POULTRY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3513, 12 July 1921, Page 20

POULTRY NOTES.

By

TERROR

“Henwife.” —I require more particulars to answer your question definitely. The symptoms mentioned suggest poison. Are tney able to get at laurel or may leaves or convolvulus? Best thing to do till cause of trouble is discovered is 6hut them up, give g-lauber salts to clear away any irritant, and, in bad cases, try a few drops of. chlorodine on a piece of bread. Push this down the throat and repeat if necessary. Visitors to the Dunedin Poultry Show, held last week, acknowledged—within my hearing—over and over again that the Dunedin Fanciers’ Club deserve the utmost credit for their management of the show and for the high quality of the birds penned. The hall in which the show is held is recognised as admirably suited for the .purposes of such a show, being commodious and well lighted day and night, and visitors from other centres simply envy Dunedin its show room. Those who have inquired of me recently where Indian Game, Sussex, and Hamburgh can be obtained need only to refer to the show catalogue to find the names and addresses of the breeders. Mr Hansen, who had the honour of winning in the utility black Orpington cockerel class, had bad luck, the credit being given to another breeder in all reports of the show published. Mr H. U, Sprosen. who won the championship for Minorcas for best bird in show lias decided not to show in Dunedin next year, as a number of young breeders are taking up Minorca?. A visiting judge obliges me with the following criticism of the birds at last week’s show. I may say that 1 agree with him in his remarks, but would add that if some of the birds had been better prepared for exhibition the prizes would have, in my opinion, been rather more difficult to award, and in more than one case the cards would have been allocated differently. I noticed this lack of preparation particularly in the Orpington classes. Show men of utility breeds and of some breeds in the open ' classes would do well to learn how to prepare their birds of the fanciers favouring tiie purely fancy breeds, such as bantams, games, and even Hamburgh*. The judge says: — ■'Taken all round, the white Leghorns were a .good lot, but were rather ‘fine’— i.e., light, particularly the winning cockerel. The second prize pullet was to my mind better in body than the first, but had a butterfly comb, for which, no doubt, she lost points. Leghorn breeders should pay more attention to lobe ; the majority of the birds were very weak in this point, and it certainly sets a bird off. The black Orpingtons were an excellent lot. The winning cockerel was splendidly shown, and, except for a bad comb, was really good, although it may lmie been better for extra width. Some excellent birds with close feathers were shown, but failed in minor points, some being’ white in lobe ; otherwise I think they would have been in the money. The great trouble in utility Orpingtons is to get away from the loose feathering of the open class Orpingtons. Another trouble is type. The standard calls for U-shape, but a L T -slia.ped bird will not give the required length of body necessary for a [aver. A little extra length should therefore be allowed, as is done in America. The Minorca? were the best class seen here for veins, the winners s! rinding, out prominently. These birds, while retaining the necessary utility points, have also the fancy points of the old show birds. Breeders should now- be careful not io go to excess in show point-, for lhe birds as at present shown are quite large enough, and if bred larger will become . lazy and lose tiier useful proper!ics. The judge said the.se birds meted quiic as well as the Leghorns. In Rhoil • .island Reds br. eslsrs should be careful to sec that they aim lor red and not chocolate. i noticed in the open classes the judges luid passed chocolate red bil ls, and I think they did quite right. Some birds wove a!-' yellow in colour, and some were more of the Orpington type. The open class birds, witli the exception of tin silver Wyandot 0 -s. wore a miserable jot. and it mu-, bare been disheartening to the judge., to try and place them. The utility oil!-w have now accomplished what ti,io- were intended for. and the time has arrived when there should only be one class—that i-a a class for the best Leghorn, Wynn i die. Orpington, etc. If these wore judged by competent judges who were told to cut any birds wliich were coarse or extreme in any way we would once more get Lack to Wright’s stand ,-u ■ L, which are

hard to beat. Our Government standards T are copied from Wright’s book, with a little j adjustment showing where birds must be strong—that is, have a good front and good abdominal development.” A Home breeder suggests crossing black-red Old English Game with light j Sussex. He says the progeny are all even in appearance. The pullets are a beautiful rich buff with black ticked hackle and black tail, ail feathered exactly the same, like a purebred strain, and the cockerels are feathered like the light Sussex. The pullets and cockerels can be distinguished the clay they are hatched, which is a great advantage. The birds are tight-feathered, and coiiEeciuenUy look small, but they are weighty, good layers of tinted cgg=, and splendid on the table. methods of wet and dry mash system of feeding poultry one correspondent raises the question of the value of warm wet mash in cold weather. To my mind he spoils hie own contentions by saying: “To begin with, by the time it has been taken to and placed in the feeding troughs it is no longer really warm, and by the time it is half finished it is practically cold.” if “warm” mash is. not served warm and eaten whilst, it is warm it is, of course, not warm mash. d those who write about warm mash. : ,i served, don’t know what they are writing about. Warm mash on a cold winter's morning cannot fail to bo as profitable and pleasant to poultry as a warm breakfast is to a human being. The argument that in the natural state there would be no warm food is as much out of place when speaking of domestic fowls which lay--150 to 300 eggs a year as that in the natural state men don’t have warm food, when we remember all the other unnatural conditions incidental to civilisation. Chicken Feed. —Oatmeal is one of the most valuable foods suitable for chickens. It is a well-balanced feeding' stuff. It can either be given in its raw slate neat or mixed with small grains of dry chick feed a or it can be made into a. crumbly mash alter soaking for half an hour in boiling water. Backward chickens are helijed greatly by this food. A Hint from America. —“I do all my drying of fruits and vegetables in the incubator. I first scrub and scald the trays; then I put paper in the bottom of the trays; then I spread the fruit, etc., out on' them and let the temperature of the incubator run up to about 105 deg. This dries fruit splendidly. ” An excellent insecticide and disinfectant can be made as follows: — .Dissolve lib of soap in one gallon of boiling water, then add one gallon of kerosene. Mix these thoroughly, and then add 10 or 12 gallons of cold water. With these 14 gallons of kerosene solution spray the top and.sides of the house lightly, using a suitable appliance for the purpose. The rose of the watering can will do in the absence of anything better. eggs for hatching to employ two hens at the same time. If one of the hens has an indifferent hatch —or both of them for that matter —all the chickens hatched, can be put to one hen to care for. One hen with one following of chickens is less trouble to look after than two would bo, and the disengaged biddy will the sooner return to —How to Roar Turkey Chicks.—There is a general impression that turkey chicks are delicate during the first few weeks of their lives, hut though this is true to a certain extent, it is very often forgotten that losses in rearing are due to faulty conditions of management, for many people try to rear turkeys just the same as they would rear ordinary chickens. As a matter of fact, they need to be specially protected against wet. so that they must be kept out of long, wet grass, and must he given a certain’ amount of shelter in showery weather. Added to that,, turkeys require a considerable amount of insect and green food, and until the birds are able to go out and find it for themselves it. can best be given in the form of small worms, wire worms, leather-jackets and similar ground pests that may be discovered during- gardening operations, together with finely chopped lettuce and onion tops. A diet with which turkeys can be successfully reared during the early stages consists of two feeds per day of soft food consisting of scalded coarse oatmeal dried off with sharps, or biscuitmeal dried off with Sussex ground, oats, two or three feeds of dry chicken mixture, and an occasional snack or worms and fresh green food. It pays best to give a little at a time and to give it often, and. it is of the utmost importance, to avoid leaving sour food lying about, and to keep the coop and run scrupulously clean. Superfluous male birds on farms are tue cause of much trouble. These should be yarded separately, fattened, and marketed if not actually required for breeding or for sale as stud birds. Hens lay rather more eggs when not mated with male birds. The male has no part in the formation of an cog. He merely fertilises it. Eggs laid | by' unmated hens are infertile. 'J hey differ from a fertile egg in one respect only—the element contributed by the male bird lias caused alterations in certain cells. Infertile eggs, if stored in a .c-00l cellar, and not in contact with strong-smelling articles, such as bacon, cheese, potatoes, kerosene, and so on, will keep for a long time. They should be packed in sweet dry chaff. Reillv’s Central Produce Mart report : Very light yarding forward. All lines met keen demand, and prices ruled on a par with last week’s quotations. Wo have a keen demand for hens of good heavy breeds, suitable for clucker*. Cool inquiry experienced for second-hand incubators. Anyone having any for disposal would be well advised to communicate with us at the earliest possible moment. Eggs—Market steady : stamped guaranteed 2s. cased Is lid, preserved Is 9d per dozen. At o'lir side on Wednesday wo sold:—Hens at 8s 6d. Ts 6d, 6s 6d. 6s 2d. 6s. 5s 6d, 5s 4d. 3s 4d: pullets at. IDs fid. 8s; cockerels at 9s. 8s 6d. 8s 4d, Bs. Ts 6d. 7-s. 6s 3d. 6s fid, 6s. 5s lOd, 5s 6d. 1 4s 4il; all at per pair. Fraser and Co., auctioneers. produce i merchants, commission a gems, and agents j for the Otago Egg Circle, 146 Crawford street. Dunedin. report: —Eggs—Market- j firm ill 2s per dozen for Egg Circle ecu--, plain Is lOd to Is lid. Boultvv • We held j iiur weekly poultry sale on Wednesday, when j previous prices were well maintained. We j also offered on behalf of clients a large I number of pulleifv which men with a keen demand. Prices realised were ns follows - Cockerels • 14 at 4s. 18 at 5s 6d. 10 at 5s Sd, 15 at 5s lOd. 22 at 6s. 16 nl 6s 2d, IT at 8s; bens -11 at 4s. 14 at 4s lOd, 18 at ss. 19 at 5s 4d, 12 at 5s od, 15 at 6? Bd. 12 at 7s: one year liens four at 10s. 10 at 13s, six at. 14s. six at 17s; pullet:—nine at 12s 6d. eight a! 13s. 12 at 15s, 10 at 16s 6d, four ut 17s, six nt 18s, nine at 20s 6d, four

at 21b, five at 245, six at 255, six at 25s 6d; ail at per pair; turkeys— ls l-Jjd per lb live weight.