POULTRY YARD

Taranaki Daily News, 26 July 1929, Page 16

POULTRY YARD

BY

G. H. AMBLER

CARE OF BREEDING-STOCK.

Very few poultry-keepers look upon this month as being ideal for poultrykeeping. So many poultry-keepers like to have the sun shining both sides of the fence, and then what a pleasure to see the little fluffy chickens running about oil the short grass and basking in the sun. True, this is ideal. It would never do for poultry-keepers to wait for the warm sun before hatching out, otherwise there would not be many chickens raised. With the thousands •which are reared there must be a start early in the season, or a shortage will be seen before October is over.

Those who have young chickens out now, or coming out, must provide them with adequate protection against the winds and rain without coddling. If possible, stand the coop under a shed where they can get the sun and yet escape the cold winds; so put the coop in another house where the sun can shine in, because the light and warmth are the best tonic they can have. The body and feet must be kept perfectly dry and though giving them a drink, see that the vessel is fixed so that they cannot get inside. When youngsters are out in a foster-mother the machine must be kept up to its right heat, particularly at night. When chicks are cold they crowd together and huddle up to one another; bo that the weak ones often get crushed. The heat of the sleeping place should be an even temperature all over, so that crowding will be avoided. During the long nights where no time has to be lost in bringing the youngsters on for the shows, it considerably helps the chicks if they have a meal about seven or eight o’clock. On many poultry farms in England one can see the poultryman going his rounds about eight o’clock every night carrying six or eight hurricane lanterns, also dry feed for the chicks. The chicks need hustling out for a time or two; they, however, soon know what the lantern means, and will run out on their own free will. After a feed they will return to their coops, and any food that may be left over will be picked up at daybreak. See that the chicks are supplied with some green food, also fine grit. The green food should not consist of coarse cabbage leaves. A little of the heart may be cut up and given them. Chick rearing becomes a pleasure when they are strong and vigorous, but this can never happen if the parent birds are in a poor state of health. VIGOUR ESSENTIAL. Beyond all is the amount of vigour which a hen is able to transmit to the germs of such eggs as she lays, and also that from the male mated with her. A hen may be fully able to pass on to the next generation racial and family tendencies, but if there is any lack of the vital force, these are useless. A living germ must have strength to utilise the egg contents and transfer these into a

chicken, even if the hen has in abundance whatever is required, there is failure. A chick results from a bundle of influences, failure in any one of which will be serious, perhaps disastrous. The first essential to the vigorous hatching of a rearable chick is a strong healthy germ—an impossible thing unless the parent stock is sound, healthy, equal to the occasion, and capable of transmitting vigour to the offspring. No forced, overfed, fat parent is capable of producing healthy liveable progeny, and this conclusion particularly applies to poultry where reproduction in these days of artificial methods has to bear what add-

ed risks this may mean. The forcing of breeding stock by diet and with condimented foods is a. very common and grave error which absolutely defeats the object in view. WHAT THE FOOD SHOULD BE. In these days of bred-to-lay stock, rations should be chosen that will steady rather than stimulate the flow of eggs, and which’ will at the same time develop that antifat but muscular condition which always indicates a vigorous physical condition. There is no doubt that hot mashes in the breeding-pen tend. to induce a flabby, fatty condition, which also encourages indolence. Breeding birds must be made to exercise for part of their feed. NO SOFT FOOD. For many years now my breeding pens have never* had any soft food. They have, however, always been supplied with plenty of green feed, also a little meat two or three times a week. In the breeding-pen it must be remembered that it is not just eggs, but hatchable eggs, and with the generative organs clogged up with an,accumulation of fat, the possibility is greatly reduced. A long experience of exhibition stock has satisfied me that whilst an artificial diet may develop the show points to an excessive and attractive degree, it fails entirely when applied to the finer scheme of reproduction. An albuminoid ration of 1 in 3% to 1 in 4 is considered the best laying formula, but 1 in 5 is quite narrow enough for breeding stock. The form and manner in which it is served is also of special importance, Nature’s rules must be respected to the utmost detail, and it is in the breeding pen where the advantages Of the dry mash system are apparent. The natural physical condition ensures a health germ and liveable chick. It is as much satisfaction to develop and hatch a healthy germ from vigorous parents as it is a pleasure and a profit to rear a chick full of inherited vitality. There is no doubt physical fitness and freedom from diseases in the breeding stock can best be obtained by the dry mash method of feeding. Needless to say, the dry mash methods can be abused'by using too stimulating ingredients, and I would, therefore, again repeat that albuminoid ratio should not for breeding be raised above 1 in 5. This can best be done by modifying the meat or animal food ration. EXERCISE THE HENS. If you are breeding from stock kept in close confinement, remember that a run out in the open every day is a great advantage, and it is worth while in order to get the birds into better condition for breeding than is possible when they are confined to a small scratching run. Even a run out in a small yard is helpful at such a time, if the fowls can be watched, so that they do not trespass or get into mischief. While the garden is being dug up, let the fowls out to clear up the worms, slugs and insects. SEPARATION OF CHICKENS In rearing chickens over a long, long season, say, from July, to October, it is necessary to make arrangements so that the later broods will not be hindered in their progress by the earlier ones. You cannot prevent big chickens bullying the little ones except by providing separate accommodation, and breeders with limited space for young stock must divide it up as best they can, so that birds of about the same age run together.until all. are sufficiently grown to be. incorporated in one block, '