POULTRY NOTES

Southland Times, Issue 23548, 30 June 1938, Page 13

POULTRY NOTES

-BY

A. PEAT

The official column of the Invercargill Poultry, Pigeon, Canary and Pet Club, and the Invercargill Canary and Cage Bird Specialists Club.

The Invercargill Canary and Cage Bird Specialists’ Club held a successful show fast week. The show was well supported by fanciers from Dunedin, Timaru and Christchurch, who sdnt forward some excellent specimens. Outstanding was Mr D, R. Ker’s Norwich, which won the cup for the best bird of its breed and also the champion of champions cup for the best bird in the show. Other outstanding specimens were Mr D. Miller’s light four pointer mule, recognized as the best mule in New Zealand today. Mr L. M. Brain’s cup winning yellow-winged green budgerigar was also worthy of special mention. Several varieties of foreign birds were greatly admired. On looking at birds such as these the first thoughts that enter the novice’s mind are: How were they bred? What food was used to year them? What kind of specimens were their parents? What preparation was given them to have them in such splendid condition? Readers will no doubt be pleased to know that some of these successful breeders and exhibitors have consented to give some of their experiences in breeding and showing their own favoured varieties in this column during the pext week or so.

BUDGERIGARS

Mr L. M. Brain, of Christchurch, says: ! ‘lji the breeding of the exhibition budgerigar is more than at first meets the eye. It is a simple matter to pair up two birds, but the production of birds of quality, capable of winning on the show bench require much careful thought apd attention to details on the part of the exhibitor. Feeding plays a very important part in producing healthy birds, and all seed should be of thq best- Green food such as silver beet, sown twice a year, will give a continuous supply and should be fed daily. Grit and cuttlefish bone should always be at their disposal and a piece of old mortar is most valuable for its high lime content, Green food should be given fresh and clean and not with frost bn it in the winter months. The staple seed d|et is white millet and canary seed mixed in the proportion of two of the former tp one of the latter. This proportion of seed is ideal for'resting bird? and by this I mean birds which are not breeding or being prepared for exhibition or young birds under six months of age, Breeders with young may be given seed in the proportion of half canary and half white millet and this also applies to birds being prepared for exhibition. Canary seed only will cause your birds to become fat and sluggish, while an all-millet diet will scour them end puny youngsters will be the result. “The writer is not in favour of feeding hulled oats to budgerigars except during the breeding season and then only while the young are in the nest, or as an occasional titbit, say once a week. Oats in the husk if soaked for 24 to 36 hours are an ieal food for breeding pairs with young and also youngsters up to three months and may be given with advantage to adults two or three times a week. The soaking of the seed causes germination tp begin and the whole vitamin content is thereby changed and is an excellent substitute for the green food and seeding grasses which are unobtainable during the winter months. “The golden rule in breeding show budgerigars is never to allow more than four youngsters to each nest, that is the first four that hatch put, kill the remainder, and never be tempted in any circumstances to take more than two nests from a pair of birds in a season. Size, which is so important when showing, is governed by the two very important points. Pair up your birds in August only if they are fit and this may be determined by the colour of the cere nr wattle which in hens should be a nut brown (nqt pale brown or whitish) while the cere of the cock Should be a bright deep blue, The birds, of cpurse, should not be showing any signs of moult. The age at which birds may be allowed to breed should not be Jess than 11 months on the part of the hen and 10 months on the part of the cock. I have found it most advantageous to put aside young hens until they are two years of age before using them as breeders and I recommend this idea especially to novices who wish to obtain size in their birds. “I mention briefly the training operations for the show bench. It is a' good idea to cage up young birds in a training cage for a fortnight before releasing theni into the nursery flights. This early training is never forgotten and a bird so treated will quieten down in a show cage much more quickly when training for show begins in earnest later on. Budgerigars should be caged up from at least three to four weeks before show, otherwise they will perform many and varied antics while judging is in progress. Remember, the judge’s time is limited and he cannot be expected to spend too much of it trying to get your bird on the perch in order that it may show itself. Ruffled feathers may be corrected by spraying with a thorough soaking of hot water once daily, but have your cages and perches spotlessly clean during these operations. A cheap and inexpensive sprayer may be used for this purpose. Cease spraying two days before a show to allow the natural gloss to return to the plumage.” Successful local exhibitors at the Balclutha Show were Mr C. O. King, who secured first with his Australorp hen, which laid 26 eggs in the recent Papanui competition, HATCHING HINTS Storage of Eggs.—Eggs deteriorate by being stored, but a reasonable time does little harm. If eggs have to be kept for more than a few days they should be packed in bran or stored in fairly air-tight boxes to prevent evaporation and turned daily. A felted egg case is suitable, as the whole box can be turned. Fertile eggs will start to germinate at about 70deg Fahr. Therefore they must be kept below that temperatures. High temperatures are more dangerous than low ones. The desired temperature is between 40 and 65deg Fahr. Excessive humidity should also be avoided. Do not “rest” eggs after a journey—incubate as soon as possible. Fumigation of Incubators.—The air temperature should be 65deg Fahr., or over, and humid, with a little water left in the tray. Every exit of the incubator should be pasted over with paper or otherwise stopped. Before finally closing the door a small metal vessel containing permanganate of potash crystals, over which a double portion of commercial formalin has been poured, should be inserted. The machine should be finally sealed up and not opened for several hours. Two ounces of formalin and loz of potassium permanganate are sufficient for every 5 cubic ft.

Another method is to swab or spray out the incubator with methylated spirit. Like most farm institutes and pedigree breeders, the policy is to get the chicks on to the earth early. They start in the brooder house, not water heated, for the first three weeks. They are then transferred to hovers in outdoor brooders for five weeks and then into ordinary laying fold units, The are, of course, moved every day and so are fold units. Each year a fresh plot of three acres of clean, temporary grass comes into use—in the first year it carries the replacement stock, while in the second year it carries outgoing stock—that it, laying birds and fattening cockerels. After two years stocking with poultry the plot is ploughed and potatoes or other catch crop grown to make full use of the manurial residues from the poultry. At Askham Bryan, it has been found most convenient to link up in this way with the general farm, but by altering the rotation a little it could be made equally suitable for linking up with the horticultural section. On this system, rearing losses have been exceptionally 10w—79 deaths out of 2268 hatched, up to 1| weeks old. The rations used in rearing were as follows: Grain—chicks (one to four weeks), 3cwt fine cut wheat, 2cwt fine cut maize, lcwt pinhead oatmeal, plus two per cent, chicks grit. Growers (four to 10 weeks), equal parts by weight, medium cut wheat and medium cut maize, plus two per cent, mixed grit and shell. For the first eight weeks the chick mash consisted of 301 b weatings, 201 b bran, 201 b maize meal, 101 b barley meal, 51b alfalfa meal, 51b ex. soya bean meal, 51b fish meal, 51b dried skim milk. Extras included two per cent, ground chalk, half per cent, common salt, one per cent, fine granulated charcoal, and two per cent, cod liver oil.

COLD WINDS AND CHICKS

Well-chosen leafy boughs of a tree will prove effective as a wind-break for chickens of any age, also providing shade and attracting natural insect and grub life. Cold winds are very harmful to young chicks, and bring about unnecessary losses, and even if the rearing appliance is turned against the wind the chicks will not run out if outside protection is absent.

’ The leafy boughs can be placed in any position in the grass run, preferably near the exit of the rearer to start with, and then farther away.

EGG-LAYING CONTESTS

TARANAKI (12th week) Single Light Breeds F. S. Allen (W.L.) 6 72 Whenuapai P.F. (W.L.) 6 70 Mrs A. W. Revell (W-L.) 6 70 G. Clark (W.L.) 5 67. Mrs J. Tippett (W.L.) 6 65 Single Heavy Breeds S. T. Bason (Lang.) 3 75 J. H. Sutton (R.1.R.) 6 74 Mrs H. Moreland (B.O.) 7 73 J. H. Hurdle (B.O.) 5 73 S. T. Bason (Lang.) 6 61 Ducks Singles Mrs E. Kelly (W.C.) 7 79 Mrs C. Cousins (K.C.) 7 -.78 Mrs E. Kelly (W.C.) 6 72 Mrs E. Kelly (W.C,) 0 70 Mrs A. ReveU (F.W.R.) 7 65 Light Breeds (three birds) C. Hansen (W.L.) 11 182 Mrs J. Tippett (W.L.) 16 177 F, Allen (W.L.) 10 • 154 J. Hazelwood (W.L.) 7 152 Mrs A. ReveU (W.L.) 6 , 147 Heavy Breeds (three birds) J, Hurdle (A. 0. 13 195 S. Bason (Lang.) 14 190 J. Sutton (R.1.R.) 14 179 Mrg Moreland (A. 0. 17 165 AUCKLAND (10th week) Heavy Breeds (six birds) N. McNair (B.O.) 299 J. Anderson (B.O.) 234 J. Nixon (B.O.) 216 S. Vaile (B.O.) 206 N. Ross (B.O.) 196 Light Breeds (six birds) Mrs J. Chitty (W.L.) 245 Cotswold P.F. (W.L.) 219 W. Spencer (W.L.) 205 Argyle P.F. (W.L.) 190 Single Bird, AH Breeds Sunny River P.F. (W.L.) 4 54 N. Wells (B.O.) 6 , 51 K. Powell (B.O.) — ' 51 Mrs Luby (W.L.) 5 47 W. Wordsworth (W.L,) 5 46 Light Breeds (four birds) H. Mumme (W.L.) 181 Mrs H. Turner (W.L.) 162 G. Douglas (W,L.) 151 G. Booth (W.L.) 145 Heavy Breeds (four bird?) A. Connell (B.O.) 217 N. McNair (B.O.) 205 T. Cowley (B.O.) 191 Mrs Edwards (B.O.) 158 Ducks (four birds) Mrs A. Finn (K.C.) 249 W. Gilmour (K.C.) 235 Mrs Somerville (K.C.) 221 Richard Brothers (K.C.) 220 S. Vaile (K.C.) 219