POULTRY NOTES

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 639, 17 December 1932, Page 28 (Supplement)

POULTRY NOTES

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. “ Inquirer.”—l would recommend you to strengthen your mash feeding with the addition of fish meal, also keep the birds well supplied with green feed such as lettuce, silver beet or cabbage, and onions, finely chopped, either fed in the hopper or mixed with the mash. “ Hobby.”—The New Zealand Utility Poultry Club has decided not to hold its young bird show this year. The first shows of the new season will be held in May. It will be necessary for you to moult your old birds early to get them in good feather for these early shows. It is preferable tp have the females in laying condition when exhibiting them. Most of the poultry championships are for old or young birds, cocks, hens, cockerels or pullets. There are championships for most varieties in open and utility sections. " Bantam.”—The standard weights for bantams will be decided early in the New Year. The committee appointed to go into this matter has yet to meet. Yes, it is a very necessary measure, as birds very much overweight have been winning during the past show season. Bantams overweight in future may he disqualified. I would advise you to join the Canterbury Bantam Club. Mr C. H. Bull, Garlands Road, Opawa, is the secretary. “Utility.”—You should make Inquiries from Mr S. F. Marshal], secretary of the New Zealand Utility Poultry Club, who will give you all particulars of the egg-laying contests. It is desirable that you join the Utility Club and attend the educational lectures organised for the benefit of members. Notes. (By “CROW BLACK.”) The Christchurch Poultry, Pigeon and Canary Club will hold its fortnightly meeting on Monday evening. Mr W. H. Turvey, the well-known Oamaru bantam fancier, was in town during the week, attending the wool sales. The finance committee of the Christchurch Poultry Club will hold a meeting on Thursday evening to settle up the competitions held during the year. All tickets must be in the secretary's hands on Monday evening, December 19. Mr H. W. Boy ns, secretary of the Christchurch Poultry Club, is making satisfactory progress towards recovery from his recent accident. The Christchurch Poultry Club is still receiving applications for settings of eggs. Settings have been supplied to fanciers in various parts of the South Island. The Canterbury Bantam Club held its second table show last Monday evening. The schedule was for Black Rosecombs, Sebrights and Modern Game. There was a fair entry and competition was keen. Messrs A. W. M’Nickell and G. King acted as judges and made the following awards:—Rosecombs: Cocks, J. D. Gobbe 1; hens, J. D Gobbe 1, H. Bull 2 and 3. Sebrights: Hens, J. D. Gobbe 1, B. Fraser 2. Modern Game: Cooks, F. Stephens 1,2 and 3; hens, E. H. Oldridge 1, F. Stephens 2 and 3. The Canterbury Bantam Club is having a good demand for rings. Many

outside fanciers have made applications for them with the intention of takingpart in the club's first produce stakes show. This fixture is creating a lot of interest in the bantam fancy, and promises to be a great success. Mr J. Neighbours, a well-known utility White Leghorn specialist, of Waimangaroa, reports having bred some outstanding young stock this season, and hopes to make a display at the coming Christchurch Poultry Club’s show. The weather on the Coast has not been too good for young stock during the past few weeks, but fanciers make light of their troubles. Mr J. M’Farlane, of Hector, near Westport), whose hobby is Black Pekin bantams and White Wyandottes, has some promising youngsters and will be represented on the show bench with good teams. Early in the season he had the misfortune to be visited by some weasels, which carried off some of the early stock. He was successful in catching some of the pests. The Rhode Island Red fancy is well represented by Mr J. Hutt, of Birchfield, Westport, and this season he has had splendid breeding results. Mr Hutt is also a breeder of Old English Game, and will be benching good teams at the shows. Poultry Sales. The poultry markets have been well supplied during the past few weeks. All four yards are holding sales twice a week. It is surprising where all the fowls come from week after week, as all the yards have been well supplied for some considerable time. Prices are generally very poor, but young cockerels which have been carefully reared command good prices. The very low prices for eggs and the high cost of feed is causing a lot of back-yard poultrykeepers to dispose of their stock. Complaints are occasionally made that some yolks of eggs turn a green colour when cooked. This is due to too much green feed, such as rape and “ Shepherd’s Purse.” being fed to the fowls. Shepherd’s Purse is a weed very plentiful in the gardens at present, and is a cause of green yolks. Though the yolks do not look as nice as the yellow yolks, there is no difference in their food value. In a valuable paper given by Dr Scott Robertson at the Harper Adams Conference, England, it was stated that the )sole mineral addition to a ration was common salt, or sodium chloride. His reference also to the value of bran, owing to high phosphoric content, would indicate that fowls fed good quality bran and Soz of salt for 1001 b of mash do not require any additional mineral mixture to keep them in good condition. j n “ Eggs ” it is considered inadvisable to exceed lOoz of salt to 1001 b of mash. The depth of colour in an egg yolk is purely a. matter of feeding. It is possible to control the intensity by the addition of feed containing yellow pigment or xanthophyll- Experiments conducted by the Oregon Agricultural College show that birds having an unlimited supply of green feed produce dark-coloured yolks. At the Georgia

Station it was found that the inclusion of an ounce and two-thirds of pepper from pimentoes to the mash for 100 hens, in addition to green grass, produced a rich golden-yellow yolk. Professor H. L. Kempster, of Missouri •College, states that foods rich in xanthophyll, or yellow colouring matter, 1 are also rich in vitamin A, and that one can rest assured that highly pigmented eggs possess an abundance of vitamin A. Moulting Season. The moulting season will soon be here, and provision should be made for special feeding of the choice show birds. Sunflowers should have been sown for their use. Plants can be put in now, and will be ready for the fowls in plenty of time if given proper care and attention. Poultry are very partial to the seed, and a handful to about fifteen to twenty birds three times a week during the moult will prove very beneficial. During the very hot weather the young stock are inclined to go off their feed. Sometimes a change will induce them to eat more freely. They must be kept feeding often, so as not to fall off in condition. The mash need not be altered very much. A new flavour might be added which will encourage consumption. Keep the birds well supplied with green feed, which helps to keep them healthy. Don’t forget that the moult makes a great strain on the hen’s system. Many make the mistake of giving less feed. Moulting is in reality the time when only the best feed should be given, and plenty of it. It is necessary that they should be kept in the best possible health.