POULTRY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3756, 9 March 1926, Page 57

POULTRY NOTES.

By Terror. There was an unusually full audience at the February meeting of the Dunedin Utility Poultry Chib,. the “draw” being the announcement that there would be an address by Mr C. J. C. Cussen, the Government Poultry Instructor. This was not the first occasion on which the members have had the privilege of listening to Mr Cussen; indeed they have had several opportunities of learning that this particular instructor is always interesting and instructive. Mr Cussen impressed the fact that attention to detail w r as the great secret -in respect to success in poultry culture. Location of plant, style, and situation of houses, feeding,, and watering were all points of importance. Regular attendance to all details, such as hours of feeding, collection of eggs, cleanliness, etc., was essential, for neglect in such matters spelt failure. Insect life, he pointed out, must be fought and suppressed. Unsanitary conditions encouraged the breeding of vermin. He explained methods of fighting these pests. After speaking of the dangers incident to overcrowding, he demonstrated by handling birds—kindly brought to the meeting by Mr Coombes — how to cull out wasters. The maximum egg production of which birds w r ere capable could not be obtained when birds were underfed. There should be system in feeding. Qualitv and quantity were essential matters, and no less so was regularity in feeding. He explained approved methods of feeding, both as regards grain and mash and animal food and green stuff. Reverting to the question of cullbin-. Mr Cussen explained bow, by the gr ffsappcarance of pigment, the steady ... t >crs could be discerned and the poor-layers detected. He said that it had been noted that the yellow pigment in the eye ring of white Leghorns and other yellow-skinned birds faded away in one to two weeks after laying commenced. From the ear lobe it went in two to three weeks; from the beak in nine to ten weeks in the case of birds laying 30 to 40 eggs in that time, and from the legs in 14 to 17 weeks if from 70 to 80 eggs were laid. In respect to heavy breeds, the loss of pigment came three to six weeks later. Moulting and regrowth of feathers was next dealt with. The order in which the feathers were dropped and replaced was explained, and the fact that the wing feathers came last showed, lie thought, Nature’s care that only a bird fully equipped fer Tight—for foraging—should have the charge jf young. For breeding purposes Mr Cussen •mid time only birds pure in blood (purebred), vigorous, and strong in constitution should be selected. After answering questions, Mr Cussen was heartily thanked for his illuminating and interesting adaddress. Canadian Records.—A pen of white Leghorns has won the fifth egg-laying test at the Dominion Experimental Farm, Agassie, British Columbia, with the high average of 208 eggs per bird. The individual champion was also a white Leghorn, with a total production of 322 eggs. The 450 birds in the test laid an average of 215 egg* per bird. That poultry feed is cheaper in Australia than in New Zealand may not be

suprprising, but it will doubtless snip rise many to learn that it is cheaper in England, where most grain used is imported, than in either the Commonwealth or this Dominion. Of course, as an Australian writer points out, it is free competition and absence of coi.-bines that makes a ll ie difference.

Query: Which would you prefer, 12 hens* eggs weighing 1 Alb or 18 pull ts’ eggs oi the same weight? In the December issue of the American Poultry Journal the following appears: “Up here in the poult'.y country, where hens’ eg?9 are 70 ceuts a dozen, enterprising merchants are celling pullets’ eggs by the pound. A dozen liens’ eggs weigh about ljlb; 18 pullets’ eggs weigh the same Pay your money and take your choice—--18 boarding-house-sized eggs or a dozen h nd-picked home-table-sized eggs for 70 cents. Local dealers say they cannot get enough pullets’ eggs to meet the demand. —Nor Adams, Mass.”

Feather plucking, or feather eating, as it i 6 generally known, is a habit that is difficult to cure. Insufficient exercise, the want of proper green food, overheating food, want of animal food, and in tome; cases insect pests, are all causes that lead to the habit. There are many cures, all more or less successful, but the best plan is to pare down tin edges of both mandibles of tin beak for about an eighth of an inch back, so that they do not quite meet. This prevents them nipping off or pulling out the feathers. The foregoing is from a book on poultry ailments, and is right so far as it goes. What poultry-keepers should note, however, is th~J if the causes mentioned do not exist then there will be no feathereating amongst their birds. Jungle Fowls.—ln her most recent book Miss Stella Benson gives most fascinating records of her travels in Asia. Here is what she says as to the jungle fowl: “In Laos cocks and hens are wild. It had never occurred to me before that the hen was anything but an egg-laying machine always seen through a rabbit wire fence. Yet here in the forest was the hen—in appearance the same homely, useful, rather apoplectic-looking bird that all men know and few men love, with the same badly-fitting, feathery plus-fours, and the same insanely judicial eye —the same outer bird, but in character and standing—how different! “As agile as a thrush, she whizzes from tree to tree. Being a hen, of course, she crosses the road at the last minute, but at a dignified height of 25ft or so. As for the cock, though he seems identical in shape and colour with his barndoor brother, here he is a quick jewel in scarlet and green as he shoots down a shaft of sunlight. Here he has no duties, no one to wake to weary work in the mornings, no tame industrious sun to watch for and announce. It made me wonder whether all the tame poor things of our civilisation have somewhere a jungle in which they are radiant and wild.” One point which the writer forgets i 9 that the domestic fowl renders a greater service in productiveness than its wild cousin, and that it is less self-centred.

Poultry Poisons: Signs of and Treatment. —From time to time we hear of birds dying suddenly. In many cases the deaths are due to poisoning. According to an officer of the New South Wales Department of Agriculture, the most common causes of poisoning among poultry are ptomaines, toxins, and common salt. The symptoms in all cases are much alike, so much so that probably the layman would not be able to make a correct diagnosis, but investigation into the methods of feeding and an examination of the foods fed will generally lead to the right solution. The symptoms present are those generally accompanying gastritis and enteritis. The fowl becomes droopy, refuses food, and digestion becomes arrested. The last condition can be detected by the fact that the crop will often contain food for days together, although the bird not eating. Diarrhoea is usually present. There may be a large number of deaths or a very few, according to the severity of the trouble. Usually comparatively feiv deaths occur, but most of the birds will be so affected as to put them in a precarious state of health for some considerable time, in consequence of which they will go off laying. Ptomaine poisoning arises from putrefaction of various kinds of albuminous matter, and toxins are formed by pathogenic bacteria. The danger to poultry arises from cooked meat, meat meals, or blood meals. The chief danger is from cooked offal that has been allowed to ferment, as it will do if left to stand after cooling. The same thing may come about through careless handling in the preparation of meat or blood mear, but toxins may also be formed in well-prepared meals if they are allowed to get damp. Jt should be understood that no amount of cooking is of any use to get rid of these poisonous substances once they have been formed. This is where the poultry farmer is often found making a mistake, in thinking that all deleterious matter is rendered innocuous by cooking. There appears to be no useful practical antidote to this class of poisoning in poultry. The only thing to do is to stop feeding the suspected articles and treat as for diarrhcca. In the ease of poisoning by common salt, the trouble arises not from a moderate use ot salt, which is very necessary, but from its excessive use, or where it has been imperfectly mixed with the food, hence the advice that salt should be dissolved in the water with which the food is mixed. When undissolved salt, even though in very small particles, comes in direct contact with the crop of the bird it acts much in the same way as a corrosive poison, destroying the lining membrane. When salt poisoning is suspected its use should* be discontinued for a few days.

PAPANUI EC 2-LA YINC COMPETITION.

Leading pens 46th week ended February 20 (322 days). FLOCK TEAMS (Six Birds). White Leghorns— Week’s Weight eggs oz. drs Total W. E. Ward .. .. 30 64 . 5 1490 M. C. Craig .. .. 32 71. H 1447 Calder Bros .. .. 33 71.10 1424 Green Bros 30 64.15 1420 J. Liggins .. .. 27 61.12 1356 H. Harrison .. ..22 45 . 2 1292 Heavy Breeds— Rogers and Thomson, 8.0 16 35. 0 1212 P. Bailey, R.I.R. .. 17 31. 5 1189 SINGLE HEN STANDARD TEST. (For Light and Heavy Breeds.) White Leghorns— Week’s Weight eggs. oz. drs. Total. W. Newall .... 5 11. 7 255 W. Barrell .. ..6 13. 3 241 Green Bros 4 8. 5 236 J. Liggins .... 4 8. 9 235 G. H. Bradford .. 2 4.11 230 J. Liggins .... 4 8. 6 -221 Heavy Breeds— JT. W. Beck, 8.0. .. 4 8 . 5 245 G. W. Black, 8.0. ..3 7. 5 193

LIGHT BREED SINGLE HEN CONTEST (Three birds same owner.) White Leghorns— . Total 11. Williams, No. 2 303 H. Williams, No. 1 275 H. Harris, No 2 272 C. H. Izard, No. 2 269 ■L Liggins, No. 2 265 N. Solomon, No. 1 264 SINGLE HEN CONTEST. (Three birds same owner. Restricted to certain breeds.)

Heavy Breeds— Total. C. Bennett, W.W., No. 3 .. .. 247 Hopkins and Sevenson, 8.0., No. 1 237 Calder Bros., 8.0., No. 2 .... 216 Hopkins and Sevenson, 8.0., No. 3 211 G. A. Grainger, 13.0., N-' 1 .. .. 205 SINGLE DUCK v. -A'TEST. (Three birds same owner.)

Indian Runners— Tot J. G. Greensla-de, No. 3 231] L. B. Mouncell, No. 1 29C R. W. Hawke, No. 1 28*] J. W. Thomson, No. 2 27( H. P. Slater, No. 2 .. 258 L. B. Mouncell, No. 2 241 L. B. Mouncell, No. 3 \ 24C FLOCK TEAMS (Six Ducks). Indian Runners— Week's eggs. Total. H. W. Beck 23 1502 11. A. Dawber .. .. 36 1359