POULTRY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3566, 18 July 1922, Page 24

POULTRY NOTES.

By

Terror.

Mr E. O. Reilly, of the Central Produce Mart, who has just returned from a five weeks’ business trip to Australia, met (quite by accident) Mr Fred Rogen, and was induced to go out to the Black Rock Poultry Farm, referred to in my last week’s notes. Mr Rogen knew Mr Reilly to be a competent judge of poultry, to have been a successful breeder of utility stock, and a fancier with Ifen v show wins to his credit, and consequently felt that the favourable opinion of such a man woujd carry weight in New Zealand. Mr Reilly reports that he never saw a finer lot of black Orpingtons and white Leghorns. The Orps particularly struc-k him as a grand collection. He says there was not a sick bird on the farm ; all looked wonderfully healthy, and, taken all round, the stock was of very high quality. Mr Rogen, as an experienced poultryman, could cf course, be relied upon not to start a poultry plant “just anywhere.” He has selected for his venture a spot very similar as regards soil conditions to the one he so successfully ran at Evatisdale, where he raised his wonderful Langslians—i.e., a sandy soil. Mr Reilly says there is a depth of about Bft of black sand .it Black Rock; also that Black Rock is a go-ahead suburb, and that Mr Rogen has not wasted an unnecessary shilling in the way of capital expenditure on his plant. This is to my mind one of the chief secrets tending to success in poultry farming, for the less (within reason) the outlay tho less burden the birds have to cany before profit appears from their production. Every fence, post, or building, says my informant, which Mr Rogen found ready to his hand on the ground now constitutes part of what the owner now claims to be the most up-to-date poultry nlant in Australia. Everything is so arranged that labour is reduced to the minimum; and as the hatching house (which is a bungalow dwelling)- is only used for three months for purposes of- incubation, it is sublet during the balance of the year as a dwelling. ' 11 1 is is surely an innovation which only our old friend Fred could think of. There is an automatic water system on the plant., which is not only self-filling, but practically selfcleaning. The houses are not elaborate, but as simple and inexpensive as can he consistent with suitability. Mr Reilly pronounces this Black Rock poultry plant of Mr Rogen’s to he an object-lesson as to how little money need be spent on fowls and yet obtain best results. “Every orchard,” says a contemporary, “should be stocked with poultry, hecaiise there is no more suitable and profitable combination of crops cue on the ground and another above ihe ground. On farms and where there is plenty of land, the orchard should be reserved for chickens, and, if it can be arranged, ihe accommodation’ should be so regulated that part of the orchard should he set aside for the young birds during the actual rearing stage, while the remainder should be reserved till they are drafted to the cold brooders and chicken houses, where they will have a considerable .measure of liberty.” Fowls in ihe orchard are profitable all the year round. They ai’e providing money for the orchardist every week; they help to carry on till the fruit is harvested from the trees. (Volume VI, No. 10), issued by the New Jersey Experiment. Station, it is explained that a laying fowl uses up t-lie surplus fat in the body; especially it removes the fat from the skin. In yellow-skinned birds this loss of fat can readily be seen by the loss of the yellow colour. The different parts of the body tend to become white, according to the amount of fat which has been stored up in these various parts, and the circulation of blood through them It should be recognised that all yellow-colour changes are dependent- on the. feed, ih<? coarseness o-f skin, and the size of the bird. A large bird fed on an abundance of green feed or other material th-at will colour Ihe fat deep yellow will not bleach out in colour in these various parts as quickly as will a smaller bird, or one which -naturally has pale yellow colouring. The changes occur in the following order: — , • ~ Vent. —The vent changes very ouicldy with egg production, so- that a white or pi n k vent- on a- yellow-skinned bird generally means that the bird is laying, while a yellow vent means that ihe bird is not lUy Eyf' Ring and Ear Lobe. The eye ring (that is. the inner edge of the eyelid) bleaches out- a trifle more slowly than he vent. The ear lobes of Leghorns and other white-lofced varieties bleach, out a little move slowly than the eye ring, so that a bleached ear lobe means a larger or greater production than a bleached vent or eye " Beak The colour leaves the beak, beginning ai the base and gradually disappearing' uni’l it leaves ihe front part ol the upper L.CI.U. The very tip of the beak is usually white before ihe bird is making eogs 'and should not be confused with the loss of pigment due to production. A very small ring just on the crest of the curve of the beak often is the last- part of the beak to lose its colour. The lower beak bleaches faster than the upper, but may be

used where the upper is obscured by a horn or black colour, as in Kiiode Island netls and Plymouth Rocks. On the aver-age-sized bird a bleached beak means lairly heavy production for at lea st the past four or six weeks. Shanks.—The shanks are the slowest to bleach out, and hence indicate - a much longer period of production tpan the other parts. ihe yellow colour leaves the outer ring of the scales, then leaves the entire scale, on the front ot the shanks first-, and finally, after a longer and greater production leaves the scales on the rear of tne shanks. ihe scales on the heel of the shank—that part ot the shank just below the back ot the hock joint—are the last to bleach out, and for this reason may generally be used as an index, as to the natural depth ot the original yellow colour of the various parts of tho bird. A bleached out shank oh an average-sized bird, with an average yellow colour, indicates that the bird has been laying Jairiy heavy "for at least lrom fifteen to twenty weeks. Reappearance ol pigment.—When the bird stops laying, the yellow colour comes back in the vent, eye ring, ear lobes, teak, and shanks in the same sequence as it left, but the colour returns much more quickly than it went out. A vacation or rest period can sometimes be determined by the end of the beak being bleached and the base being yellow, -or a longer vacation or rest can be determined by tne shanks being pale or somewhat bleached, arid the beak showing a fair amount of yellow pigment. In other words, if t-lie degree ot yellow colour in a bird gradually increases in density, from the vent to the eye ring, to the lode, to tne base of the beak, to the point of the beak, and to the shanks, it shows that the bird has laid continually without rest for a period indicated by the amount of yellow present; whereas, if the shows more yellow in any preceding part Of the sequence as outlined it indicates a rest period, depending on the difference of the yellow colour found in those parts. —Excessive crowding of breeding stock.— Professor 11. R. Lewis, in “Hints to Poultrymen,” Volume 2, No. 4, New Jersey Experimental Station says: “The modern intensive system of handling poultry is responsible for much of the present low vitality m fowls. Where it is desirable to raise future producers, it should be the policy to handle the breeding fowls on extensive, rather than intensive producing plants. Both young stock and breeders have more vigour when raised on a land used lor other purposes, such as fruit growing, grass and grain crops. , Lack of Exercise for breeding stock.— This is another direct cause of low fertility, and consequent low vitality. The breeders, during the winter, should be kept in the open, dry house, and practically oil of thenfeed should be fed in deep litter where they will be compelled to work for it. Exercise keeps the blood in rapid circulation, which maintains health. —Reilly’s Central Produce Mart, Ltd., report —-Keen demand was experienced for all classes of poultry on Wednesday, some lines realising high prices. For one special line cf table- cockerels we secured as Inga as 11s lOd per pair- Nice ducks met with sound enquiry. Turkeys, geese, and hens eokl well at slightly advanced prices. Eggs are short of requirements. We quote stamped Is 7d, cased Is 6d per dozen. On Wednesday we received and sold: Hens at 10s, 9s, 7s 6d, 7s, 6s 6d. 6s 4tl, 6s 2d, 6s, 5s Bd, and ss; cockerels at 11s lOd, 11 6d, 9s 6d, Bs, 7s Bd, 7s 4d, and 7s; small undersized cockerels at 5s 6d, 4s 6d and 4s; ducks at 9s, Bs, 7s 6d, 7s, and 6s 6d; geese at 8s; Guinea fowls at 13s; all at per pair. Turkeys at 9d per lb.