POULTRY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3584, 21 November 1922, Page 25

POULTRY NOTES.

By

TERROR.

Alvaron.—Experts’ do not use the knife, preferring to dislocate the neck, as it is less trouble. To dislocate a fowl’s neck, hold the bird firmly by its shanks with your left hand, and with your right grip the head (comb up), extend the neck to the full, and bend the head sharply backwards. The neck will break quite easily immediately below the head. When the neck “pops” release the head at once, string the feet, and suspend the bird on a peg so that its wings can have full play. The blood will drain from the body and be forced into the vacuum of the neck. After hanging head downwards for about 10 minutes muscular contraction will cease, and the fowl can be taken down and plucked while the flesh is still warm. There is no need to be nervous over the operation; do the work firmly, and refuse the head as soon as you feel the large vessels of the neck are severed and the bone is broken. All pain ceases as soon as the neck is dislocated. And to pluck the bird while the body is warm enables the feathers to be removed in a cleaner manner, arid with less likelihood of the plucker tearing the skin. Mr Alexander Peat, of Gladstone, Invercargill, had the misfortune to have his fovvihouse, over 200 chickens, and a number of prize fowls destroyed by fire early in the morning of Sunday, 12th inst. Some of the chickens were from a strain of silver Wyandottes recently im|>ortecl by Mr Peat from South Australia. There were three or four brooders in the house, and it is surmised one of these was the cause of the outbreak. Mr Peat, was partially insured, but as the brooders were in the building he has no claim against the insurance company. He considers £l3O a moderate estimate of his loss.

Mr C. A. House is home again, and it is suggested that he should be accorded a public welcome. One writer says:—“lt is fell that sucli an historical journey should not pass and bo taken as an every-day incident, and that this latest English world traveller and ambassador of British trade should receive the recognition that such an ! enterprise undertaken at his age undoubtedly merits. It is unnecessary for me to point, out that Mr House’s visit to our colonies must prove eventually of incalculable benefit to British poultry-keepers. I understand that the colonies, so far as poultry is concerned, have recently become Americanised, that English, sellers have not received the support that they should have done from the colonials, and that the war has had as one of its many unfortunate consequences, that of diverting business into American poultry breeders’ hands that, undoubtedly ought to come to the Old Country. The publicity given in all the colonies to Mr House and his mission has caused a splendid reaction in favour of English breeders. Surely' this deserves public acknowledgment,” Whether you order the wheat for vour fowls in small or large quantities—i.e., by the single bushel or by the sack, you should always test it for suitability. Some people can judge a sample by the feel and appearance; others prefer to chew a few grains, and show thereby that they rely upon the The following paragraph, taken from an English paper, shows that there is still another .method, and also the importance of feeding good, rather than inferior, grain: “Recently it Iras been shown that by tne use of liquids heavier than water grains of wheat with the greatest density can be separated Irani the grains with the least density. On analysing the grains with the greatest density they were found to contain a higher percentage of proteins than the lighter ones. Thus the feeding value of the heavier grains would be greater than the lighter ones. This confirms the view that the heavier the sample of wheat the greater its value for feeding purposes. Of any two samples of wheat- poultrykeepers may distinguish the one with the highest feeding value in the- following way: Take a measure of any dimension (the best would be a .glass with a narow neck), balance it with shot on a pair of scales. The best way is to place the shot in a small box. Now fill the measure with the sample of wheat to be tested. Give the measure a. tap, so that the grains will settle down. Weigh and book down the weight. Proceed in a similar manner to test the other sample of wheat. The heavier sample will have the greatest feeding value. A hundred pounds of heavy wheat will be ms in bulk than the lighter, but may contain several pounds more proteins, and if p: olein is worth Is per lb. the money value of the former will far exceed that of the latter. It seems probable that this rule will hold good for all kinds of grain, and that the same experiment may be used to distinguish the comparative value of maize, barley, and oats.” Mule Breeding.—ln ducks a mule is a ci oss betwen a. Muscovy and another breed of duck. The fact that this mating produces mules, or interfiles, is proof that the Muscovy is not a true duck. The progeny from an I.E. drake and Muscovy duck grows to a., heavy and large-size bird, which sel s well in the market. The progeny of cither sex are useless as breeders, so both must he marketed. For some reason undetermined Muscovy eggs do not hatch well in incubators, and are better set under ducks or hens.—Poultry. *“l ducks must have troughs deep enough to bury their heads in ■ but rover give wafer in their houses. Water hTthe duckhouse results in wet bedding, and this does not conduce to egg laying up to expectations. - Clover contains two elements that are m demand by the hen—nitrogen nod lime It is rich in the elements required for the while of the egg (albumen) and the shell, and if plent. of it is provided for the hens no better food can be given. —To Give Medicine.—A useful wav of giving fowls medicine is by means of a required cap be given. It is very useful when medicine has to be given uwav from the house, as it can be cturied in the pocket-wili-out danger of spilling. It is a great imp-ovement on the medicine bottle and pen filler, as both these often get broken.

—'ln calculating how many eggs to set. it may be taken that if w-e get one good pullet, for every four eggs set we are doing well. But this it is not meant that there will Ire three cockerels to every one pullet hatched, though that may bo the case in some instances, but allowance has to be made for infertiles, breakages, etc. Some seasons (whether it is due to the season, the mating, or other reason no one can tell) there may be the fortunate occurrence of more pullets than cockerels being hatched, and of ICO (or nearly) per cent, hatches; but experience teaches rltat we must not count on such luck. Canada, like New Zealand, has a grievance against Chinese eggs, and it is suggested that an Order-i 11-Council will be issued to prohibit the import of such undesirable food. The Montreal Family Herald and Weekly Star states that China is a land of small poultry-keepers, by whom eggs are produced cheaply, and that Canadian hens have no chance to compete with their Chinese sisters unless protective measures are taken. Attention is called to the importance of using good food for chickens. Dry chick food should consist of sound grain only, and should not include samples of shell, grit, and indigestible matter. Good chick foods are necessarily more expensive than other poultry foods, and it is unwise to attempt to economise by giving chickens unsuitable food. Prolapsus of the Oviducts. —The direct causes are constipation, overfeeding, arid straining to expel large eggs. Poultry in reference to this trouble observes, quite truly, that it is frequently observed, although more particularly in old hens which have been regular layers. Prolapsus may ' also ococur as the result of inflammation of the oviduct or from any condition that prevents the passage of the eggs. As soon as the symptoms of prolapsus are indicated the bird must be carefully examined to determine if an egg has been detained in the passage. If there are no signs of the presence of an egg the part may he washed (says Pqultry) with a 1 in 100 solution of “Izal,” after which a little glycerine of borax can be applied, and the protruding part replaced into the clc-aca by gentle pressure. A small sponge which has been rendered antiseptic by soaking in the “Izal” solution for 10 minutes will be found handy for the purpose. If an egg is present in the uterus, inject a small quantity of warm glycerine, or gently scrape away the skin covering the egg and remove it. A saline aperient is of service at all times when there is an indication of oviduct trouble, and an occasional dose of sodiu-m sulphate (Glauber's salt) will be found beneficial. I may add that I have known bad cases to be successfully treated by the following:-—After gently placing the part, back, the lien should be wrapped in a bag of thin canvas, through which she can easily breathe. Allow her legs to be outside, but bind her wings so that she cannot flutter. She should then be placed in a sling, the head and shoulders being about 3in lower than her abdomen. An old sack is a good thing to use. The fowl should be allowed to lie in this position for about six hours, and the egg- passage wiil fall into its proper place without forcing the lien to strain herself in trying to got it back. If the prolapsus is, however, considerable in extent, the bird should be at, once killed, if not valuable.

Ducklings a.nd Sunstroke. —Sunshine works great havoc with ducklings, and many losses may result. It is generally advised to keep ducklings in well-shaded places, upon plenty of clean, dry straw, and to be sure that there is plenty of clean water available day and night. As regards the trouble, however, an exchange writes:— “The first symptoms are that they begin to straddle, fail to maintain (heir equilibrium, and fall flat, on their bellies. Sometimes both legs are stretched out behind, sometimes one is stretched backwards, and the other forward; often one or both logs are stretched out at light angles to the .major axes o fthe body. The little wings, too, are spread out; the head droops, and the eyes close. When in that state, although shade is necessary, that alone will not revive them. What I dc—and find it invariably successful —is to take them up. -bring the feet together into proper position under iho breast, and the wings close to ihe sides; put a bandage round to keep the limbs in position, only leaving the head free. I then put them into a box in the shade, placing a shallow saucer of clean water, into which a little firm breadcrumbs are dropped, close under their bills, so that they can reach it when awake. I leave them in their straightjackets, unable to move wing or foot, and after a while the eyes will open, the head be raised, and they will begin to sip the water and eat the breadcrumbs. Keep them in that position for 10 or 12 hours, and on removing the bandages they have the use of their limbs, and in a short time they will be running about, as if nothing had happened to them.” This simple treatment is worthy of a trial, and the information is seasonable. —Reillv’s Central Produce Mart, Ltd., report : Full supplies of poultry came forward for our sale on Wednesday last, a heavy yarding of hens, chickens, young duck's, pullets, hens with chickens, etc and prices for all lines must be considered quite satisfactory, hens realising 3s, 3s 6d, 3s 10d 4s, 4s 6d. 4s Bd, ss. 5s 4d, 5s 6d, 5s 8d 6s, 6s 2d. 7s. 7s 2d. 8s sd. 10s 2d. 11s 6d: cockerels. 3s. 6d. 4s 2d 6s, 6s 2d. 6s 6d- 7s Bs, 9s 2d; chickens, Is 2d: ducks, 6s fid’. 7s. 7s 6d, 0= 6d; geese, 9s 6d; all at per pair. Hens and chickens, 10s, 14s, 19s. 255. 28s. 30s; turkeys-Hens. Is Id: wobblers. 11-id to Is Id per lb. Supplies of epvs are still forward in sufficient quantities to meet, the current demand. Stamped Is Id. cased Is per dozen.