THE POULTRY RUN

Southland Times, Issue 19757, 3 February 1923, Page 11 (Supplement)

THE POULTRY RUN

(By

“Leghorn.”)

There is no domestic creature more sensitiv’e to good treatment than the hen; but the best of subsequent treatment will not provide for errors in rearing. Without some experience and knowledge of the work don’t plunge into poultry farming or any other business. A poultry-keeper who is also a gardening enthusiast is often puzzled how to store his manure without losing its virtue, which is the case when it is thrown in a heap out. of doors. A good plan is to make a large bin in a corner of the garden, with a hinged lid covered with tarred felt, and if a sprinkling of peat moss dust is thrown in along with every consignment of droppings it will absorb the moisture and tend towards that drying process which makes the best manure. Failing this, it is a good plan to dig fresh manure into the ground, but only on land which is to carry green crops. Close observation is most valuable in the poultry yard. The eye should be kept on every bird and the drones promptly weeded out. A small individual waste makes a large yearly total. The presence in the flock of a few poor birds means a reduction in the percentage of receipts and an increase in the average cost. In the majority of cases wry-tail is due to spinal trouble, and in these, cases it is decidedly hereditary and a sure sign of weak constitution. It sometimes arises from injury sustained or from over-growth when young, caused usually by very high feeding and too much confinement. Again, it is sometimes the result of careless inbreeding. The defect, of course, may be only temporary, arising from a bird having been confined in a low or small coop, compelling undye depression or twisting of the tail; this is especially likely to happen when a bird has been washed shortly before cooping, after such treatment a cock will carry his tail sideways for days. DUCK-KEEPING. For the first time since poultry-keeping was found to be the sort of hobby that everyone was looking for, people are beginning to think about ducks other than in a reftsted form complete with green peas. They are beginning to wonder whether duck-keeping mightn’t be just as paying a game as hen keeping, and a pleasant change into the bargain. Well, ducks have certainly shone lately. You read of that competition Khaki Campbell duck, xvhich went on laying day after day until she had produced 190 eggs without a break, of that pen of six ducks which laid 931 eggs in the same time that a pen of six hens laid 712 eggs. And, really, it is beginning to be thought that ducks might score over hens in other ways‘than egg-laying. For one thing, they are much cheaper to hous£ a consideration for those who are just thinking of starting poultry-keeping. No perches or nest boxes are required, because the birds roost upon the ground and prefer to lay in an odd corner of the house rather than in a specially-designed place. As the birds don’t perch, the house need not be nearly so high; it is quite enough if the average height of their home is no more than four feet. Another strong point in their favour is that they very seldom go sick. Moreox'er, they are more easily fed than fowls, the egg-laying breeds, as distinct from the table breeds, do not quick ly become fat and lazy, and thev are not!

put off their lay, as are hens, whenever any little thing comes along to disturb them. Perhaps ducks require a little bit more of your time than fowls. They xvill make rather a mess of their house and run unless these places are cleaned out at least twice a week. It is entirely wrong, though, to speak of them as “such dirty creatures.” If their run is nice and dry and doesn’t collect puddles whenever a drop of rain falls, if no swimming bath is provided—and swimming water is not necessary for laying ducks—to be splashed about all over the place, a duck outfit even of the backyard type, can be as sweet and clean as a chicken outfit. So much for the advantages of duck-keeping. Now’ a word or two concerning the management of the birds in case you might like to try your hand at duck-keeping. First and foremost, they demand fresh air in plenty, even more so than fowls. Remember, if lix’ing the natural life, they would be out in the open day and night, in all weathers. J)uck houses, therefore, are usually little more than shelters, the upper half of the front being of wire netting with, perhaps, a shutter, to be let down in very cola weather. There has also to be a decent sized run fcr the birds. On the floor of the house there has to be spread clean straw or bracket or dried leaves to a depth of six inches. As to feeding, you have to bear in mind that you can’t make ducks scratch for their living in the same way as you can with hens. This does not really matter, though, as the breeds most suitable for egg production^—the Indian Runner and the Khaki Campbell—do not tend to put on flesh as do the purely table varieties ,of ducks. The plan to follow is to give the birds a good feed of ordinary poultry mash first thing in the morning, sufficient to satisfy their needs, that is, to let them eat as much as they will in half an hour; gix’e them a liberal supply of green food at noon, and let them finish up the day with as much grain—thrown into the water trough —not scattered about the ground—as they like to consume. An excellent mash can be made by mixing two parts cooked turnips or potatoes, two parts middlings, one part bran, and one part meat meal or fish meal with whatever house scraps you hax’e available. On no account must the fish or meat meal be omitted. The best grains for the ex'ening feed are wheat and oats. As ducks are such extraordinarily greedy feeders, splashing their food about all over the place in their eagerness to get their full share, it is best to place their morning mash in a caged trough, the “cage” only permitting the birds to get their heads to the food.