Amongst the Poultry

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17188, 3 November 1923, Page 6 (Supplement)

Amongst the Poultry

NOTES BY

“GAMECOCK."

The next meetings of the feathered clubs v.-ill take place as follows: South Island Poultry Association— November 3. Lyttelton Fanciers’ Club- November New Zealand Utility Poultry Club— November 6. Rangiora Poultry Club —November 6. Christchurch Canary Club—November 7. Christchurch Poultrv. Pigeon and Canary Club—November 12. Canterbury Flying Pigeon Club—November 13. New Zealand Bantam Club—November 26. The Christchurch Poultry. Pigeon and Canary Club has accepted a dial lengo from the New Zealand Utility Poultry Club to play a card match at the club rooms on Saturday evening. November 17. Mr \\ . B. M’Kenzie, of Wellington, has informed the secretary of the Christchurch Poultry Club that he has received a handsome silver cup from Lord Daryngton. who was. PostmasterGeneral of England for some years. The donor wishes the cup to be competed for at one of the leading shows in New Zealand by fancy pigeon breeders. Mr M’Kenzie has asked the Christchurch Club to make provison for tho trophy on its next year’s schedule. In accepting the gift the club thanked Mr M’Kenzie and passed a very hearty 1 vote of thanks to Lord Daryngton. The South Island Poultry Association's art union prizes were distributed as follows: —First to Waimangaroa. second to Christchurch, third to Dunedin, fourth to Granitv. fifth to Kaitangata sixth to Christchurch, seventh to Dunedin and eighth to Rangiora. _Mr C. Graham, of Portarlington, Now South Wales; lias intimated his intention of sending a team of Black Orpingtons to the next egg-laying com petition at Papanui. The Schedule Committee of the Utility Poultry Club has recommended that classes bo included in the competition schedule for all breeds of poultry. This is a move in the right direction, as hitherto only a limited number of breeds have been catered for. There is no doubt that the many breeds of fowl ■which have not yet received the attention of the utility specialist are susceptible to more or less improvement in egg production. One of the oldest breeders of Anoonas, Mr A. W. M’Nickel, has some decidedly promising young stock which he hopes will worthily represent him during the coming season. Mr John Studholme, who represented the New Zealand interests at the World’s Poultry Congress, held at Tho Hague in 1921, has forwarded the local clubs a copy of volume 2 of the transactions at the Congress, which contains much interesting matter and is finelv illustrated. Mr H. M. South, who has done much to improve the fancy pigeons locally by frequent importations from the lead ing breeders of Great Britain, has dis posed of his recently imported Pigmy Pouters which were bred by Mr J Leighton s of Scotland. They included a sister to a Crystal Palace winner, and have been acquired b}- Mr Ben Johnson, who three years ago purchase I a pen of tho same breed from Mr South. These also were imported, and were lost while returning from a Wellington show. Fanciers will wish Mr Johnson better fortune with his recent purchase. The Old English Game and Flying Pigeon breeder, Mr R. Simpson, of the Postal Department, has been transferred to Dunedin. The Canterbury Flying Pigeon Club will decide two races to-day from Kaitoke, a distance of 220 miles, an oldbird race and one for yearlings. The flocks for each will be dispatched separately. I understand that a. poultry club has recently been formed at Hokitika, and it was proposed to hold a show in con junction with the exhibition which opens next week. At this period of tho year the adult birds are by no means in their best show condition, while the young birds are not sufli ciently forward, so consequently the proposal has been allowed to drop. However, when the first show of the new club is held its members may rest assured of strong support from the Can terbury breeders, who can expect, to derive no small amount of benefit from tho sale of birds on the golden coast. The Hokitika shows of over a quarter of a century ago saw some fine all round displays, not of the magnitude of the Christchurch show, still good. The popular breed there at that time was Old English Game, and besides the leading varieties one -would see Whites, Blacks, Blues, Hennies and Muffs. Muffs in fowls means birds with tufts of feathers on each side of the face. The muff is attached to the beard in Houdans, Faverollos. Polands, etc. In Old English Game tho muff differs in formation from other breeds. Jn pigeons muff means the foot feathers, and when the foot and leg ore sparsely feathered it is called grouse muffed. The Canterbury Co-operative Poultry Producers, Ltd., report that the egg market is hardening and a general rise in both egg and table birds is anticipated. News is daily expected from Mr J. B. Merrett concerning the ship ment of eggs which he has taken to th-> London market on behalf of tho Can terbury Company. Last Tuesday Mr Alf Walker celebrated his eighty-first birthday. When we meet X hope to celebrate the occasion with Mr Walker, in a popular way in which something Scotch plays a part. Mr Walker came from Tasmania in 1875 and from then up till now he has taken an active part in. the fancy. No further back than last show season he did some judging. The Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Show, which, takes place next week, is on© if not the. best of its kind in New- Zealand. The show will lack one thing and that is a displajof poultry, which is usual at other shows of the kind in all parts of the world.

The Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Society’s Show at one time offered classes for both poultry and I pigeons. How it came about that I the classes were discontinued I forget | at the moment, but I think it was | the fault cf fanciers, who did not give liberal support. However, th© Agricultural and Pastoral people have ’ made overtures to th© Christchurch Poultry Club, which should do its j best to assist. The other day a backyarder was complaining to me about the price of wheat. This is a common grouse, but it need not be so with the man who keeps u. few fowls. The cottager who only requires eggs for his own table will find that half a dozen well bred cliooks fed on the house scraps mixed with bran and sharps, together with i he. green food in the garden, will supply all th© eggs he or she requires. Mention of green food reminds uu thal.it is ja.-xoistake.-ta thinkytha L-any- J.

green stuff is sufficient. It .should ho fresh and clean. Sour thistles, j dandelions, and other weeds are good, ; hut not when plucked for some days ■ or when grown by a side channel or dirty ditch, or when covered with dirt, j which very often i.s the rase. Green feed also is much nicer when plucked in til© cool of the morning or evening. T.f your cabbage is from a shop the outer leaves, which the fowls get, are both stale, wnd dirty. Boiled green stuff is useful in the wet mash. Fresh lawn mowings are hard to beat. Last Saturday T called on Mr 11. Lawrence. Opawa Road South, and had a look at his table pigeons. Besides two pairs of Carneause and a pair of White Kings which he imported recently from Australia.. Mt Lawrence has a few White Altas and Mon da ins. These are the breeds which produce squabs, both large and juicy, and when better known they will be kept in greater numbers. Two other fanciers who I am informed have table pigeons are Messrs A. Smith and C. Bradford. Both have a long experience in fancy pigeons and poultry generally and aro sure to be successful squab raisers. There are many breeds of table pigeons and those mentioned are the best, "though not so beautiful as some. Between four and five weeks old a well nourished squab should weigh from 16 to 20 ounces, and there are records of over 30 ounces. R U ti£s produce a bigger squab than the breeds named, but Hunts are not so prolific.

In New South Wales there were over 300 table pigeons at one show, and in Victoria the breeding of squabs is largely indulged in. But it it* in America that- squab raising is extensively undertaken. One writer mentions a ranch where 100.000 breeders are kept.

POULTRY ON THE FARM.

Poultry writers never seem to tire oj holding up the poor farmer for his neglect or poultry. Of course they also proceed to impress the tillers of tho soil how they should keep poultry and the benefit monetary and otherwise they (the farmers) would derive from a flock of fowls. It is quite true that the farmer has conditions much superior to the cottager for poultry raising, but he has also other and more profitable things to claim his attention. Anyhow' the farmer is ad vised periodically by poultry scribes the world over to devote more attenttion to the raising of poultry. But the farmer is bard to “ding.” This is a Scotch word that, fits exactly. Nevertheless the farmer continues to flourish.

Perhaps greater nonsense was never written than the advice to farmers t© put fowls on his paddocks in portable houses, so that they might manure the land and oat up the seeds of weeds, and devour all insect pests. There is something to be said in the matter of destroying insect pests, and in the manuring, but with respect to the seeds of weeds the fowls would have to be on the land for ever before a clearance was made- However, we will give the seeds in, and turn to the time it would taKe for, say, ten portable houses to cover a. fifty-acre paddock- Likewise, how many eggs would one have to get to pay me man who collects them, and what of the interest on the cost of the ten houses? Roaming round a fifty-acre or a ten-acre paddock shifting houses, collecting eggs and feeding - and watering is too slow for successful poultry culture. And if the hens are Jet out they will lay in the fences and the collecting would be slower still. The farmer who keeps poultry Will find it more profitable to keep his 100 or 300 fowls near at hand. The latter number would be as many as the girls could look after without getting tired, and the cost of an ordinary house would be much less than the" portable houses one often sees illustrated in poultry journals. There are many farmers who are also fanciers, and who know how to run things at a profit. Where poultry are allowed to roam grass paddocks they are apt to spoil’the feed for bigger stock. Horses, cattle and sheep do not care for grass that has been run over by poultry, especially ducks and geese. Land for waterfowl should bo the marshy ground, while the green feed is not used for other stock and where the fowls will find more insect life than on dryer and more profitable farming land. But it must be understood that no matter where waterfowl pasture there must be dry places for them to roost on. Strange as it may seem, both ducks and geese do much better where the sleeping ground is dry.

FOULTRY MANURE.

Garden work is now in full swingand those who keep fowls may ut*/ poultry manure with advantage Poultry manure is stronger than that of any other 'farm animals, with the exception of pigeons, and hen manure is stronger than that- of ducKS, geese or turkeys. Of course the actual analysis depends much on how the birds arcfed. The droppings from pigeons and j the ordinary hen are doubtless stronger because of their more concentrated and nitrogenous rationPoultry manure should be kept under cover and dry until it is required for use, though, if to be used right away, the moist may be put in the groundTo leave poultry manure in the open means deterioration of its essential qualities. The rain and air will cause fermentation and set free ammonia and other volatile, substances. The same thing happens if lime is mixed with the manure. The use of lime in the poultry house is not good for the manure. My own method of using poultry manure is to place it round the plant (without touching it), and allow the rains and waterings to wash it down to tho roots. It is a mistake to dig : in manure of any kind. A spadeful , deep with most vegetables because the manure will be beyond the roots. With I trees and shrubs the case may be different. Should I want liquid manure I soak a quart of dried droppings in a kerosene tin of water. If one has soot- to mix with it that is an advantage, but I prefer to sprinkle the soot round the plant. I used s don’t like soot

BREED BRIEFS

The writer thinks readers of the j “ Star ” will bo interested in a brief description of the many breeds of poultry. I therefore propose dealing with i them in alphabetical order. ANCON AS. The Ancona is purely a variety of j tho Leghorn family. It was known both in Britain and America some ; years before the Leghorn was intro- 1 duced and named. Probably The importer of the breed brought it from ’ Ancona, a seaport on the-Adriatic. 1

Tli© Ancona possesses all the charac- ' teirstics of other Italian breeds, and it only differs from th© Leghorn in plumage, which is beetle green with white tippings. There are records which show that the breed was in ex istence in the sixteenth century, and it appears to have been held in high, esteem in Italy. The Ancona hens aro non-sitters and layers of large white eggs. Anconas won the Crystal Palace test in England, and in a Canadian test they were 2.3, 4. o, 6. 8 and 8. In the Missouri competition, 1914-15 they laid 300 eggs for every 1001 b of food consumed, tho next best being 268 eggs for 1001 b of food, by White Leghorns. In Australia. and New Zealand the breed has not been tested much. Latest files report the breed j I running fifth in the test now on at- \ ! Gatton College, Queensland. Fifth ! place in this test is worthy of note j because out of the many breeds of [ poultry that have competed in Ansj tralia and New Zealand, I can only , recall four other breeds fifth or better. There is only one type- of An- | cona, and there is no need to double i mate to get show birds of both sexes. las i.s the case with many varieties, j The standard weights are 61b to 71b for males, aufl 51b to 61b for females. ANDALUSIANS Ihe name of this breed indicates that it hails from Spain, while its colour and the colour of a big percentage of chickens shows that it is of black and white ancestry. Probably the breed was produced originalb’ from chance matings of the Black and White Minorcas. Iho Andalusian, ► which has been known in England for at least a century, is more gamey in appearance than other Spanish races. This may be due to cross with blue game or to selection by breeders. The exhibition Andalusian is called the Blue Andalusian, to distinguish it from the many white and black splashes which are so common among chickens of the breed, but the colour is not a self blue, but a blue-laced. The ground colour should be silverblue ar.-d the lacing black. Andalusian hens aro non-sitters and lay a very large white egg. They have seldom appeared in laying tests. The average of sixty liens in one test was 158 and the weight of eggs 27J ounces per dozen. The standard weights for cocks are 71b to Sib, hens 51b to 61b. The breed is much leas now than years ago. A SEELS. The Aseel is the royal lighting fowl of India- The cocks should weigh Gib and the hen 51b. The flesh is hard and the feathers short and wiry. There is no need to dub the Aseel (like the English Game) or cut off its wattles, for the Aseel comb is pea shaped and small and of wattles there are none, and the ear lobes aro. also small. This shows that the art of breeding feathered athletes in India is of a very high order. Aseel liens are quiet and fine sitters, but poor layers of smallish eggs, which vary in colour between cream and brown. The principal colours are black, grey. rod. black spangle, red spangle, white, vellow, etc. Both sexes are fierce fighters and t|ie ( type is what is known as the Oriental type of Game. There are few' A see Is in New Zealand. ASIATICS This is a general term for all breeds of Asiatic origin. The term is often applied to w'yandottes. Plymouth Rocks.' Indian Game. Rhode Island Reds and others, which is wrong. These breeds are a mixture of Asiatic and European blood. The Asiatics include Aseels. Brahmas. Cochins, Javs. Langshans. Malays. Siikies. fcj-uitans and Yokohama*, and in waterfowl, Chinese Geese, Indian Runner and Pekin ducks, some ornamental waterfowl .and a few breeds of Bantams. Excepting the ducks, the Asiatics are fine sitters and nearly all lay a dark brown shelled egg. and most of them are feathered on their legs. AYLESBURY" DUCKS. The origin of the Aylesbury duck is unknown. Probably some white spots from the wild Mallard was the foundation of the breed. ‘For long it lias been the favourite table duck in England and is cultivated in the Vale of Aylesbury, which gives the breed its name. The plumage should be spotlessly white arid the bill should be the colour of lady’s finger nail, a colour hard to get apd -different to thatof any other breed. In shape the Aylesbury resembles several breeds, but no white variety. The eggs of the Aylesbury duck vary in colour. Some are green, others a cream colour and other again a pearlv white. The ducks are sitters and do not rank as great la vers. The standard weights aro drake 10’b, duck 91b. The ducklings mature quickly and the flesh is first class. Aylesbury drakes put to Runner -ducks produce good sized ducklings and of course the Runners provide plenty of eggs. This cross is better than the Runner drake and the big duck, which would not provide so many eggs. Next week T shall -deal with the- B. breeds, ar.d include Bantams in the list.

EGG-LAYING COMPETITIONS

PAPANUI. Returns showing the leading birds ir each of the various tests, for the twenty ninth week ending October 27 LIGHT BREED. SINGLE HEN CHAMPIONSHIP.

HEAVY BREED SINGLE HEN CHAMpioxsmr.

LIGHT BREED SINGLES. (Competitors to enter three pure-bred pullets.>

HEAVY BREED SINGLES (Competitors to enter three pure-bred pullets).

SINGLE DUCK CONTEST.

SINGLE DUCK CHAMPIONSHIP.

FLOCK TEAMS CONTEST (Six birds.)

Weicht. Total No. Etrs:3. cz dW. Newall . . .0 12 0 .'69 S. L. Beer . . « 12 *2 168 G. 11. Mi toll ell .5 9 3 162 P. W. Jihacklock . .6 113 151 S. C. Ooodlet . .5 8 11 146 Mrs M'Kaughton .5 11 0 146

•T. P. Drew it i . .6 .'2 9 178 I- A. Wadham . ,5 8 9 16.1 R. M. Cookson . .5 10 6 '07 J. Dyness . .1 0 7 103

11. W. Coombes, No. 2 G 11 9 172 C. J. Norton, No. 2 C. 11 -1 172 •T. L-yness. No. 3 . o 10 4 1GS W. J. Richards, No. 2 5 9 31 167 J. P. Firth. Mo. 1.7 12 7 166 W. Ledgerwood, No. 2 7 is l 164 W. Barrell. No. *2 .6 12 S 369 J. H. Duffield. No. 2.6 12 3 159 Hay aud Congaulton. No. 2 6 11 1 15S J. W. Thomson. No. 2 6 M 1 15S Galder Bros., No. 3 5 S 14 157 F. Ellis, No. 2 . 7 13 9 157 F Ellis. No. 3 . 6 12 2 157

V7. Rodgers. No. 2.6 11 15 159 F. H. Iiovell. No. . 3 6 0 135 J. P. Drewitt, No. 2.6 11 14 130 M. Hodge i n. No. 3.4 7 12 124, J. Gunn. No. 3 - 5 10 10 1 %s \V H. Sprosen. No. 2 5 9 14 119

(Each competitor to enter three docks.) R. W. Hawke. No. ‘2 7 1? 9 199 T. Bond, No. > 2-± 14, IdS J. C. Miwsrrave, No. ;j ii 12 6 1S5 1\. W. Hawke. No. 3 7 2 Teatu. H. \Y Hawke. T Bond. No. 1 No. 3 8 It ]er E. J. Ritchie, * No. 3 6 li 0 266

L. A. Wadham .3 fi 10 SL S. G. Batten . . 1 2 2 63

J. Lignins . . .36 72 2 860 M. C. Craig . . 34 66 3 800 J. C. . 26 54 8 734 H. HarrLs . .31 61 12 7 ‘23 H. Wuhams . - 31 62 7 721 T. H. Gardiner - 34 66 9 723 H. Harrison „ . 28 59 11 721 W. E. Ward . . 30 63 11 720