hens not infrequently acquire the pernicious habit of eating their eggs, sometimes perhaps from accidental breakage*. Often 'such a habit may be cured by fulling carefully emptied ©gig-sheils with naseous compounds of a yellowish colour, like strong mustard, or carbolised vaseline. "We- have seen a hen eat the whole of a single mustard-filled egg without ruffling a feather: but generally if the plan is persevered with, and such prepared eggs regularly left in the nest and about the yard, the* habit will be conquered. There is, i however, a more certain plan, which we ' awe to the experience of American far-

mers, who often puffer far more largely in this way, owing to long, close confinement during the winter, There is a very large agreement amongst these experienced breeders that the best, meet certain, and in fact, almost invariable cure for eggeating is to give a free supply of either eggs otr egg shell* for a few days I Soone of them regularly save up their egg shells for ttuoh contingencies, "showing how common the trouble is under the conditions; others get them from the restaurants. At first the hens just go for them I And they are given the shells freely—for breakfast, dinner, and supper. But soon the appetite palls; by the end of the second clay they care little, and on the third fresh eggs may be rolled about among them with impunity, The editor of one of the American poultry journals (States: —"We have tried this plan for some years, and have never known it to fail. • We save up our shells, and have a stock on hand for any pen of fowls that shows a (tendency towards the egg:-eeting 'haoit. This remedy has never failed us." Then a farmer writes: —"Go to the bakery and get a basket of fresh 4gg shells; give them to the hens as fresh as you can, and throw them in whole; don't dry them, or break them up, but give as fresh and whole as 3'ou can get them. Give them all they will eat, and throw in some more, and keep them before them, all the time for a few days, and your hens will stop eating their eggs." Others report that they have given the entire eggs, using unfertile ones tested out of the incubators. "At first th,e hens would trample all over each other to'-get at'the broken eggs, but before they got through they wouldn't touch an egg." There is a whole pile of testimony to the success of this cure.

An egg laid by a purebred white leghorn hen in New Plymouth weighed 4£oz, and measured 9in in circumference one way, by nearly 62 the other. Tlie Wairarapa Egg Circle paid out to its membars last week the sum of £217 odd for 4800 dozen eggs sold for the four weeks October 28 to November 18. During the month this circle fulfilled' further orders to Wanganui and for export to San Francisco. CHICKEN-RAISING. The following article on chicken-raising by Mr J. Rose, of Burnham, was read at the recant conference of poultrymcn at Ohristchurch, It is deserving of the very closest attention, not for the reason that Mr Rose is manager of a Government poultry farm, but because 'he is recognised as being most successful as a rearer of chickens over a great number of years:— " I have been asked to deal with th«* subject of chicken-raising, which, is well known to be the all-important one in the succes3 or otherwise of poultry culture, for without healthy chickens poultrymen cannot expect the best results from their flocks. Now, before going into the matter of details. I will first have to deal with the breeding stock. This, we all know, is the "keynote to obtaining the beet results. The stock must be of sound constitution, and kept under sanitary and healthy conditions. I have no hesitation in saying that the best breeders are from the early, or fairly early, hatched stock. After careful observation ' for. years,. I am convinced that most of the trouble in rearing chickens is caused by breeding from latehatched stock. For some years back there has been a marked increase in the number of small eggs laid by pullets. This, to my mind, has been brought about by Using' late-hatched birds in the breeding pens. It stands to reason that to breed from late-hatched chickens, and. in turn, to continue doing so must tell its tale on the constituion of -the chicks, and in the long run bring about deterioration in the flock. "After seeing that the breeding pons are made up with nothing but sound-consti-tutioned specimens, the next thing is to see that the eggs do not get chilled in the early sunrise, or kept in too warm a place a* the season advances; for if chilled or allowed to a-et over 70deg. dead germs or weak chicks will be the result. At one time I thought it necessary that the eggs, while waiting to be put in incubators or under hens, should be turned every day; but I have had just as good results by letting them stand in one position for a week A* the same time, I do not see that any harmis done by diving them a move. Some three vears ago I gave an address before the Chrietehurcn Poultry Club on chicken-rais-ing, and in this case I will have to go over much the eame ground. . To those who have to depend on hatching with hens I will first deal. Every poultryman knows the difficulty in procuring broody hens in the early season, and in many cases will buy or borrow a broody . hen from any dirtv vard Now, this is the. first cause ot trouble in many a poultryman s plant, for by bringing home a hen from a dirtv yard they lay the foundation of a first-class laving strain of mites and other vermin. The greatest care should be taken that the hen is well dusted and put into a box for an hour or eo before being p'aced on the eggs, and the box in turn being burnt, - or in any case well disinfected. A dusting or two during the hatching will also do no harm. "I have seen equally good results got bv sitting a hen in a hay loft as on the ground; in fact, I do not think there is any hard and fast rule as to the place to sit a hen. the main point being that it is in a place where she will not be' disturbed by otheir hens. "When the hen's time is up do not be in a hurry to count the chicks; this can be done when the old hen thinks it is time to look around for food for them; this will be about 40 or 50 hours after they are hatched. "The first day or so after the chicks will eat very little, but it is best to give a fair amount of feed so that the hen can get what she wants. By the time the chicks require moie feed the hen will have trot over the starving. I will touch on the feed for chickens hatched under hens when dealing with brooder chicks. "A coop or box should be ready to place the hen and chicks into, one bo arranged that the hen can be kept in and the chicks allowed to run out; it should also have a hinged flap so that the rats or cats cannot get to the chicks at night. Still, it is surprising to see the many makeshift contriv- ' ances that are -used with more or less success. This now brings me to hatching by inenbaiion. "During experience, it is very hard to lav down a- hard arid fast rule as to the best method of working incubators, weather conditions, position of incubator house, etc.. having to be taken into consideration; so it is not my intention to go into the matter of incubation further than to say it depends on the amount of common sense

and judgment used by the operator. When the hatch is over I find the best method is to leave the chicks in the incubator for 40 to 48 hours, then giving a little fine gnfc a few hours before removing them to the brooder, and further delay the first feed for an hour or two. By doing so the ohicke can be left in the brooder a fewhours to settle down before receiving their 1 second meal. In the early season the water pot should be placed in the brooder house a few hours' before the chicks are placed therein, so as to take the chill off it. The first three days coarse oatmeal with the yolk only of egga mixed well into it is usual, and each day after the oatmeal i 3 continued and broken grains added, consisting of wheat, pea<s, and maize,, and after a week mulled oats nothing in the way of mash being used till the chicks leave the brooder. Fine-out green food being given after five or six days. Clean water and grit being before them. The brooder box when chicks are first in should be heated to about 90deg, this applies, of course, to pipe brooder®. Each week tho chickens are lrfoved up a stage, the pipes rising" from first brooder box to end of brooder, thus reducing the brat as the chiokens grow. At eight weeks in the early season and six weeks .as the weather gets warmer the chicks should bave passed the brooder stage. This applies to the South Island, but in the North, where there is little or no frost, less time is required for brooding. The grains shpuki be fed in litter, and for. the . first two weeks or so this should not be more than two inches deep, although much of the grains will, be covered and im time become wasted.

"Going .back to feed for chickens hatched \ with hens, I have found that very much j coarser feed can bo used than for brooder ,' chicks, and I have seen chickens from three days old live and do well on whole grains. This, F am sure, would kill brooder-reared chicks. I am not recommending such a diet, but only mention it as a fact that has come under my notice. Too much stress cannot be laid on the need of sharp grit, clean water, and cleanliness in sleeping quarters.' "In conclusion I mity state that the whole question is of 90 many details that I have onb- touched briefly on the subject, whereby an index has been given for free discussion, in which the experiences of those present will add to a better understanding being arrived at with regard to this most important subject, of which I shall *be pleased to answer a~ny questions regarding it." CENTRAL PRODUCE REPORT. Reilly. Scott, and Gill report that they held ■ two sales of poultry during the week, .handlrtig in all some 2700 birds, the bulk of tho yarding being: hens, which realised! fair values, considering the quantity forward. Some special lines of hens realised up to 2s each, though the bulk of bho birds; sold from Is 3d to Is 9d each, some very; poor, inferior birds making Is Id and Is 2d each. Some 640 ducklings came forward. amongst the number being a line of 79 splendid Peking cross ducklings, which realised 3s 9d to 3s lid each, good birds being sold at 3s to 3s 6d each; while a line of 37 very light birds only made 2s 9d each. Similar birds last season would not have realised Is 9d each, which goes to prove that the prices realised tJhis season must be considered highly satisfactory. Some nice linei of turkeys came to hand. Good heavyweights, ' 151 b te 181 b. realised 10£d to lid per pound; inferior gobblers, 9d per pound. In all 798 goslings came to band, the UrrasS yarding we have had.for months. All tho birds realised good values, one line of 30 birds making: 5s each. Other birds sold from 3s, 3s Id, 3s 6d. 3s 9d. 4s, and 4s 3d each, according to quality. Young cockerels met, a splendid tale, one line of 53 birds making the record price of 3s 7d each. Other birde sold from Is. Is 3d. Is 6d, Is 9d, 2», 2s 9d. 2s lid. 3s, and 3s Id each. Eggs early m the week jumped up to Is 3d to le 4d per dozen; but heavy consignments coming to hand, the market came back, and Is to Is 2d wae the raliner price on Saturday, withslow sales. With best wishes to the readers of this column for a happy and prosperous New Year.