POULTRY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3399, 7 May 1919, Page 40

POULTRY NOTES.

By Tee hob.

"4. B " —The Palmerston Winter Show ie to'bo hold on June 18, 19, and 20. An advertisement regarding our own local show appears on this page. The Dxinedin Fanciers' Club's annual show of poultry, pigeons, canaries, cate, children's pets, and dogs will be held in the Brydone Hall on June 19, 20, and 21, 1919. Entries will close on Saturday, May 17. Everything points to the show being a most successful one. Competent judges have been appointed for the various sections, and a large entry is anticipated. Send to E. S. Wilson P.O. Box 92, Dunedin, for a schedule. He will alsobe pleased to supply any necessary information. The iSouth Island Wyandotte Club's show is to be held in conjunction with the Christchurch Show, and promises to be the finest show of 'Dottes ever heldl by. the specialist club. The prize money is attractive, and there are rumours that there will be several exceptionally fine birds on exhibition. One can scarcely imagine that there will bo a noticeable advance in respect to type and lacing, for, to tell the truth, there are many who believe that the ideal has been reached in thes* respects, and that to attempt improvement will be like "painting the lily I" The progress made in the improvement, from the fancier's standpoint, of the silver Wyandotte, has indeed been marvellous. Not so many years ago judges used to excuse themselves for awarding prizes to birds utterly failing in type solely on account of their lacing being good, and, when questioned, would explain that type and lacing could not be obtained in the one bird. Of lato, however, we have seen well-laced birds of real Wyandotte type, and, not only that, but the lacing has been more perfect than when it was only produced in birds of Hanbury type. Fanciers may well be proud of their achievements in respect to this breed. Next thing to do is to produce an egg-Jaying competition Avinner fit to score in the show room. Why not? • —Mr J. H. Shaw, secretary to the New Zealand Utility Poultry _ Club's fourteenth competition, wnich terminated last month, reports that it was nnquestionablv the most successful of all the tests held by the club. Ho says": Ninety-seven thousand four hundred and fifty-one eggs were laid by the--492 fowls, against 89,627 yielded by the Sls birds on the ground last year. The 62 light breed teams gave the very fine averago pf 207.4 eggs per bird, and the- 19 light-broed singles averaged 227_ per bird. Thirty-five per cent, of the light breed teams yielded over 1350 eggs, thus entitling them, to the club's standard certificate, pro-

vided all conditions have been fulfilled. Mr Beck (Christchurch) was to be congratulated on the sterling performance of his white Leghorn team —1660 eggs, which was the second best on record by the club. Mrs Gorinski (Invercargill) was also to bo congratulated on tho lino performance of her birds, 1518; as also is Mr Liggins, who captured third prize with 1422 eggs, and also the Leghorn Challenge Shield and the Studholme Diploma and Gold Medal.. Tho heavy breed' tost was disappointing. Many of tho teams were sent forward in a backward condition, and, in the writer's opinion, aonfining them to their scratching-houso during tho winter months was not a good method to adopt to secure a heavy egg yield. _ Heavy breeds must be kept busy, and given an abundance of various green foods, if the best results are to be obtained. The ducks gave an excellent average—l 324 eggs per team (six ducks). W. T. Green gained first honours with a young team, which laid 1407 eggs, and also third place with an eight-month-old pen yielding 1336 eggs; L. A. Wadham gaining second prize with 1376 eggs. The latter were greatly handicapped by only having five birds in the team during the greater period of the competition. The Heretaunga team was likewise handicapped, and finished in place with 1332 eggs. Subject to official revision of the figures, the results aro :

Light Breeds.—Team .competition, six pullets—H. W. Beck, 1560 eggs, 1; Mrs E. A. Gorinski, 1518 eggs, 2; J. Liggins, 1422 eggs, 3. Heavy Breeds. —Team competition, six pullets—T. E. Conway (Kirwec) 1. Light Breeds. —Single pen competition— Tracey King, 235 eggs, 1; W. A. Gee, 266 eggs, 2; S. Dick, 245 eggs, 3. Heavy Breeds. —'Single bird contest— E. J. Ross, 199 eggs, 1. Duck Contest.—Teams—W. T. Gvcen, 1407 eggs, 1. Light Breeds Team Winter Test—S. L. Beer 1, Tracey King 2, A. E; Powley 3, J. Liggins 4. Heavy Breeds Winter Test—T. E. Conway 1. -.

Duck Winter Test—lt. M. Copland 1, L. A. Wadham 2, W. T. Green 3. Heavy Breed Single Bird Winter Contost—T. E. Conway 1. A. E. Wilson 2.

Light Breed Single Bird Winter Con test —Green Bros. 1.

Light Breed Teams/Autumn Test-7-H. W. Beck 1. Mrs Gorinski and O. H. Izard (equal) 2. Heavy Breed Teams Autumn Test—Willoughby Knight 1. Leghorn Challenge Shield—Joseph Liggins (Christehureh). __ Studholme Diploma, and Gold MedalJoseph L'ggins (Christehureh). Wynandotte Challenge Shield—T. Dowthwaite (Auckland). The following are entitled to club certificates: —Light Breed Teams Contest, for six birds laying 350 standard-weight eggs or over—Messrs Beck, Liggins, Powlcy, West, Oxford Farm, Green Bros. No. i, Heretaunga, E. W. Jones, R. W. Hawke, S. L. Beer, H. Williams, and Mrs Gorinski. Ducks—Messrs W. T. Green (2), L. A. Wadham, and Heretaunga Poultry Company. Light Breed Single Pen Birds—Messrs Tracey King, W. A. Gee and Son, and S. Dick.

A northern paper, commenting on egglaying competitions, says: "The principal New Zealand test, that of Christehureh, has beon < subsidised by the Government, and now it has appealed for a much larger measure of State assistance. If the Government is expected to finance these undertakings, then its experts should havo something to say in regard to their control. The great weakness of tests conducted bymen who are taking part in them is that the results are naturally not accepted with confidence by poultrymen abroad, o*r, indeed, even by some poultrymen in the country in which they are held. To make thorn of the greatest value they should be under State control, so that the results may have official backing. If any State assistance is given them, it should be in the direction of the State -appointing the manager, having full control over him and the test, and paying his salary. For the State heavily to subsidise such air undertaking, and then allow the interested association controlling it to" manage it in their own way, probably without having the good sense—to say nothing of courtesy—to conduct it according to the advice of the Government expert, is an absurd position, and makes Government assistance quite, unwarranted—in fact, most undesirable. The Government < is ill advised to allow itself to bo used in this way." Writing in February last (winter month) Mr John Hart, an English poultryman, is upholding the argument that poultry-farming as a sole business can be made to pay, admits that it is " not an easy proposition," meaning, I fancy, that it is not a "lazy man's" proposition. He says: "Egg-farming needs constant attention, knowledge, and a deal of application. Work that begins at 7 and docs not finish at this timo of year till nearly 11 at night, though it entails little real "hard work, cannot by any manner of means be termed easy, more especially when one realises that there is a seven-day week. Of course, the hours vary; once the rearing of little chicles is over the hours are shortened, as they need to be, but there is never much hope for a 47-hour week; at this time of the year it is more like 100 hours/'

A 3 show-time is approaching amateurs should be already preparing their exhibits, and if they have the slightest desire to excel in breeding should not for a moment entertain any idea of not showing. The best lessons to be learned in the 12 months of the year are to be learned at showtime. Take your best bird, Mr Amateur, to .the show whether you or your expert friend think it is likely to win or not. Take it to the show if only to compare it with the winners. It is only at the show that you can do this under favourable conditions —viz., side by side, —and remember that many —indeed, the best sports—are amongst tho losers. It is not the winners who keep the shows going, and thus make these excellent means of comparison possible, but it is the "sports," who by their entries and entry money make it possible to pay prize money and expenses. An amateur exhibiting for the first time or after one or two years' non-success should call in an expert' to advise which birds to show. I h«ve known cases in which this has been done, with the result that high honours were attained, and this not so much because the expert picked merely the best bird, but because he knew the predilections of the iudge. Birds should always be penned for two or three weeks prior to the show. As a rule, penning improves the bird in plumage and carriage, but the important thins: in penning is that the bird is taught to behave before tho judge. A bird which is shown

direct from the pen may by jumping about or when being bundled by t the judge, ruffle his temper to such a degree that ha will forget that ho has still a first prize at his disposal. Food the penned birds three times daily; give linseed if the plumage requires it. See the water vessel is always filled with clean water, and hung about 3in or 4in from the floor. This is necessary in order that the litter, of which there should bo plenty on the floor, is not scratched into it. A few drops of Douglas mixture of Parrish's chemical food in the water will act as a tonic and consequently bring out the redness of comb, wattles, and face. Handle the penned bird daily, and accustom them to being moved about by both hand and stick. A bird whioh is shy at show time will spoil most of its chances of _ winning a prize by darting about or shrinking into a corner. (( — Eoilly's Central Produce Mart report: A keen demand for stamped and guaranteed eggs. Our customers are eagerly inquiring for further supplies at 2s Bd. ner dozen and preserved Is lid. On Wednesday we cleared some nice lines of pullets under, keen competition, prices ranging from 7s 6d to 10s each. Good cockerels and duckling!* are in keen demand, and hens have much better attention. The following prices wero secured for our -consignors:—Hens from 2s to 2s 4d each ,* cockerels from 3s 4d to 4s each; ducks, 3s 4d to 3s 6d each; ducklings, 3s 7d to 3s 9d each; pullets from 7s 6d to 10s each."

Messrs Fraser and Co., produce merchants, auctioneers, and commission agents, 146 Crawford street, Dtsnedin, report: "Eggs: Market firm; stamped, 2s 6d; fresh eggs, 2s 4d to 2s sd; preserved, 2s. Poultry: We held our usual auction sale on Wednesday at 1.30. We received and sold a consignment of pullets which realised very high orices. Pullets: Crossbreds —six at ss. 10 at Bs, seven at 8s 6d, 15 at Ss, 10 at 9s 6d/' all at per head; hens—market very much firmer this week—24 at Is 9d. 100 at Is lOd, 73 at 2s, 20 at 2s 2d, 30 at 2s 6d; cockerels —six at 3s, 18 at 3s 3d, 34 at 3s Cd, five' at 4s; ducks—ls at 33, seven at 3s 6d, eight at 4s; turkeys—gobblers lid, hens lOd per lb live weight; geese—seven at three at 5s 6d. We have a good inquiry for purebred white " Leghorn millets." ' ,