POULTRY NOTES

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18889, 12 October 1929, Page 29 (Supplement)

POULTRY NOTES

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. Novice.—Your chickens are suffering from gapes. A small feather, stripped of all but the tip, dippei in Condy’s Fluid, thrust down the windpipe and twisted round, will rften assist in effecting a cure. The coops and brooder houses should be well disinfected, and the outside runs should be well limed, dug and sown down in grass. NOTES. (By "CROW-BLACK.-* The annual meeting of the New Zealand Rhode Island Red Club will be held in the Christchurch Poultry Club rooms, Lichfield Street, this evening. The Christchurch Poultry, Pigeon and Canary Club will hold a meeting in the rooms, Lichfield Street, on Monday evening. Owing to the Canterbury Bantam Club’s usual meeting falling on Labour night, it has been decided to meet on the following night. The New Zealand Utility Poultry Club’s next educational evening will be held on Tuesday in the club rooms, Hereford Street. The evening will be devoted to questions on phases of the j poultry industry. These meetings are open to the public and the executive would be pleased to see a large attendance. The annual meeting of the South Island Poultry, Pigeon and Canary As sociation will be held in Waimate on Tuesday, November 19. Entries close this evening for the Ellesmere (Leeston) Agricultural and Pastoral Association’s annual show. Entries for all poultry classes can be with Mr R. Pearce. The United Pigeon Fanciers* Club held a meeting in the Christchurch Poultry Club rooms on Wednesday evening, Mr C. Bradford presiding Correspondence was received from the South Island Poultry Association stating that its annual meeting will be held in Waimate on October 19. and inviting remits for the agenda paper. This matter was left over until next meeting. Mr W. B. M’Kenzie (Wellington) wrote accepting the office of vice-president and expressing the hope that fanciers from this island would liberally patronise the North Island show in the coming season. The secretary was instructed to reply pointing out reasons for the poor support that had been received from this part. It was decided to consider the catalogue for the season’s table shows at the next meeting. The council of the South Island Poultry, Pigeon and Canary Association met on Saturday evening, Mr G. E Jeffreys presiding. A motion of sym-

pathy was passed to the relatives of the late Mr J. Currie in their bereav#ment. Correspondence was received from the Dunedin Cage Bird Club notifying that Mr G. Hall had been elected secretary. Messrs Hunter and Relies ton wrote asking for particulars of the dates of the annual meeting. The North Island Poultry Association wrote in reference to the new utility standard. It was decided to call a further conference of local delegates to deal with this matter. The date of the annual meeting of the association was fixed for October 19.

At the meeting of the United Pigeon Fanciers’ Club on Wednesday ever mg Mr T. V. Cook had on exhibition two of his imported Nun pigeons, both cocks, a Black and a Dun. These birds attracted a good deal of attention and were considered by pigeon judges present to be the best of their kind ever seen in Christchurch. The Black is a very outstanding bird, rare type and carriage, and good head. The skull is very thick coming from the shoulder and the bib is very pronounced, coming well down the breast. The Dun is not far behind the Black, but did not show himself the same, and was not in such good feather. These birds have had several wins to their credit before coming from Australia. The Christchurch Homing Pigeon Society flew its second race of the season recently from St Andrews. Fourteen owners were represented, with seventy-six birds. When the birdi were liberated there was a strong north-east wind. The race resulted as follows: Lawrence Bros.’ Berl, 946 yards per minute; E. Magett’s South Express, 938 yards; W. Pollard’s Revel. 932 yards. W. Hobson’s Biack Knight won the nominated bird prize. Mr T. V. Cook has donated a miniature silver shield to the United Pigeon Fanciers’ Club for competition tmong its junior members. The competition will be for juniors who have not won a first prize up to January 1. The United Pigeon Fanciers’ Club has received 112 entries for the Produce Stakes table show. The closing date for entries has been extended for a fortnight. The next world’s poultry congress will be held at the Crystal Palace, London. The United States and Canada are working well with English breeders to have effective representation. It is expected that at least a thousand delegates will go from North America and that at least a thousand exhibits will be from Canada. Interest on the part of Continental countries is no less keen. Substantial areas of space have been booked by many countries for the purpose of staging national exhibits. The German National Committee have forwarded a request for fifteen hundred feet of floor space, and Holland will take a space at least as large. France, Spain, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands are among the other countries that intend to exhibit in this section of the exhibition. Breeders in the United Kingdom are no less keen, and the space will be taxed to the utmost to display entries in poultry, pigeons and rabbits.

A small number of fowls should be kept by families in the suburbs of large cities. The eggs from small flocks may be produced at relatively small cost, because of the possibility of utilising table scraps and kitchen waste which would otherwise be thrown away. A small lot of hens, even as few as six or eight, should produce sufficient eggs for a family of four or five throughout the year, except during the moulting period, which occurs in late autumn and early winter, and by the preservation of surplus eggs laid in the spring and early summer, this period Of scarcity can be provided for. Not only will the eggs from the home flock materially reduce the cost of living, but the superior freshness and quality of the eggs are in themselves well worth the effort expended. Objection is sometimes raised to the keeping of fowls in towns because of the odour which may result, and also because of the noise made by the roosters crowing. Where there are city regulations prohibiting or controlling poultry keeping it is necessary to find out what the provisions are and to conform to them. The Christchurch Premier Pigeon Club will conduct a scia'.ch race to-day from Kaikoura, in connection with the final training toss for the first series of North Island races, which will copimence on Saturday next ? For to-day’s race members will nominate two birds, both of which are to be timed in and the best average velocity to be the winner. Mr S. Cox has donated a special prize in connection with this race. Mr W. Walls has joined up with the club, and although he has not previously raced pigeons he has had an interest in them for sevoial years past, and from his training reports he be prominent in the prize-winners before the season is far advanced. The New Zealand Utility Poultry Club’s egg-la3dng competition is now in its twenty-sixth week. The returns are very satisfactory. In the Shaw Memorial Test, C. A. Stratford’s No. 2 bird is leading with a splendid score of 166, A. M. Espie being next with 155. Four birds in the test laid the possible for the week. The No. 2 Test, for three birds, single penned, has produced some wonderful laying S. E. Davey’s team is leading w r ith a total score of 459, being 32 eggs ahead of the next team, T. D. Dalziel's, with 427. E. Fuch’s team is third with 418. Several changes have taken place in the positions of the teams during the last few weeks. J. M. Campbell’s team laid the possible (21) for the week, and twentythree birds laid sever-s. The highest individual score in this test is M. Wilson’s No. 1 bird with a total of 168. In Test 3 the teams are giving fair returns. Test 4 (Black Orpingtons) shows a great improvement. R. M. Cookson is leading with a total of 400, A. R. Leckie' being next with 366. The flock teams, Test 8, are laying exceptionally well. H. W Beck’s team headed the list for the week with 39. The leader in this test is M. C. Craig, whose total is 798, the next highest being Green Bros., 792, with W. E. Ward third with 789. All the teams in this test are laying well over the required weight. The duck competition has produced some wonderful laying. The three leading teams, G. A. Heath’s (476), F. R. Cotton’s (475) and A. G. Ross’s (475), have laid very consistently. Four teams laid the possible for the week —J. W. Thomson’s White Pekins, J. W. Thomson’s and R- W. Hawke’s Fawn Runners, and Mrs W. Warren's White Runners. The highest score for any single bird in the competition is A. G. Ross’s No. 3 duck, with a total of 175, and the highest for fowls is M. Wilson’s No. 1 White Leghorn, with 168. The highest total for any three birds is G A. Heath’s ducks with 476, and the highest for fowls is S. E. Davey’s White Leghorns, whose score is 459: The ducks have a better score over the fowls, taking the four leading teams in each section. _ The four leading teams of ducks in the three-bird teams have 1.891 and the four leading teams of fowls 1714.

TROUBLES IN THE BROODER. Chicks peeking each other is mostly caused through want of something better to do. Give them pieces of tough meat to keep them running, also ample room for exercise, and they will soon forget any cannibal inclinations. White diarrhoea commences during the first eight or ten days, and is generally caused by chill. This is sometimes due to removing the chicks too soon from the incubator (before they are dry), by placing thorn in a brooder with insufficient heat, or giving them too much liberty in the run. Chicks should not be removed from the incubator before they are thirty-six or forty hours old. Balls of earth on chickens* feet are a trouble found tn brooder chickens wh£n quarters are not kept clean. It is due to the catching of excrement about the toes feet of the chicks, owing to there being an absence of absorptive matter in the brooder to take up the droppings. The remedy is to run the chickens in wet grass. If no grass is available, place a shallow water-tray opposite the entrance of the brooder; by constant welting the balls will soon fall off. Also make the chicks scratch in the litter for their food. Leg weakness in half-grown chicks is caused by over-feeding with animal food; over-heating, insufficient exercise, and is often found in ctficks that have been reared in a glasshouse. All these influences tend to over-force the body, which becomes too heavy for the legs to carry.

The trouble of chicks being gummed up in the vent is caused by chill, overheating, or bad feeding. Crooked breastbone is due to keeping the chicks too long under artificial heat, and also allowing them to roost too early. In-breeding and breeding from delicate stock are also frequent causes.

EGG-LAYING

PAPANUI COMPETITION. At the twenty-fifth egg-laying competition conducted by the New Zealand Utility Poulti’y Club at Papanui, the leading birds on October 5 were as follows:TEST I. J. H. SHAW MEMORIAL. TEST. (Heavy and Light Breeds.) Weekly total, oz dr Tl. Black Orpingtons— J. M. Campbell .... 6 12 5 134 T. D. Dalziel 7 14 11 117 White Leghorns— C. A. Stratford, No. 2 5 9 11 165 A. M. Espie 7 16 1 155 E. J. Ross 7 13 6 149 E. Dunstan 6 14 1 144 T. D. Dalziel 4 8 9 142 S. G. Batton 6 12 12 139 F. R. Cotton 5 10 14 138 Millard Bros 6 13 11 136 TEST 11. WHITE LEGHORNS. (Single hen test). (Each competitor to enter three birds). Weekly Totals total to^iate^ S. E. Davey r.-. .. 6 7 7 135 164 160 T. D. Dalziel 7 5 6 150 127 150 E. Fuchs, No. 2 . . 6 6 7 145 129 144 M. C. Craig, No. 2 6 6 5 150 131 129 Miss J. Williams 6 3 5 144 143 122 J. Liggins, No. 1 6 6 5 131 147 129 C. Manhire ...... 5 5 5 126 137 144 E. Dunstan, No. 1 6 3 6 165 129 110 A. M. Espie, No. 1 7 6 6 145 88 166 W. K. Hamilton 7 5 5 140 153 105 J. Bobbitt 6 6 5 130 130 135 TEST 111. ANY OTHER VARIETY LIGHT BREED. (Three Birds). (Except White Leghorns.) Weekly Grand Total. Total. 12 3 1 2 3 R. Pearce, No. 1 (Anconas) 5 « 4 121 127 100 S. H. Mitchell, No. 1 (Anconas) 6 3 5 104 120 82 TEST IV. (Three Birds.) Black Orpingtons— R. M. Cookson .. 6 6 2 111 143 146 A. R. Leckie 3 4 6 144 114 108 H. J. Ballin 6 6 6 137 94 115 TEST V. ANY OTHER VARIETY HEAVY BREED EXCEPT BLACK ORPINGTONS. (Three Birds.) Weekly Grand Total. Total. 12 3 1 2 3 J. R. Griffin (Light Sussex) 6 0 6 134 91 140 R. Drysdale (White Rocks) 5 7 6 97 27 93 TEST VI. FLOCK TEAMS. Light and Heavy Breeds. (Six birds). Weekly total, oz. dr. -Tl. White Leghorns— M. C. Craig 35 74 12 798 Green Bros 36 80 2 792 W. E. \Yard 30 6 4 1 789 F. Hawes 30 64 0 770 G. J. Verrall 35 70 15 727 J. Liggins 3 2 71 2 693 W. H. West 35 74 14 673 Black Orpingtons— J. Kingsland 34 72 7 659 11. W. Beck 31 63 15 523 TEST VII. DUCK TEST. (Each competitor to enter three ducks.) Weekly Grand , Total. Total. v 12 3 12 3 White Pekins— J. W. Thomson 7 7 7 46 77 46 Indian Runners— G. A. Heath . . 6 6 4 170 156 150 F. R. Cotton 7 4 6 165 148 162 A. G. Ross 7 7 5 132 168 175 11. A. Dawber, No. 2 6 7 6 151 155 159