POULTRY NOTES.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 31, 19 January 1912, Page 3

POULTRY NOTES.

WINTER CHICKENS,

LOOKING FORWARD

(Hy A. J. Johnson in “Poultry.”) Autumn chickens should bo regarded as a second crop well worth harvesting. They are most valuable as table 1 birds when the supplies of game decrease. The difficulties of roaring winter chickens are compensated for and extra trouble counterbalanced by the enhanced prices they fetch. /Slow feathering breeds should bo avoided for the production of winter chickens. Orpingtons and Wyandottes arc recommended; but whatever stock birds are used, it is advisable to rest them ore ‘placing them in the breeding pen. Ifresh land, judicious feeding, and early-feather-ing are essentials if the object be remunerative winter chickens.

Whether it will pay the poultrykeeper who does not make a specialty of the work to hatch chickens that will be running all through the winter, or at least well into the new year, must depend upon circumstances. To hatch and rear such chickens successfully means that efficient shelter must bo provided, that much care must be exercised, and, most important, perhaps, of all, that some definite purpose is in view. The cottager or farmer who sets eggs in autumn and who allows the brood to dwindle away almost to a vanishing point qs soon as the first pinch of winter is felt can scarcely deserve much sympathy, for in nine cases out of ten ho makes little or no attempt to protect the flock from the inclemencies of the season. The birds get the same treatment in November as they do in May. The loss of a dozen or so of eggs, some chcickens, and the lien’s time does not worry him very much, for ho “docs not feel it,” and as he has often no definite purpose in hatching at all the indifference to loss is only the more marked. I am inclined to think, however, that such apathy is becoming more uncommon, and that the autumn-hatched chicken is beginning to ho looked upon as a second crop well worth harvesting. Where They are Useful.

It is, of course, as a table bird tlhat the winter-reared chicken is most valued, for it matures, or becomes marketable, just at a time when poultry and game supplies are getting short in the early months of the year. And oven granting the difficulties and expenses of rearing to lie greater than they are with the spring or summer chickens, it will often be found that the higher price secured for the autumn hatched birds will more than counterbalance the drawbacks. What Breeds to Use. The breed or cross selected for winter roanng must be one’ that is hardy and, of course, possessed of table properties. But there is another important point to consider in relation to tliis matter, and that is the feathering qualities of the chickens. Many of our best table fowls, notably the Indian Game, are slow to feather, which, even if it may be an advantage at any other season, is not so at this one. We should have, youngsters that will be well protected against the weather at an, early ago, and in choosing the variety that feature must be kept in view. And in passing I may mention that any hens of the Asiatic or sub-Asiatic—if the Orpingtons, Wyandottes, arid the like may be so termed—will produce chickens that will feather rapidly if sired by a Houdan cock. The progeny will also prove to be of very fair quality for the purpose for ■ which thoy are hatched, and they will naturally be as “hard as nails” if the parents are healthy and vigorous. The Production of Vigorous Progeny. The mention of constitution, which is so important in these chickens, leads ono to insist upon the use of such stock birds as have undergone some period of rest during summer and which are either over moult or not begun. lAnd though it is somewhat late to talk of mating now, beyond offering a passing hint, I would press the necessity for giving this autumn breeding stock not only ample liberty but fresh land. The latter is just as essential for the chickens, which should have qs much range as possible until weather necessitates more ( confined quarters. Indeed, one af the prime causes of failure in rearing chickens at this season is stale ground. The birds are too often subjected to all the impurities of land that has been more or less heavily stocked throughout the earlier months. They are dumped down in the farmyard, orchard, or paddock by their antliinking owners, apparently without any consideration being given to the condition of the soil. The result is they sicken, lose heart, and eventually die, often from no actual disease. But put them on fresh laud, such as stubble and woodland, and it will have a remarkably revivifying o licet. New ground, with its abounding possibilities in the form of tender vegetable growth and dainty grub or chrysalis, witli its fresh corners to be explored, and infinite possibilities for enjoying the fulness of life as chickens understand it, does more towards building up sturdy constitutions than any amount of feeding and doctoring could over do. It should always be the poultry-keeper's sheet anchor in times of doubt or difficulty, but its wonderful effect is scarcely ever more apparent than it is with these late chickens. So many people seem to overlook the fact that autumn is the very antithesis of spring, that now all life is mi the ebb, and that unless the chickens are given exceptional treatment the chances against their success are remote. Of course, domestication comes to our aid in many ways. Fowls

.ire more adaptable to circumstances than they, or their ancestors, once were. But Nature is strong, and wo have only to bear in mind the weakening of the reproductive faculties at this season as opposed to their springtime’s vigour to realise the significance of that fact. Hence the necessity for fresh land, which is like a “change of air” to ourselves, and most careful feeding. How to Feed. There is a natural tendency at this season for stock birds to got too fat, and while feeding must be good, that must be avoided. Even on a free range where there is a great deal of natural food to pick up —and the earth is more pregnant with life, animal and vegetable, now than at any other time—l would still give meat judiciously to stock birds and chickens, and green stuff that is wholesome and succulent is of almost equal importance. A good dry feed, in addition to the above, and a light morning meal consisting of any of the staple mixtures often recommended are all that the feeder requires to make a success of autumn rearing, though boiled rice, some linseed and hempseed, to be used by way of a change and to ward off cold in damp weather, are beneficial. Milk is also most useful at this season. The Object in View. The great object should be to so hatch and rear that the youngsters are well on their legs and efficiently feathered by the beginning of November, when they will, with ordinary care, be tolerably safe. But if winter or wintry weather finds.them still unfledged the chances of thbir success are much more remote, supposing no elaborate shelters have been provided. It is not that chickens suffer from dry cold, but wind and rain and dewdrenched grass very quickly affect them. A few broods can often be successfully reared in an airy shed, such as is often available on a farm, so long as they get ample greenstuff and exercise, but when it 'comes to larger lots the difficulties are very great when no special accommodation has been provided. The heavy losses caused by rats annually among these chickens have caused many would-be rearers to give up the job in disgust, for although one may keep the broods fairly safe in coops in the open, it is quite another matter when the chickens are running about farm buildings and rick-yards. And to the person who only wishes to rear a few hatches it is a question whether it pays to go the expense of making rat-proof rearing sheds for the benefit of these chickens alone.

Still, notwithstanding the manj drawbacks which one must of necessity face in this work, I am convinced that there are many people among the agricultural community, such as farmers, gardeners, and cottagers, who would find that a second rearing season, worked in! a proper manner from start to finish; would prove to be a lucrative undertaking.