FEATHERED FANCY

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 223, 24 October 1914, Page 5

FEATHERED FANCY

Andalusians. I have been asked why more breeders do not take up Andalusians, and I think this is explained by the number of sports received among their progeny. The Andalusian is a handsome fowl, and a fine utility bird, a layer of large eggs and of good frame for table purposes. From a breeding pen of good blues, it is nothing unusual to hatch white, black, and blue chicks. From a show point the whites are of no value, the blacks are worth considering, as it will often happen that what appears a black chick is a dark blue. The blues being the correct colour should be kept. The peculiar point with these sports, is that though their plumage is defective, they still have other properties the same as the blue bird. For instance, the white, though spotted slightly throughout with blue feathers, still has blue legs, and head points as the correct bird. Though the whites and blacks are of no use for still they are worth keeping for laying. You will rarely find them wanting to sit. By mating the black and white colours together you will get a better percentage of blue chicks than from breeding from the true colour. Still, the lacing, a prominent point in the correct bird, is deficient. A black male is a handy bird to keep even for crossing with the blues for improving the lacing of the breed. The Andalusian is different from the Minorca or Leghorn family in comb. It should not follow the neck as Some of the winners at the last Christchurch Show, but should stand off, and is not so beefy as the other breeds. In the blacks, I have known a pullet exhibited as a Minorca, and a good

specimen she made, only her legs were very deficient in colour. The blacks and whites appear to show more comb than the blue. The Price of £g<?s. There is a matter that I considerinterests all keepers of poultry. At this time of the year everybody who keeps poultry has an abundance of eggs. Some are in the habit of preserving them for a future day, when possibly they will be dearer than the present market; but the majority of breeders make a point of disposing of their _ surplus eggs to the grocer*, and in making iut-M remarks I wish it to be understood that I am not doing so for the benefil of any. firm or association. My sympathy is with the small grower. The real poultry farmer is a capable man and knows the best source to dispose of his produce, which I do not think is the grocer. Now we find the eggs are sold at auction for 1/- per dozen and the grocer sells yours or quotes them for lid, which means that he must have paid you 9d or lOd'for them, and even after allowing for sales commission you will see that you profit by putting your eggs through a proper source. If the grocer had purchased these eggs at auction he would have had to pay 1/- for them, and if eggs are sold at auction for 1/- per dozen, this is really a wholesale house and if the grocer undersells the market price it must prove that he is either a poor salesman- or pays very low for his eg£3. Remember, when one receives an increase of a few shillings in salary there is always liumerOus matters to be attended to, so with- your e o g sales these slight rises always total at the week's end. NOTES AND NEWS. At the last meeting of the United Pigeon Fanciers' Club Mr T. H. Jones gave a very interesting exhibition of some 30 Long-faced Tumblers. Mr Jones has given a lot of his time to experimenting, and he has been very successful. He exhibited some Mealies and Long-faced Almonds that did him credit, and it was very surprising what he had produced them from. The evening was a popular one, and, as the chairman, Mr Arthur Smith, stated, the club and the fancy generally were greatly indebted to Mr Jones for his splendid work in connection with the fancy. While the Utility Poultry "Club are on the revising of their schedule, it might be as well to be a little more explicit. Now, in the present conditions of the Kussell Cup, Eule 4 states: "Only pens

(By GEIT.)

A NEW BREED.

laying 1100 eggs will be eligible to compete." lam quite aware of the fact that a team to lay 1200 must lay 1100, but remember the way it is at present printed gives the class that is always ready to make a mountain out of a mole hill plenty of room to work. You will often notice in show schedules of the canary section, classes open to cayenne-fed and non-cayenne-fed. This, is wrong, and with the feed now used for canaries should be described as colour fed and non-colour-fed. Such a classification prevents any breeder from using artificial feed for birds exhibited in the non-colour-fed classes. Mr E. James, of Marshland, has notj yet his usual number of chicks. He was unfortunate in his early hatchings. The Utility Poultry Glub, at its meeting on Tuesday evening last, had under consideration the schedule for its 1915-16 competition, and has decided that the prize for the Studholme test will in future be a diploma and £5, including a gold medal. The birds will be judged by the standard of the New Zealand Utility Poultry Club, and not by the Specialist Club standards, as used for the modern bird. The ages of the.birds shall be: Light breeds 5£ to 8 months, heavy breeds 6 to 8 months, and ducks 5 to 9 months old. The dietry for the heavy breeds at the next competition will be slightly altered from the present one. The clover hay chaff will be dropped in the winter months and extra pollard substituted. Mr T. Wilson, of Marshland, has

some 140 chicks of Silver Wyandottes and White Leghorns. He has been using the incubator for the first time, with a fair amount of success. AMONG- THE BREEDERS. MR GEO. E. HALES, SPREYDON. Mr Geo. E. Hales, of Barrington Street, Spreydon, is a breeder of Magpies, Shortfaced Tumblers, and performing Tumblers. He has been interested with fancy I pigeons for some six years, and during that time can fairly claim to have commandeered the Magpie variety. He first -secured the stock of Mr Mutton, of Lytjtelton, and then he communicated with ! those noted English breeders Messrs I Bracey and Cooks, of Yarmouth, with the | result that he secured from that firm a pair of blacks and a pair of yellows. The progeny" of these birds have scored so consistently, and Mr Hale has received such numerous enquiries from Sydney, Melbourne, and other parts of the Commonwealth and throughout the Dominion, that his stud can be considered the leading one. In his short but successful career he has won the North Island championship three times, the certificate of the South Island Association's championship, and other prizes a'nd sales totalling some £6O. Though the fostering of fancy pigeons is purely a hobby, it will be seen that with a good strain it is a fairly good side-line. He is breeding from seven pairs of blacks and two pairs of offcolours. He has already some 14 youngsters of exceptional quality and quite equal to the good birds bred before. A black and a dim are particularly good, possessing fine limbs and plenty or reach ; the rest of the birds are also promising. The old imported black still looks well. Mr Hales has a nice from a dun. and a black; it is a bit more snipy than we are accustomed to see in colours other than black. His houses are nicely arranged. He has the arm bracket perch, and he uses the earthenware nest, and feeds on wheat, peas, and tares, with a good sprinkling of green food, chiekweed, etc. He has only started with the Shortfaced Tumblers; the performing birds he has had for some time, and he has quite a nice lot of young birds from the eight pairs breeding. A few seasons back the performing Tumbler was very plentiful j it then dropped in fashion, and it. is pleasing to note-that its popularity is again coming forward. In the performing Tumbler house Mr Hales has been utilis- j ing kerosene tins for nests. He says that they make first-class ones, and the young birds all the season are always free from vermin of any description.