POULTRY NOTES

Taranaki Daily News, 6 August 1932, Page 10 (Supplement)

POULTRY NOTES

THE ART OF BREEDING. LEARNING BY INSTRUCTION. (By G. Ambler.) A well-known breeder of a popular variety in a recent personal letter expresses his appreciation of the writer’s methods of discussing' matters relating to the breeding of standard poultry, but adds, “It has always been a question in my mind, however, whether people could be taught breeding. It seems to pie that the real breeder js Lorn, and if the faculty is not in him he will never get it.” It is unquestionably true that to attain the host results in breeding one must have certain qualities. It is none the less true that, no matter how large his endowment of these, qualities, there are many things relating to breeding that have to be learned by instruction or by experience before his natural talents can accomplish much. It may be that there have been breeders somewhere. sometime in the past, who accomplished remarkable results through their own perception of the laws of breeding, but I have not been able to find that there were. Wherever we can learn the facts it appears that the .breeder who accomplishes most is the one who is able to learn most of what others know and to apply it in his own breeding.

A KNOWLEDGE OF METHODS. The conditions of acquirement of a knowledge of breeding do not really differ from those of' acquiring skill in feeding, or in preparing fowls for exhibition. In these, things, too, certain natural aptitude makes it much easier for one person to acquire skill than for another, but in all “practice only makes perfect,” and practice is much more effective when continually directed with a knowledge of the methods and Ideas of others seeking to obtain the same results. Knowledge of breeding and skill in breeding come more slowly than in the other things because the process covers a much longer period, and the relations of cause and effect are less conspicuous. In breeding to high standards of perfection so many details have to be considered that in most cases it takes several years for one to become familiar with all the points one has to think of when making a mating, and the greater part of a year to learn what any mating he makes will produce — that is, unless the mating is absolutely a failure. The other processes, too, call for much attention to detail, but a method of feeding can be tried out L-t a few weeks at most, and many fitting processes almost immediately make or mar a specimen, while the most protracted continue only a few weeks.

CAPACITY PLUS TRAINING. Iu my mind the most conclusive argument against the idea that natural capacity in any line is of much value without training, study and assiduous practice is the fact that the greatest accomplishments in all lines are made by those who work hardest and most judiciously to gain their ends. In the breeding of standard poultry continuous success has been in every case the result of severe and sustained effort. I have known many people who had enough of the appreciation of quality in poultry and of ability to analyse individual specimens, and of the faculty of seeing in their mind’s eye the probable results of matings, to have made good breeders; yet never got beyond the novice stage as far as results are concerned, because they were equally averse to the “drudgery” of all the details of every mating, and indifferent to what they could learn from others of the art of breeding. On the other hand, I have known many persons who have gained a creditable eminence in the poultry world, though they had little of the natural qualifications of a breeder, simply by trying to learn the methods of the best breeders and to follow them in practice. HATCHING AND REARING DUCKS. The prices -realised for ducklings during the early spring months are extremely high, and there are few branches of poultry-keeping more profitable when operations are conducted ox com-mon-sense and business-like lines. The birds' grow quickly,' and are easy to fear; the overturn -of capital is rapid, as the ducklings are soon turned into money; only a small amount of space is necessary, -and excellent -prices are procurable for good specimens. The period of hatching for duck eggs ■ls 28 days, though the exact time depends to some extent upon th : age of the eggs; the fresher they are when ‘‘put down” the sooner do they hatch. If they are placed under the hen or in the incubator within 24 hours of being laid the ducklings will make their appearance about the 26th day, whereas, on the other hand, if the eggs are a week to 10 days old they may not hatch until the 30th day. If hens are available they should be used for hatching in' preference to an incubator, because I think that they are rather more satisfactory for this purpose. It must not be supposed that machines will not hatch ducklings well, but hens generally bring out a slightly 'larger percentage of strong ducklings. If an incubator is employed it should be run at 102 degrees in the case of the hot-air kind, and 103 degrees in that of the hot water type. It is a good plan occasionally to damp the eggs with a wet cloth immediately before the eggdrawer is replaced in the one ease, or before the hen goes back after feeding in the other. Duck eggs require an abundance of moisture, without which the inner and outer membranes (the two thin skins adhering to the shells) become thick and tough, causing the youngsters great difficulty in piercing, especially as their beaks are blunt and quite soft.

LITTLE BROODING REQUIRED. Ducklings require very little brooding, being exceedingly hardy birds, and the hen or the lamp may be dispensed with at the end of 10 days to a fortnight. At the end of this time the best plan is to place them in flocks of about 20 to 25, housed in a large, roomy shed. When the ducklings are destined for market the less exercise they receive the better, and thus from the very first they should be closely confined. Moreover, they should have free access to water, save perhaps the day previous to killing, when a. swim cleanses the feathers, and makes plucking more easy. For the first fortnight the ducklings should be fed four times a day, and after this period three times is sufficient. The meals should be given at regular intervals—the first about 7.30

in the morning, the second about midday, and the third about 5.0 or 5.30 p.m. The food should be given in troughs, and remain before the birds about 20 minutes, when it should be removed, and the birds allowed no moreuntil the next time of feeding. Ducklings must also have a plentiful supply of fresh water to drink, but this should only be given to them after meals. The birds should be allowed to eat-as much as they will, and when fully-, satisfied may then be given the (water..