POULTRY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3215, 27 October 1915, Page 61

POULTRY NOTES.

By TkEHOK

—lt has been decided to recommend Messrs Snaw and Hawke —both well-known utility poultrymon —as judges tor the utility sections in tiio next Christchurch Poultry Show. This is a suggestion to the Dunedin Fanciers’ Club as to now to make a utility poultry section sufficiently popular to attract entries. The New Zealand Utility Poultry Club has decided to hold a single pen test at their next year’s competitions, to be open to holders of certificates and breeders of the birds. The standard of certificate is raised for next year to 13U0 eggs for light breeds and 1250 eggs for heavy breeds. The weight of eggs is to be 230 z per dozen tor both heavy and light breeds. The next conference of the New Zealand Poultry Association is to take place at Easter. —To tell an old hen from a young one, lift up the wing and push aside the feathers of the sides. In the case of a young hen you will find a long down, light, close, and arranged regularly between the other feathers which cover these parte of the body. Through the skin of a delicate, rosy tissue, the small blue veins will be apparent. In a hen more than a year old the down and veins will have disappeared, and the skin will be dull, white, and dry, less smooth, and having a somewhat floury appearance. —ln the Daily News and Leader (Eng ) the achievements of Mr Tom Barron, the now well-known poultry man of Catforth, are thus eulogised: Great, he longed for other worlds to conquer. Sending birds from his stock across the Atlantic to compote in American laying competitions, he beat on their own ground breeders of the United States, the country whore the white Wyandotte was created, and the second home of the white Leghorn. In Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Missouri, and British Columbia these English birds were undeniable. . . . The Catforth Poultry Farm is an object-lesson revealing the opportunities to those who are worthy of them ” Hens that are out of condition, or, in other words, get too fat to lay well, often acquire the egg-eating habit. The scarcity of lime in the food supplied also causes the shells of the eggs to become thin, and when laid these soft-shelled eggs break, and the hen thus acquires a taste. It is always best to remove the cause, by gathering the eggs several times a day, so that there will be no chance of breakage by hen on the nest or by a new-laid egg striking those already laid. Poultry-keepers, especially those with roomy scratching sheds, would do well to note that the dust in summer gets too dry very often. The remedy is simple and easily done. On an evening sprinkle water by means of a garden watering-can, just eough to damp it over. Do not make it sticky. When done on an evening any slight excess has a chance to dry a bit.

SOME BREEDING HINTS,

“Hardshell” writes:—“R is probable that the hens have tho_ most influence on the vital powers that is, so far as the organs of nutrition and production are concerned. In actual experience it has boon found that form, size, and constitution should all be found in the hens; otherwise they should bo rejected as breeders. As a general rule, most attention is paid to the oock bird, on the basis “that he is half the pen.” So ho is; but ho is not all the pen, and this is where a lot of young breeders go wrong. The rooster should bo chosen for type, gait, feather, and generally fine get up. A bird which fills the bill in ;il! th esc important respects comes along only now and again, and his union with good liens will bo productive of the best progeny, for the reason that the hens will be attracted to him. The female instinct is universally in favour of the handsome male; it is just Nature a work; and the utmost harmony will prevail in a pen which is headed by a beautiful oock bird, and the offspring will be of the best. Equally important as the selection of the rooster is the choosing of the hens. They must be big feeders, of good size and shape, layers of perfect-shelled eggs, free from deformity of any sort: in “Hort. as

perfect in their sex as the rooster is. representative of his. CONCENTRATED WISDOM FOR DUCK FARMERS. 1. Do not attempt to catch ducks by their legs; it is much safer to handle them by the neck. 2. Do not reduce their weight by taking a lamp amongst them at nijjht. 3. Never throw dry lime m a duck-pen; it kills. 4. Never select the largest duck-eggs for hatching; they are usually infertile'. 5. Never set a hen on duck-eggs in a dry shed unless you moisten the nest twice each week. 6. Always provide plenty of carbonate and phosphate of lime to assist shell-making; oyster-shell supplies this need. 7. Keep plenty of coarse sand, old mortar, and a little charcoal in a box for laying ducks. 8. Keep ducks away from the creek or dam at night time, otherwise many eggs will be lost. 9. Ducks should always be locked in at night, and kept on an absolutely dry, soft floor. They lay best under these conditions, and the eggs are easily gathered. 10. To breed healthy ducklings, avoid the heavy, fattened birds, which lay but few’ eggs; even these arc usually infertile. 11. Never hurry the laying ducks; it usually injures them, sometimes seriously. When handling ducks, never hold them by the wings. 12. When sickness attacks ducks it is useless to doctor them. The best remedy for duck ailments is plenty of sliced raw onion in the mash, and an absolutely dry, soft bed. 13. When runner ducks for egg production are desired, have four to five ducks with an unrelated drake; two ducks and one drake usually produce too large a percentage of drakes. 14. Ducks for market should be fed well; feed as much as possible—up to 10 weeks. They pay best when fattened before they commencc to shed the young feathers.