POULTRY-KEEPING.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXIII, 16 March 1926, Page 4

POULTRY-KEEPING.

LECTURE B GOVERNMENT INSTRUCTOR. On Saturday Mr Cussen, the Government Poultry Instructor, held a demonstration on poultry keeping, at tlio invitation of the newly-l'ormed South Canterbury Egg and Poultry Society. There was a large attendance. Mr "Wilson, president of the . South Canterbury Egg and Poultry Society in introducing Mr Cussen; stilted that the Society had arranged the demonstration mainly with the idea of allowing poultry keepers in general to secure some hand information by an expert demonstration, and also as the Society is holding a rsow on July 16 ami 17, fanciers would see what was required under tho utility standards., Pens of different varieties were there for exhibition, and the following attracted a good deal of favourable attention. Black Orpington pullets and cockerels loaned by Mr Wilson ; Buff Orpingtons loaned by Mr E. Bunt; Rhode Island Reds loaned by Messrs Ayres and Leslie and Light Sussex loaned by Mr Gladstone Robinson.

Mr Cussen stated, in opening, that he intended to deal with poultry-keeping in general" and with tho selecting of breeding stock in particular, this being the time to look for the next season’s breeders. He stated that co-operation was absolutely essential, as in these days of high food prices liapazard selling of the eggs was suicidal to tho producer. In Canterbury according to statistics there arc 25,000 householders, and out of this number only 1,000 are organised. It had been proved that efficient organisation had been of material benefit to the producer time and time again, 'The jvoultry industry had for' the past few years been sadly up against it,

mainly duo to the prices secured for the I products being very much lower than the feed co s ts, and naturally many more peop’o had gone out of the industry than had. gone into it. Mr Cussen’s advice to those who thought of starting as poultry fanners without experience and with the idea of making easy money was—“ Don’t.” He recommended all poultry men to start in a small way with a proved strain of birds and gradu-

ally to work up a flock on_ a solid foundation. No matter how small or in how large a way one Went in- for the industry, the strictest attention must bo pnid to every detail. The fowls must bo watched closely aud attended to naturally and scientifically; The first und most important item for the poultryinnn is tho house. In the first c.aso select the* warmest and most sheltered spot of the section for the site. Have the house facing to the north, the floor higher than the surrounding ground, to guard against damp soakage. Allow plenty of litter for scratching and above all keep clean, and draughtproof. Insects are the cause of a big percentage of .mortality in flocks, where preventative measures are not exercised. There are sixty kinds of lice, and parasitical insects which' prey on fowls Practically tho most important are the ordinary fowl lice, of which there are several species, and the red mite. The lice are born in tubes in the hen’s body" and are hatched and live on the dandruff in amongst the feathers. The lice walk over the body and irritate tho fowls, causing loss of sleep and genera] unsettlement. The red mite is a para- . site which finds harbour in the cracks of the perches and crevices in the walls and dropping-boards and come out at night and prey on the birds by sucking ; the blood. A pair of these red mites had been proved to breed 150,000 offspring in 6 weeks, and preventative measures must be adopted at all time 3. The way to fight tho lice menace is;, to

iruluO pioviaiou i'-'i »V U.UOU utvuij. your fowls cun get dust into tneir feathers thereby suffocating the insects. The only way to rid the run of red nnte is by spraying with sheep dip, kerosene or any other insecticide. A good idea is to have the perches hung on wires and never against the wall or any where that will afford a protection to the mites. , . Next to having the flock properly housed feeding is at all times of paramount importance. Some people, have the erroneous idea that laying hens. do not want much food. This is entirely wrong. There is a certain amount of food necessary to sustain the body and feathers of the fowl and all that was left after the body had been satisfied, the overplus, went to make the egg. Therefore the more good food you can give a laying hen the greater profit will accue in the matter of eggs. A laying lien will not take more lood than it cun ultimately use. Only make it work for it. A good hen could be looked on in the same light us a good cow —tho more good food it cats tho greater the profit will bo. Of course, some fowls will not pay, no matter how good the feeding may bo, but a poultryman .1 1 itnt Ivi no nitrili 1 ll'rlc /Vtt 111ß

places. Correct feeding can be summoned up in three words: quality, quantity, regu. lartiy. Flesh, clean, water is essential to maintain healthy conditions. The egg is made up mostly of water and is the most useful of all annual products in the household. Practically no class of cooking can be done without eggs and then they can he used in several different ways as an article of food. Feed naturally and regularity and above all do not make sudden changes. Annual

food is necessary to build up the constitution and promote the egg yield. Wheat meal is certainly the most universally used, and milk when fed properly has excellent results. Green fopd is the natural food of the fowl and should al, ways be on hand.. Carrots contain ex, cellent qualities and are always grown )>y householders and in Mr Cussons idea ranked first as poultryfood. . Lawn cut-

ting is very good as an article of green food, and can be dryed and stored for use in the. winter. Fowls are creatures of habit and it is unwise to alter thoii* routine in any /way.. Grit is a moit necessary ingredient in the menu, Tho use of grit by poultrymen is--.an aid to digestion.

One thing to remember in every flock' is “don’t overcrowd.” Keep just as many as you can satisfactorily handle There was only ono time to attend .to culling—an important, branch of tho industry—awl that was all t-ho time. Start' with the eggs and throw out al! that, aro liiisiuipen and not. uniform. Working on Iho accepted principle of like begets like, it is only natural jo assume, that a badly formed egg will produce a badly lonncd cluck. Lxcludn sentiment at all times. If a chick- '» weakly when hatched, the m<"-t. >;••!i----factory cure is to ; crew its no: - .--. because if von have the interest m ii-i'r (lock at heart ami nurse the wrakiii--in tho hope that it will outgrew ib weakness you will find in nearly every case it has to ho destroyed later, after eating a good quantity of expensive chicle^raiser, besides keeping a. bettor bird but of its job. ' It is better to do the culling al! the time and the (lock will remain mire. In pocking the breeders for file comin<r season, take the bird with 1 tho strong comb. A bird with a weak comb will invariably lav a thin shelled ogg. Next the eye most bo hold and prominent and the face clean and open. Komis arc like human being—-they can have moan faces, and good faces, and each has ile individual expression of chiv-rtor. A bird for the breeding pen should have a broad. weH-shnncd head and a. good strong beak. A fowl with a very line head is prone to cluck and

while this is good in some respect,. a clucker has no use in a utility pen. The next thing fo look for is shape. The mother of the next season’s pullets should have a good deep breast, denov mg the capacity for taking foods. Quite a number of experienced poultrymen go round tho perches at night and feel ! the crops of their hens, taking ns their guide, that if a hen is a good eater slio must necessarily bo a- good layer, and say that the birds with tho fullest crops are the most profitable birds. Good abdominal foundation and a broad back are • the next care. The ovaries are situated in the back and there must be room in the abdomen to effectively deal i with tho production of eggs. The colour of the beak and legs is tho next things to look for. At this time of tho year, after a strenuous laying reason, the beak and legs should be of a washed out white appearance. Some people maintain that Leghorns should have legs and beak of a bright yellow. 'So they do—before they start laying—but the ‘colouring is caused 'by pigmentation or a species of fat, certain qualities of which are drawn to go into the properties contained in the egg and as soon as the hen commences laying the colouring decreases from tho beak tho pigmentation disappears after CO to 00 days laying and from the legs from 80 to 100 days Heavy breeds take from 3 to 4 weeks longer. Therefore the bird which is so nice to look at from a colour point is generally the waster which has not laid enough eggs to pay for its keep. Tight feathering is essential in the breeders. Some men and women are peculiarly, gifted in being able, to discern form at a glance arid can pick out in a ..moment the best layers in a flock and remember them, while to the uninterested all birds are alike. One thing always to bear in mind the utility standard of the breed you arc vunning. , , Mr Cussen, for the benefit of all, then judged the various pons which had been loaned for exhibition and brought to a close what had proved a highly interesting and instructive demonstration. On the motion of Mr Nelson, a vote of thanks was carried with acclamation.