POULTRY FARMING

Taranaki Daily News, 9 November 1935, Page 24 (Supplement)

POULTRY FARMING

LATE CHICKEN REARING. CARE OF GROWING STOCK. (By Geo. H. Ambler). When November comes the average chicken-rearer thinks it is time to stop hatching, partly because he is tired of it and partly because it is getting late and December chickens are said not to do much good. It is true that late broods as a rule do not grow so well. Of course it is out of season and one cannot then expect any stock to do very well, yet when properly fed, even if the weather be hot, they grow quickly and soon get their feathers. Some say it is too late to hatch layers. All leghorns hatched now should be laying by the end of April, arid continue right through the winter. They will need a warm, dry house, and to be kept inside on wet, windy days, even if they are not housed on the intensive system. The main thing in breeding late chickens is to have in reserve one 01 two hitherto unused stock birds (a fresh young male) from which to breed. Perhaps there are a few hens available which escaped much early mating by being used as broodies, or there may be one or two of the older hens that have not been in lay more than a few weeks, or some late pullets of last year that have not been used until recently forbreeding purposes. Such females as these, mated for preference to a vigor-, ous male, are the only ones to breed from for late chickens. GOOD START HALF THE BATTLE. A good start is more than half the battle, and once the November and December chicks are well able to forage for themselves there is not nearly so much likelihood of their going back. With good weather chicks will get a good deal of natural food from now onwards, and the young shoots of grass will help them considerably >in their growth. The poultry-keeper who started last July will now see what the chickens are like and be able to compare with other years, for at the end of October those worth keeping begin to show promise. Early hatched youngsters will by now have reached the age and size when culling can take place. Overcrowding is most harmful for growing stock, and the weeding process must be governed by the space at the disposal of the rearer. It is a waste of time, money and ground space to keep any culls or surplus youngsters. The expert rearer will bet able to tell at a glance which birds will never develop into good adults, so that to him the task of culling or weeding will be simple. Any novice who is doubtful on this important point should call in. more experienced poultrymen to look over his early hatched youngsters. If one is to be successful in rearing pullets to maturity thej> must be given every encouragement to make the best growth. If they are allowed to run with cockerels the latter will get more than their share of food at the expense of the pullets. The rearer must therefore separate the sexes as soon as they can be told, so that the pullets can have sufficient food and ground space and can exercise in comfort.

There will always be surplus cockerels on the farm, and it is wasteful to keep them ori too long. The food bill must be studied in these days, and the sooner the cockerels can be fattened and marketed the better. Any intended eventually for breeding purposes must, of course, be kept on, but the surplus must be marketed at a profit early. As soon as the birds are plump they should be sold-.

If chicken rearing is to be a success the poultry-keeper must apply commonsense methods. It is useless to hatch 100 chickens from 100 eggs if the owner is going to lose 99 of them. The art of chicken-rearing lies in being able to rear to maturity more than in being able to secure higher hatching percentages. Keep the young stock growing all the time. CHANGE THE RUNS. Nothing stimulates growth and ensures health better than frequent changes of run. To the man with unlimited space the providing of fresh runs at regular intervals will be simple, and he will soon reap the benefit of it by seeing his young stock grow by leaps and bounds Wherever possible the growing stock should be given a free range or be put out‘in good-sized runs. Some farmers put all the half-grown stock in the paddocks with a large house for nights, where anything up to 100 per cent, can roost. In many ways this is a good idea. A few thousand can be put on a farm in this way and not cause a great amount of labour, because 10 lots -of 100 can as easily be fed as 100 divided into tens and kept in runs. On the other hand, the latter is the method for growing the stock. On range the birds can find some portion of their food, and they are always on the look-out for any titbit, but while the exercise keeps them fit they never grow the same as if they had plenty of good food without a lot of labour. Exercise is essential for good health, but the birds that forage around work off the effect of the food they find, so that to promote growth they must have plenty of food during the early stages without having to worry or be always on the roam. When kept in flocks of 10 or 20 they can receive more care than if left in flocks of hundreds, where individual birds would be lost. When they are in small flocks the feeder can see at once if a bird is missing or if one is out of sorts, and he can then attend to it. There is nothing better than small flocks if you want size and good healthy stock. Remember that cleanliness is essential in every detail, and care in this direc 7 tion will be well repaid by the condition of the stock. No matter whether they are on range or in the run, the house must be kept clean. If there is a droppings board to the house it should be scraped about twice each week, and the litter should be cleaned out as occasion demands. It is easy to make a set of rules as to when and how the house should be cleaned, ’put no such set is needed to the attendant who will use a little common sense and judgment. Birds on heavy clay ground become more wet than those on sandy soil, and it is of no use saying clayey soil is no good, because if some people keep fowls at all they must be kept on clay. Never overstock wet ground. You cannot hope to be successful on a clay soil unless the chickens are provided with a dry house.