POULTRY NOTES

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18959, 4 January 1930, Page 28 (Supplement)

POULTRY NOTES

NOTES.

(By

CROW-BLACK.)

The Christchurch Poultr}--, Pigeon and Canary Club will hold its next meeting on Monday evening in the club rooms, Lichfield Street. The next business meeting of the New Zealand Utility Poultry Club will be held in the rooms, Hereford Street, on Tuesday evening. The Christchurch Poultry Club will hold a card evening in its rooms, Lichfield Street, next Saturday. The Lyttelton Fanciers’ Club will hold a meeting in its rooms, London Street, next Saturday evening, to arrange a programme for this year. The United Pigeon Fanciers’ Club’s next meeting will be held on Wednesday evening in the Christchurch Poultry Club s rooms. Business in connection with the programrqe of table shows will be dealt with. The Christchurch Racing Pigeon Society will conduct a race for old birds from Auckland to-day. The distance to be flown is 485 miles. Painting the perches and nest boxes or spraying the houses with a mixture of waste crank case oil and kerosene will help to get rid of red mite. Burn or bury deep all chickens that die. Many times these so-called epidemics of disease in the poultry flocks are nothing but an outbreak resulting from mismanagement of the flocks. The death and loss of’ many' chicks and hens at this time of the year can be traced to the careless disposal of dead birds, or oftentimes birds that die are allowed to lie around. Dogs drag them off, possibly, to spread disease, or the carcases may be eaten by the other chickens. A duck’s crop is very much smaller than a fowl’s, and ducks require feeding more frequently in consequence. The chief value of green foods lies in the supply of saline matter which they contain. ventilation is even more important in a poultry house than in a barn, because a hen requires nearly three times as much air per pound of weight as horses or cows. Care should be taken that in providing fresff air freedom from draughts is maintained. A laying hen is about the only example of a going concern that can sit stilly and yet produce dividends. Where birds have moulted very heavily and suddenly the food should be particularly nourishing, including a good proportion of ground oats, meat meal, w-hilst it is also beneficial to give a little flowers of sulphur twice a week in the mash, the quantity being a teaspoonful to six birds, mixed first with milk> An occasional dose of Parrish’s food may also be given, or a less • expensive tonic is a small’piece of sulphate of iron placed in the drinking water, but the vessel should be of earthenware. Care must be exercised to keep such birds out of the sun where their bodies are so much exposed, and, of course, equally so out ot cold winds.

When a hen drops into moult while her companions are still in full lay, it is advisable to remove her to other quarters. There is no reason to suppose moulting is catching, but it is better for the moulter to be away from the fitter or more active birds, especially as h er early moulting suggests the idea that she is not as vigorous as the rest. When the birds are about the same age and commenced laying about tne same time, those which drop into a moult some weeks before their sisters may be regarded as unsuitable for breeders. Unless there are special circumstances to explain the earlv moult it may be assumed that it is'due to tne birds being deficient in stamina. A little fresh earth occasionally spread over chick yards that have been in constant use, will do the chicks good. Cockerels that are to be retained for stock purposes must undergo rigid criticism. It is claimed that the male bird is three-fourths of the pen, and this should not be forgotten when making: a selection. The value of Black Leaf 40 (a bvproduct of tobacco) for freeing fowls ot all kinds of insect pests is not by any means appreciated by poultrvkeepers as it should be. From 241 bto f D ot this preparation is sufficient to free 1000 of any lice that mav be on them. The material for this number can be effectively applied in about fifteen minutes, and the following is a good method of doing so:—Make a small hole in two opposite corners of a small Jin containing the material, and pass it along the perch, leaving a thin line of the liquid on the perch. Do this at dusk, just before the birds go to roost. Do not dilute the -material with water, or it will not have the desired effect. For the treatment to be really effective, it is important that all birds should go or be placed on the perches, and not allowed to roost in odd corners of the house. If there is much dust on the perches, the liquid is apt to run off and be wasted, and to prevent this it is a good plan to first rub the perches over with a damp cloth. If this is done, the liquid can be more easily applied to the centre of the perch, and the risk of wastage will be reduced to a minimum. This treatment is rapid in its effect, for, if the birds are examined, say, twenty minutes after the perches have been so treated, practically every louse will be dead, and will be found on the top of the feathers. Birds that are in broody coops, single pens, etc., may be freed from vermin by dipping a feather into the liquid and drawing it under both wings, or by putting a small amount between the breast feathers. It goes without saying that where feather pulling is giving trouble, due to the presence of vermin, Black Leaf 40 will prove invaluable. Many instances have come under my notice of feather pulling which had given endless trouble being absolutely cleaned up when the birds were treated for lice with this nicotine preparation.

THE VALUE OF CHARCOAL.

Experiments have proved that charcoal plays an important part in the poultry diet (writes Dr B. F. Ivaupp). Wood charcoal is used for the purpose. There are many different plans and methods for making charcoal, but it may be briefly stated here that wood charcoal is scientifically known as carboligni. However, there is another charcoal which is recognised, and that is animal charcoal. The latter is not used in poultry feeding, and is charred bone, while the former is charred wood. In the making of charcoal, many kinds of wood have been used. In the main we may say that charcoal is from wood charred by piling it in heaps, igniting and covering it with sand and turf to prevent rapid combustion. Charcoal is a black odourless and tasteless product which may be powdered or broken into pieces. The powder does not go into solution in water or in alcohol. It is insoluble. It absorbs the gases of indigestion or dys* pepsia. In some cases of dyspepsia it appears to have further action than that of a mere absorbent, as it is also credited as an absorbent of toxins or poisonous substances generated in the intestinal tract through indigestive or putrefactive processes. It aids in warding off and curing diarrhoea and dysentery, therefore it is a preventive and a corrective. We have found in our poultry disease research laboratory that digestive disorders in the fowl are quite com- . mon. The part that charcoal plays in the feeding programme, then, is to lie in wait for any unnatural fermentation or decomposition and actually play a part in the prevention of the same—it is a digestive correctant. By carrying oxygen, charcoal hastens oxidation processes, and, while not a sufficiently powerful oxidiser to act as a germicide or antiseptic, yet it may favour growth or aerobic (germs that live in the presence of oxygen or air) rather than the anaerobic bacteria (those that live only in the absence of oxygen or air), which is quite an advantage, as the latter particularly produce foul-smell-ing and toxic (poisonous) bodies. If charcoal will prevent the unnatural fermentation in this way, and prevent the formation of toxic substances which may be absorbed into the blood and poison the body, it will serve a good purpose, and this is exactly what it does. We may say that charcoal acts directly to absorb gases and indirectly to prevent the formation of the more undesirable fermentations in the intestinal tract. It was formerly thought that charcoal only acted as an absorbent in the dry state, but it is almost as efficient when wet, according to the later researches on this subject. Charcoal is not absorbed into the body from the intestinal tract, but, after serving its purpose, escapes from the bowel unchanged. The dose for a bird, if given as a digestive corrective to a side bird, would be ten grains by the mouth; but, as poultrymen use it, it is kept in a mash hopper compartment so that the birds may eat it as desired. EGG-LAYING. PAPANUI COMPETITION. At the twenty-fifth egg-laying competion conducted by the New Zealand Utility Poultry Club at Papanui, the leadings birds on December 28 were as follow: TEST 1. J. H. SHAW MEMORIAL CHALLENGE. (For Light and Heavy Breeds). W’kly Weight Tl. to

TEST 6. FLOCK TEAMS CONTEST, i.Light and Heavy Breeds—Six Birds.; Wkly Weight Tl. to total, oz. dr. date

_ total, oz. dr. date. Black Orpingtons-— J. M. Campbell .. 4 8 4 1S9 T. I). Dalziel .... l 1 13 163 White Leghorns— C. A. Stratford Kb. 2 7 13 13 246 IS. J. Ross 4 7 9 220 E. Dunstan .... 6 3 4 4 214 S. G. Batten .... 5 11 0 208 A. M. Espie 3 6 8 204 F\ J. Hillis 5 10 7 195 C. A. Stratford, No. 15 11 7 194 Miss A. Jakins ..6 12 4 193 T. D. Dalziel 3 6 8 192 Millard Bros 5 11 7 190 TEST 2. WHITE LEGHORNS. SINGLE HEN TEST). (Each competitor to enter three birds.) Weekly Grand Total- Tl. to Date 12 3 1 2 3 S. E. Davey .... 5 3 0 201 234 212 J. Liggins. (No. 1) 6 5 6 208 215 206 T. D. Dalziel .. 6 6 5 218 192 214 E Fuchs (No. 2) 4 5 6 211 196 216 )Y- K- Hamilton . 4 5 7 212 224 375 C. Manhire 5 5 6 181 198 214 L. Dunstan , „ „ (Ko. 1) 6 5 4 245 177 169 A. M. Espie _ „ .< N °- 1) 6 6 2 219 163 206 •T. Bobbitt .... 7 2 6 200 3 81 206 Miss J. Williams 2 6 4 204 212 169 T. IV. Betteridge „ (No. 2) 6 5 4 212 200 173 M. C. Craig (No. 2) 6 6 5 218 180 186 TEST 3. Any Other Variety Light Breed (three birds) except White Leghorns. Weekly Grand Total. Tl. to Date. „ 123123 R. Pearce. A. (No. 1) 4 3 0 171 187 145 S. H. Mitchell, A. (No. 1) 6 5 3 168 180 132 TEST 4. Black Orpingtons Only. (Three Birds.) Weekly Grand Total. Tl. to Date 12 3 1 2 3 R. M. Cookson .. 5 6 4 151. 192 189 IT. J. Ball in . . 6 5 2 199 140 172 A. R. Leek to . . 6 d 5 203 133 173 TEST 5. Any Other Variety Heavy Breed, other than Black Orpingtons. (Three Birds.) • Weekly Grand Total. Tl. to Date 12 3 12 3 J. R. Griffin (Light Sussex) 0 0 1 183 3 24 3 96 R. Drysdale (White Rocks) 4 5 5 151 91 148

White Leghorns— Green Bros 30 67 5 1173 M. C. Craig .... 29 66 2 1169 W. E. Ward .... 28 61 7 1119 G. J. Verrall .... 21 44 2 1087 P- Hawes 22 45 6 1069 W. Turner 35 73 8 1062 W. H. West .... 26 56 3 1040 TEST 7. DUCK TEST. (Each competitor to enter three ducks.> Weekly Grand Total. Tl. to Date. 12 3 12 3 White Pekins— J. W. Thomson . 7 7 5 14S 185 14S Indian Runners— G. A. Heath .. 6 6 6 24 9 228 219 J. W. Thomson . 7 7 7 217 245 220 P. R. Cotton .. « 5 5 240 219 222 A. G. Ross 6 2 4 207 225 210