POULTRY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3510, 21 June 1921, Page 43

POULTRY NOTES.

By

Terror.

—“Novice.” —Test the eggs after they have been incubated for seven days by holding them in front of a strong light between fingers and thumb long-wise, and shading your eyes. If all has gone well the germ with the encircling membrane then presents the appearance of a semi-transparent circular spot floating at the top of the egg when held sideways, and at the seventh day it extends over nearly one-half of the interior surface of the shell. If the process of hatching is perfectly satisfactory this “spot” floats round in the e.gg when the latter is turned in the hand. Should the germ apparently adhere to the shell when the egg is first removed from the incubator it will probably free itself when the egg cools; if not, there is too little moisture, and danger to the embryo. It is at this stage that what is sometimes described as the “spider” can be seen. This spider-like appearance is produced by the dark eyes of the chick—-at this period developed to an abnormal extent —forming a resemblance to the body of a spider, the larger blood vessels circulating' from the body through the enveloping membrane and forming the spider's legs. A few days after the enveloping membrane expands still more, thickens, becomes more opaque, and is covered with minute blood vessels. The egg then presents throughout the greater part of its surface an opaque appearance. The small end and perhaps a part of one side are so far transparent that the light can be seen through them. This, however, gradually decreases, until at about the sixteenth day the egg is quite black' and opaque, except at the large end, where the air vessels, now considerably enlarged, can be seen. The Christchurch Foultr* Club’s Thirtyfourth Annual Show opened on June 9, and was evidently a great success, some 2230 entries for all sections being received. Mr L. M. lsitt, M.P.. in introducing the lion. Sir It. Heaton Rhodes, Minister of Defence, made a plea for the encouragement of the poultry industry. He urged that the Government should prohibit the importation of Asiat c egg-pulp, and that as . the Australian Government placed restrictions on New Zealand eggs, the Dominion -should adopt a similar policy. lie did not believe in a permanent prohibition being imposed, which would lead to high prices, but he favoured a prohibition that would tend to nurse the industry. There was no little country in the world betteradapted to the poultry industry than New Zealand. The Government, he was glad to fee. was spending a lot of money to train returned soldiers for poultry farming. While they were devoting their efforts to encouraging the men in this direction it appeared strange that they should allow Asiatic egg-pulp to be imported, as was the case. The poultrymen were willing to allow the Government to fix the prices of them commodities, and considered themselves as acting in a fair manner when they made such a request regarding the pulp Sir Heaton Rhodes, who was received vvitn anplause, stated that with regard to tno point raised by Mr Lsitt he had heard that gentleman raise the question before m the House. It seemed to the Minister, however, that the success of the industry lay to a large extent in the hands of the people themselves. They should go in for poultry raising more than they were doing at Present, so that they would place them" selves to be in the position of exporters, lie would admit that there was something m what Mr lsitt said concerning the action of Australia with reference to New Zealand eggs. It seemed a fair proposition that threetrnent should be given to Australian eggs which would be on an equitable basis with that given to New Zealand. The Christchurch Poultry Club was doing good work in educating the public in the knowledge of the poultry industry and in the direction of improving the quality of table birds and layers. This was a commendable spirit, and was deserving of every * encouragement. He understood that the efforts of the poultry people had resulted in the egg-laving competition being greatly improved, and he had been told that since the first competition the increase in eggs laid was something like 60 per cent, or 70 per cent. Although the poultry industry had not yet reached the stage of export, to other countries, lie hoped that there soon would be a surplus sufficiently large to en-'f!']o ihi" to h - rlf tie. <> .! • - proved that eggs could be sent as far away as America and arrive at their destination in a satisfactory condition. The Government was doing what it could to encourage poultry farming. It had established experimental farms and adopted various other means of increasing knowledge of the in,U . I 1 ■ 1 ■ - , .f p .',,3 in the “Agricultural Journal.” At the Avonhcad Poultry Farm no fewer that 18 trainees were at present receiving instrucli' ". ")b the Defence Denari merit was also giving instruct ion in poultry farming. A census showed that there had been something like three million heads of poultry in the North Island, as compared with two million in the South Island. He did not know whether there was a drift of poultry to the north from the south, like there was of people. He hoped that (he club would continue on the lines it was following, their object being, lie understood, to bring about an improvement in birds of the ultility class, and eliminate to an extent fancy breeds. In. conclusion, he trusted that the show would prove successful. Mr lsitt said there was one point he wanted to make clear. _ If a prohibition were placed 011 the importation of egg pulp, it would no doubt mean that poultry pro-

ducts would cost more for a time, but the ultimate result would be a decrease in price. As regards the exhibits I can only notice one class in which Dunedin fanciers compete—viz., in the Silver Wyandotte, in which the awards were as follows: —Open Class (Wyandottes.—Silver Cock (11) ; A. W. V. Clarke 1, cup, and five specials, C. P. Bradford 2, J. Anderson 3. Hen (9) : W. G. King 1 arid two specials, IJ.1 J . Cardin 2 and 4, H. H. Hack 3. Cockerel (18): P. Carolin 1, cup, and four specials, A. W. V. Clark 2 and 3, Alf Walker 4. Pullett (19): P. Carolin 1,3, and two specials, G. E. Jeffreys 2,3, Anderson 4. •Utility Clais3 (Wyandottes).—Silver—Cook (5): F. C. Hack 1 and special, H. Hill 2, A. F. Anderson 3. Hen (five) : O. P. Bradford 1, E. J. Ross 2, W. G. King 3. Cockerel (eight) : J. Tindall 1, cup, champion, and three specials, Alf. Walker 2, P. Carolin 3. Pullet (10) : G. E. Jeffreys 1 and special, T. Wilson 2, Alf. Walker 3. —Alany poultry keepers are uneonvinceable on the subject of the number of eggs that should, or may, be placed tinder a broody l*en. The number 13 exercises a potent spell over their minds apparently, for they will tell you that that number of fowls’ eggs is the correct setting for a hen, and will act accordingly whether the luckless creature happens to resemble a glorified Bantam or a Dorking in bulk. The poor little hen having had thrust upon her more honours (or eggs) than she can do justice to, shuffles about incessantly in a vain endeavour to keep them all warm, and in doing so smashes them that exceed her covering capabilities, much to the anger of her owner. • She probably causes disaster to the remaining eggs by closing up the pores in the shells with the yolk from the broken ones. If this mishap is avoided some of the eggs that do not taken kindly to their turn of being “out in tlie cold” may be late in liniching or fail to hatch at all, or the chicks may be crushed in hatching, because there are too many of them to cover and dry comfortably. i One egg less at the start may save a lot of trouble and mean more chickens. A Home breeder says that unless a cock bird is pugnatious—always ready to defend his mates or to enter a fight for the love of it —he should not be selected for the breeding pen. To a lesser degree tiie same is -true of the hens, especially when engaged m her maternal duties. Extreme doctlity in either sex he looks upon as a sign of degeneracy, and that perhaps the use of artificial incubators and brooders has an influence in producing the extreme docility to be seen in many yards. Extremes either way are bad, but a spice of the spirit of devilry is, he thinks, necessary in cocks and hens as it is in men and women. The Chinese, a nation of poultry raisers, have incubators made of brick or mud ovens and tubs in which eggs are placed between the layers of heated rice husks. In South China ducks’ eggs are left in the mud to be hatched by the heat of the sun. But there is something decidedly amusing in the sight of the old men and women who carry eggs in their clothes until thev are hatched by the warmth of the body. The Sussex fowl, so highly spoken of nowadays, are bred in four colours, all very attractive—red, brown, speckled, and light. The latter colour is, possibly, the best layer. ’they Dive white bodies, with black tails and striped hackles, and some wing feathers are black. Reds are an oven deep rod, like a dark rod Devon beast, with some black in tails and wines. Their shade of red is quite distinct from the Rhode Island Reds, which have yep e legs, and are yellow under-colour in fluff. All Sussex have beautiful white skens and legs, and have only four toes —distinct from Dorkings. which have the double toe. In my opinion, the speckled Sussex i * the moot beautiful of all breeds of poultry; their ground colour is a chocolate brown, evenly ticked all over with black and white. The ticking in a show specimen must be even and distinct. r — Sour food is a most frequent, cause of diarrhoea in chickens. See that the chickens never get more soft feed thrown to them than they will eat at the, time. Home papers warn poultry-keepers of deaths amongst poultry through the use of aeroplane wings or fabric in the construction of houses. It appears that the “dope” or dressing used as the canvas, or whatever the material is, is poisonous to poultry. It is believed, however, that if the material is tarred it is not dangerous. Lime must not bo _ used on am- account, as it is destructive to the fabric. range in the conditions under which eggs will hatch. A weak embryo may not hatch under the best possible conditions, while a strong embryo may hatch under quite unfavourable conditions. I am reminded (sacs' the Rural New Worker) of an incident that happened many years ago. A next-door neighbour of mine had some hens hatching. When he thought the hatch finished he gathered up the unhatched egg's and throve; them over the fence back of Ids gsrderu then went to his work. The next morning he heard a, peeping over the lot. and he found chickens hatching out from those eggs which had laid out all day and all night in the grass. It was warm weather, the grass was so thick the shell- did not break, and the chicks finished the job of hatching all by themselves. It goes to sit >w what strong embryos can endure. The iueubntmg of so m-itiv eggs from trap-nee*: d laid eggs that were not batchablo- under the nest conditions; though the eggs were fertile and the germs started to crow, a wry large nereent.vre wenVl die in the shell. The indwiduality of the hen is a most important factor Reiliv's. Central Produce Alert. Ltd., report:—Supplies of poultry w ere light far our sole on Wednesday, and all birds forward met an extra keen demand. Reallv good hens realised 5s 2d to Bs, cry keveU 5s 6 d to 10,s, ducks 8s to 10s. and geese 7s to 8s per pair. There is evert" prosoeet of prices being foilv maintained ; in fact, we think higher prices will rule. During file week we are pleased to sav that we were able to clear consignments of preserved eggs on a basis of Is 9d to 2s per dozen. Fresh eggs unfortunately still continue to* accumulate, and we hear of customers bebig offered best quality fresh eggs at 2s 5d per dozen, and even at this price grocers are not. purchasing. It difficulfc to say when the market will reach rock bottom. Unfortunately the outs-'de markets also seem to be in the same position. EGG AND POULTRY GROWERS’ ASSOCIATION, DUNEDIN. The second annual report of the Egg and Poultry Growers’ Association. Dunedin, again eliows an increase in its membership

of 17 members. Considering that this report, presents the work of the first full year c* the association, tins increase is to be appro dated. During the year satisfactory best, ness has been conducted ou behalf of meir, bers, and the executive has no complaints report. Despite the fact that no levy has bden made tins year, the balance sheet ahowr, a healthy state of affairs. The New* Zealand Poultry Association levy of 3d per 100 dozen eggs marketed was responded to freely bj members, and the amount collected was duly a .'.iieoinp rl by the secretary of that assocTw tion. Mr A. Hooper, Waitaki, represented Alternation at last annual conference ox the New Zealand Poultry Association held <>♦ Auckland. It is pleasing to note that through the combined efforts of those who have supported this association pressure has been brought to bear on the Government, with the result that partial restrictions on ths importation of egg pulp have been thus assuring the future of the industry,, A meeting of the executive was convened* *» September last in O'amaru, after which an address was delivered by Mr F. C. Brown {chief Government poultry expert) to the general public interested in the industry. Weather conditions were averse to there beinai a large attendance; nevertheless those who attended much appreciated the lessons learnt, the selling agents, Messrs Scott Bros., Dunedin, report having handled 149.090 dozen eggs during the year, and that the general standard of those from both old and new members has met with the highest satisfaction from buyers. Although working expense* nave advanced considerably, so far no further charges either to buyers or to growers have yet been made.