POULTRY NOTES

Southland Times, Issue 24115, 2 May 1940, Page 12

POULTRY NOTES

By

A. PEAT

Mr W. Jordan presided over a large attendance at the fortnightly meeting of the Invercargill Canary and Cage Bird Specialist Club. The British and Foreign Bird Society has given a silver cup for their financial members who gain most points in this section at the five South Island Federation shows. In addition two diplomas will be allotted to the local show. The secretary presented a report on the recent young bird show, which showed a very satisfactory credit balance.

The following were appointed a protest committee:—Messrs G. Winter, W. Feaver, L. Taylor, A. Beadle and E. Nichol. Mr W. Feaver was appointed judges steward in all canary sections except Norwich and in the British and Foreign Bird sections. Mr H. Green will act as Norwich steward. There will be three new clases at the show to be held on June 27 and 28 for women competitors only. The Kaikorai Poultry Club will hold its annual show on Friday and Saturday May 24 and 25 when the New Zealand championships for Old English Game and Fantail pigeon will be competed for, also the South Island championships for Hamburg male, Old English Game pullet, utility Australorp female, utility Sussex female, any other variety heavy breed poultry, open class, coloured homer, roller canary. The meeting of the Invercargill branch of the New Zealand Poultry Federation was poorly attended on Friday. It was resolved to hold over the main business until the next meeting in May, when the nomination of a member for f.e Poultry Producers Board will take place. All registered poultry keepers whether members of the federation or not are eligible to vote and a large attendance is expected. An enquirer who gave her name but not her address wishes to know the difference between the three main hen lice by which she probably means body lice, red mite and scaly leg mite. Body lice are to be found at all seasons of the year. They live upon the body of the bird and are rarely found off the body. Examinations of birds, particularly round the vent, tail, neck and under the wings should reveal their presence, particularly if they are thick. Since lice do not exist in the house, but upon the body of the bird, the method of treatment must be determined with this fact in mind. The simplest and most effective treatment is by the use of Black Leaf 40 or nicotine sulphate. One ounce of this will be sufficient for about 30ft of roost. A thin line of the liquid should be run along the perches about an hour before the birds go to roost. When the birds are roosting the heat of their bodies causes the fumes to rise through the feathers and the lice are killed and fall to the dropping board. A single application should kill all lice, but many of their eggs will probably be found in the fluff at the base of the feathers where they will be seen in clusters on badly affected birds. These eggs will hatch out in five to nine days so it will be necessary to repeat the treatment in 10 or 12 days to kill these newly-hatched lice. Other effective but much slower methods of killing lice are by dusting powders such as sulphur which can also be mixed in the dustbath. Dusting powders are dusted into the fluff particularly under the wings and round the vent. These instructions are effective for all the important types of lice whether body or head. Since a dozen lice may increase to thousands in a few months it is very essential to keep a close watch on the birds.

Red mites are among the most common pests and unlike lice which feed only upon the scales of skin and feathers, most mites are blood suckers and therefore cause much physical harm and in some instances death. Another respect in whkh most mites differ from lice is that they do not live upon the birds but are found in the cracks and joints of the roosts and house during the day time and venture forth to feed at night only. Since they puncture the skin to suck the blood and do not always return to the same bird at night the possibility of their transferring disease from one bird to another cannot be overlooked. To determine whether red mite are present examine the cracks in the roosts, the space between the perches and supports, the board joints in the walls and the nests and nesting material. The mites are red only when full of blood after feeding on the birds: at other times they are a greyish white colour living in masses with their cast of skins and eggs. These mites hide away to a certain extent during the cold weather and are essentially a pest during the warm months and are different from lice which are present throughout the year. As these mites infest the houses the treatment consists in the application of disinfectants to the buildings where they are found. First burn all nesting material and after thoroughly cleaning all the walls, perches, and dropping boards spray them thoroughly with a strong disinfectant solution, taking care to see that all crevices are penetrated tj the bottom. An excellent mixture to apply to the roosts and nest boxes is made from one part carbolic or better still nicotine sulphate to three or four parts of crank case oil, or kerosene and crank case oil. SCALY LEG MITE The scaly leg mite is exceedingly small and burrows into the flesh under the scales on the legs of the birds. It is a blood sucker and through its activities causes thickening and deforming of the scales to such an extent that the leg may be almost twice its normal size in severe cases. There are several remedies, scrubbing the legs well with a nail brush, and rubbing on sulphur and lard, kerosene, or oil. A particularly good home-made disinfectant may be mixed as follows:— Dissolve one and a half pounds of concentrated lye in as small a quantity of water as possible. It will be necessary to do this two or three hours before it is required as the lye should b_ cold when- used. Put raw linseed oil into a five gallon stone crock and pour in the lye very slowly, stirring all the time. Keep on stirring until a smooth liquid soap is produced. Then gradually add two gallons of carbolic acid, stirring constantly until the smooth liquid is a clear dark brown colour. Use two or three tablespoonfuls of the mixture to a gallon of water. This mixture is best used as a spray. EGG-LAYING_CONTESTS PAPANUI (3rd Week) TEST No. I.—WHITE LEGHORN SINGLEHEN TEST. Each competitor to enter three pure-bred pullets to be single penned.

Totals R. K. Summerfield 14 16 14 Cotswold Poultry Farm 14 14 6 Mrs J. A. Ritchie 15 12 14 J. E. Rainey 11 9 14 T. S. Dove (No. 1) 10 2 16 T. S. Dove (No. 2) 11 9 11 Argyle Poultry Farm 13 6 10 Green Brothers 9 10 14 F. Ashworth 14 3 15 Mrs M. Garrett 12 17 13 E. Tilley (No. 1) 11 12 13 C. H. Penrose 2 * 7 A. J. Lucas 18 10 16 J. Cunningham 14 12 - J. Wilde 16 4 8 W. Ellis 1 1 16 J. Turner 15 14 13 S. B. Roberts 14 3 5 R. R. Gare 11 16 7 T. Barr (No. 1) 13 15 - T. Ban- (No. 2) 9 - 10 G. H. Dahlenburg (No. 1 ) 15 11 13 G. H. Dahlenburg (No. 2) 17 6 12 A. O. Oakley (No. 1) a 15 15 A. O. Oakley (No. 2) IB 6 14

W. M. Evans 2 10 L. J. McNeill (No. 1 ) 9 8 - J. W. McGlinchy 17 13 15 R. G. Bell 10 6 6 L. J. McNeill (No. 2 ) 6 9 11 W. Skelton 13 11 16 J. Liggins 15 15 2 L. Brumby - - — E. Tilley (No. 2) 12 9 14 W. F. Stent 14 1 14 W. H. Robinson 5 9 1 W. F. Stent 14 1 14 Mrs F. Wilding 8 - 15 TEST No. 2.—BLACK ORPINGTONS AND AUSTRAL ORFS. Total Mrs E. Lees 9 12 9 W. Waites 13 4 5 S. Brumby 12 12 17 L. Brumby (No. 1) 5 13 2 F. A. Atkinson 13 16 17 E. J. Walker 13 19 13 L. Brumby (No. 2) 14 5 16 J. Gunn - 13 TEST No. 3.—ANY VARIETY LIGHT < DR HEAVY BREEDS, OTHER THAN WHITE LEGHORNS OR BLACK ORPINGTONS. Total J. D. Gobbe (B.L.) - - 14 J. E. Ritchie (R.I.R.) - - — W. H. Morgan (R.I.R.) 15 10 18 W. Baxter (R.I.R.) 1 •• A. E. Williams (L.S.) — 11 11 A. Prichard (L.S.) — — — Mrs F. Wilding (L.S.) — •• C. N. Goodman (Min.) 16 4 14 J. R. Griffen (Barn.) — 10 — H. J. Anderson (Lan.) - - • TEST No. 5.—SINGLE DUCK TEST. Totals G. H. Bradford - 14 w F. Ashworth «• - • H. J. Anderson 19 18 11 G. Wright 18 8 12 J. W. Thomson 17 15 19 A. I, Horsley 5 18 3 E. J. Walker 14 16 8 TEST No. 4.—SINGLE HEN TEST, LIGHT AND HEAVY BREEDS. Seven pure-bred pullets to be single penned. Totals S. Brumby (A.O.) 10 - 19 8 w 18 T. S. Dove 15 18 2 15 6 5 15 A. H. Ellis 11 18 16 15 4 14 2 Mrs M. Garrett 13 12 11 16 9 16 6 W. H. Mitchell 13 16 15 6 10 15 1 J. Turner 14 18 15 14 16 16 15 J. Liggins 16 8 2 16 9 9 14 F. A. Atkinson 7 11 12 10 8 12 12 W. Turner 15 18 16 15 8 16 13 J. B. Lees 17 15 11 15 15 14 12 G. H. Lintott 12 12 14 17 17 15 12 A. G. Oakley 15 6 14 10 17 12 13 J. W. McGlinchy 6 10 16 12 12 17 15 Miss M. Robinson 12 10 11 8 14 7 1 F. L. Giles 14 10 17 15 - 13 13 G. D. Cameron 9 13 15 14 17 16 10 D. A. McKie 13 5 14 9 12 11 7 Mrs L. Donald 16 w 3 15 15 13 6 J. Cunningham 14 12 14 4 15 15 15