POULTRY NOTES

Southland Times, Issue 22856, 3 April 1936, Page 5

POULTRY NOTES

BY

A. PEAT

The official column of the Invercargill Senior and Junior Poultry, Pigeon, Canary, and Pet Club, and the Southland Poultry Producers’ Federation.

When giving a short description of the early history of our feathered friends last week I omitted to say that the canary was taken to Europe from the Canary Islands by a Spanish admiral. He landed these little greenish brown birds in Cadiz; they spread to Italy, Switzerland, Germany and England. AU our different breeds of canaries have been bred from them, including the roller which was bred purely for its singing qualities, first in the Hartz Mountains of Germany. It quickly spread throughout the world. It has a great variety of tunes and changes from one to the other without seeming to take a breath. It will commence with the glucke, of which there are four tours, the most lovely of these being the low hollow glucke, rising to flute level. It changes to the schockel tour and the deep babbling water tour, then on to the bell tours, of which there are also four, sounding like numerous sweet bells which ring so soft, and clear, in a great variation of tones impossible to describe in words. It holds the listener spellbound, wondering how all this beautiful music could be produced in such a tiny creature. Crystal Palace Show.

The sixty-eighth Crystal Palace Show was a triumphant success, says “Cage Birds.” There was a total entry of 4919. Crested canaries took premier honours in both the old and young bird awards; other varieties also represented were Yorkshire, Border fancy, white, blues, fawns, cinnamon, greens, lizards, glosters, and a new colour, copperorange, rollers and miniatures. The canary men are evidently not going to let the poultry fancier be the only breeder of miniatures or bantams. British and foreign birds were well represented. The champion mule was a clear yellow goldfinch X canary. Ten hundred and fifty-four Budgerigars faced the judges in their numerous colours, the largest class being the light green cocks, with 68 entries. There was a splendid exhibition of ornamental pheasants and a new feature introduced this year was an aquarium display containing every conceivable form of fish and reptile available in their’ many varied and beautiful tanks.

Egg-Laying Contests. All the egg-laying contests in New Zealand have finished (the finals were published in last week’s notes), but as the weight of egg clause disqualifies any bird whose eggs do not average 2oz, some of the Papanui results may be altered and if so they will be published here. When the new contests commence I will publish the leading birds in each section of all New Zealand contests and also the final results, when available, of the leading contests in various parts of the world. This will give readers the opportunity of comparing all the competing birds together. An error appeared last week in the Papanui flock team of six birds. The winner was Miss H. Keddell, not Miss Weddell.

No doubt a fuller account of the competitions just ended will be interesting. At Auckland in the single bird section, White Leghorns, Black Orpingtons, Rhode Island Reds and Anconas were represented. The White Leghorns won all the prizes with 286, 285, and 282 eggs. The highest scores in each of the other breeds were, in the order given, about 259, 243 and 48. Out of the 41 birds three laid underweight eggs and five birds died. In the sixbird light breed section out of 60 teams 16 failed to qualify for weight and 20 teams lost birds through death. The highest team of White Leghorns laid 1391 eggs, but failed in the weight test. The leading Black Minorca team laid 980. In the heavy breed section there were 35 teams, but again the leading team, with 1494 eggs, failed to qualify as did 17 others. Eight teams lost birds through death. The other highest breed records were: Rhode Island Reds, 1011; White Wyandottes, 1209. In the four-bird duck section all the nine teams were Khaki Campbells and all laid full weight eggs. The highest score was 1293. Unfortunately the weight of eggs and the separate score of each bird in the teams section were not given so I cannot quote any outstanding records. At Massey College in the light breed singles the winner was a White Leghorn with 271 eggs, being the highest individual score in the whole competition with the exception of one White Leghorn with 290 eggs, but they were under weight. The Anconas’ highest score was 213. In the heavy breed singles the winning Black Orpington laid 264. The highest Light Sussex laid 231 and the highest Rhode Island Red 222. One bird died in this section. White Leghorns won the six-bird light breed section with 1405 eggs and six-birds laid under weight eggs and six died. The highest score in the six birds, heavy section, was the Black Orpingtons’ score of 1260, but they were under weight. The Rhode Island Reds’ leading team laid 1162 and the Langshans 876. In this section 12 birds laid under weight eggs and six died. At Taranaki E. B. Wainscott’s White Leghorn put up the highest score of any hen in New Zealand this year by laying 329 eggs in 350 days. The Brown Leghorns’ best score was 238; Minorcas’ 228; Anconas’ 135, and Welsummers’ 143. In the heavy singles Black Orpingtons led with 285. Australorps laid 230, Rhode Island Reds 195 and Light Sussex 217. In the three-bird light breeds White Leghorns led with 826. Brown Leghorns laid 591. In the heavy breed, three-bird teams, Black Orpingtons led with 656. Australorps laid 484. Fawn Indian Runners laid 198, White Indian Runners 112 and Khaki Campbells 162. No reference has been made to egg weights in this competition.

Two Disturbing Factors. There are two disturbing features in our laying tests. They are becoming too common the world over and are causing both breeders and experts no end of worry. The first is undersized eggs. I will have something to say about them in a later issue; the other is the heavy death rate. Why is the mortality among competition birds so high? As these birds are the cream of breeders’ flocks will it not be ’as high, or higher, at Home? What is the cause and where is the remedy? First, we will have to go back to the old established methods of breeding and rearing that was successfully practised 25 or 30 years ago before the invention and general use of incubators, laying batteries, etc., when our birds, especially the breeding pens and chickens, had more liberty and free range. The root of the trouble lies in the care of the breeders. Now is the time your hens intended for the breeding pens should be moulting. It is all very well to be able to tell your visitors that your hens are still laying half-way through their moult. Are not broodiness and moulting Nature’s rest for the humble hen? To say you cannot stop your hens from laying is nonsense. Do not grab and squeeze the last egg you can out of them. Stop them laying and give them plenty of exercise and Nature’s natural food-insects, grubs, flies, and all the varieties of weeds and grass they can pick up when running in an open field. Besides these they consume a certain amount of earth which is by no means the least important, as it contains many minerals such as phosphates, potash and lime. Like the green food they are essential in the building up and maintaining the size and vigour of stock. This great supply

I of food, along with pure sunshine and exercise, will work wonders. Watch a pen of pullets hatched under a hen that has been running out and has sat away under a hedge where she hatches her brood. As soon as the chicks are strong enough they are taken out in the search for food from early morning in the dewy grass until darkness falls, with an occasional rest. If one is weak and commences to drag behind the hen will fuss round and go back a few times, but if it is still unable to follow it is left to die. The hen follows Nature’s rule—the survival of the fittest — and there are no weaklings left to breed from—only strong, healthy robust birds reared on the very best natural food. On the other hand we see the man vyith an incubator hatching all the possible fertile eggs. His breeding pens never or rarely ever, get out for a run; they are allowed only one or two varieties of green feed and it is served out as if it were gold. The chickens are taken direct from a hot incubator to a warm brooder only a few degrees less than the incubator. In this they remain for weeks gradually cooling off. The wind is never allowed to blow on them. If any are inclined to be weak they are transferred to another shed and given extra attention and feed. All these chickens are fed on fancy food, either prepared mashes or home-made; they never have to rough it. Everything is provided for them right in front of their noses. They do not need to hunt. Now you have had a good hatch and reared practically every chicken, but what about those weaklings to which you gave the extra attention? Can you pick them now? No; through your careful attention they look just as good as any of them, but here lies the trouble: probably a number of them will be chosen for the breeding pens and what can you expect? You are breeding off weaklings, probably on both sides, because those cockerels were given extra care. You know they are from an exceptionally good hen and are worth looking after; they will be valuable later. And so on and on we go

’ year after year. Is it any wonder our ‘ stock is getting weaker? The same thing applies to the care and feeding of our breeders. They are shut up in small houses and given only special foods. Can scratching in litter or on a dusty floor be compared to a race in an open field and a dust bath in a hole where the pure sun. wind and rain are ’ always purifying? Can meat meal that has been boiled and dried, through which process a large portion of the best must have been extracted, be compared with raw meat of some kind, whether it is insects or raw meat? You can go against Nature for a time, but when you have overstepped the mark, she will put her foot down, and firmly, too. I think a great improvement could be also made in our egg-laying contests by shortening the tests from 50 weeks to 40 weeks. The birds would then arrive home much earlier and any bird that had put up a good score during that period could be rested and used as a breeder the next season, whereas birds that are forced till April have no time to moult (this is as big a strain on the system as laying) and pick up before they enter the breeding pen. It is only reasonable when you have a bird that has put up a good record that you should be anxious to breed off her. but you must be reasonable and give her a chance. The last straw breaks the camel’s back, and those last eggs may be the ruining of her for your breeding season. Papanui Contest. Fui-ther results of the Papanui contest are as follows:—

Light or Heavy Birds (16 teams). H. Williams 17 1506 T. S. Dove 10 1403 Calder Bros. 13 1400 W. Turner 9 1356 Flock Teams, six birds (six teams). Miss H. Keddell 11 1515 Mrs B. Andrews 11 (10) 1356 M. Holroyd 17 1332 E. P. Anderson 15 1253

The phenomenal laying of eleven of the ducks in this week’s Papanui competition is worthy of mention. The following breeders have ducks who have laid eight eggs each for the week: A. Ross, 1; F. Ashworth, 1; C. Massey, 1; Marshall and Brett, 2; Miss Dale, 2; W. Pollard, 4. Junior Poultry Club. At the fortnightly meeting of the Junior Poultry Club there was a fair attendance. After the meeting Mr S. Robson gave an interesting and instructive address on “Preparing Homers for the show.” E. Witting was first and P. Cook second in the essay on “Preparing poultry for the show.” “Entering pigeons for a show is not merely a matter of sending in your entries by closing date and sending your birds away the night before the show,” said Mr Robson. “It is a matter of months of preparation and the time to commence preparing your pigeons is now—while the birds are moulting. “To ensure a good moult, in the first place, from a showman’s point of view, the birds must not have been breeding too late in the season, otherwise the moult will be retarded and one may find that when the shows come round one’s best pigeon is not ready. Now for the actual feeding during the moult. It is best, in my opinion, to give a larger percentage of wheat, say, 75 per cent, and 25 per cent. The birds must be well fed at this time of the year and if there is very cold weather a handful of heat-giving seeds, such as hemp, rape or canary, will be of benefit. Every second day the birds should be given a handful of linseed for each 15 pigeons. During this period I give my birds little flying; in fact they are better inside than out provided, however, that the loft is well open so that plenty of fresh air can enter.

“Now for actual preparation for the show. There are several stages into which the preparation may be divided. —A, feeding; B, flying; C, training; D, bathing. “Feeding: It is from your feeding that

your birds are going to get that condition which is going to mean the difference between a first ticket and perhaps no ticket at all. For show conditioning I use practically nothing else but wheat—but not wheat as you buy it from a firm or grocer—wheat that has been placed in a hot oven till it just commences to brown. It is then placed away in a jar container and I feed birds with it. The reason for placing the wheat in the oven is to dry any moisture out of it. Now the next food item is bread, prepared in the same manner as the wheat—placed in an oven and browned. Partridge peas can be given also and may be treated in the same manner as the wheat and peas. If your birds appear thin give them 25 per cent, maize, which is very fattening, but remember that there is a great difference between birds that are fit and birds that are fat.

“Flying: Not particularly important to my mind, but the birds should have at least 15 minutes each day.

“Training: A bird that it is wild in a show-pen will annoy the judge and it does not pay to annoy the judge; therefore have your birds used to the show-pen. Get a show-pen and place your bird in it and with a stick train him to stand up erect and to take little notice of the stick.

“Bathing: To bring out the best colour in the bird give it a bath frequently in water just coloured with Condy’s fluid. This will kill any lice and bring out colour in the feathers.”

(51st Week.) Light and Heavy Breed Singles (57 birds.) Mrs B. B. Andrews (W.L.) 6 295 W. A. Pollard (W.L.) 6 280 E. P. Anderson (W.L.) 5 266 A. D. McClintock (W.L.) 263 White Leghorn, three birds (40 teams). A. Crawford 279 —276—293 888 H. Williams 284 —195 —309 788 A. C. Goodlet 229—276—282 787 E. Tilley 267—268—239 774 Black Orpington, three birds (14 teams). B. Cotterel (A.O.) 168—241—273 686 S. Brumby (A.O.) 244—240—169 653 A. Fowles 197—217—230 644 W. Coombs 164 —235 —211 610 Any Other Variety, three birds (eight teams). E. Buckley (A.I.R.) 230—211—225 666 A. Dalziel (Lan.) 269—234—147 650 J. Stevens (Lang.) 154—194—218 566 A. Pritchard (B.L.) 215—158—117 491

Ducks, three birds (10 teams). F. Ashworth (K.C.) 272—341—311 924 Miss Dale (F.M.) 325—270—267 862 Mrs Collins (K.C.) Marshall and 281—299—221 801 Brett (K.C.) 240—303—250 793