POULTRY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3957, 14 January 1930, Page 30

POULTRY NOTES.

By

Terror.

“ Beginner.”—l suggest your subscribing to an English periodical rather than to an American. American productions are well got up. but they appeal more to American conditions than to those appertaining here. The foods they prescribe are. generally speaking, unobtainable here, or else are too dear for us. England’s conditions are more like ours, and, with the exception that they frequently prescribe Sussex-grown cats and biscuit meal and fish meal, they feed as we do, and the suggestions they contain respecting housing, sanitation, incubation, brooding, rearing, etc., Dy experienced breeders are not only instructive, but applicable to our conditions. Messrs Duncan and Simpson, who advertise on the back page of the Otago Witness cover, can supply you (as they do the writer) with either the Feathered World, Poultry, or the Poultry World—all English papers. The American Reliable Poultry Journal and the American Poultry Journal are the oues most frequently imported. Mr E. J. Coyle, the organising secretary of the Commonwealth and New ZeaHf* competition, flint 1100 birds will be competing nt the first test, beginning this year. This is said to be the largest number of birds com-

peting at one test ever held in the world.

December an ideal month for growing stock! So says an Australian poultry scribe, and possibly December behaved | itself in Australia as regards the rearing j of chickens. Another story altogether I here in New Zealand, for December brought rain, rain practically every day, and plenty of it at that. It taught us as well as it could that provision for stock, young or old, should be made against the worst weather conditions, not only in winter, but throughout the year. Outer runs were of no use to poultry dining December. What they needed during that unsunnnerlike month was a warm and dry house for their continuous occupation, and where this has been lacking the egg basket has been light after the gathering. 'Die Scottish Farmer says that Lady Victorine, known officially as Barred Hoc pullet No. 440, the property of the University of Saskatchewan, in now the world champion hen, having laid 358 eggs in 365 consecutive days. In setting up a new world’s record Lady Victorine snatched the victor’s crown from another famous Canadian hen. the White Leghorn No. 6. the property of the'University of British Columbia, which laid 351 eggs in 52 weeks. The new champion entered the pullet year on September 3, 1928. and in laying 358 eggs in one year not only smashed all Canadian records, but the world's records in egg production as well. All of Lady Victorine’s eggs have weighed between 58 and 60 grammes, and a 2oz egg is only a little more than 56 grammes. The performance of Lady Victorine and of other hens of the same strain being raised at the University of Saskatchewan is of special importance in Canada, where egg consumption per capita is the highest of any country in the world. Persistent efforts are being put forth to raise the average production per hen. and how successful the campaign for better poultry has been is to be judged from the official statistics, which show the average per hen last year as 95 eggs as against 78 in 1923. In view of our ambition to find a market for New Zealand’s surplus eggs it is of special interest to us to note the endeavour being made in Great Britain

(our best market) to become independent of importations. The return of poultry on agricultural holdings in the census of June 4. 1929. and which will be published in the Agricultural Statistics for 1929, can now be calculated for each county. It has already been stated that the total number of fowls in England and Wales on that date was 42,751,920, compared with 39.915,578 in 1928. Lancashire tops the list with a total of 5,102,540. The West Riding of Yorkshire comes next with 2.633,770. Other leading counties are Devon, with 1.736,460: Essex, with 1,330.280; Norfolk, 1.288,840; Monmouth, 3,468,670. It must be understood that the figures relate to holdings over one acre in extent, and take no account of small poultry yards. The World’s Poultry Congress.—At a luncheon given to representatives of the different countries taking part in the World’s Poultry Congress to be held in 1930, the Right Hon. C. Addison, M.P. (parliamentary secretary. Ministry ef Agriculture), who occupied the chair, in closing an address said: As the result of the very successful tour recently undertaken by Mr Francis and Mr Elford, 45 countries had signified their intention of participating in the congress, and 34 of these had set up national committees for the purpose. The British had a gift for natural self-appreciation, as he discovered when visiting some small holdings recently. All said they were doing badly, but one thing he noted was the wonderful cheerfulness of the poultry keepers. As Sir Howell Thomas had said to him. “ The hen gets the pip, but the poultry- ; man never.” There must be some tele--1 pathic influence between the fowl and its 1 owner to account for all this. Joking 1 apart, the hen was a wonderful animal, ■ which poultry experts had developed into a 300-egger (some of them!). Well, his ’ at home never laid anything like that. ’ Still, considering the hen’s weight and its annual output of nourishing food, the • bird furnished a wonderful phenomenon. ■ He had read of a learned Italian physio- [ logist who lived to the advanced age of 93 upon one egg and water per day, but : he never heard if he accomplished much , work on the diet, and he would therefore • venture no deeper into the subject, and he would conclude by expressing the • thanks of the Government to the ladies and gentlemen who are assisting the 1 Ministry so ably on the various com- - mittees. > Mr Elford (Canada) answered the quesi tion ’’’ What use is a congress? ” as foli lows:—“ He could answer that by telling I them that at Ottawa in 1927 Canada

spent £lOO.OOO on the congress, and his Government considered it was the best investment Canada had ever made. Not only did it enormously increase the sale of their stock, but it advertised Canada internationally and brought people together in such numbers as no other agricultural convention had done. If Canada had but had such a building as this wonderful Crystal Palace she could have shown them all something, and. remembering what the British Isles are, he could picture what a congress she can stage if its poultry keepers put their backs into the task. Remember that Canada will boost you. and the American cousins to the south when they come will say. ‘ Not half so bad for the Old Country.’ Above all. let them prize the opportunity which such gatherings had for bringing folk together At the end of the Ottawa Congress Lord Willingdon. the GovernorGeneral. said, ‘ This is not a poultry congress: it is a league of nations.’ We had 45 nations represented in Canada. Great Britain will have the greater advantage of 65. and the occasion should not be looked upon as a duty to perform, but as a fine opportunity for business. Travelling as they had done, wherever Francis and he went, under different complexions and speaking varying tongues, they found human nature much the same, and the culture of the little hen afforded them at the 1930 congress an unrivalled opportunity for promoting international friendship.”—(Applause.) Supplying the Dust Required.—The hen is naturally a clean bird, and given the facilities of a dust bath will revel in the daily supply of dry material. Dirty and ’ badly kept sheds will encourage lice

on a wholesale scale, and as lice nnd layers do not go hand in hancj the detrimental effect of such a pest in toi taring poultry in obvious. At this time of the year a dust bath costs nothing, for by sifting the refuse of household fires two purposes are served —i.e., the ashes (which must be dry and free from soot) will supply the dust required by the birds, while the cinders will make fuel again. When fires are out of the question the floors should be well covered with sand and clean loam, then the usual litter, through which the birds will scratch until they get to the sand in which they will dust themselves. Either in ashes or sand a bird will wallow, ruffling her feathers at the same time, so that the dust she throws up gets right into the skin. It is now recognised that poultry lice breathe through the pores of the skin, which, when covered with dust, has the effect of suffocating the pest and cleaning the feathers at the same time. Those birds which spend a good time in this form of exercise are invariably the best hens, the best layers, and also the healthiest. For the sake of the birds’ comfort give them something in which they can dust themselves.

Among the activities at the Blue Cross, veterinary hospital in Auckland has been the remarkable cure effected with a dog which was run over by a two ton and ahalf roller. The owner expected that the. animal would be crushed to pulp, for. the roller had passed completely over it, but as it showed marked signs of vitality, h? took it to the hospital. Examination showed that no bones had been broken, and after a period of treatment the dog made a complete recovery from the terrible bruising it had received and certain internal injuries.

If one wants to bring waste land into, cultivation how would he set about it? This is a question of considerable interest, because there is a good deal of land in Britain (says a London writer), that is usually set down as “ fit for nothing, ’■ and if it could be cultivated the unemployment problem might be lessened to, at least some extent. Orkney seems to have found an answer to it—poultry. Today Orkney has 303 fowls to every 10Q aereg of cultivated land. This means that it beats even Lancashire, whose 286 fowls per 100 acres makes it the premier poultry county of England. Not only do these Orkney fowls lay eggs worth about £200,000 a year, but they are enabling land never cultivated before to be brought under the plough. They scratch up the heather and other coarse growth on waste land, and make it into serviceable pasture.

Reilly's Report.—Poultry are short of requirements. At our sale on Wednesday, a number of birds were forwarded, biit they were very thin and inferior quality, and though prices were low, considering the quality of the birds, they brought good values. At the moment we have a line of some 500 white Leghorn pullets, just coming into Jay. which we anticipate placing on a basis of. 10s each. On Wednesday we sold: —Hens —12 at 7s 4d. 12 at 5s 2d, 14 at ss, 14 at 4s lOd. 12 at 4s Bd. 8 at 4s 6d, 13 at 4s 4d 13 at 4s 2d. 59 at 4s, 20 at 3s lOd. 50 at 3s Bd. 64 at 3s 6d. 110 at 3s 4.1, 21 at 3s 2d. 86 at 3s; small cockerels —12 at 6s, 12 at ss, 14 at 4s, 12 at 3s lOd, 14 at 3s Bd. 43 at 3s 6d. 19 at 3s 4d. 9 at 3s; cull chickens —4 at 2s lOd, 2 at 2s Bd, 4 at 2s 6d. 4 at Is, 2 at fid, 24 at 4d, 29 at 2d: all at per pair. One bantam heq and four chicks realised 2s. Eggs—: These are moving steadily, and we antici: pate prices being fully maintained. During the week we sold case eggs at Is Id c.p.m., Is 2d, Is 2'd pci- dozen.

TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR POULTRY’ BREEDERS. Mr Willard Thompson, well known aq an authority in England and America, says that 10 commands which he lay<s down should be rigidly kept. Which hens should be kept for another year? This is the question that many poultry keepers ask as the year approaches a close and they are faced with the necessity of selecting birds to be retained as breeders. According to Professor Thompson, the poultryman who trapnests can find 10 points in his individual egg records which will help him in making an intelligent choice of breeders. He writes on the subject as follows: —■ “ 1. Select birds with winter records of 50 eggs or better if a 200-egg standard is the goal. The pullet which started laying early in autumn and made a creditable winter season record, other things being equal, is very apt to be one of the best birds. Examine her trapnest record for the four months beginning November 1 [May in New Zealand]. If the winter period production during those four months was 40 eggs or more the chances are that the bird with such a record has laid 175 or more eggs in the year. “ 2. Choose breeders from birds whose records show no decided winter pause. Seven or more consecutive days without laying is considered a pause. ” 3. Select as breeders birds which show no loss of time due to broodiness during the w inter or spring periods. “4. Value highly birds show ing uniform high intensity of production during the spring period. Divide the total number of eggs laid from March 1 to June 3(1 [September 1 to December 31 ] by *»»’ir, and if the answer~is 25 or better eonsidei saving the individual. “5. Scrutinise the summer-autumn record with special care, for it indicates persistency of production through the summer-autumn period of better prices. ’’ 6. Consider roughly that a bird will have laid half of her year's total by May 1 [November I]. “7. Get information as to the weight of eggs produced and plan to keep individuals tending towards production of a high percentage of first-grade eggs. “8. Retain only individuals showing signs of vigour and health. “9. Never breed from off-type, poorcoloured birds just because of their high egg records. The best production type birds should bear reasonably close resemblance to the standard of form, shape, size and colour for the breed. The buying public demands quality. “ 10. Plan to save the best birds, giving them a rest during the winter period and bringing them into production during January [July], after which time their assignmen*; to matings should commend special attention."

TWENTY-FIFTH-PAPANUI EGGLAYING COMPETITION.

Leading Pens 38th Week Ended December 28 (266 days). TEST I.—J. H. SHAW MEMORIAL CHALLENGE. —Light and Heavy Breeds. — Week’s Weight eggs, oz.drs. Total. Black Orpingtons—■

TEST 2.—WHITE LEGHORNS. —Single Hen.— (Owner Enters Three Birds.) —Highest Aggregate.—

TEST 3.—ANY VARIETY LIGHT BREEDS OTHER THAN WHITE LEGHORNS. (Owner Enters Three Birds.) —Highest Aggregate.—■ Week’s eggs. Total.

TEST 4.—BLACK ORPINGTONS.

TEST S.—ANY VARIETY HEAVY BREEDS OTHER THAN BLACK ORPINGTONS. (Owner Enters Three Birds.) —Highest Aggregate.—

TEST 6.—FLOCK TEAMS. —Light and Heavy Breeds (Six Birds).— Week's Weight eggs, oz.drs. Total.

TEST 7.—SINGLE DUCK TEST. (Owner Enters Three Birds.) —Highest Aggregate.—

J. M. Campbell . . 4 8. 4 189 T. D. Dalziel 1 1.13 163 Leghorns— C. A. Stratford . . 13.13 246 E. .1. Ross . . 4 7. 9 220 E. Dunstan . . 14. 4 214 S. G. Batten . . 11. 0 208 A. M. Espie . . . > 6. 8 204 F. J. Hillis . . . . it 10. 7 195

Week's eggs. No.No.No. Total. No. No. No. 1 2 3 1 2 0 8. E. Davey . . r q 0 201 234 212 i. Liggins . . 6 6 208 215 206 Jr. D. Dalziel . . C 6 . > 218 192 211 E. Fuchs . . 4 6 211 196 216 W. K. Hamilton 4 7 212 224 175 p. M. R. Manhire 6 181 198 214 A. M. Espie 7 6 4 170 241 181

No.No.No. No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 1 2 3 — JI. Pearce . . . 4 b 171 187 145 S. H. Mitchell . . 6 J 3 158 180 132

Week’s eggs. No.No.No. Total. No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 1 2 3 R. M. Cookson . r; G 4 151 192 189 i{. .1 Ballin (> ;k 199 140 172 A. R Leckie . . G d ft 203 133 17.: L. P. Hawke . . G 4 167 147 1G4

Week’s eggs. Total. No.No.No. No. No. No. K.S.— 12 3 1 2 3 J. R. Griffen W.R.— . . 0 0 1 183 124 196 R. Drysdale . . 4 5 5 151 91 148

Leghorns— Green Bros 30 67. 5 1173 M. C. Craig 29 62. 5 1169 W. E. Ward . . . . 2S 61. 7 1119 G. J. Verrail 21 44. 2 1087 F. Hawes 45. 6 1069 W. Turner . . ,> o 73. 8 1062 plack Orpingtons— •I. Kingsland 19 41. 3 893 H. W. Beck .. .. 16 32. 4 822

fckins —■ Week’s eggs. No. No. No. Total. No 1 No. 2 No. 3 1 2 3 f. W. Thomson . . 7 7 . > 143 1S5 148 Indian Runners — P. A. Heath n 6 G 249 228 219 J. W. Thomson 7 217 245 220 F. R. Cotton . . G 3 240 219 220 A. G. F. Ross . . 6 i. 4 207 210 H- A. Dawber . . 4 G 217 199 199