POULTRY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3102, 27 August 1913, Page 33

POULTRY NOTES.

By Terror

Now that the chicken season is in full swing—September, be it remembered, is the groat month for hatching,—it mar he well to remind breeders that chickens cannot possibly attain their best without a plentiful mipply of green stuff and a small amount of meat (to make up for the insect

life confined birds are debarred from finding), also a good supply of grit. Even “old timers’ are apt to become careless of these matters.

—Mr P. Brown, Cavcrsham, is sending Home for a trio of gold-lacod Hamburgs, It is to be hoped he will get birds of gooa constitution, capable of producing stock not only creditable to himself, but which will make others envious. A few pens of rheso handsome birds would do much to make a show attractive.

A recent visit to Mr 11. L. Sprosen’s showed me that ho has, in addition to two handsome pens of Minorca#, a rea'ly beautiful pen of eight silver Wyandottes, all particularly strong in colour and all Gna sizeable birds. Evidently Mr Sprosen likea a bird not only able to lay, but one which will bo really presentable on the table. Notwithstanding their fine appearance, they are bred specially for egg-production and not for show points. E. Ball, Bradshaw street, who has been noted of late years as a breeder and cstablishcr of a strain ‘ of rose-combed Minorca#, tolls mo that Ins birds are doing wonderfully well as lay pi's, and that tin combs are becoming as firm and shapely as one could desire. He says a single* combed chick is now quite a rarity in* the \ard. and that the eggs are practical typical Minorca eggs. Mr Ayres, Cavcrsham. lias secured .1 very nice pen of Rhode Island Reds from the North Island. They are of good colour, and typical in every respect. He reports that they are laying well. —Mr Thomson, Sunnycivsr Farm, Maori Hill, has now get his Mmore,a pen fully established, and is delighted with the mag' uificent eggs they nre producing. If M? riiomsoa provides for his Minorca* as h« has for seven years now attended to hii Leghorns, he cannot fail to get satisfaction from them.

Mrs Mills—who, ii will be noticed, ij holding a good position at the present o^-g-laying'competition—informs me that her birds never were in better condition or up to the same ih'gh-water mark as regards strain as at present.

—ln feeding chickens in brooder spread a piece of oilcloth or a board and place the soft food on that, so that when the chickens are satisfied it can be removed, and nothing left to bo soiled and subsequently eaten. r lhe board or whatever may be used as a tray should be hung up on a nail so that it, in its turn, may not becomo foul.

Green Food for Chicks.—Knock tho bottom out of some old boxes and sink them in the ground. Then fill in earth up to about 3in from Ihe top. On this sow a little wheat, and then cover tho top of tha box with some fine mesh wire-netting. The wheat will soon begin to grow, and as th<i #*cen blades appear above tho wire thA chicks arc able to pick them off. Brown eggs have long been held by careful housewives to be better than whita ones, and a Liverpool scientist has now shown that once again the popular view has anticipated the verdict of science. Struck by the possibilities of the suggestion thal the darker the egg tho greater its virtue, I professor at Liverpool University began a series of careful experiments. As a result of these tests, he explained to a representative of the Daily News anti Leader, he has come to tho conclusion that brown eggs contain more nourishment than white ones. A number of eggs were selected which na-i been laid in one day on a mixed poultry farm. They were graded according to colour, and then tho eggs were carefully analysed in tho laboratory. Nine-tenths of tho contents of every egg is pure water, and so of no food value whatever, but in the remaining portion is packed away some of the most nutritious foods known. This was carefully analysed into its constituents, and the amount of fat, which is tho really nutrient element, was estimated or weighed. The darkest egg, one laid by a buff Orpington, was found to contain 10 per cent, more fat than the lightest-coloured egg. Moreover, the amount of fat was found to increase with the deepening in colour of tha shell. A very big white egg might contain as much nutrition as a small brown one, but, weight for weight, the darker eggs were always tho best. The professor who has been carrying out the experiments seemed genuinely concerned about the chickens. “ This fat is all the embryo has to live on,” he said, “and it appears as if some of the chickens stand a much bigger chance of avoiding scragginess than others. They got a bettor start in life. But wo shall probably find when we consult practical men that the dark eggs are laid by the bigger breeds of birds, and thus tho chicken which had most nourishment in the egg grows up to be the biggest fowl. A correspondent to tho Poultry World tackles the sex problem in Mucks question in a manner slightly different front tho Feathered World correspondent’s at* tempt quoted last week. lie says: —“Taka tho chick in the hand, keeping it on its back with its head away from you ; blow gc.ntiy to part the fluff arid obtain a clear sight of tho vent. If the thicker edge or lip of the vent is nearest the head the chick is a male, and if nearest the tail then the chick is a female. Having myself handled some thousands of day-old chicks. I have found it easv to pick out a day-old cockerel of Leghorn breed, uru! those of our readers who keep this breed should find it easy to prove tho worth of the above rvethod, more particularly ns tho cockerels can bo picked out bv tho larger combs which they show even at this ago. Then, by use of 'P. \V.’ circlets, particulars can bo registered in a book and mistakes (if any) made in selecting for sex by the above methods would bo traced when old enough to he distinguished by plumage. This method is not new in one way ns cage-bird fancier* use the same method to tell the sox of cage birds, though, of course, at a much later stage than a day old. I (rust some of our readers will experiment and let us know the results in due course.”

A so-called enterprising breeder in tho Old Country, in a determination to tost tho genuineness of the 200-egg6-a-yoar layer, is offering £1 each for birds guaranteed to lay by a given date 170 to 200 eggs. When one comes to think of tho value of tho product and the years spent in raising such a strain, £1 a bird seems to ho a pretty cheap way of petting mto the running. the selection of layers. “It is quite clear.” remarks Mr Pavilion, in a pamphlet he has lately published (L» Selection dcs Pondeuses). “ that the Eng* lifih and Canadiane are excellent poultryfarmers, whereas tho French arc the slaves of routine or unpractical amateurs, and that poultry-keeping should bo an casenti ally profitable industry.

—To Make Money.— “To make money,” he continues, there are two essential conditions: “ 1. Selection of birds for flesh and eggs. Keep good hens which will lay a large number of fine eggs, and which will* enable one, when poultry are reared, to obtain good pullets in the most economical way possible. “2. Continue this selection every year without ever ceasing, and for this only have one breed, but let it be brought as closely ae possible to the general utility type. With judicious selection hens can soon be obtained which will give an average of 150 eggs yearly, .whereas the existing French hen lays a maximum of 80. Kill 99-egg Layers.— “ Any hen which does not lay 100 eggs per year brings no profit to a poultrykeeper in intensive culture. The bird should bo killed for the table, and not kept for stock. Very good and very bad layers are to be met with in every race of hens. The aptitude for laying, however, is individual and hereditary, and not merely racial.” DUCKLINGS FOR STOCK PURPOSES. Ducklings intended for stock purposes should bo of good parentage, and purebred at that, for there is nothing to be gained, -and something may’ be lost, by the keeping of crossbred stock. When hatching ducklings for stock purposes, hatch as many more as are actually required. This enables of some choice being made later on, and also makes it fairly safe that the desired number of either sex will be available when required. It does not matter whether the hatching is done by means of hen or incubator—:t should, too, be remembered that many ducks will sit if allowed to do so —but it makes towards rapid growth in a wet season to rear under hens, not just for the first week, but until the ducklings are a month old. —Rearing Table Ducklings.—

When rearing ducklings for table the favoured plan is to confine the birds within a very restricted area, but where being reared for stock the birds arc best reared upon dry turf, kept within the confines of a small run for tho first week, a larger one for tho next three, and afterwards allowed plenty of range, and water to swim upon. Until the birds are given liberty they should bo moved frequently, and at all times until fledged it is a wise policy to give them protection from heavy rain. Feed the ducklings every two hours for the first week. After this gradually extend tho intervals between meals until but four meals per day are given at a month old. For tho first week a good food is a mixture of hard-boiled egg and breadcrumbs, made very fine When egg is used it may bo gradually discontinued at the week’s end and oatmeal, fine sharps, biscuit-meal, and boiled rice introduced. When meal is fed the first week it may, too, be gradually superseded in the same manner, though an occasional feed of it will be found beneficial until the birds are fledged. At three weeks old a start may bo made to introduce ordinary foods and grains, and at two months old such is only required. When feeding ducklings for stock strive to make the diet as varied as possible, and while being careful to feed plentifully do not allow stale food to bo left. As for hard food, it. is best fed in the water-trough. Where high-class ducklings are being reared for cither show or sale it is advisab’e to ring them with “P.W.” circlets, which should bo placed upon the leg whilst the birds are but a few days old. At all times aee that the ducklings roost upon a dry, clean floor, oaten chaff being a good'’floorcovering for the birds up to three weeks or so old, after which oaten straw gives ' good results, though it is not, perhaps, tho cheapest of litters. —Plenty of Range.— When the birds are given plenty of range and are at the same time well fed, they will not bo heavy like birds fed for the table, but will be big-framed and sound of oonsti tution, just what is w'anted in a stock bird. The particular birds desired for keeping should be selected when mature enough to enable the sex be : ng properly defined. Draft out the under-sized birds, those deformed in any way, and those of wrong colour or typo. When two birds chance to be so near equal in merit that it cannot otherwise be told which is the better of the two, place them upon tho scales and keep the heavier one. The drafted bird shou’d be promptly fatted for tho table.

THE CENTRAL PRODUCE MART, LTD.

Messrs Reilly, Gill, and Co., proprietors report:—On Wednesday last trood consignments of poultry came to hand. r I hero was an excellent demand for all lines, and eood prices were secured. Eggs came forward freely, and bottom prices were touched on Friday, with case eggs selling at lid per dozen. Stamped and guaranteed were difficult to clear at Is per dozen. We give below the actual prices secured by us on behalf of our consignors Hens: 2s, 2s Id,

2s 3d. 2s 4d. 2s 5(1 2s 6d. 2s Bd, 2s 9d. and ss. Cockerels realised 2s 3d. 2s 4d, Zs' sd, Zs 6d, Zs Bd, Zs lOd. Zs lid, 3s, and 5s Id. Old cock birds: Is 6cl. Is 9d, Is lid. 2s, and 2s 3d each. Ducks realised Zs 9d, 3s, 3s sd, each. Pullets realised Zs 6d, 3s, 3s 9d, 3s lid, and 4s each. Turkey gobbiers, 9J<l to 10-^d; turkey hens, 7d, Bid; jocks, Bd, 9jd per lb. Epps, Is for stamped ; case eggs, lid and lljd per dozen.

N.Z. UTILITY POULTRY CLUB. At the ninth epp-layinp c^n petition of tho New Zealand Utihty Poulm- Club the total for tho last week was 1565, bringing the aggregate for the 19 weeks up to 21.104. Tho best records for the week were by King

and Watson's (N.S.W.) black Orpingtons. T. , MTI wraith’s and R. A. Lazarus’s white Leghorns with 35 eggs each. R. A. Lazarus (Hutt) has the highest total for tho 19 weeks with 525. Next in order is Win. Scull (Christchurch) 514 and C. D. C. Eggors (Nelson) with 513 eggs. Mrs J. Mill’s (Dunedin) white Leghorns have to lhe : r credit a total of 29 for the week, and 449 for the 19 weeks. In the fourth egg-laying competition for ducks the total for the seven pens for the fifteenth week was 231, making the total to date 1849 The best records fo?- the week wore by A. R. Browne’s pen with 39 eggs, and W. Knight’s (No. 2) pen with 56.