POULTRY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 4041, 25 August 1931, Page 29

POULTRY NOTES.

By

Terror

“ Maxim." —Yes, I always recommend breeding from hens rather than from pullets; but. you should know whether the hens- you select for the breeding pen have been good layers of marketable eggs—i.e., 2oz eggs. The cockerel you mate them with should be a strong, vigorous bird bred from a good layer, and it should not be too closely related to the hens. Feed the hens mostly on hard food to rest them from excessive laying. The cockerel should be at least nine months old.

A Tonic for Fowls.—For general purposes the following combination will be found useful: —Sulphate of iron, 2oz; aniseed, 2oz; fenugreek, 2oz; linseed. 4oz. Powder each of the ingredients separately, and when thoroughly mixed keep in a tin in a dry place. Give a heaped teaspoonful of the spice in the soft food to every six birds. Iron is perhaps the very best stimulant that a fowl can have, and a useful tonic can be made in the following manner:—To a quart of water add half a pound of sulphate of iron and three or four dr-ops of sulphuric acid. When the iron crystals arc dissolved the tonic is ready for use, and it will keep for any length of time. The quantity to use is a tablespoonful in every quart of drinking water. This tonic must not be pirt in iron or other metal vessels. Given to adult birds it will impart tone to the system, and will produce a bright, healthy appearance, in addition to increasing the egg yield and brightening the colour of the egg yolks. Some people give pepper to fowls to promote laying, but they should know that it is injurious to the birds because it disorganises the liver. It forces forward the eggs about to be laid, but does nothing towards egg-making—i.e., it is not a tonic. In the foregoing I have seemed to infer that though pepper does not make eggs that ordinary food does so. As a matter of fact food of any kind does not make eggs, because the eggs are in the fowl at birth. These miniature eggs have, however, to be developed, and ordinary food serves this purpose in addition to developing and maintaining the fowl. Peppers and other strong condiments merely force forward and do nothing in the way of developing. Overcrowding in Brooders.—An experienced breeder of poultry says : “ The average brooder supposed to be able to cater for 100 chickens will accommodate 70 for, say. four days. Then the num- | l>er should be reduced to 50, and at 10 days to 40 and at a fortnight to 30 chickens. These figures relate to a brooder 36in by 24in floor space; in addition there is a good inside run and a run in the open. To attempt to house more chickens in such a brooder is to look for trouble. Every morning there will be one or two dead chickens in an overcrowded brooder. Remember this • In the brooder (hot or cold) ‘accommodation’ is the keynote to success in poultry keeping. It is comparatively easy to hatch the eggs, but very few men can rear a satisfactory percentage of well-grown, healthy chickens.” Breeders who are rearing their chickens by artificial brooders should note the foregoing. The young fry certainly require warmth, for, as I have suggested more than once in this, column, it is in the brooding stage that the laying capacity is developed, and more bj- warmth than anything else; but the accommodation must be ample, or the birds are sweated and poisoned by their own breath. If the brooder is out in the open and has a run attached, it should be moved on to fresh ground daily—this to ensure cleanliness and also fresh foraging ground for the little ones. _ The chicks will grow twice as quickly if always on fresh ground.

Sex in Guinea Fowls.-—Those who are not used to guinea fowls often find it difficult to distinguish between the sexes. The difference is not so noticeable as in the case of the common cock and hen. but there is quite a lot of difference all the same. The cock has a much broader head, larger horn and wattles than the hen; he possesses three wattles to the hen’s two. The third is in the cefitre under the beak, and is generally bright blue in colour. The side wattles also are not so flat to the head as are the hen’s. The cock has the peculiar habit of running with his wings arched, which the hen never docs. On the other hand, the hen gives voice to a cry which is best expressed, by the words “ Come back 1 ”

Guinea hens are always most ladylike, but the male birds often have a scrap. I The stronger of the two chases his antagonist at a terrific rate, cleverly dodging coops and other obstacles, and if possible hanging on to his victim by one feather. A fight will last till the birds are quite exhausted. A consignment of eggs from poultry of a valued strain was recently sent from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, to the Massey Agricultural College at Palmerston North. The eggs were obtained by a member of the staff ol Massey College who was visiting Canada He packed them in the ordinary manner and they were placed in cool storage, al I a temperature of 40 degrees. Fahrenheit | during the voyage. Twenty-four eggi I proved fertile, and 20 strong chicks ar rived at the end of the period of incuba tion at Massey College. It is believer

that these are the first eggs which have produced chicks after so long a sea voyage, and the quality of the stock will be observed with interest. Eggs that are three weeks or older have been known to hatch, but it is seldom that the experiment of sending them on a long sea voyage has been tried.—■ —The foregoing information. which is going the rounds of the daily press, would be more interesting if we were told how many eggs were imported and also why 40deg Fahr, was decided upon for their keep in cold store. Twenty strong chicks from 24 fertile eggs is undoubtedly good from eggs so far travelled. Reilly's Report.—Eggs: Fortunately the merchants saw a little reason and with i the result that prices firmed, and fresh | and guaranteed eggs are back to Is 2d I per dozen, and we have secured Is 3d for special consignments, and at this season of the year the prices are low enough in all cons.icnce. Poultry: Some nice birds came forward, and here again for really first class birds prices were in favour of consignors. Really good birds were well worth the money they realised. We sold: —Hens—l2 at 8s 2d, 8 7s 6d, 12 6s lOd. 7 6s Bd, 12 6s 6d. 6 6s 4d. 6 6s 2d, 15 6s, 5 5s Bd, 8 5s fid. 14 5s 2d, 15 ss, 6,4 s lOd, 6 4s Bd. 10 4s fid, 6 4s; cockerels—4 12s, 12 Us 6d, 12 Us. 12 10s B<l, 10 10s, 2 7s, 2 5s 6d. 2 ss: pullets—B 10s 6d; ducks—--2 12s. 2 8s 6(1. 5 5s Bd. 7 6s; geese—l 9s, 2 8s: all at “ per pair turkey gobblers—--1 at 8d per lb: turkey hens—4 at 7Ad per lb; jock—l at 5d per lb. WHEN SHOULD CHICKS BE FED ?

When the baby chicks should first be fed troubles a good many people because of the conflicting reports which have appeared on this subject. In the early days of poultry keeping when chicks were raised with hens everybody believed that they should be fed just as soon as possible. Later it was discovered that just before the baby chick hatches it absorbs the yolk of the egg and that this yolk serves as its first food. On the basis of this discovery it was recommended that baby chicks-should not be fed until they had a chance to consume or digest this yolk. It was thought that if food was put into its crop before the yolk was assimilated the digestive system would be upset. The recommendation followed that baby chicks should not be fed until they are at least 60 to 72 hours old. The recommendation that they be not fed until they are 60 to 72 hours old fitted in very well with the modern method of hatching and shipping chicks in large numbers. In fact it. was instrumental in building up the hatchery business to what it is to-day, for without that provision it would not have been possible to ship baby chicks as conveniently as is now being done.

In recent years there has been a reversal of opinion, and some authorities believe that baby -chicks should not be fed when they are 60 to 72 hours old, but that- they should be fecT as soon as possible.

Two different schools of opinion have been set up as a result, some claiming immediate feeding, others claiming postponed feeding to be the best. Out of it all one certain thing can be stated, and that is that baby chicks can be fed almost any time from the time of hatching until they are about 70 hours old without any harmful effects. In other words, if you think you want to feed right away, go ahead, and if you want to get baby chicks from a long distance and it will take 50 to 65 hours for them to arrive at their destination, don’t hesitate to do so. They can be fed then without any trouble.

After all, Nature provided that the weak little chicken that cannot trot around very much should have something in its stomach to sustain life in it. Under natural conditions it is doubtful whether a chick can go out and find food immediately. If it does chance to get something, it won’t hurt it, and if it doesn’t get anything until it is two or three days old it can get along without it. What holds true with Nature should hold true under artificial conditions. —A.P.J. DRY MILK FOR POULTRY. Poultrymen long ago learned that skim milk or buttermilk gives good results in growing chicks. They learned that better results are obtained in brooding and growing chicks when milk in some form is used. Feeding of milk, therefore, to the chick flock has become a common practice.

Even though liquid milk is not always available to the farm flock or commercial poultrymen, poultry keepers can still benefit by its use through feeding milk in dry form. There are a number of good brands of dry milk and dry buttermilk on the market which are readily available to the poultryman. In addition to feeding milk for growth, poultrj’men have been using milk and milk products extensively in recent years for the control of coccidiosis in growing chicks. Its use for this purpose has largely grown out of the work done by the California Experiment Station and through its recommendation of a 40 per cent, milk mash for a period of two or three weeks when trouble develops from this cause.

The use of milk is not restricted to use wtih chicks alone, but many of the

commercial laying mashes contain dry milk, and many poultrymen add dry milk to the ration when they mix it themselves. They feel that’the birds are not only kept in better condition, but that they obtain larger eggs by its use.

TWENTY-SEVENTH PAPANUI EGGLAYING COMPETITION.

Leading Pens 19th Week, ended August 14 (132 days). TEST I—J. H. SHAW MEMORIAL CHALLENGE. (Light and Heavy Breeds.) Week’s Weight eggs. oz. dr. Total. Black Orpingtons—

J. Campbell . . .. .. 5 II. Cotton 5 11.3 9.13 122 108 White Leghorns—■ H. Williams 5 10.0 113 L. Roache , . . . . . G 12.15 110 J. Ibbotson G 11.15 109 Miss M'Kechnie . . .. 5 10.13 103 T. S. Dove 5 10.0 100 F. G. S. Chapman . . 5 10.13 96 Master Heazlewood . . 5 10.14 94 M'Kechnip and Nancarrow 5 11.9 93 A. C. Goodlet 2 5.0 92 TEST 2—WHITE LEGHORN. SINGLE HENS (Owner Enters Three Birds.) Week's eggs. Totals. W. L. Donald . . 5 5 5 98 104 105 A. J. Maclaine . . 6 5 G 114 89 96 E. G. Cliffen . . 6 G 6 97 106 8G A. M. Espie . . 6 5 . G 9G 88 102 J. II. Jackson . . G 4 5 99 83 104 D. Christie . . . . 5 7 6 GS 105 110 TEST 3—BLACK ORPINGTONS ONLY. (Single Hen. Owner Enters Three Birds.) Week's eggs. Totals. I*. M. Cookson . . 5 5 5 93 90 81 B. Cotterell . . . . 3 G 0 75 103 81 | D. A. M'Kee . . 0 G 3 39 91 77 J. Campbell . . 5 0 4 112 45 37 TEST 4—ANY VARIETY LIGHT OR HEAVY BREEDS OTHER THAN WHITE LEGHORNS OR BLACK ORPINGTONS. Week's eggsTotals. Mrs Williams (L.S.) 7 5 5 114 117 106 A. W. Pritchard (B.O.) .. .. 3 5 G 91 9” 103 S. H. Mitchell (A.) 4 4 5 S6 Sc 85 B. C. Wilson (B.L.) 4 4 5 79 70 101 L.S. stands for Light Sussex. B.O. stands for Buff Orpington. A. stands for Ancona. B.L. stands for Brown Leghorn. TEST C—FLOCK TEAMS. (Six Birds.) Week's Weight eggs. oz. dr. Total. White Leghorns— W. Knight 29 64.1 578 M. C. Craig 30 G5.4 490 L. V. Couch 19 41.4 475 Verrall Bros. . . . . 27 56.13 46G H. Williams 22 48.5 465 L. Roache 25 5 LG 456 TEST 6—INDIAN RU NN ER. (Owner Enters Three Birds.) Week's eggs. Totals. J. W. Thomson . . 6 7 6 97 124 12G H. A. Dawber . . 0 7 3 72 13 0 110 G. A. Heath . . 7 7 7 76 12 8 35 TEST 7—OTHER THAN INDIAN RUNNER. Week’s eggs. Totals. H. A. Dawber (P.) 7 5 5 112 82 109 F. Ashworth (K.C.) 7 7 5 72 81 78 P. signifies Pekin. K.C. stands for Khaki Campbell.