POULTRY NOTES.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12454, 21 September 1933, Page 2

POULTRY NOTES.

PICKING THE PULLETS

Many poultry-keepers have chicks several weeks old and are now separating the sexes. Much interest surrounds the pullet chicks, which are considered tar more valuable. In * ight breeds the cockerels can be sorted out far more easilv than with dual purpose breeds. Tlie growth of the comb is one of the best points to compare when selecting, as the cockerels’ combs will be larger and usually a- brighter colour. Next consider tlie feathering, for pullets usually feather more profusely than cockerels, accounting for the old belief that those chicks with long tails are pullets. Examine the legs, too, as the nip les will carry more bone*, and their general appearance is more cheeky than that of the females! A\ ith heavy breeds selecting is far more difficult, but as these cockerels are definitely worth rearing for table use there is no urgent need to separate them from the pullets until tliev begin to worry them. Afanv poultrvliien consider that they are best left running together until they are fit lor killing, at about sixteen to eighteen weeks of age. If left longer than this they must be reared until about six months old, and this is not always convenient or profitable. W hat to do with surplus White Leghorn cockerels is always a problem. Some large commercial cogfarmers kill and burv them as M 707 as they can be sorted out. If sent to market, they may fetch a few pence eaeh. Sometimes a private trade can !>e worked up with neighbours who will buy a, dozen or so. rearing them on table scraps until they are bioenough for table use. Some hotel's Mill buv large quantities of then provided they are from six to tea weeks old. and the price obtained it. thl ® a iS? 18 usu aH.V from 8d to lod each. 1 hey are nsed for chicken pie fried chicken, or for broth. In Australia there is a keen demand for these cockerel chicks, as hawkers buy them and sell them in the suburbs at very low rates. It seems unnecessary to destroy them unless freight charges make their sale in .1, large town impossible. Many can be used at home, in which case tliev should not be plucked, but skinned allowing at least one for each person’ One farmer crowds his cockerel chicks into a. shed, feeds them on pi<r scraps, and lets thorn take*pot luck" He has done this for vears and rears most of them to twelve weeks when they sell readily for table use’. Only when space is limited and food costs are high should they he wasted.