IN THE POULTRY YARD

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19308, 8 October 1932, Page 10

IN THE POULTRY YARD

TURNING POULTRY MANURE TO ACCOUNT. Poultry manure is one of the most valuable manures which caii be applied in the kitchen garden or farm and orchard, but a great deal of it is wasted or misapplied by those who use it. A Mr. Young, in a booklet on the use of poultry manure, gives much useful information on this subject, and is quoted in Home papers as follows: “The excreta of birds differs from that of animals in that they contain the combined liquid (kidney) and solid excreta. The excretion from the kidneys contains its nitrogen in the form of urea, which is easily decomposed and is quicker in action as a manure than the main portion of the solid excreta. When the heat in a heap reaches a certain point the urea becomes transformed into compounds of ammonia. These latter compounds break down and liberate gaseous ammonia, with conse-

quent loss. The same occurs in stables, where, under warm conditions, the the smell of ammonia from the liquid manure is noticeable. “The best means of avoiding loss is to dry the manure as quickly as possible, and this may be done by exposing it in shallow laj’ers to the action of wind and sun. This is a lengthy process, but analysis of a sun-dried sample of manure from a slatted floor house has shown the satisfactory condition of 2.9 per cent, nitrogen. 3 per cent, phos- | phoric acid, and 1.5 per cent, potash, j “That this method cannot be gener- | ally adopted is demonstrated by the j fact that to air-dry the manure produced by a thousand birds would require 14 square yards of drying space per day if the manure were spreat to a depth of approximately lin. to allow of reasonably quick loss of moisture. Under good conditions practically one week’s exposure is necessary, so that 100 square yards c.f space would be required for that number of birds.’’ Mr Young discusses three artificial

methods of drying manure, and one gathers that he favours on grounds of simplicity a plant built on the kiln principle, consisting of an outer case with trays arranged inside. Hot air currents are drawn through the cham- ; ber, and drying is efficiently and quick- ! ly carried out. The chamber is 4ft. ! high by 3ft. 6in. wide by 4ft. 6in. in j length, and the only other necessity is a small stove. | But where only a few hens are kept | and the use of a drying plant not i justified, the manure should be col- | looted twice a week and mixed with ! three or four times its weight of leaf I mould ci* sand, which helps to conserve | the manuria! value of the droppings. The real difficulty about poultry j manure is its marketing. It is not as widely appreciated as its analysis deserves. Possibly if the method of preparation were standardised it would become popular. Market gardeners and flower growers who have used it are always ready to take further supplies, in spite of the heavy transport costs; and we know of a poultry farm-

er in Devon who sends his poultry manure to gardeners for 5/- a cwt, carriage extra. This works out at £5 a ton. and Mr Young in an addendum to his brochure mentions that a price of over £6 per ton is being obtained. The writer also gives a number of excellent formulae for manuring various types of fruit and vegetables. For cabbages, spinach, lettuce, and couliflowers he recommends, for example, eighteen parts dried poultry manure, three parts bone meal, three parts sulphate of potash. For an acre of potatoes he suggests 15cwt. dried poultry manure, 3cwt. superphosphates, 2cwt. sulphate of potash. To prepare liquid manure for mulching tomatoes, etc., the following is proposed:— “The method of making liquid manure is to take one bushel of fresh poultry manure bagged and drop it into a 40gal cask of water. This v/ill give the primary solution. When using, one part of this solution along with one part of water will be found to be the maximum strength. When this

has been used the barrel may be filled up with water and the solution used at full strength.” A reference. Mr Young points out, appears in the Old Testament to the market price of poultry manure: “A fourth part of a cab of doves’ dung was sold for five pieces of silver.” If if was appreciated then, there is no reason why it should not be appreciated now, and the industry is indepted to Mr Yeung for drawing attention in such a practical way to an obvious source of revenue. PRESERVE YOUR PLANT Poultry-houses, runs, coops, etc., are usually made of wood, which requires protection against the weather if it is intended for them to last and be serviceable. Unless wood preservative is used, the wooden appliances soon become saturated with wet or damp, which causes them to rot and rapidly depreciate in use and value. Several good preservatives are on the market—i.e., creosote, colignum, preseroleum, etc.—but perhaps the best and most pleasing is a coat of ordinary oil paint of any colour to suit the fancy of the poultry-keeper. Paint should not be too thick, and should be brushed on in cne direction only, preferably with the grain of the wood, and well spread on. A good coat of paint annually will preserve the woodwork for years, and is well worth doing. It also enhances the value of plant when sold. Wire netting will last much longer if immersed in hot tar before being erected. SUDDEN CHANGES It must always be remembered that laying pullets are very prone to become affected by sudden changes, whether of environment or food, and the partial moult is often traceable to that. To shift pullets once they are in lay from one house to another would almost certainly send early hatched birds into moult about October or November (April or May in New Zealand). To amalgamate two lots of birds will have the same effect by upsetting those in lay. What, too, of a change in feeding? The poultry-keeper should make up his mind just how he is going to feed his laying pullets at maturity, and should keep the growing or maturing birds on that method so that they are accustomed to it. They should be brought up to every ingredient of mash or grain mixture before laying that they are to have after. It is quite simple to check the peculiarities of laying pullets by changing their mash and introducing an ingredient they have not been accustomed to. The mash consumption will quickly drop, and it will be some time before they are really eating it well. In that slowing-up in appetites it is possible for laying condition to be lost, and such can bring about a partial moult.

GENERAL NOTES The fact that there is no satisfactory care for advanced disease in poultry has been frequently been stressed by the Chief Government Poultry Instructor (Mr F. C. Brown). Prevention is the one thing for the poultry-keeper to aim at, and the first essential in this connection is to see that the birds possess the necessary constitution to ward off disease should this unfortunately appear. Possessing birds, bred with the desired vigour, there is really no skill required in maintaining them in a healthy condition. The next essential is cleanliness. and clean quarters and surroundings must go hand in hand with good feeding—a plentiful supply of good nourishing food. Fresh air in the sleeping quarters is also important if disease is to be kept off, but it should be remembered that airy quarters do not imply a draughty building. It is not on the properly managed poultry-plant that disease makes its unwelcome appearance, even where there are hundreds of birds run on an acre of ground. Disease is mostly found where the birds are accommodated in insanitary, draughty buildings, and are kept year after year on stale ground which is never purified by being turned up to the influence of the sun, sown down, and allowed to rest; on such plants, moreover, the birds j arc seldom fed and attended to as they j should be. In all branches of live-stock breed- j ing the maintenance of constitution is recognised as the foundation stone, but with the high-type laying-fowl, upon which there is such an exceptional strain, constitution is of special significance. Constitution will never be maintained in a flock if the young stock bred of a laying strain are subjected to licc-infested quarters, stale runs, and low feeding, or, in other words, are subjected to conditions which may be regarded as inviting disease.