POULTRY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3613, 12 June 1923, Page 48

POULTRY NOTES.

By

Terror.

O. H. —It is not, in your case, a question of whether it pays to keep old hens, but rather whether young ones would not pay better. Pullets produce more eggs in return for food than do hens, and the older the hens the fewer eggs per annum they lay. If you cannot get pullets to replace your old hens, then keep the hens another season. If well housed and fed they will pay for their feed. The following paragraph shows what old hens can do under proper conditions:—ln connection with the poultry kept at the Ohio (America) Experiment Station, a recent test was conducted to ascertain how long hens would be profitable for egg production. Ten White Leghorns were included in the test, and their total yield was 10,000 eggs. Two of the hens were nine years old, six were eight, and two were five years old. The leading hen produced 1179 eggs, and the second best 1147. None of the hens showed any particular signs of old age. While their annual egg production lessened considerably toward the end of the test (for five years), they continued to lay well during the spring and summer months. Each of the hens produced an average of £5 worth of eggs at a food cost of about £2. Mr G. VV. Lavender, editor and proprietor of “Poultry” (N.S.W.), lecturing in Melbourne on “Methods and Management of Egg Pools,” which have been successfully orga lised in New South vVales, said the pri» iple of the pool as explained is simplie y itself. Producers of eggs, instead of sell 0 to agents, grocers, hotelkeepers, or private buyers, despatch them to an Egg Producers’ Federation. The main thing is for all to stand united, so that they will have full control over their own produce. It is explained that the price of eggs advances to, say, another 3d per dozen to the advantage of the consignors, and that the federation will only charge Id per dozen on all eggs sent to the pool floors, to be held as a reserve fund to provide for the expense of exportation in the glut of the year. The lecturer explained that, it costs in Australia lOjd per dozen to despatch eggs to England, and that there is bound to be a loss on the transaction, consequently the reserve fund of Id a dozen i 3 expected to meet all liabilities in that direction. So far as New South Wales is concerned, the Egg Pool has been a pronounced success. The price of eggs has been fixed each week by the pool, although, so far, only half the eggs produced there have been despatched to the pool floor. The breeders have never received less than Is 6d per dozen. Experiments at the New York Experimental Station fully confirm the importance of animal matter and the value of grit for growing chickens. The test shows that unless enough bone-making materials are provided the bones will be 1 artre, soft, and weak, resulting often in lameness and deformity, or the development will be slow. As chickens often gain 1500 per cent, in 10 or 12 weeks, and ducks may add from 50 to 100 per cent, to their weight weekly, it is plain that they need the proper kinds of food in order to develop properly. About 10 per cent, of the bedy of an ordinary fowl, it is estimated, is made up of mineral matter or ash. and as grain foods do not supply more than 3 to 6 per cent, of ash, hence the needed amqunt must, come from other sources. The necessary amount of hone-building material is supplied in the form of fine dry bone meal. Clean grit and sharp sand are also essential to the growing chick. In ducks, also, the most profitable gains were made where animal matter was supplied in addition to grain. —Appetite in Hens. —A common experience of the beginner is that they can start fowls laying easily hut in the course of a. short- time the production falls seriously. It is not good to look upon this as a normal condition. Better far to ask the reason, why? Professor W. R Graham, TVS. A.. who has evidently studied this problem. says that careful observations, plus a few accurate weighings, show that, production is generally well maintained if the body weight does not go down, in fact, with pullets there should he a gradual increase in feight throughout the winter. When the body weight decreases it is almost a positive indication that production will go down fairly soon. One of the problems, therefore, is how to maintain the body weight. This is not so easily Accomplished as it. might be supposed. Thore is still another rather interesting

fact in that when the eggs production is increasing, usually the percentage of hatchable eggs increased or is well maintained, and when the production decreases the percentage of hatchable eggs decreases very rapidly. For some reason or other the body is not properly nourished. We all know that birds laying heavily have good appetites and full crops. Suddenly they lose their appetites, commonly from being over-fed, or dees the loss of appetite result from an insufficient variety of feeds, or seme such condition? That is do the birds tire of the same old feeds, even if they do contain a considerable portion of kinds of food? What is the root of the trouble? Is it simply that the feeder was unfortunate enough to misjudge the amount- of food the birds would eat, or have the feeds lacked some essential material in the rations given? The common method of bringing the birds back into condition is to cut down on the amount of food and to add more variety in the ration. Simply get them to eat plenty. Get the result no matter how it is done. —Egg-laying contest reports are a good guide to follow in selecting a place to buy eggs, fowls, or chicks. Look up a breeder near home whose plant you can see, or learn something definite about, and follow his entry in the contest, or the performance of his own flock. If the results he gets are better than your own, you can safely buy from him. —Cleaning the poultry house. —After all porches, nest-boxes, etc., have been removed, and when the house has been thoroughly dry cleaned, it should be sprayed with a good disinfectant solution. Any of the recognised commercial disinfectants are efficient for this purpose. If you wish to whiten up the interior of the house at the same time the disinfecting solution is put on, the following is an excellent formula: Five quarts of lime which has been slaked to the consistency of cream. One pint of zenoleum or other equally efficient disinfectant. One quart of kerosene. These thiee ingredients should be mixed together and completely agitated, after which the mixture can be diluted by “the addition of 10 quarts of water. Tire solution should be applied with a force pump with a spray nozzle where possible. When the pump is not available it can be used as a whitewash. A thorough application of this disinfecting solution will accomplish three different things more quickly and more easily than can be done in any other way. First, a good coat ox whitewash will be applied. If sprayed with force it will reach all cracks and crevices. Second, the disinfect<int used will kill all disease germs which may be present in the house, and will also act as a deodorant, making the house smell sweet and clean. Third, the kerosene will help to kill and drive out red mites. , Alter the house is thoroughly sprayed, trie fixtures may be returned after spraying hresn litter can be placed in the best and fresh litter on the floor. During the summer it is not necessary to litter the houses 33 „ avi as they are in the winter. Reilly’s Central Produce Mart, Ltd report:—As usual during Winter Show Week business is very quiet, and for the poultry coming forward there was not a keen demand. Fortunately, consignments weie light. Eggs have teen in over-supply, and customers having secured all their supplies to tide them over the Winter Show Week, prices are much easier, and sales are difficult to effect at even a drop of 8d per dozen. We quote stamped and guaranteed at 2s Id, 2s 2d. cased 2s, preserved 13 6d, Is 7d. On Wednesday we penned about 400 birds. Hens realised 3s lOd 4s 4s 2d, 4s 4d, 4s 6d, ss, 6s 4d, 6s 6d, 8s; pullets—los. 12s ; cockerels—3s 6d, 4s ixJ 5s 2d 5s 6d, 5s Bd. 6s. 6s 2d. 6s 6d, 6s 10d’ 7s, 8s; ducks—4s 6d, 4s lOd, ss, 5s 6d, 6s 6d—all at. per pair.