THE POULTRY RUN

Southland Times, Issue 19458, 24 January 1925, Page 19

THE POULTRY RUN

NEWS AND NOTES. (By “Leghorn.”). From experience it has been ascertained that the spring and summer prolific layer is not, save in exceptional circumstances, the more profitable fowl. The autumn and winter layer, when the price of eggs becomes doubled, is the better. The old-fashioned idea that any kind of food is good enough for hens has long ago been superseded. Nowadays it is agreed that nothing is too good, provided it has the right effect. Merely to feed fowls with the idea of satisfying their appetites is a blind way of going to work, and amateurs should understand clearly that the art of feeding consists in giving the birds the materials to meet the requirements of the moment. The chief constituents of food are albuminoids, carbohydrates, fats and oils, and it is commonly accepted that the correct proportion for layers should be one part albuminoids to four of the others. The daily average quantity in a dry state, without water being added to the meal, should be t 3oz to each hen, the birds weighing about 51b each, and layers of 2oz eggs. Comparative tests of dry and wet mash feeding of poultry, and a demonstration to show the value of sex linked inheritance in breeding for particular objects, are being carried out at the Staffordshire Farm Institute (England). Perhaps one of the reasons why summer or late hatching is adopted is because this is the season when hens go broody more readily. One always finds a surplus of these about the months of December and January. By setting these hens or eggs the chickens are hatched out at a very unreasonable period. When I say unreasonable I do not mean that it is not good weather for the chickens —indeed, they may, and very likely will, grow and thrive all right, but it is unprofitable for the rearer, as such birds will in all likelihood require a much longer period of feeding before coming on to lay—in fact, there would be little probability of egg production until spring, and instead of having their moult at the proper season, such birds will be changing their coat in cold, bad weather, which will delay and extend the process. An East Ham poultry dealer has adopted a novel method of reaching his customers. He has converted a motor van into a miniature poultry farm, and takes his poultry on long-distance tours around London. Eggs laid during the journey are sold in the towns visited, and chicks and table birds may also be purchased. Creosote, lime and kerosene are good friends, especially in the summer-time. Silkies are used largely in England for hatching not only the eggs of domestic fowls, but also partridge and pheasants’ eggs. A half-bred Silkie at Wembley sat and hatched her clutch in spite of the many thousands that stopped to look at her. The English ruling body has decreed that Indian Game cannot compete in A.O.V. classes. Where no classes are offered for the breed, Indian Game has to compete in the ordinary “any other variety” classes at the end of the schedule. It will therefore be seen that the breed is not recognised among game fowls. To bring surplus cockerels into good condition for the table, the first essential is quietness. They should be confined in a small run, and only those birds should be kept together that will live contentedly and without quarreHing or buHying. They should be fed three times a day, and always from troughs, being allowed to eat as much as they care for, after which the troughs should be removed until the next feed. Two feeds a day of soft food made up of house scraps along with ground oats mixed with skim milk and bits of fat, when available, should be given, with a meal of hard com in the evening. Crooked breasts are not necessarily due to too early perching, though it is quite feasible that the tender cartilage could be crushed out of shape by pressure against a hard substance, just as chicks might develop a wry tail, roach back or crooked spine through sleeping in a nest box or crushing in a corner. Chicks must be allowed to sleep in a position that permits natural development. Y'et cases have been known where chicks have roosted on narrow branches of trees and the edges of boards from their brooder days, and not shown a sign of crooked breast. By roosting, chicles have a better chance to develop; the circulation of air round their bodies promotes cleanliness and health. Should narrow perches with sharp edges be avoided and crooked breastbones still appear, the cause is more likely to be some error in feeding or management, rather than roosting early.

It is very difficult to speak positively as to the sex of geese, therefore all sorts of expedients are resorted to —some trust to one, some to another. The gander is supposed to have a shorter and thicker neck. Many people try them with a dog. If the birds are shut in a shed or yard, and a dog is put in, the ganders will all lower their heads and hiss at him. Writing in Poultry, England, some time ago, a correspondent said: “I presume the birds are nearly fullgrown, if so, take notice of the voice. That of the gander is a clear, thin, silvery—if I might say—murmur; that of the goose is a deep bass. The beak is much thicker. The upper mandible of the gander is also more full than that of the goose, which appears to be shrunk round the nostrils. I have been able to pick them out when they have been but a day or two old by noticing the heads, which are larger, more full, and rounder than the goose’s. It will be advisable to notice the beak as well at thus stage in the gander. I have bred the Toulouse variety for two seasons, and have noticed this in the goslings from the first, and I was only once mistaken.” FEATHER PLUCKING. CAUSES AND CURES. There are three causes at least of feather plucking, remarks a northern writer in answer to a correspondent. (1) Insect vermin, usually the depluming mite, which burows under the skin and causes irritation; (2) overheating of the blood through improper feeding; and (3) ennui because of nothing to do. The remedy for these three causes is easy to find and should be tried, but, having acquired the habit, the difficulty is to get the birds to stop it, even when the insects are gone and the diet is right. It is remarkable how fowls will stand, invite others to pluck them, and also to peck their combs and wattles until they bleed profusely. The taste for the blood of the comb and roots of the feather suggest a lack of something, and this lack is probably meat and salt. Both of them can be overdone. Salt loz to Hoz of dry food, ditto sulphur, on alternate days. Plenty of green food and an occasional pinch per bird of Epsom salts will cool the blood. The bare parts should be dressed with one part creosote to thirty parts vaseline. Another cure is to drench the plumage so : that it will become nauseous with a solution i of quassia and water, one ounce of the chips to a pint of water. I have never seen pigeons pluck themselves, but it is indulged in by some cage birds. The usual cause is improper feeding, causing itching and skin irritation. Green food fruit and a pinch of salts and a dressing of the quassia solution is generally successful, but the parrot family need a very different diet from what is very often given. Meat, fish, milk and bread or i biscuit soaked in tea should never be given to parrots, for they will cause feather plucking. Fruit, nuts, oats, wheat, canary seed, peas, etc., form a much better diet. As feathey plucking is practically confined to birds kept in confinement, and one of the causes is having nothing to do, the litter must be supplied to fowls, also the dust bath, and for pigeons and most cage birds, the water bath and lots of perches. Parrots usually have less liberty and if possible a run in the garden should be allowed them. When caged or on a chain, provide pieces of green willow to chew and tear about. ’This will amuse and help to keep them off the feathers.