POULTRY NOTES

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19120, 12 July 1930, Page 30 (Supplement)

POULTRY NOTES

ANSWEES TO CORRESPONDENTS. Minorca—The weights for the Utility Minorca’s in the New Zealand Utility Poultry Standard are, cocks 71b, cockerels 61b, hens 61b, pullets 51b. Since the standard was issued the weights have been increased by half a pound. Exhibitor—The scale of points for judging eggs are as follows:—Size of air-cell, small, almost nominal 40 points; weight of eggs (2c-z standard) 20 points: texture of shell (smooth and thick throughout) 15 points; colour of yolk (deep orange) 5 points; consistency of albumen (not watery) 5 points; uniformity 5 points; shape 5 points; clean shells (natural bloom desired) 5 points; total 100 points. Serious defects, blood spots and stains, cloudy yolks, developed germs, adhesion of yolk to shells, malformations. NOTES. i (By " CROW BLACK ”) The Christchurch Poultry, Pigeon and Canary Club will hold a meeting in its rooms Lichfield Street on Monday evening. The Auckland Poultry "Bulletin” has been taken over by the "New Zealand Smallholder” and in the future will be published by them. The Lyttelton Panders Club’s annual show will be held next Friday and Saturday. Exhibitors are reminded to forward their exhibits on Thursday. Entries for the Greymouth Poultry Club's annual show will close next Saturday July 19. Arrangements will be made to take entries at the Lyttelton show. Schedules will be available at the Christchurch Poultry Club rooms on Monday evening. Further particulars can be obtained frc-m 11. Boynes, Secretary Christchurch Poultry Club. The following championships will be competed for at the Greymouth Poultry Club's fixture on August 1 and 2:— Utility White Leghorn, Utility Silver Wyandottes, Modern Game Bantam and Black Rosecomb Bantam. The following were the winners of the championships competed for at the Rangiora Poultry Club’s show last week:—White Plymouth Rock (open class) F. Loffhagen, Rangiora; Utility Black Orpington Male, H. F. Roderick, Lyttelton; Persian Cat, Smoke, Blue or Black, over six months, Mrs C. Collett, Christchurch. The winner of the Wilson Memorial Cup was C. R. Hill with a Black Leghorn Pullet. The next educational meeting to be conducted by the New Zealand Utility Poultry Club will take place on Tuesday evening in the club rooms Hereford Street. The speaker for the evening wil be Mr J. Liggins, whose subject will -be "Incubation.” The club invites all poultry keepers and anyone interested to be present. The Gore Poultry Club will hold its annual show on July 25 and 26. The championships allotted to this show are as follows:—Black Orpington (open class). Silver Wyandotte (open Class); Utility Duck, any variety; Nun or Jacobin Pigeon. Tumbler Pigeon, Clean Legged Long Faced other than a self, Buff Norwich Canary, Clean Ticked or Variegated, Non Colour Fed. The newly formed Reef ton Poultry Club’s first annual shew will be held next Friday and Saturday. Intending exhibitors are reminded to rail their exhibits on Thursday morning. Fowls can be kept without green feed for many months, without noticeable effect on laying, but sooner or later they will suffer from shortage. Because a hen with a wry tail or other deformaty lays about 'three hundred eggs, the laying does not merit her being bred from. Don’t set hens having body lice c*r scaly legs without first attending to them. A broody hen must be taken off the nest if she will not come off the eggs voluntarily except during the first and last two days of the hatch. It is surprising that the most dangerous spurs carried by some male birds are found in the breeding pens, whether cocks or cockerels. Utility males of fine bone and quality have a much sharper set than the coarser boned males from lower grade dams. To remove spurs from males does not merely help the birds to walk better, but protects the hens from being seriously injured or knocked out of lay and condition in the height of the breeding season. It is interesting to note that Egypt Is one "of the countries that will be represented at the World’s Poultry Congress. The Egyptian delegates who see the very latest incubators, large and small, English and American, will have the satisfaction of knowing that their country is, so far as we know, the originator, or one of the originators, of incubating practice. The Egyptians and the Chinese may be said t.o divide the honours between them, but there is reason to believe that, on account of its more favourable climatic conditions, Egypt was in truth the pioneer. The "egg ovens,” which are the precursors of the incubator, used to turn out as many as 100,000 chickens per month from February to April inclusive, and the Egyptian’s method was' 1 his* own. The eggs were bought by oven owners outright, and the newly hatched chickens were sold, when a day old, at about four times the price of the egg. The egg evens of Egypt were made of sun-dried bricks and clay heated with a fuel of straw and manure, the eggs being put down on a matting covered with bran and turne.d twice a day. The profession of an incubator was hereditary in Egypt, and was associated with initiatory rights and the study of methods that were never revealed outside the limited circle of the operators themselves.

WAIMATE SHOW. The recent Waimate Poultry, Pigeon and Canary Club’s Show was one of the most successful held by this club. The entries in the poultry sections showed an increase on those of last year. The quality of the majority of the exhibits was first class, particularly the Utility White Leghorns, in the cocks, hens and cockerels, the placed birds being hard to separate. Open. Section. In the open section some very fine Indian Game were benched. These birds were of good type, the male birds being the best in colour. Hamburghs were few and the quality fair. The winning cock was the best in the class. Black Leghorns made a. good show. In the hen class the exhibits were of splendid type and leg colour. There were, only two entries for the pullet class, but they were of splendid quality, the winner gaining the championshix?. White Leghorns made a good display, the winning cock and the placed hens being splendid specimens. The cockerels shown were not matured and would show to better advantage at later shows. Brown Leghorns was a good entry,-and competition was very keen. The winning hen and cockerel were outstanding. Black Alinorcas showed a great improvement on previous shows. The winning cock was a good one and was shown in splendid condition. White Wyandottes were a good class, the quality being the best the writer has 'seen this season- The winning cock was outstanding. Light Sussex were a small entry of quality fair. Opingtons Black were unsatisfactory, only the winning cock and hen being open class exhibits. The other birds in this section were wrongly classed. Buff Orpingtons were a good section, and many outstanding- birds were benched, particularly the winning cockerel and pullet. Several birds in this section were badly shown and spoilt their chance of being further up in the awards. In Bantams there were sniaii entries, except in the Sebright sections. In the other varieties the quality was fair. The Sebright Championship at-, tracted a good response from breeders and the quality of the exhibits benched was first-class. The winning hen and pullet were fine specimens, the pullet gaming the championship. Utility Section. White Leghorns were a splendid section, very few points dividing the four placed birds. These remarks also apply to the hens and cockerels. In the pullet class the winner was outstanding. Brown Leghorns were a fine section, with good entries in all classes. The winning cockerel was a good one. Black Mmorcas were a good entry, and the quality was fair. Rhode Island Reds bad a small entry, the quality being moderate. Black Orpingtons were a good entry, numbers and quality being a great improvement on the last few years' shQws. The winning cock was a very fine specimen. Wyandottes (Silver) were a small entry, but the quality was firstclass. The championship was awarded to the winning cockerel, which was shown in splendid condition. Barred Plymouth Rocks were a great attraction to the section. The numbers were few, but some very fine exhibits were benched, particularly in male birds. Langshans were a small entry, with one or two fair birds. Sussex were it poor entry, but of good quality. Duck Section. The duck section were a feature of the show and attracted a good deal of attention. There were large classes in fawn and white drakes, fawn and white ducks, and white drakes and ducks, and some very outstanding birds were benched, the special going to a splendid White drake. The balance of the section I were made up of White Pekins and Jlus-

PIGEON FLYING. To the Editor. Dear Sir,-—I think Waikari as a breaking point is off the line of flight, being too to the west, and is also too close to Christchurch, thus putting the lofts in the centre of the city at a disadvantage and favouring the lofts situated on the east and west, and more so the eastern section. It is argued by many fanciers, particularly the eastern flyers, that Waikari is used to conteract the east winds, and to give them an extra allowance, so as to have an equal chance of success. Why should this be? Using our present breaking point really amounts to giving the eastern section 2000 yards allowance, a good advantage when the wind is westerly. I ask those fanciers down east how they would like to allow 2000 yards to a westerly loft where a strong easterly is blowing. I do not agree entirely with the fanciers who advocate the' Mercator system of measurement unless the east coast route is abandoned and all racing is done on the west coast up to AtickJand. In using this route Johnsonville will have to be substituted for Kaitoki, which is off the line of flight, being too far to the east. Mr Steventon in his letter last Saturday, tells of pigeons flying direct across the sea from Jersey. Now this is quite a different matter from pigeons flying from the East Cape or Napier to Christchurch. Jersey is only a small island, and the birds from this point have to take on the water jump or stay away from home. In the East Cape flight the birds can avoid the large expanse of water by making a deviation along the coast, and this they do. At odd times many birds have been reported caught at different places along the coast-line, proving that the birds hug the coast and do not fly in a direct air line. Now one cannot arrive at correct velocity if the time taken by the pigeon is not divded into the approximate distance the pigeon has travelled. I am sure Mercator measurements for this coast would mean a greatly reduced mileage. This would mean a slower velocity per minute, thus aiding the over-fly lofts that already have a decided advantage. In using the West Coast it is possible to race from different points right up to Auckland, and to have all race points on quite a good line with Christchurch, without shortening the flying distance of any races. This, in my opinion, would solve the question of over-fly, and put all on an equal footing, and if all grievances could be settled by adopting these race points, using Mercator measeurements, I am certain pigeon-flying would boom again. I am, etc., C. M. WALDEN. To the Editor. Dear Sir, —Your correspondent, H. Steventon, has transposed the order of my previous letters. The statement in my second letter (not the first, as stated by him), that there was no gratuity given or handicap imposed, referred to a breaking point on the line °f flight, and had no connection with Waikari. I am quite aware that pigeons fly from Jersey and also from Lerwick and the Faroes to England, but the conditions are quite different from those obtaining here. They have either to cross the intervening sea or remain at the liberation point. There is no other way home. Our pigeons are specially trained to fly down the coast, and they do so. Surely Mr Steventon knows that a loft at West Spreydon has everything to gain and nothing to lose by the adoption of air line. The result would be a good* position, made much better at the expense of the eastern and northern lofts. I am sorry that he can see no possible chance of the clubs pooling resources, but it is only trivalities which stand in the way, and not the question of measurements. —I am, etc, WEST SPREYDON.

EGG-LAYING. PAPANUI COMPETITION. At the twenty-sixth egg-laying: competitions conducted by the New Zealand Utility Poultry Club at Papanui, the leading birds on July 5 were as follows: TEST I. J. H. Shaw Memorial Challenge. For light and heavy birds, single penned.

Wkly. W’ght. Tl. to Tl. oz dr date. Heavy Breeds— J. Kingsland (Blk. O.) 2 3 4 CO T. D. Dalziel H. J. Ball in (Blk. O.) 5 10 6 37 White Leghorns— Mrs F. J. HilliS C 12 3 74 Tracy King .... 6 14 3 61) Srjj.’SS&i" . . n 12 7 68 :: t, I? U i? SI . 5 11 6 06 White Logliorif sTn.J'lie Hen Test. Each competitor to enter three birds, single penned. Weekly Total to R. Heazlewood, 12 3 1 2 3 T. D. Dalziel .1 Green Bros., No. 1 5 4 6 68 75 78 560 SI 75 60 t |= ro ".': ! 5 6 5 67 73 73 5 4 7 72 60 77 5 5 5 62 62 76 J. C. Wilson 5 6 2 74 53 71 5 5 6 6 8 53 75 1 S g 65 Si ll 5 5 5 61 62 72 TEST 3. Black Orpingtons. single penned. Total. 3, date/ 1 2 3 1 3 B. Cot ter ell ! ! T. D. Dalziel .. 2 4 1 53 64 46 7 s 1 73 36 49 Any Variety Lighter Heavy Breed than Weekly Total to Total. date. ,T. R. Griffin (L.S.) Mrs C J. Williams, (L.S.) 605 73 48 72 7 6 6 38 64 76 C. M’Kenzie, (B.L.) P. A. Cornish, (L.S.) 5 4 5 48 61 63 3 6 4 65 33 55 TEST 5. Flock Teams Contest. Ligjht and heavy Wkly. W’ght. Tl. to " w! < ’e!' Ward”'’. -. 34 70 6 427 1111 1 l 1 ! 1 Verrall Bros. .. 22 45 7 354 TEST C. Each competitor single o three ducks, Weekly Total to Total. date. White Pekins— H. A. Dawber . . Indian Runners— H. A. Da wber . . G. A. Heath Mrs F. C. Johnson, (W.R.) ? ? ? « SJ Si 8 7 7 75 b*S 71 Khaki Campbells a. IT. Bradford F. Ashworth 7 7 4 01 01. 72 0 S 6 40 86 74