THE POULTRY YARD

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 690, 15 June 1929, Page 30

THE POULTRY YARD

(By

GEO. H. AMBLER.

SEASONABLE HINTS JL'XE is one of the most trying months of the year. We can expect practically any kind of weather during this month. The nights, especially in the South Island, are cold and damp. The wise poultry-keeper will keep his weather eye open as sickness is sure to appear in some form or other, more particularly colds: The,advice I have so frequently given on colds should be followed to the letter, should any birds have badly-swollen faces, with an offensive smell or with much matter in evidence, they should be removed to a warm building and there cleansed up thoroughly twice a day with warm water in which a few drops of disinfectant has been dissolved.

After thoroughly drying the bird’s head a teaspoonful of olive oil should be given to each. Any found with cheesy matter in the eye or throat should have this removed, and the places touched once or twice with a leather which has been dipped in the following mixture: Place a few grains of permanganate of potash (best quality) in a saucer with six drops of eucalyptus oil and six drops of kerosene. Stir for about two minutes and make a fresh mixture at each visit. So long as the birds are active and hungry there is no parti- j cular need to be anxious about losing ! any. It is only when there is a difii- \ culty in breathing that it may be ad-1 visable to destroy the affected birds. I CARE OF OLD BIRDS Some o? the old birds will be hardly j through the moult. Such need to be' kept out of the draught without using ■ any heat, and a little sulphur or | steeped linseed can be added to the ! soft food. Also give occasionally as J a change bread and milk. This, with j the linseed, should be mixed with the j ordinary cereal meals. A Mttle hemp-! seed may also be given with advan- j tage. This will put a little oil into j the feathers, which will not only help ! them to come out better, but also | put on that rich bloom or sheen ] which is an important factor for the exhibition bench. A little Condy’s ) crystals can be added to the drinking ; water —only just sufficient to colour it. If the bird is moulting very j badly it will assist matters if a small j quantity of pure sulphate of iron be I added to the drinking water. MATING The task of mating up, in view of the approach of the breeding season,! will have to be commenced. The i great secret for getting August chick-; ens is to mate the birds up early, and thus accustom them to each other’s society before their eggs are required for setting. The man with a limited space should not breed too many, but have a few, and as good as possible, and look after these well. Keep the breeding birds in good store condition. or unfertile eggs will be very summon. In the scratching shed put clown plenty of short-cut straw or dried leaves, so that when the corn is thrown down the birds have to work | to find iu This keeps the blood cir- j culating and the body much more]

healthy than if they get their food without any work. CORRECT FEEDING At this time of the year more heating foods can be given, on account of the external conditions not having the same influences on the system as in the summer. Therefore the amount of maize and barley can be increased. Grit and oyster-shell should be supplied in the svcratcliingshed, so that there is no fear of snow or frost making it impossible for the birds to obtain it. Fresh green foods should be supplied at least every other day. Where green food cannot be obtained, a turnip or mangel wurzel cut in half serves as a good substitute. ADVERTISE All young stock left over and not wanted for breeding should be advertised in The Sun, and cleared out, so as to give room and make way for the chicks that are to come. There is nothing like a poultry' yard free from all surplus stock, and, of course, the birds most needed now are the pick of last season’s breeding, which should never be sold, but used to still further improve the stiock already on the place. Space must not govern the amount of birds that each one keeps, and it is better to keep too few than too many. BREED FROM HEALTHY STOCK While the intensive system of poultry-keeping is generally successful and profitable, from the point of view of egg production, it is certainly not the best system for the breeding and rearing of healthy stock. Under the strain of the artificial system, the birds soon become weakened constitutionally, and they must be replaced at the end of their second laying season by fresh stock. Now, hens that are selected for breeding purposes should possess sound and vigorous constitutions, and they should invariably be birds that have been reared on untainted ground or an open free range. Good housing and shelter are necessary for all sorts of laying fowls in wet, cold and stormy weather: but a comparatively openair life for stock breeding is a requisite if strong, healthy’, hard stock is to be maintained. Abnormal egg-production cannot be expected from fowls kept under conditions more natural than the intensive, artificial system, with its close

confinement and restricted methods of feeding; but if the stock birds come of a good laying strain and breed, the progeny will certainly not be found less prolific nor less profitable than the offspring of birds of similar breed and strain \that have been kept under the intensive system. Therefore, while the intensive system is an economic institution, it must, so to speak, go hand in hand with the open-air system. For without the latter to replenish the intensive pens, the stamina of the poultry stock in common would .soon become hopelessly weakened, and the birds degenerate. Green food is to fowls what fruit and vegetables are to the human being, correcting and toning the system. Cabbage is particularly valuable because it has a large proportion of nitrogen, hence it balances the carbon of green rations. If you want your fowls to lay in winter, feed them on a nirtogenous rather than a carbonaceous ration, and one of the vegetables richest in nitrogen is cabbage. When feeding cabbage do not throw on the bottom of the pen or run. It is best suspended from the roof by a piece of string, just high enough for the birds to reach it. By adopting this method you will be surprised how little will be wasted. LITTLE THINGS THAT COUNT It is being mindful of the little things that makes poultry pay. A little draught in a fowlhouse often causes roup. A little dir-t allowed to accumulate breeds cholera. A little sloppy food brings on bowel troubles. A little sneeze is a warning of a cold, and a little attention at this time will check a tendency toward roup. A little time spent each morning will keep the roosting-house in a sanitary condition. A little work will repair the small leak in the roof and save the expense of refelting. A ; little insert powder in the nests will | keep away the vermin. A little grit : always in the trough will prevent | indigestion. AN ELECTRIC POULTRY FARM The March issue of "Rural Electri- ! fication and Electro-Farming” gives j particulars of a commercial egg farm ! near Edinburgh, where the mixes of ■ mashes, the plucking of killed birds, j and heating of water-tanks are carried j out by electrical means, while each I laying-house is illuminated by electrici light controlled by two switches, and j a special dimming device for extend- ; ing the hours of “day-light” during j winter months. GENERAL NOTES | The following are the results of the | Taranaki Egg Laying Competition 1o | and including the eighth week: In the White Leghorn section M. Scanlon’s hen has laid 6 eggs for the week thus keeping her position as leader of this section. J. A. Mackay’s hen is second with C. W. Taplin’s lien 3rd. In the Rhode Island Red section A. J. Lacey’s No. 1 and No. 4 birds tie for first place. Gibbons Bros.’ No. 1 hen is leading in the Golden Wyandotte section. D. M. Waddell’s No. 1 Black Orpington has again laid 7 eggs for the week, bringing her total to 62 eggs. I Gibbons Bros.’ No. 1 hen occupies i first place in White Wyandotte section.

F. W. Walker’s No. 2 hen in the Brown Leghorn section laid 6 eggs for the week. White Rocks and White Indian Runners will not be of much profit to the competition as none of them has commenced to lay. Fawn anti White Runners are doing well, V. L. Gane’s duck occupying first position with J. Magill’s and D. Riley’s ducks tying for 2nd. place. In the A.O.V. ducks, J. W. Carnck’s Khaki Campbell again laid the possible. In the Light Breeds, three bird team, R. Cannon’s team of White Leghorns is first, A. J. Lacey’s Rhode Island Red and Gibbons Bros.’ White Wyandottes tying for first place in Heavy Breeds teams. In an interesting interview with the | Editor of Poultry World, London, Mr. J Geo. Duckworth, England’s wicketkeeper, who is an enthusiastic poultry fancier, gives a description of some of the poultry farms lie visited in Australia, one being that of Mr. Fred. Rogen, (Melbourne), who is wellknown to most New Zealand fanciers. Mr. Duckworth expressed liis surprise at finding Mr. ltogen did not use dropping-boards in his poultry houses. The latter gave his reason that dropping boards were detrimental to the health of the birds, as no matter how often the boards were cleaned the droppings gave off ammonia fumes. Mr. Duckworth also called on Mr. Merrett. He was disappointed at not having the opportunity of visiting any of the Australian poultry shows, but has taken a couple of pens of Australian Light Sussex back with | him to England. I have received a schedule of the Auckland Game Club’s Annual Show to be held in the Municipal Hall, Newmarket, on July 25 and 26 i As this will be the last show of the ! season it is anticipated there will be |an entry in the vicinity of 200. There iis no doubt it will be a veritable ; meeting of the champions of the game fancy, and will also bring together a great gathering of the clans. In addition to the usual prizemoney the club is offering 13 valuable Challenge Cups and trophies, also 14 cash specials of 15s each. The North Island Poultry Association’s Championships for old English Game, also old English Game Bantams (Male), have been allocated for competition at this clubs event. Two of the Challenge Cups are being offered for Modern Game and Modern Game Bantams. It is also interesting to note that the club is offering a Challenge Cup for competition in the Indian Game classes. ! Mr. Oscar Anderson, the well-known ; Game judge, will make the awards. With such a popular judge and an 1 enthusiastic executive, headed by Mr. W. Wilson as president and Mr. E. 1 Bush as secretary, the success of the show is assured. ANSWER TO CORRESPONDENT Papakura. —No doubt a slight touch of anaemia accounts for the colour of the combs of your hens. Add a little pea or bean meal and some meat or fish meal to the mash, and mix an iron tonic in the drinking water. For a time I would advise you to give the grain feed for the morning meal, and the mash for the evening one. I think this will put things right. Have , you any fresh green feed that you can J give them?