POULTRY NOTES

Southland Times, Issue 24181, 18 July 1940, Page 12

POULTRY NOTES

By A. PEAT Modern poultry knowledge has taught us that the health of our birds can be judged fairly accurately by the colour of the yolks of their eggs and, going further, that chicks hatched from eggs with deep, orange-coloured yolks are likely to be good chicks. We know that a healthy bird, having plenty of fresh grass or green feed and wide access to natural minerals of all kinds, will lay eggs with healthy contents. It is possible, without opening the egg, to obtain a good idea of the health of the bird that laid it and of the colour of the yolk. By feeding large quantities of shellforming. materials, such as oyster shell grit or lime, it is possible to make nearly any bird lay eggs with shells good enough to get their contents safely to the consumer. But strength of shell alone is not nearly sufficient and has little to do with the general state of health of the birds; the texture of the shell is highly important. Wild birds, and for that matter domestic fowls on an unlimited range, lay eggs with that perfect, smooth, old ivory texture, and yet such birds have received no special shell-making materials. Their natural diet and abundant health provide all' that, is necessary to make the perfect shell. CHALKY SHELLS How different is the shell of the hen that is fed for eggs without any thought being given to general health and kept in cramped conditions. Too often it is chalky, porous and totally lacking in gloss. Not infrequently it is actually rough, lumpy or even distorted. It might be suggested that these beautiful, natural shells are only to be had from poor layers, and that if one wants lots of eggs the shells must suffer simply because the more eggs are laid the shorter the time that can go to the manufacture of the shell. This is not so and birds living on good free range lay plenty of eggs, nearly all of which have really good shells. Just as the shell texture improves, so will incubation results and the subsequent health of the chicks, and for that matter the health of birds of all ages. It is obvious that a chalky, porous shell must dry extremely quickly during the incubation period, creating an unduly large air space and cramping the developing chickens. An egg with an ivory-texture shell laid by a bird on good grass range, will remain almost the same throughout the three weeks in the incubator, as the healthy oily dressing will prevent the escape of matter that is vital to the developing chick. It is therefore quite possible to preselect chicks by selecting eggs for incubation by inspection of the shell by the touch of the fingertips. CLEANING OF BROODERS Those about to rear chickens should give immediate attention to their brooders. If the brooders were thoroughly cleaned and disinfected at the end of the previous season, as they should be, all that is necessary is to see that the equipment is in good working order. But it is desirable that a further disinfection be carried out before the chickens arrive. If this work was not done at the end of the previous season no time should be lost in scrubbing, cleaning and disinfecting all internal fittings and floors, as well as scraping the outside runs.

In disinfecting any of the pens it should be remembered that no matter how strong the disinfectant its efficacy is greatly redu r ed by the presence of organic matter. The best course is to scrub and flush all the parts to be disinfected with plenty of water. In the case of outside runs which have been in use for several years, and particularly where disease has been present, it is advisable to remove two or three inches of the surface soil and replace it with clean soil. This work should be carried out a month or two at least before the chickens arrive so that the surface will settle down.

EGG-LAYING CONTESTS

PAPANUI (14th week) TEST No I.—WHITE LEGHORN SINGLE HEN TEST. (Three purebred pullets to

TEST No. 2.—BLACK ORPINGTONS AND AUSTRALORPS.

TEST No. 3—ANY VARIETY LIGHT OR HEAVY BREEDS (other than White Leghorns or Black Orpingtons).

TEST No. 4.—LIGHT AND HEAVY BREEDS SINGLE-HEN TEST (seven pure-bred pullets to be single-penned, best six

TEST No. S.—SINGLE DUCK TEST.

be single penned) Weekly total. Total. A. J. Severn 0 6 6 60 82 74 R. K. Summerfield 5 6 4 76 77 60 Cotswold Poultry Farm 4 4 5 57 68 54 Mrs J. A. Ritchie 6 0 5 72 68 53 J. E. Rainey 0 2 6 48 57 78 T. S. Dove (No. 1) • 4 5 4 51 51 30 T. S. Jove (No. 2) 0 3 5 33 42 70 Argyle Poultry Farm - 4 0 23 52 33 Green Bros. 5 4 4 70 66 40 F. Ashworth 5 4 3 72 31 o4 Mrs M. Garrett 5 5 59 77 70 E. Tilley (No. 1) 0 0 5 21 33 74 C. H. Penrose 5 - 6 57 18 70 R. T. Thomson 4 2 6 58 54 73 A. J. Lucas 6 0 6 86 51 84 J. Cunningham 5 0 5 66 40 49 J. Wilde 4 0 0 72 50 45 W. Ellis o 0 4 24 1 71 J. Turner 0 5 6 60 77 77 S. B. Roberts 6 5 0 70 15 5 R. R. Gare 4 4 3 60 67 60 T. Barr (No 1) o 6 0 71 84 24 T. Barr (No. - 2) 3 4 5 69 41 69 G. H. Dahlenburg (No. 1) 5 5 5 74 61 25 G. H. Dahlenburg (No. 2) 5 5 5 73 68 69 A. O. Oakley (No. 1) 5 1 6 57 77 84 A. O. Oakley (No. 2) 5 5 5 55 65 71 W. M. Evans 0 1 0 28 52 38 L. J. McNeill (No. 1) 0 4 - 59 61 27 J. W. McGlinchy 3 5 0 80 69 39 R. G. Bell 5 4 2 40 54 37 . J. McNeill (No. 2) 0 0 5 49 32 69 W. Skelton 4 0 G 57 50 78 J. Liggins 0 4 6 47 64 54 L. Brumby 4 0 0 26 15 0 E. Tilley (No. 2) 5 0 5 67 9 71 F. Sugden 6 5 3 71 80 37 W. H. Robinson 4 4) 6 37 70 34 W. F. Stent 5 3 4 72 46 47 Mrs F. Wilding 0 4 5 50 50 70

Mrs E. Lees 6 4 0 72 60 56 w. Waites 4 1 2 67 18 30 S. Brumby 1 2 6 ‘44 52 89 L. Brumby (No. 1) 1 1 S 29 64 43 F. A. Atkinson 0 4 5 56 67 77 E. J. Walker 5 2 2 74 84 65 L. Brumby (No. 2) 7 1 3 84 44 60 J. Gunn 4 1 5 17 25 78

J. D. Gobbe (Br.L.) 4 1 0 14 17 55 J. E. Ritchie (R.I.R.) 5 6 5 41 31 26 W. H. Morgan (R.I.R.) 6 S 6 79 26 80 W. Baxter (R.I.R.) 5 5 5 9 ‘ 7 23 A. E. Williams (L.S.) 3 6 5 30 80 64 A. W. Pritchard (L.S.) 0 5 0 18 6 0 Mrs F. Wilding (L.S.) 5 6 6 40 18 31 C. N. Goodman (Min.) 0 1 3 45 26 62 J. R. Griffen (Barn.) 4 4 5 '7 64 48 H. J. Anderson (Lan.) 0 7 2 3" 67 15

to count). S. Brumby (A.O.) 81 59 4 87 17 62 86 T. S. Dove 78 71 55 71 22 32 51 A. H. Ellis 69 87 79 65 60 72 5 Mrs M. Garrett 62 70 63 79 76 70 59 W. H. Mitchell 62 40 41 6 68 74 13 J. Turner 70 84 72 45 70 70 64 J. Liggins 70 55 10 75 38 52 55 F. A. Atkinson 39 75 55 69 62 49 19 W. Turner 51 71 66 75 23 72 68 J. B. Lees 71 61 62 64 57 52 62 G. H. Lintott 71 69 63 84 30 65 43 A. O. Oakley 58 64 58 73 83 74 74 J. W. McGlinchy 67 52 39 61 41 74 56 Miss M. Robinson 54 71 40 62. 60 59 20 F. L. Giles 67 26 40 77 16 67 63 G. D. Cameron 28 22 71 48 80 64 67 D. A. McKie 65 25 68 59 56 72 56 Mrs L. Donald 58 38 63 69 65 64 45 J. Cunningham 61 65 39 31 71 74 65

G. H. Bradford (K.C.) 0 0 7 0 32 44 F. Ashworth (K.C.) 7 6 0 74 7 0 H. J. Anderson (K.C.) 0 5 5 51 90 80 G. Wright (K.C.) 0 2 — 38 22 30 J. W. Thomson (I.R.) 7 7 0 84 87 70 A. I. Horsley (K.C.) 7 5 6 66 79 42 E. J. Walker (K.C.) 7 7 37 91 81