POULTRY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3429, 2 December 1919, Page 45

POULTRY NOTES.

By Tebeob

" —Pip is not a disease, but simply an effect caused by breathing through the mouth instead of the nostrils, which have become blocked through cold. From constant exposure to the cold air the tip of the tongue becomes hard. It is considered cruel to remove the hard substance. The proper treatment is to cure the bird of the cold by removing it to a separate coop, clear the nostrils with a feather dipped in kerosene, 'frequently moisten the hard substance on-the tip of the tongue with oil or glyce'rinc, and when softened gently remove. Probably the fowl has been perching in the direct line of a draught. now on" the market don't overdo it. Don't overlook the fact that it is a concentrate, and that a: little goes a long way. For 100 grown birds fib'to lib.is enough sup-

plied every other day, seasoned with a little salt. For chickens over two months oki give ilb only to 100 birds. For chickens up to two months old give an occasional leed of earthworms and an occasional cooked boao with scraps of lean meat on it. Feed plenty of crushed oats to these young birds, for there is nothing better for producing a strong, bony frame, —lf youx birds become oyer-fat they ore apt to lay soft-shelled eggs. Birds will not become too fat if they are laying well, nor if tho supply of food is invariably stopped directly they eat with avidity. To feed after tho birds are disinclined to rush for their food is wasteful, for it means less eggs, and those laid are unprofitable, being at too great cost for food. To keep chickens and grown fowls free of vermin, see that they have access to a dust bath. The dust suffocates the lice, which drop out of the feathers when the birds shake themselves. Don't have the dust bath too deep, for it is most effective when the bird can press down through the dust to the solid floor. A nioment's thought will satify anyone that this is right. —Mr A. S. Skilton, caretaker of the Auckland egg-laying competition, in the course of a very instructive paper contributed to tb» New Zealand Journal, says inter alia: " There are one or two points that I would like to make clear that are likely to be the xesults of striving after this phenomenal egg production,, and one is the loss of constitutional vigour. We all know thac the more prolific you make a plant or an animal the shorter is its.life, and greater is the mortality likely to be among its offspring. The expenditure of energy of vital forces, and the strain on constitutional vigour, which is necessary to such phenomenal egg-production, has a very detrimental effect upon the bird, and might be noted in tlie premature death of the bird, or in the increasing mortality among their offspring. This leads to another point that I would like to draw your attention, to, and I am inclined to think that it is here that we may have to look as one of the causes of so many chicks dead in the shell during incubation, a state of affairs that most of us are familiar with and for which we are looking for a reasonable solution. A hen that possesses the high fecund factor and is a record-breaker produces her egg so rapidly and in such numbers that as an article" of food for the embryo chicken they are not at all favourable, and leave very much to be desired. Chickens hatched from such eggs are what you might call starved during incubation, so that those which manage" to struggle through tho shell start life very much handicapped. Now, if you ponder' for a minute and think that those chickens are supposed to inherit the high fecund factor of their parents—at least, that is what we reasonably expect them to do—can you tell me what chance has this high fecund factor to develop? I would say, very little, because of the heavy laying, propensities of the parent;- she has been unable to provide in tlie egg sufficient food of high quality that the offspring has been suffering from malnutrition during the embryonic stages, and this, I am. inclined to think, is one of the reasons why we find so many rather inferior birds bred from high-class stock. .In tiring these high-record hens for breeding" stqck they should be given a ' complete : change, and not brought" on to lay again till well on in tlie season, and should be checked in their laying as much as & possible. ' The pullets from these birds should not be used 'for breeding stock; the high fecund-factor of their mothers is not transmitted .to them in the same wav as to their brothers. .It is tlie cockerels from these hens that should be r.sed, as the high fecund factor is transmitted direct to them, and by using these we will bo .much better pleased with the ■»tpcri|fg ■.. —lf you open an egg carefully you will notice that there appears to He within the "white" two twisted portions of .rather white substances. You may notice that one end of each of these objects rests against the yolk, while the remaining portion travels towards the adacent pole of the egg. These structures are the chalazse. The embryo docs not develop out of either of these portions of the • egg. If . you do not believe this statement open an egg after 24 hours' incubation, and you will find that the chalazse are unaltered, yet the embryo has already appeared in quite another part. The chalazse, in fact, are simply made of thickened albumen; they contain no germ cells whatever. The male germ cell (spermatozoon) never comes in contact with thorn, and, of course, they cannot produce tho embryo. The primary function of the chalazae is to act as asort of spring or support to reduce to' a minimum the vibrations of the yolk (to whose surface the vital germ area is attached) and to support the yolk. The chalazse do not, and cannot, play any direct part in the formation of the chick embryo. .These structures are merely masses of albumen, and nothing more. They contain, neither. male nor female germ cells; and they arc, in fact, formed after tho vital germ coll (from which the embryo is to spring) has been completed and "closed"; to all external communication. Their use is simply that of a spring, and. concurrently, of a spring. Reilly's Central Produce Mart (Ltd.) advise that ogr*3 have again risen in price, stamped and guaranteed realising Is lid per dozen. We had a nice lot of spring chickens forward for our sale, which, considering the size, realised exceptionally high prices. We have every confidence in recommenciing early cons-'gnments of poultry of all descriptions, also stamped and guaranteed eggs. Poultry realised : —Hens—6s lOd. 7s. 7s 6d,"Bs, 8s 2d. 8s Pd, 9s M per pair. Cockerels—6s 4d, 7s 2d. 7s Bd, 8s per pair. Ducks, 8s 6d. Cull chickens — Is. Is 2d. Is 4d.' Spring cockerels—7s. 7s Bd. Bs. Two bens with chicks. 18s each. Fraser and Co.. produce merchants, auctioneers, commission agents, and offpnts for the Otago Egg Circle, report: — Market firm: Is lOd per dozen. Poultry: Wo held our usual auction sale on Wednesday at 1.30. and the following prices wore realised:—Hens—4 at 2s Sd. SO at 3s 6d. 20 at 4s, 15 at 4s 3d, 19 at 4s 6d. 18 at ss. Pullets—6 at'6s. 6 at 6s 3d. 12 ot 6s fid. 24 at 6s Sd. Oockorcls. 3s fid to 5* 6d. Ducks, 4s 6d to 5« 3d. Turkeys—Hens Is 3-Ad, gohhlffl's Is 5d to Is 5Ad per lb live weight. Experts- have sa-'d tint a well-bred Indian Runner duck is for two seasons or more probablv the greatest ecrer producing machine of nil species of bird' l"f*> (s-ivs tho Auckland Star). Mr E. W. Daniel's No. 2 duck, at the Mount Albert laying contesthas now laid 182 ecrgs without a break : rf as many days, which is. n's. fir as can b--found out. a world's record fo- t - continuous Invincr. th° previous rooord being 374. The bird is still trointr stroncr.