POULTRY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3713, 12 May 1925, Page 29

POULTRY NOTES.

By

Terror.

“C. B.”—You will find a paragraph on the subject you ask about in this week’s notes. You will see that the yolk, which is absorbed just before the chick is hatched, is not “all yolk,” but an admixture of yolk and albumen. Constructive Breeding Ignored.—Mr C. A. House, writing on the evils of the “High Records Craze,” says that in recent years so much thought has been given to phenomenal egg production that constructive breeding (which aims at improving the stock in all-round properties) has been lost sight of. The record hen, the 300-egg hen, has been in the public eye so much, and she and her descendants have been exploited in season and out of season, and sold at greatly enhanced prices, because men have been captured by the glamour of records. “I have seen” (Mr House continues) “and handled birds in notorious studs in which the breeders have gone all cut for phenomenal production at ali costs, and in so doing have sacrificed type and constitutional vigour. They have been mere wrecks of what a good, healthy hen should be. The men who go all out for beating their fellows in egg production do it at great peril to the welfare of their stock. The epidemics of bacillary white diarrhcßa and diphtheric roup, of \vnich we

hear so much to-day, are due to the fad that many of our stocks have been pushed and pushed to such an extent to create'’ records in egg production that they ias 1 heard it most expressively put the other day by an experienced breeder, ‘no guts.’” In saying, as Mr House does, that the craze for high egg produotjon is due to the glamour of records is only partly true, for theie need be little doubt the money which a record ensures is the main incentive. Mr House says that quite recently, when in the company of several poultry breeders, some of whom were exhibition men and some utility men, the subject of bacillary white diarrhoea cropped up, and two members of the company, of national and international fame as breeders* exhibitors, and judges of fancy stock, said they had never seen a case of this disease among their own stock, and they had nevet met an exhibition man that had! More, they gave it as their definite and decided opinions that bacillary white diarrhoea, and many other diseases of which so much is said and written to-day, wero the outcome* of breeding for excessive egg production. I have not heard of any cases of bacillary white diarrhoea in New Zealand, and hope it will be long before I do, for in England and America it has been th® cause of many thousands of deaths amongst chickens, and it is a very contagious disease. Seemingly, if we wish to keep clear of this or similar diseases we muss in mating our birds think of other things besides egg production; otherwise an excessive death-rate will reduce profits. Th® mistake in mating, as has frequently been pointed out in these notes, is to use at breeders birds which have been forced fof egg production. It is right enough to “squeeze” every egg possible from th® birds in the laying pens, but the breeding pen or the birds intended for the breeding pen should not be forced nor entirely confined to scratching sheds. An outside i;ui| is ideal for birds intended for the breeding pen. Having (by handling, etc.) selected those likely to be the bost layers, the very best of them should be reserved for special treatment as breeders. Under such treatment these few birds will not lay so well as those being forced for eggs, but they will more than pay for their feed in eggs, and at the same time grow strong in constitution during their pullet year, and, as first year hens, be capable of producing eggs with strong germs, capable in their turn of developing into strong, vigorous chickens. It is in this way that good flock averages are ensured, and a good, flock average is belter than a big return from two or three 300-eggers. The Dunedin Fanciers’ Club’s annual show will be held in the Brydone Ilall. Crawford street, on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, June 11, 12, and 13. Entries close on Slaturday, May 16, 1925. Schedules are now issued, and nearly every class in the show is provided for with a special prize, and everything points to the show being a most successful one, and a very large entry is anticipated. Intending exhibitors who desire schedules can, apply to Mr E. S. Wilson, Empire Buildings, Princes street, who will be pleased to forward entry forms to intending exhibitors. Use of White and Yolk in Chick Formation.—Both the white and the yolk ar® essential for the formation of the chick, and the process of formation is thus described : The yolk is lighter than th® albumen, hence it always floats to that part of the egg which is uppermost, and the lightest part of the yolk is occupied by the cicatricula. That being so, the germ is always near the warmth of th® hen. To keep the germ from coming in contact with the shell, and to prevent its being bruised, there is on each side of it a tough, spiral, and highly elastic filament, which is attached at one extremity to the membrane covering the yolk; it then passes through the white, and is fastened at the other end to the membrane of the albumen. These are called chalaza?. These cords allow a layer of albumen to lie between the germ and the shell. During incubation the albumen disappears before (ha yolk. About four days after incubation has commenced an admixture takes place between the two. In hen eggs, to the thirteenth day (aquatic birds a few days later) a part of the albumen lies at the bottom of the shell in a gelatinous, thick state. This is opposite to the chick, and more or less attached to the yolk. About the fourth day of incubation the yolk changes colour, becomes pale, and alters in shape. If the contents of the shell be examined by being carefully turned out, a w r hite circular line will be found at the lower part of the yolk. The space within the circle becomes pale, thin, and undulated, and it is finally ruptured. Through this opening the white enters and mixes with the yolk. The dense albumen spoken of before, closes the opening as a valve, by which ingress alone is allowed. This may be best seen about the fourteenth dav. Afterwards the opening gets smaller and smaller as the albumen decreases, and is finallv closed. Around this opening is arranged a wreath of blood-vessels. You will thus see that the chicken “lives off” both the yolk and the white during the process of hatching.

Reill’s Central Produce Mart report: There is an exceptionally keen demand for good table poultry, particularly for young cockerels, ducklings, and turkeys, the supply available being short of requirements. Those having poultry for sale will have a good market during the next few weeks. Laying pullets—particularly white Leghorns, black Orpingtons, and Rhod® Island Red varieties—are in keen demand, and good values are obtainable. Breeding pens of Orpingtons, Rhode Island Reds, Wyandottes, Leghorns, and Minorcas ar® inquired for. At our sale on Wednesday the supply available was short of requirements. Hens realised 2s 6d to 4s 2d, pullet* 9s, cockerels 4s 2d to 13s, and ducks 6s to 8s per pair. Eggs have been short, and prices have made a sensational advance. W® secuerd 3s 3d for our consignors, and expect 3s Id to rule before the week closes. Pullets’ oggs are realising as high as 2s iqd to 3s, unstamped eggs to 3s Id, whil® preserved eggs meet a ready sale at Is lid to 2s per dozen.