THE POULTRY RUN

Southland Times, Issue 19658, 7 October 1922, Page 11 (Supplement)

THE POULTRY RUN

(By

Leghorn).

A good supply of good drinking water is a necessary’ item in the fowls’ bill of fare during spells of warm weather. Laying hens consume a great quantity of water to enable them to produce their eggs. If there is a shortage of water, then there will be a curtailment of the egg supply, owing to the fact that eggs contain something like 80 per cent, of aqueous fluid. The water should be pure, otherwise it will have a bad effect upon the flavour of the eggs produced from it. Let the drinking vessels be placed out of reach of the sun’s rays, and let them be raised sufficiently high off the ground to prevent the fowls scratching dirt into them. If a few crystals of dissolved permanganate of potash are occasionally dissolved in the water, not only will any microbes in the latter be destroyed, but the general health of the fowls will be ensured.

Everything that goes wrong with chicks may be put down to white diarrhoea. In some cases this is right, but not always. Breeders should remember there can be other causes, quite within their reach to remedy.

Where accommodation permits it is an excellent plan for the welfare of growing stock to erect a perch in a shaded part of an open run, since the young birds are thus given the opportunity’ of resting, while obtaining all the benefits which fresh air affords.

A lot of weakness has its start in overcrowding—that is for those chickens that are fortunate enough to survive the conditions. The mortality and loss of constitution will more than compensate for any economy in brooder room. Green food will now be plentiful in the garden. Sow thistles, dandelion, chickweed etc., is growing fast—too fast for those who want to plant =4he garden. But the fowls like certain weeds, and the poultry-keeper should let them grow in parts. They are easier to grow than lettuce and cabbage. Nice succulent grass is now springing up in the lawns. Get the mower to work and that will keep the lawn tidy and help to feed the fowls. Never give dusty, dirty, or stale green feed to birds of any kind, and never try to feed them entirely on green food. A little green feed is good both for the health and the filling up, but much green food will not allow space for the more concentrated and nitrogenous food that makes flesh and eggs. COOLING THE EGGS. Cooling the eggs at regular intervals during the period of incubation is almost as necessary as turning them, and the practice is in accordance with the hen’s operation (states the Wanganui Chronicle'. Cooling not only exposes the eggs to fresh air, but it causes the contents of the eggs to contract, and thereby draw through the pores of the shell a fresh supply of oxygen, without which the embryo could not thrive. This means chicks of strong vitality, whereas lack of cooling often produces weak chicks, which are hard to rear in the brooder. The amount of cooling depends almost entirely’ upon the season of the year, and the temperature of the cellar. During the first week of incubation it is likely that sufficient cooling will be obtained in the time required to turn the eggs. After the seventh day leave the tray outside the machine until the eggs are almost cold to the touch of the cheek. From fifteen minutes to half an hour is correct. It- is customary to cool the eggs at the morning turning and not in the evening, unless the hatch is pretty well advanced, and the weather is exceedingly’ warm. Common sense is the determining factor in most of these operations. If the temperature of the egg chamber before turning was a little too high, the eggs can stand more cooling; if the temperature was a trifle low' the eggs should receive less cooling. Remember, also, that as the hatch advances, especially after the second week, the embryos give off considerable heat of their own, whereupon it is necessary to reduce the heat of the lamp. Toward the close of the hatch on very’ warm day’s it is sometimes necessary’ to turn out the lamp entirely for several hours. In natural incubation it will be noted that the hen remains close to the nest for the first week, taking very little time for meals. As the hatch advances she takes more and more time, frequently’ she is found off the nest for a half hour or longer. BREEDING AND SELECTION. (From “The Poultry-keepers’ Vade-Mecum.” By E. Brown, F.L.S.) In the following paragraphs are set forth some of the knowledge* which has been proved over many years:— INHERITANCE. There would appear to be no limit to the influence of heriditary factors, either in time or power. It is of interest to note that every’ bird may have, unless inbreeding has been adopted, upwards of two thousand ancestors within t-ne generations, and more than sixty-five thousand progenitors in fifteen generations, each of which has its own individuality. As a matter of fact, by reason of the interchange among breeders, between many of these ancestors there must be a measure of relationship, so that the numbers stated are excessive. At the same time, that in itself adds to the breeders’ difficulties, as any’ special character or quality found in a number of these progenitors will mean the inheritance is stronger in that direction. On the other hand, there may be forces which are struggling for mastery, making their appearance from time to time. It is through the egg that the parents, immediate or remote, transmit to the progeny what they themselves possess or possessed. Size and shape of body, the nature and coloration of the plumage, build, and texture of the skeleton and muscles, functional activities, measure of physical vigour, and even tendencies to and power of resisting disease, are inherited. Were it not so, breeding would be an absolute gamble in which there would be no degree of certitude. In some of these the influence is comparatively w’eak. That which has been last added is most easilylost. Whatever has characterised the family for a long period is most potent. For example, among some breeds of non-sitters, even though there is merely a suspended function, it is exceptional to find a hen showing the maternal instinct. INBREEDING. Mating together for breeding of birds related to each other is very largely practised by exhibitors and those who are seeking to improve racial characteristics. The object is to reduce variation as much as possible. As a fact, this practice appears necessary to fix characteristics in new breeds and varieties and to obtain greater uniformity of colour, fat her-marking, etc. That there must be a considerable degree of consanguinity among wild animals and birds is unquestionable. Under a state of Nat-ure, however, not only is there development of vigour by constant exercise in seeking for food, but drastic elimination of the less fit and absence of any forcing, whilst no strain is imposed upon the powers by increased productivity. What, therefore, may be the rule in that case does not apply under domestication, where the conditions are totally different. Among utility- poultry, more especially where efforts are made to increase egg-production, close and what is termed line-breeding, which is merely a regularised modification, has been adopted, with very’ doubtful results, owing to the fact that these tend to refinement and reduction of the physical vigour. The results achieved, therefore, are more than doubtful. Inbreeding is a practice which should only be adopted in any case by those who possess skill as breeders. CONCERNING SIZE. The fancier has ever shown a weakness for great size. Take the popular White Leghorns. When they were first introduced they were little bigger than Bantams, and carried their tails very high in the air states on exchange. Then the English fancier got to work, and the result was the fashionable Leghorn which was tall and often knock kneed, and not infrequently , so weak in the legs that it was anything

but active. The style has changed again, and Leghorns are now’ more moderate in size, but with hardly’ the vigour of the original type. The history of several other breeds tell the same tale as to great size. The fancier is inclined too much towards the big and the utility man to the small. It is generally’ admitted that the moder-ate-sized birds of a breed are better layers than the very big birds. The very big birds are not even the best table birds, and certainly they are not the best for breeding purposes. They are not the best table birds (1) because they usually are too coarse in bone, and possess too much offal, and (2) the big bird is not the most suitable to the man who dines at a restaurant or hotel and who wants either a whole or a half fowl. By getting a whole or a half one is sure of the parts he likes best. Such sizes would, of course, be small for an adult, but it is not the adult birds the diner wants, but chickens between the age of eight and twelve weeks. If your chicks dress at these ages at from lib to 31b you have both the right size and the right flesh. The very small fowl of its breed will not dress the weights at the ages indicated. As a layer it may hold its own with the best, but I do not recommend it for the stud. A bit bigger (but. not fat) is more desirable for the breeding pens.