POULTRY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3854, 24 January 1928, Page 33

POULTRY NOTES.

By

Terror.

SHOW DATES.

The following show dates for the 1928 shows were allotted by the South Island Poultry Association at its annual meeting:—

New Zealand Utility Poultry Club, March 16 and 17.

Dunedin Specialists Young Birds Club. March 30 and 31.

Christchurch Canary Club, March 30 and 31. Otautau and District Progressive League, May 9 and 10. *. > Nightcaps, May 18 and 19. Christchurch Poultry, P.C. and C. Club, June 7,8, and 9. Waimangaroa Poultry Club, June 8 and 9. Dunedin Fanciers’ Club, June 14 and 15. South Canterbury Egg and Poultry Society (Timaru), June 15 and 16. Westport Poultry Club, June 22 and 23. Ashburton Poultry, P. and C. Club, Friday and Saturday, June 22 and 23. Taieri Poultry Club, Saturday, June 23. Balclutha Poultry Club, June 29. Waimate Poultry Club, Friday and Saturday, June 29 and 30.

North Canterbury Poultry Club, Friday and Saturday, July 6 and 7. Granity Poultry Club, July 6 and 7. Hokitika Poultry Club, July 10 and 11. Oamaru Poultry Club, Friday and Saturday, July 13 and 14. Tapanui Poultry Club, July 14. Invercargill Poultry Club, July 17 and 18.

Kaitangata Poultry Club, Wednesday and Thursday, July 18 and 19.

Lyttelton Fanciers’ Club, Friday and Saturday, July 20 and 21. Gore Poultry Club, July 27 and 28. Temuka Poultry Club, Friday and Saturday, July 27 and 28. Greymouth Poultry Club (reserved dates), July 27 and 28, or August 3 and 4.

The total loss of poultry in the Mississippi flood area is now estimated by the United States Department of Agriculture at over 1,300,000,000 fowls. Arkansas suffered the heaviest loss, estimated at 525,000,000 fowls, but Louisiana was a close second.

Keep Out the Chinese Egg by Increasing Local Production.—Sneaking of Chinese imported eggs and pulp, the Reliable Poultry Journal says: “A circular issued by the United States Department of Agriculture about the middle of August- states that this year’s production of frozen and processed eggs in China will be much greater than was predicted earlier in the season. It is now believed that production will reach 80 per cent, of normal, while the production of dried yolk and albumen is now estimated at 50 per cent. Poultry producers in this country have already learned that Chinese competition is by no means negligible, and if egg exports from that country are going to be so extensive this year, in spite of military operations, it is worth while to give serious thought to what may' happen wlien the fighting stops and the Chinese settle don n to make the most of their productive possibilities. Since protection tor agriculture appears reasonably certain to get serious attention at the next session of Congress, poultry keepers should take the necessary steps to ensure due consideration of their unquestioned needs in this respect.”

Eggs and milk are the “ good health twins, according to Chicago’s Health Commissioner, Dr Herman N. Bundesen. wJI talk before the employees of the Western Electric Company of Chicago recently, Dr Bundesen said that “an egg a day makes baby grow, keeps brother strong, brings Nature’s own bloom to voutbf„l C i S ) a ? d kee P s m °ther youthful, and helps father bring home t’ on ’’r” 11 ' And thlS ls n 0 ' eggs-aggera-

rl Wh ?, n the moult is in full swing feed liberally, and put 10 per cent, of linseed meal as an addition to the mash, as this assists quill and feather growth and gives lustre to the plumage. Green food walk“ g matena1 ’ also ail ‘hist from the 1 he.product that is produced out of season is more profitable than that which is i e wh d en ,n th! a t° n - > Vhen c^s are scarce i.e., when the hens in most yards are off the lay, prices rise. Practices and methods of management- must be changed to meet changing requirements. If your fowls did not keep on laying last winter, either your management was wrong or your birds of a poor laying strain. Now is your time to make up your min d a s to whether you are Sr. SthC e °° d prices noxt

The presence of the fertilised germ in an egg does not improve it for cookino- purposes. It has been proved that decay : n a fertilised egg invariably starts in the ®u rn lj , gg s f° r storing or preservin'* should always be infertile. The rooster is in lus place in the breeding pen, but he is quite out of place among the stock kept tor market or table eggs. Some people think that the presence of the rooster contributes to increased egg yield.. This is a great mistake, as. shown by the fact that the records at laying competitions are made in nis absence.

Hens prefer a dark or shady place for laying their eggs, and it is best to indulge their fancy. °

Make your birds work for their grain in dry litter, but s ee that they do not work in vain: there should be a grain here are there to reward their efforts. This exercise means tighter feather, brighter appearance, and the continuance of healthy appetite. For an ordinary cold taken in time the treatment is simple. Make pellets with some pollard and water, about an inch long and half an inch thick. Add s ix drops of ammoniated quinine and two drops if eucalyptus oil to each pellet, kneading them to work the oil and quinine' in the substance. Take the fowl on your knee, and hold it securely by resting the arm along the back with the hand reaching the head. Draw the head slightly back, with the thumb and first finger force open the beak, and put the pellet down the throat with the other hand. The operation can be performed easily with .a quiet bird, but help may be needed if the bird is wild. This remedy is said to be very satisfactory. There is always a demand at certain seasons for live fat fowls by the Jewish

community, but it is important that they should be alive, as the Jewish faith demands that only birds killed by a certain officer of the church can be eaten by Jews. The birds are taken to one of the Jewish poultry slaughter houses, where they are killed after the maimer of the faith by a man called a shocket. This is done by severing the jugular vein of the fowl with a silver-plated knife with an edge as sharp, or sharper, than a razor, and the bird is placed in an inverted position over running water while the blood drains away. A charge of Id a bird is made for the operation. The work of the shockets is most important, and they are of some standing in the Jewish Church. They are specially trained for their work, studying the getting and care of the knives, anatomy of animals and birds, and the reasons for the prescribed methods for as much as a year or more.—The Chronicle.

*l.llO Moult. —Birds follow a regular order in which they tend to moult their old plumes (writes Mr E. van Manen in Farming in South Africa”). The regular order for the moult is, first, neck feathers, then body, tail, and wing. The v ing moult serves as an indicator in production in that it tells us many interesting things in regard to what'a particular bird is doing. It is generally believed that when a general moult, as opposed to partial moult, starts that fact is registered in the wing. The wing is composed of primary and secondary wing feathers, and the primaries are separated from the secondaries by a small feather called the axial feather The primary feather next to the axial feather is the first one to drop when the moult starts. Each subsequent feather is then dropped. Birds do not shed the fenthers from the one wing without shedding the same from the other wing at nearly the same time. When one feather is lost from the one side of the axial feather, the companion leather on the other side disappears verv shortly afterwards.

These days, breeding for early maturity, the use of artificial light and heat and intensified feeding make it a comparatively easy matter to bring pullets into good production before cold weather sets in, but it isn t so easy to hold them there, lhe neck moult, which isn’t the cause of a skimp in production at all, out merely an effect, can be prevented by keeping up the weight ot the birds. Anything that boosts egg production simply hastens the arrival of the moult and increases its seriousness if the weight of the pullets is not maintained. In detecting culls it may help to knowjust what causes them. The poultry department of one of the American State colleges recently sent out a questionnaire regarding the cause of culls. Replies were received from 786 breeders, these indicating that of seven chief causes 31.6 per cent, of culls was due to breeding; 30.4 per cent, to too little and unsuitable feed; 15.1 per cent, to parasites and insect enemies; 12.4 per cent, to poor housing and care; 4.9 per cent, to-disease; 2.9 per cent, to exposure; other causes, 2.7 per cent.

Reilly’s report: A fair yarding of poultry, which realised fair values. Eggs are meeting a steady sale, and prices remain firm at Is 7d per dozen. On Wednesday at our sale we sold:—Hens: 38 at 5s lOd, 18 at 5s Bd, 31 at 5s 6d, 53 at 5s 4d, 60 at 5s 2d, 32 at ss, 56 at 4s lOd, 47 at 4s Bd, 450 at 4s 6d, 27 at 4s 4d, 38 at 4s 2d, 18 at 2s. Cockerels: 16 at 6s 2d. 26 at 6s, 22 at 5s 4d, 29 at 5s 2d, 22 at 4s Bd, 16 at 4s 2d, 12 at 4s. Pullets: 8 at Bs, 10 at 6s 6d, 15 at 15s. Chickens: 10 at 3s Bd. 6 at 3s 6d. 4 at 3s 4d, 3 at 3s, 2 at 2s 2d. Ducklings:-? at 6s Bd. (All at per pair.)

DO YOU KNOW THESE TERMS? Dubbing.—Cutting off the comb, wattles, or ear lobes to leave the head smooth. Cygnet.—A young swan. Dewlap.—A hanging skin development under the throat.

Stub. —A short feather or portion of a feather. Most commonly applied to such small feathers found on the shanks and between the toes of birds that are not supposed to have feathers there.

Shank.—The portion of a fowl’s leg below the hock, or knee joint, exclusive of the foot and toes.

Side Sprig.—A well-defined pointed growth on the side of a* single comb. Bean. —A hard, bean-shaped protuberance growing at the tip of the upper mandible of a water fowl.

Carbuncles.—Small, fleshy piotuberances, as on the head of a turkey or Muscovy duck.

Pelvic bones.—The bones on each side of the vent.

Cushion.—The mass of feathers at the rear of the back of a fowl, partly covering the tail. Most pronounced in Cochin females.

23rd PAPANUI ECC-LAYINC COMPETITION.

Leading Pens 40lh Week ended January 7 (280 days). FLOCK TEAMS CONTEST. (Sri birds.)

Heavy Breeds— F. G. Herridge, S.W. 18 35.15 (050 SINGLE HEN OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

—Light and Hsavy Breeds.— Week’s Weight eggs, oz.drs. Total Black Orpingtons—-

White Leghorns— Week's Weight Total eggs. oz.drs. J. Liggins .. .. 25 53. 3 1242 A. Woolley .. 28 63. 5 1231 J. G. Verrail .. .. 25 51. 7 1206 T. H. Wilee .. .. 31 68. 8 1205 F. Hawes .. .. 29 62. 4 1199 Green Bros .. .. 19 41. 7 1178 H. C. West .. 22 52. 3 1178

H. W. Beck .. , 6 14.15 226 Mrs Hellaby .. . 5 10. 9 212 A. M. Espie .. 5 11. G 200 White Leghorns— S. E. Davey .. . . 6 13. 7 22-1 H. 0. West .. . . 5 11. 9 223

W. Spencer' 6 13.11 210 F. Hawes 0 0. 0 209 G. II. Chambers 4 9. 4 20G W. E. Ward .. 5 11. 3 205 SINGLE DUCK CONTEST. (Owner enters Three Birds.) Week’s eggs. Total. Indian Runners— A. G. F. Ross, No, 2 . 7 268 G. Voice, No. 3 .. 7 267 F. it. Cotton, No. 1 . 3 265 Mrs Gee, No. 3 .. 6 264 A. rVdsett, No. 1 .. •2xa A. Adsett, No. .3 .. . 7 257 Mrs Gee, No. 1 .. 6 257 SINGLE HEN CONTEST. (Owner enters Three Birds.) Week's A..O.V. Heavy Breeds— eggs. TotaL P. Bailey, R.I.R., No. 1 4 225 P. A. Cornish, L.S., No 2 . G 209 J. Casey, B.R., No. 2 . 0 192 Black Orpingtons— G. A. Grainger, No. 1 . 4 225 T. D. Dalziei, No. 1 . 4 221 T. D Dalziei, No. 2 . 4 224 G. A. Grainger, No. 2 . 3 224 It. Al. Cookson, No. 3 . 6 222 Miss Meynck, No. 1 . 4 203 WHITE LEGHORN SINGLE HEN CONTEST. (Owner enters Three Birds.) Week’s eggs. Total. H. Williams, No. 3 . A. C. Goodlet, 'No. 3 . •7 242 6 238 A. M. Espie, No. 3 . 0 238 H. Harris, No. 2 6 238 W. H. West, No. 2 . 7 236 G. H. Mitchell, No. 2 . 5 236 11. Williams, No. 2 . G 23»