POULTRY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3035, 15 May 1912, Page 33

POULTRY NOTES.

By Tbbbob.

Messrs Kempthorne, Prosser, and Co. have given a handsome silver cup, to bo won twice, for most points in single-combed black Minorca*. Breeders who know the capabilities of these one-time favourites as la vers of large white eggs will welcome this incentivo to their reproduction. Minoreas arc most suited of any breed to confinement, provided they aro properly treated. Make them exercise for all their food, and ■ they will not get fat and lazy, but will Lay not onlv eggs, but plenty of them. , The single-combed Minorca is most corI tainly the largest of the non-sitting breeds, and as a table bird is not to be despised, I possessing as it. does very white, juicy flesh. The Minorca is, of course, no exception to the rule of strain, for there are good and bad-laying strains of Minoreas. I as in all other breeds; but secure a cood I laying strain, feed them and house them , well, and you will be delighted with their beautiful larcre eggs. Being black-plumaged birds, they do not show the dirt, and when kept in small runs they are wonderfully quiet, and do not set up_ that unusually loud cackle over t the laying of a large- ! sized egg that some birds do over the ' laying of a " marble." i Golden and silver-laced Wyandotte* appear to be going out of fashion in Great

Britain. At the dairy show, Crystal Palace, Birmingham, and York (Club) Shows in 1891 the total entries for these breeds numbered 104, 88, 88, and 153 respectively, whilst at the 1911 shows the totals recorded are only 47, 112, 48, and 27. The 112 entered at Crystal Palace in 1911 is made up by an entry of 40 in a novice class, which apparently was not arranged for in 1891. The reason for Wyandottes declining in favour appears to be the practice of breeding by the dual system .of mating. People who purchase sittings of eggs are naturally disappointed when they find that the pullets are unfit to direct attention to, simply because the parent birds were mated with the sole idea of producing good cockerels. Dual mating, though undoubtedly a shortcut method of obtaining show results, and consequently satisfactory to the leading men who scoop up all the prizes, tends to confine the interest in the breed to show men, and prevents them from growing in popular favour*. —-The man whose remarks i<n disparagement of the firoless brooding of chickens I quoted last week, is getting a " warm." time from advocates of the new system. Ho is receiving invitations to send an official of the R.S.P.O.A. to numerous yards. It is evident that the tireless brooder is rapidly gaining in favour in the Old Country, as well as in America and Australasia, and if in the course of two or three years it is found that it does not interfere with the laying habits, it will no doubt supersede all other methods of raising chickens, for it is already proved that it contributes to vigour and fast growth. The total entry money received for next month's show to date, by the secretary of the Dunedin Fanciers' Club is £l4O as against £l2O received for similar period last year. There is still a lot of money to come in from Christchurch and other centres at which entry money was payable, and the expectation is that the total entry fees will top last year's by about £2O. The Otago Canary and Cage Bird Club held a meeting in the new club room, Moray place, on Monday night to hear an address by Mr Hunt, the canary judge. There were about 40 fanciers present, including kennel and poultry men, the club room being now run by the combined" fanciers. Mr Hunt gave a practical demonstration of how to wash a canary and to prepare it for the show bench. Mr Hunt v got through his work in a thoroughly practica! manner, and, after answering numerou* questions was heartily thanked. He said he did not favour the use of glycerine in washing birds, as it was of a sticky nature; plain water was better than anything else. The lecture is "announced to be the first of a series, the president having arranged for monthly lectures. All fanciers should support the social club room movement, for it bids fair to foster the best possible feeling between fanciers, and it only requires a little practical support to enable the committee to make the room attractive in every way. One idea of the promoters is to have reading matter on the various fancies always available for members and visitors. According to the decision of _ two Devon (England} magistrates, " dubbing " game fowls is illegal. Mr Spark and his assistant, Mr Andrews, were brought before the Devon court by an officer of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and charged with dubbing two game cocks. The chairman of the bench said the practice was cruel and reprehensible, and ought to be stopped. Both defendants were fined heavily. This decision is, to say the least, surprising to poultrykeepers. Any person who has had experience must know that " dubbing" saves game fowls from being torn and cut about in the encounter which will take place if the birds are allowed to run together. " Dubbing" heavy-oombed male birds of the Mediterranean breeds is, in many cases, an absolute necessity. As to the cruelty of the practice. I have long ago concluded that the pain must be very slight. I have known birds to be operated upon because they could hardly hold up their head* through the weight of comb. They refused to feed at all. Directly after the combs were "dubbed" the birds started feeding. When the fancier finds that his chicks are suffering from gapes, the best remedy is to remove the birds into a lined exhibition basket and close down the lid. Ihen make a hole in the lid and puff strong tobacco smoke Inside until the chicks are invisible. This will have the effect of making the chicks cough-the little troublesome worm out of the trachea, where it lodges. This remedy is excellent, and should be given a trial by all who have chicks suffering from gapes. As a good &«•*"&* coffee should be set on fire, and *Uo*ed to burn, as the smoke is excellent for this purpose. The basket and coops should be treated in this manner. L.«A frequent cause of chicks getting hung in the hen's feathers is putting too many out with one hen. If you have two hens hatching, and they bring out, say, 15 or 10 chicks between them, don't put them all with one hen, as a good many do, to save a 'hen; it's a penny wise and a pound toonsh a hen can cover 12 or 13 eomEXblv and the remaining two or throe keepTrunnrnff their heads through the hen's fcwfthers to try to get under, until they get [he fathers iv-isted around their necks, and vvhen the hen gets up they are soon naWed I have seen as many as three chkL killed in one day by the same hen through this. . , , Returns in connection with the egglaving competition at Vancouver up to Vo&v 27 are to hand The four leading pons in Class I are all white Leghorn*, and are all Australian and New Zealand pens. In Class II the leading pen is the only New Zealand pen. The report says thai the eggs from this pen are small, only averaging 21oz to the dozen. The highest pen temperature was 51deg and the loweil 32deg (average mean 45deg). The avorago prioe secured for the eggs was 59 cents a c'bzen (2s SW). The tour leading scows. Cla6S I for four months are 23, 189. 140. 137; and top score. Class 11, is 195. Ihese latter are silver Wyandottes. One pen of white Leghorns has not laid; anotn«r ppn has contributed five eggs only. The Maryland Station, America, recently concluded experiments to determine the effect of corn on the colour of the yolk of eggs. A flock of 120 single-comb white Leghorns were divided Into three lots of 40 each, and were housed and oared for alike exoept that one pen received its whole grain in the form of corn; another in the form of wheat, and the third received a mixture of corn and wheat. All pens were allowed free access to narrow yards -which furnished a very limited amount of green stuff. All the eggs laid by these pens were saved, and. after boiling, were cut in half and placed in parallel rows for comparison. In every instance tho eggs from the corn-fed lot

showed yolks with a deep yellow oo]our> Every egg from the eorn-aiid-wheat-fcxi tot had a yolk of a good yellow colour; while, with but three exceptions, the eggs from ifcose fed on wheat had yolks of a very pale yellow colour. The three exceptions can probably be accounted for by some of the hens getting green food from the yards Another test was made subsequently with white com, and the yolks were a very pale yellow. As a result of the tests it was concluded that yellow corn when fed to hens in the proportion of 9 parts com to 12 parts mash, gives a very deep yellow colour to the yolk. Yellow corn, when fed to hens in the proportion of 4| parts corn to 16i parts of other foods gives a noticeable yellow tint. Wheat. when fed in the same proportions, does not give any yellow colour, to the eggs and white corn is no better than wheat, so far as furnishing a tint to the yolk is concerned. ' At the annual meeting of the Nelson Poultry Association it was decided to secede from the South Island Association, mainly on the ground that there was no communitv of interests with the southern portion of" the island. Owing, however, to the difficulties that non-affiliated associations experience, the Nelson Association has now decided to remain affiliated with the South Island Association. A Picton fowl breeder had considerable success at the recent Sydney show with several of his well-bred fowls, says the Marlborough Press. The exhibitor received an offer of £2O for a pair of some of his birds, but this high figure was refused, and the fowls were shipped back to New Zelaand. WONDERFUL FIGURES. Mr Edward Brown, hon. secretary National Foultry Organising Society (England), says:—"A modest estimate is that, on the basis of three fowls to the acre, there should be a gross annual return .n sales of eggs and poultry or food for home consumption equal to £1 per acre. That amount is often exceeded as a result of good management, and he has come across many instances of 30s and more per acre. It is better, he says, to take the lesser sum as capable of universal realisation. Whether eggs, or chickens, or ducklings, or goslings, or turkeys, are produced and sold does not affect the gross return. What may be sacrificed in one direction is gained in the other. There is, also, the manurial value to be regarded. Experiments.have shown that the average value of manures produced by fowls ike*pt upon farms is. 1* Id per annum. To that may be added manure produced bv young stock, birds fattening, etc., at which period it is much higher in value. If, therefore, 3s 4d psr aoro is calculated it cannot be regarded as »;xcessivp." The calculations below are made upon the above basis, showing: (1) the possible number of fowls kept in each county and division, at the rate of three fowls per acre of cultivated land. (2) the value of eggs and poultry; (3) the manurial value: and (4) the total value of the poultry industry to farmers holding one acre and upwards. inclusive of food products and manure. The totals for Great Britain are: —

These figures, viewed in the aggregate are stupendous, and eeem almost impossible, but it is not so, and when they .are dissected it is at onoe seen that they understate rather than overstate the case Taking tho 96,283,974 fowls and allowing 16,283,974 males, we should have 36,000.000 hens. At an average of 70 eggs per hen which is below the rate of good stock, !>ut allows a margin for hatching purposes there vould be produced 6,020,000.000 egg's for consumption and sale. Adding the Irish supplies to Britain (as> in 1910)-. namely 747.338,400 eggs, sav 608.000 tons but th.-s is only an average" of 165.72 per unit of the population per annum, or less than one every other day. If from each hen one chicken or it= equivalent was bred annually, and adding the Irish supplies (as in 1910), amounting to 331,084 cwt, there would only be an average of on© fowl for each family of five persons in Britain, every 41, weeks, instead of one every 12 weeks as at present Neither in eggs nor poultry, therefore, would the supply be beyond the consuming capacity of the British people. This is from the pen of our greatest expert in such matters, and most reliable. CENTRAL PRODUCE MART. Messrs Reilly, Scott, and Gill, proprietors, report that at their sale of poultry held Wednesday last an exceedingly keen demand wae experienced for all lines of good poultry. In all we catalogued some 940 birds, one lino of 300 head of cockerels made the record price of 2s &V 1 to 3s 3:1 each. Good_ cockerels realised from 2s 3d to 2s Bd, while inferior birds realised from Is 4d (o 2s each. Hor.s.—Some 420 came to hand; these realised from Is 3d to Is Bd. some exceedingly good hens making as high as Is 9d tr> 2s each. Ducks. —Only 76 came to hand. These realised from 2s to 2a 9d each. Geese were in short supply, and also turkeys, and both are urgently wanted. Good gobblers realised 9d. hen turkeys realised 7d per !b. While geese realised 2s 6d to 3s each. Eggs have l>een exceedingly scarce, :,r.d stamped and guaranteed realised as high as 2s. For a small line of new-laid sale? have been made on a basis of Is lOd to 2t during the week. Preserved cges are meeting a much better inquiry, and there is a prospect of good prices being realised. We Strongly advise early consignments of good table poultry, feeling sure that payable prices will bo secured.

Possible Number of Fowls. England .. * Wales Scotland .. . . .. 73,435,278 8,311.191 . .. 14,537,505 Total . .. 96,283,974 Possible Annual Valu Poultry. e of Eggs and . .. £24,478,426 2,770,397 . .. 4,845,835 , Total . .. £32,094,658 Manurial Value o Wales" f Poultry. . .. £4,079,737 . .. 461,733 . .. 807,639 Total . .. £5,319,109