POULTRY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3864, 3 April 1928, Page 32

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:— Dunedin Specialists’ Young Birds Club, Otautau and District Progressive League, May 9 and 10. ° ' Nightcaps. May IS 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. Taiert 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. Tapanul 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. Greytnouth Poultry Club (reserved dates). July 27 and 28, or August 3 and 4. Christchurch Show.—The sixty-first annual show of the Christchurch Poultry, Pigeon, and Canary Club will be held in June. The following have been appointed judges:—AH open classes other than game, Mr G. H. Ambler, of Auckland; all game and game bantams, Mr Winders, of Invercargill; all varieties or bantams •nnd light breeds other than Minorcas, Mr T. Doig, Wellington; utility heavy breeds, ducks, and utility Minorcas, Mr D. Stewart. Taranaki; table poultry and eggs, Mr C. P. Bradford. A Big Poultry Farm.—ln Australia the prospects of the ensuing season’s exports appear to be considered promising, so much so that many are increasing their stocks. One big concern is providing accommodation for at least 10.000 white Leghorns. _We have several big poultry farms m New Zealand, but, all said, it is the birds of the more numerous smallholders who are providing the bulk of the eggs consumed locally and exported. Big plants involve big expenses, big risks and invariably less profit per bird. The’ proprietor cannot supervise the management or thousands as he can of hundreds, and no one else is as interested in the returns as he is. A Lancashire-owned mammoth bronze turkey hen is reported to have laid 102 eggs last season, and that 100 of them fer ; ile - She laid lie- first egoat the end of February and the last one in September. These months correspond with August and March here in New Zealand. A lady farmer told the writer recently that she preferred fowls three to five years old because they laid larger eggs than did younger birds, and she “ thought ” they laid as many! Nothing that was said m favour of pullets made any impression. Her own experience was’ sufficient for her. The writer wondered what this lady’s experience amounted to? Had she, for instance, kept an account of the number of eggs laid by the pullets and hens respectively? Had she noticed that after the first few egus the pullets’ eggs were equal in size to those laid by the hens? Had she noticed that the grocer paid her more for the hens’ eggs than he did for the pullets’? It is true that hens up to even 10, 12, and 15 years old will lay eggs, and large ones <it that, but 4 experience such as is worth while considering has/proved over and oyei' again that first and seeond-year birds pay for their keep—food, housing, and the labour expended on them—and that older birds do not. Medium-sized Eggs Are the Best.— there are some hens that will lay a small egg day after day. and seem to make a business of it. The small eggs are not wanted by the merchants and are hardly worth putting in with a crate of good ones. The few small eggs in the crate spoil the appearance of the whole lot. It would not be a waste of time if the producer attended a sale of eggs by the produce merchant’s auctioneer. He does his best to get satisfactory bids, but the retailers have got to know where the eggs come from and bid accordingly. They are careful not to buy the eggs of producers who have made them suffer in the past, and if they do bid it is as little as possible. The layers of small eggs are not profitable, and should be weeded out as soon as found out. The hen that lays the large eggs or abnormally large eggs is not a heavy producer of such eggs. She will lay a few of them and then stop for some time. The hen laying a medium-sized egg for her breed is the one that is the most practicable, taking everything into consideration. The easiest, quickest, and cheapest wav to increase the size of the stock, the e<>g production, and quality of eggs is by usim, males that have been bred for these qualities. Feeding for Hatch ability .—Breeders should be fed at least 21b of grain to each lb of mash during the winter. Use who!e corn for the last feed at night, lake advantage of all possible direct sunshine. Open the fronts of the houses or, better still, let the birds out. Cod liver oil has given excellent results. Feed one quart per 100 hens per week. Feed twice each week or daily; mix with either grain or mash. Start feeding two or three months in advance of the hatching season. (Proportion— 1 per cent, of grain or 1J to 2 per cent, of mash.) — Storrs Station.

Making the Layers’ Eat More to Get Eggs.—Hie Ohio Agricultural Experiment Statipn recommends as follows:—Feed a complete ration. A ration deficient in any respect lessens the fowl’s appetite. Employ a mash the birds like. The palatability of a mash depends upon the ingredients and their quality. A mash made mostly of granular material is more readily consumed than when finely ground. Use a suitable type of mash feeder, and supply 20ft to 24ft of eating space for each 100 layers. The reel mash feeders, made 7in to Ilin wide and 4in deep on inside, are well adapted tor this purpose. Feed fresh mash daily f ln -ii i even ‘ n S ‘ n about the amount that ’ be consumed before the next feeding. 1 The birds relish fresh mash, and if it is 3 fed in the evening they will go to roost I with better filled crops. During severe | winter weather a small amount of fresh I mash can be fe.d to advantage in the I morning and at noon. Milk in. some s form is an appetiser, and usually aids j in securing greater feed consumntion. It S is also a valuable addition to the ration 8 for its nutritive properties. Lights in M the poultry house aid in securing increased I feed consumption by making the days I longer. Any of the methods for use of I lights may be employed to advantage. 1 Moist jnash may prove beneficial, especially f if skilfully used. The skill and extra i labour necessary for success with moist mash may make its use questionable in some instances. Moist mash fed without the proper skill and judgment often does n<ore harm than good. However, if properly managed, a moist mash can be used to considerable advantage for fbe layers during the later summer, fall, and winter months. _ Shrunken or damaged grain has a relatively low market value (writes the

chemist of the Department of Agriculture, N.S.W.). It may be nearly equal to the plump, sound grain, which commands the higher price. Pinched or shrivelled wheat grains contain, as a rule, a slightly higher percentage of proteins than the plumper grains, and are for this reason a valuable food for poultry. The feeding value of grain that is ‘•'shot” will depend upon how far germination has proceeded. A bleached and “ shot ” sample was lately submitted to the Department with the question whether it was suitable for poultry food, and the reply was that though it would not have the same food value as sound wheat, it was unlikely to have any deleterious effect on poultry. .The Aseel fowl matures slowly, and Is not bred from until three to six years of age. The Aseel lives to a great age. Hens of this breed will lay up to 18 years. The heavier the egg the heavier the yolk. The heavier the egg the smaller is the total percentage of the percentage that is yolk. When eggs are laid in cycles the first egg in the cycle is usually the heaviest, the other eggs decreasing in weight according to their position in the cycle. The weight of the yolk usually decreases according to the position of the egg in the cycle. In general the first egg in all cycles has a low-er percentage of total egg that is yolk than has any of the other eggs. —West Virginia Experiment Station. What is a “batch” of eggs?—A batch is the “ clutch ” or number of eggs produced in a short or long time without a break. A bird may lay 12 to 15 eggs and go broody, or go out of lay for a week; another might lay 80 to 90 eggs before doing so, only missing an occasional day. In both cases these are batches, the one of 15 and the other of 80. How to Supply Moisture.—lt is quite easy to supply extra moisture, though one needs to be careful about it, and not too strenuous. You may sprinkle the eggs lightly twice a week with tepid water; you may tuck a damp piece of sod beneath each corner of the nest, and you may let the broody hen out to feed on the dewsoaked morning grass. Perhaps the last mentioned plan is the best, as it is certainly the more natural method of conveying moisture to the incubating eggs.

Eggs per Pullet.—How many pullets can be expected from a given number of eggs? It is always desirable to have some way of estimating the number of pullets there will be from a hatch in order to make proper plans for the fall, such as housing arrangements—particularly if the size of the flock is being increased —the probable money returns, and the probable expenses. This is not difficult to do, for there are certain things in this connection that can be figured on fairly accurately. Roughly speaking, it takes five eggs to produce one good pullet. This is arrived at by taking off 10 per cent, for infertile eggs, counting on a 60 per cent, hatch of the number of eggs left, allowing for a 20 per cent, mortality, figuring on 50 per cent, of the remaining young stock being males. Some of these figures are low for some poultry keepers and high for others, but they will average up to about five eggs for each pullet.

Reilly’s report: A very heavy yarding of poultry for their - sale yesterday. Ducks in excess of requirements, and very low prices had to be accepted to effect a clearance. As usual .prior to the holidays, very large supplies of poultry are comuig forward, .and consequently the market is over-supplied, and prices are low. Next week we expect to pen some 3000 birds, and we anticipate fair values being realised. We received and sold: — Hens —22 at 6s Bd, 33 at 6s 2d, 14 at 5s lOd, 28 at 5s 6d; 13 at 4s lOd. 26 at 4s 4d, 17 at 3s lOd, 20 at 3s 6d; inferior—4 at 3s 2d, sat 3s. Cockerels—l 4 at 10s 2d, 12 at 10s, 9 at 9s lOd, 13 at 9s 4d, 24 at 9s 2d, 11 at 9s, 18 at 8s lOd, 14 at Bs, 16 at 7s 2d. 22 at 7s, 16 at 6s 4d, 12 at 6s 2d, 11 at 6s, 12 at 5s 4d, 32 at 5s 2d, 18 at ss, 16 at 4s lOd. Ducklings—l 9 at 6s, 15 at ss, 23 at 4s lOd, 13 at 4s 4d, 43 at 4s, 30 at 3s Bd, 36 at 3s 6d; small inferior —28 at 3s 4d, 18 at 3s. Pullets—l2 at 30s, 6 at 255, 5 at 15s, 6 at 14s 6d; small inferior —8 at Ils. 7 at 6s 6d. Cockerels, small inferior —6 at 3s lOd, 9 at 3s 6d, 2 at 3s, 17 at 2s. All at per pair. Eggs: These have been in keen demand at 2s 4d per dozen.

FORETELLING THE SEX. Were it possible to foretell the sex of the chicken by an examination of the egg before it is incubated, a revolution would occur in the keeping of poultry. Why? Because as eggs are the easiest to get, easiest to handle, and are the - best proposition, as they are in such general demand, and are used for ■so many purposes, the majority of people would breed pullets. That is to say, they would produce only enough cockerels to breed the required number of pullets. The idea or theory that the sex of the chicken can be predetermined by the shape of the egg or the appearance of the air cell is a very old one. But so far as one can read or ! learn, the evidence is that the sex can I not be foretold, and the only way to determine the matter is to incubate the egg and see what sex the chicken turns out to be. A more or less popular theory is that the eggs which are round at both ends will produce a preponderance of pullets, and those that are pointed at one end will produce a majority of cockerels. So far as the air cell is concerned a veryold idea was that if it is directly- at the apex or blunt end of the egg it will hatch a cockerel, while if the air cell is on the right side of the blunt end in a vertical or slanting position of the egg a Tufl'-’t will be hatched. From time to time instances of large percentages of pullets from eggs which had the air cell on one side have been reported, but it is not unlikely that the results were due to a peculiarity in the strain which had the effect of causing more females than males to be produced. The theory of foretelling the sex and of breeding to order has been tried for a very long time, and with everykind of animal, but the results so far as one can discover are in the dif-ection of proving that neither can be done with any degree of certainty. At present it is a <jase of “ take them as they come.”

FEED CONSUMPTION. Grain. Mash.

The above table gives the average feed consumption by months of over 21,000 adult birds In poultry club flocks in Connecticut. The average production per bird was 148.3 eggs.

23rd PAPANUI EGG-LAYING COMPETITION. Leading Pens 50th Week ended March 17 (350 days). FLOCK TEAMS CONTEST. (Six birds.) Week's Weight eggs, oz.drs. Total White Leghorns—

tn a! a b OTO .. •“O ffl. <J<-< O. las .ssl o> . o g d aja-o OT —> Jrlft OT © jZ a a. 5 ot a S 52 a November 13.40 4.02 8.33 2.50 December 14.00 4.34 8.64 2.68 January15.19 4.71 8.77 2.72 February 15.61 4.37 10.64 2.98 March 13.87 4.30 10.97 3.40 April 13.30 3.99 12.23 3.67 May 12.06 3.74 12.45 3.86 Juno 11.23 3.37 13.07 3.92 July 11.03 3.42 12.74 3.95 August 11.23 3.48 13.22 4.10 September 11.56 3.47 12.83 3.85 October 13.26 4.11 10.93 3.39 Total 47.90 40.23

A. Woolley J. Liggins .. .. F. Hawes 24 25 21 51. 1 51. 4 44. 8 1523 1499 1462 Verrail Bros .. 14 30.10 1440 H. C. West .. .. 20 46.11 1432 T. H. Wilee .. .. 1 2. 4 1405 SINGLE HEN OPEN CHAMPION SHIP —Light and He avy Breeds.— Week's Weight eggs. oz.drs. Total Black Orpingtons— H. W. Beck .. 0 0. 0 261 Mrs Heliabv •• 3 6.13 243 A. M. Esnie .. 3 6. 8 231 J. MTntcsh 0 0. 0 212 H. W. Beck .. .. 4 8. 4 206 de Leghorns— H. C. West .. .. 6 14. 0 278 S. E. Davey .. .. 5 12. 6 273 W. Spence 5 11.12 260 E. V. Crouch .. 3 7. 1 248 W. E. Ward .. .. 3 7. 1 243 J. M'lntosh 3 7. 3 251 SINGLE DUCK CONTEST. (Owner enters Three Birds.) Week's eggs. Total. 'ndian Bunners — A. G. F Ross, No. 2 .. 7 335 F. R. Cotton, No. 1 328 Mrs Gee, No. 3 .. .. 6 328 A. Adselt, No 1 .. .. 6 325 A. Adsett, N. 3 .. .. 5 315 G. Voice, No. 1 .. .. 4 312 F. R. Cotton No. 2 .. 7 311 G. Voice, No. 3 .. 0 305 D. G. Webster, No. 3 7 304 SINGLE HEN CONTEST. (Owner enters Three Birds.) Week’s eggs. Total A.O.V. Heavy Breeds— P Bailev, R.I.R., No. 1 .. 7 266 P. A. Cornish, L.S., No. 2 7 262 P. A. Cornish, L.S., No. 1 0 222 Black Orpingtons— G. A. Grainger, No. 1 .. 4 268 T. D. Dalziel, No. 1 .. 6 260 H. W. Beck, No 1 .. 5 257 R. M. Cookson, No. 3 .. 5 253 T. D. Dalziel No. 2 .. 0 244 Miss Meyrick, No. 1 .. 0 235 WHITE LEGHORN SINGLE HEN CONTEST. (Owner enters Three Ends.) Week’* eggs. Total. A. C. Goodlet, No. 3 .. 5 299 A. M. E«pie, No. 3 .. 6 299 H. Harris. No. 2 .. 6 297 H ■'•. > ; .-s No. 3 4 297 G. 11. Mitchell, No. 2 .. 6 297 11. it luiums No. 1 .. 5 283 W. n. West, No. 2 0 tfcO