IN THE POULTRY YARD

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19379, 31 December 1932, Page 11

IN THE POULTRY YARD

THE VALUE OF CHARCOAL Very few small poultry-keepers appreciate the value of charcoal in cleansing the fowl’s system and keeping away disease. Many birds which appear out of condition owing to digestive troubles or other complaints can be brightened lap and restored to health by having free access to a hopper of prepared charcoal, but, as with grit, it should not be mixed with the food, forcing the birds to eat more than they require. Prepared charcoal is sold by most dealers in poultry foods. If the birds are provided with a dust-bath of ashes it will be noticed that they will readily pick out small particles of charcoal or wood ash while dusting themselves. Green sticks make the best charcoal, and in preparing it at home the best method is to enclose a few at a time in an old tin box and embed it in the middle of the kitchen fire overnight. By the time the fire is raked out in the morning the charcoal will be found ready for use. The charcoal should be supplied in a hopper in the same way as grit and shell.

THE PERFECT GRIT As every practical poultrykeeper knows grit is absolutely essential for poultry. Without it they cannot digest their food, because they have no teeth by means of which they can masticate it. They swallow all their food as fast as it is given to them, and it enters, first of all, the crop. Here it is softened and passed on to the gizzard to be ground up; and how is the gizzard to perform its duties if It is not supplied with tools, so to speak? A large flock of poultry soon picks up all the sharp particles from the surface of the ground, and they then need to be supplied with it. First of all, poultry need sharp grit, and flint is the best, for it is both sharp and hard, and will grind up the food in the gizzard, but as well as hard flint it is good to have some soft grit that will mingle with the flint, and make a better grinding mill. Limestone is very good for this purpose, and other kinds of grit are equally good. The grit should not be all one size, but should consist of various sizes, as this is much more natural. A perfect grit, then, should consist, first and foremost, of hard, sharp grit, together with softer grit, not all of one size. It should be of a good shape, with plenty of comers and not flat and thin.

CAUSE AND CURE OF FAVUS Favus, or white comb, is not a common poultry disease, but it is an extremely virulent one and highly cantagious. In common with many other complaints, says a writer in an exchange, this disease owes its origin to insanitary surroundings, and is, therefore, more likely to break out among birds kept in confined spaces. The first signs of favus are small, irregular spots, usually appearing first upon the comb and later upon the wattles. As these spots grow they become covered with dull yellow crusts, which thicken as the patches spread. If the disease remains unchecked it next attacks the neck. There the feathers become dry and brittle. Finally they fall out, disclosing the patches of this crust-like fungus on the naked skin. At this stage it usually ends fatally. An attacked fowl should be isolated immediately it displays the symptoms, and be given a mild aperient. The comb and wattles should be thoroughly washed with carbolic soap and water, earbolised vaseline being afterwards applied to the affected parts. In the initial stages of the disease such treatment, if given about twice a day, will usually effect a cure; failing which a dressing composed of a turmeric (one part by weight) mixed with one part of coconut oil will have the desired effect. During treatment the food should be of a nutritious character, and a supply of greens must always be within the fowl's reach.

METHODS OF TREATMENT Scaly legs. What an unsightly complaint, and yet how easily cured if taken in time, but serious if neglected. One hardly ever enters a small poultry yard without seeing signs of this disease. The trouble is so well known that it is needless to describe it. The disease is caused by a parasite that works under the scales of the legs and

toes, which goes on increasingly till the whole shanks, feet, and hocks are covered.

It is highly contagious; a sitting hen with the complaint will spread it among all her chickens. Directly it is observed tackle it at once, because, like every other trouble, it is much easier to cure if taken in hand in the early stages. If it is only a suggestion of scale, and the scales of the legs are not displaced in any way, then a good scrub with soap and water and a dressing with sheep dip or kerosene will be all that is required. If the scale has got a firm grip this treatment will have to be repeated several times, care being exercised when scrubbing not to break away any of the scales of the leg, making it bleed, because if this is done the shank will never have the nice even appearance it originally possessed.

If it is a question of treating one or two birds the legs can be bandaged after applying thickly a germicidal ointment; in this method the scaly substance becomes softened, and a good scrubbing will remove most of it after a few days’ bandaging. When the scaly substance has all been removed it must not be expected that the shank will look as if nothing had ever happened to it. Except in very mild cases there is sure to be a roughness due to loss and displacement of some of the scales, and it takes months for a really badly affected shank before it looks like its old self.

WORK THE NEW FLOCK No matter how carefully the birds are reared, most pullet flocks will have some worms present when placed in the laying houses. Hence it is always a good practice to worm the new layers before they are started on their heavy grind of egg production. Ridding them of worms increases their vitality and resistance to disease and materially betters their ability to produce. There are a number of very efficient worm capsules obtainable. One is administered to each bird through the mouth; the drug it contains kills the worms, and they are voided with the droppings.

BEE CHORISTERS. In all Christian countries it is believed that animals are given the power of human speech at midnight on Christmas Eve. Universal, too, is the belief that oxen kneel in their stalls in adoration of the Babe of Bethelehem, who was bom in a stall. In parts of rural England children go out to hear the sheep call to each other' across the fields: “Bethlehem! Bethlehem!” In the south it is believed that if you steal out at midnight on Christmas Eve, and put your ear to the beehives, the bees can be heard singing the “Gloria in Excelsis.”

Christmas candles which, in some country villages, are still lighted when Christmas Oay dawns and kept going until midnight, are a survival of the monster Yule candle which in preReformation times was once lighted in every house to commemorate the coming of the “Light of the World.”

The Christmas tree candles hold the same symbolism. It was the gift of those by tallow-chandlers to their customers at Christmas that started the custom of tradesmen giving presents. Then, the origin of the Christmas pantomime was the “mumming” or acting of plays in country houses. The “mummers,” dressed according to character and masked, went from house to house, and generally played a version of St. George and the dragon. Christmas waits are a very old institution. Originally the word “wait” meant a musician—a player on a wind instrument. Waits were once always attached to the Royal Court, sounded the watch every night, and, in winter, paraded the streets to prevent lawlessness.

The waits, as players of Christmas music from house to house, date from Elizabethan times.

In the seventeenth century the mince-pies were guarded all night on Christmas Eve in case they were stolen.

GOOSBERRY SAUCE. In some parts of the West of England gooseberry sauce is always served with roast lamb. Ilb. of gooseberries, loz. of moist sugar, two tablespoonsful of water. Top and tail the gooseberries and put them in a small saucepan with cold water. Simmer until they are quite soft. Stir in the sugar and when it has dissolved rub the mixture through a hair sieve. Re-heat ad serve in a tureen.

CHAMPION CRACtfER. The biggest Christmas cracker record is held by one which was made for a rich north country manufacturer. Its height was 30ft., and it was built round a pole 18in. in diameter. It could not be “pulled,” of course, but it was filled with gifts. A spiral staircase round it enabled “Father Christmas” to reach the gifts. The costliest cracker costs £4OO. That sum was paid by a millionaire for a cracker made entirely of gold, beautifully modelled in the form of a whaetsheaf. Its length was only 3in. In the centre cavity, covered by a hinged door, was a pearl ring. The cracker was a present from the millionaire to his wife.

The expression “Setting the Thames on fire,” according to a correspondent of the Morning Post, has nothing whatever to do with the River Thames. In older days when brewing was carried on in many a home—the practice is not yet extinct—a kind of sieve known, at least in the North of Enel and, as a temse was used. It was a commonly heard reproach to a slow shaker of the sieve to say: "Crane, my lad, you’ll never set the temse on fire.” The correspondent adds that as a boy he heard his mother say this many a time