POULTRY NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 714, 18 March 1933, Page 19 (Supplement)

POULTRY NOTES.

(By “ CROW BLACK.”) Notes. The Christchurch Poultry, Pigeon and Canary Club will meet on Monday evening. The principal business will be the consideration of the location for the annual show, also the Finance Committee's report on the stud stock sale to be held at the end of April. Mr C. W. Tritt’s name was omitted from the list of judges for the Christchurch Poultry Club's annual show. He was elected to judge the Rhode Island Reds in the Utility section. The Canterbury Bantam Club’s first annual show, which is being held in the Red Comb Poultry Yards, will conclude this evening. A good entry was received in all classes, and many outstanding birds were benched. The showattracted a great deal of attention from fanciers. The United Pigeon Fanciers’ Club will hold its fourth table show of the season next Wednesday evening, in the Christchurch Poultry Club’s rooms. The schedule is for Magpies all colours, Fantails all colours, and all Pouting breeds. Mr C. P. Bradford will judgte Intending competitors in the New Zealand Utility Poultry Club's next egglaying competition are reminded that entries close next Wednesday evening.A special meeting of the club will be held next Friday evening, to consider •entries and the future of the competiThe Finance Committee of the Christchurch Poultry Club has recommended that the club hold its annual show on the original dates—the first week in June. The site for the show has not yet been decided, but it is hoped to make it known in a few days. In granting the Canterbury Bantam Club the free use of his market for the holding of its young stock show, Mr W. H. West, of the Red Comb Poultry yards, is greatly assisting the fancy. His action is much appreciated by breeders.

The Christchurch Poultry Club’s stud stock sale will be held in Mr G. 11. Bradford’s poultry sale yards on April 29. Arrangements are being made for the collection of donations of poultry, pigeons, canaries, feeds and appliances. The New Zealand Poultry Club’s quarterly review is to hand. Tt containsa great deal of useful information regarding Utility poultry-keeping. The schedule for the club’s _ ntxt egglaying test is also included in this review. Copies may be obtained from the secretary. _ ~ The New Zealand Utility Poultr> Club’s twenty-eighth egg-laying competition will conclude next we'ek, ann preparations are being made for the new test, which commences on Sunday, April 2. providing sufficient entries are received. Intending competitors should forward their entries at once. Competition Pointers. In selecting birds for the egg-laying competitions the following points should be noted:— , _ .. A pullet’s eye should be round, full and bright, with as large a pupil as possible. From this source is derived the quickness of eye which enables the bird to procure a large amount of food which one with a dull, sleepy eye would not see. The eye should project well out from the skull. The skull should be narrow and project well down the neck. The beak should be stout and not too long. The comb and wattles should be fine in texture and feel like silk. The ear lobe should be even in shape and of good texture. The neck should be thin and medium in length. The back should be as long and broad as possible, and wide across the wings. The breast should be well defined and show good crop capacity. The feathers should be as close as possible. The legs should be flat-boned, not too fine, but smoothly scaled. A poor quality bone is round, hard and roughly scaled. The legs should be straight and well spread. When handled the abdomen should be wide, the skin, soft, pliable and elastic —it should not have a tough, hard or leathery feel. The quality of skin is closely related to the skin about the face of a bird. If the skin of the face is coarse it is found to carry throughout, and is a sure sign of lack of quality. The breastbone should be short and straight, and the .end should have a downward tendency rather than upward.

When selecting pullets to compete at egg-laying contests breeders should bear in mind that visitors to these competitions throughout the year are apt to judge the birds they see as representative birds of the flocks from which they have been chosen. Competitors, therefore, should take every care to see that only birds of the best quality are selected. It is unwise to include in a team even one bird which has been sick or ailing during her life, as, although apparently recovered, a twelve months’ severe laying test is sure to find a weak spot, especially in a team test. One ailing bird will handicap the whole team; therefore poultrymen should be careful not to send a bird with any symptoms of contagious disease or even a slight cold. Value of Green Teed. Whilst it has hitherto been universally recognis'ed that green' feed is an exceedingly valuable nutriment in the ration of poultry, states a circular issued by the stock branch of the New South Wales Department of Agriculture, it has not been realised that the absence of green feed in the diet will lead to a condition of ill-health jyhicli has all the of an infectious and contagious disease. That fowls fed on a diet deficient in green food would be stunted in growth, suffer from ** leg weakness,” be poorly feathered and produce few eggs, is to be expected; but work carried out at the Glenfield Veterinary Research Station has confirmed observations previously made there, and in other parts of the world, that a definite disease follows the .continued absence of green food in the diet. This disease may make its appearance from a month to four months after the giving of green food has been discontinued. Chickens under four months of age are rarely affected, not because of any insusceptibility on their part, but because their ditet is usually adequate. The disease is mainly seen in pullets and first-year hens and cockerels. It may, however, also occur in second-year birds. The onset of the disease is gradual. Without showing any marked signs of ill-health, the birds do not put on condition as they should, and then begin to lose condition. At the same timte the egg production slowly decreases. Following this, odd birds will be noticed to show a discharge from the nostrils or a swelling of the structures surrounding one or both eyes. Occasionally,

the bird is heard to make the peculiar characteristic noise of a fowl clearing its throat. Within a few weeks it will be noticed that these symptoms are shown by a largte number of birds, and the owner realises that a definite disease has appeared in his stock. Following the affection of the eyes (which does not respond to treatment) the birds rapidly lose condition and die. The lesions might be described as follows: (1) The ej’es appear swollen, and awatery discharge escapes; (2) the swelling increases in size until the eyelids are closed. If the lids are opened it will be noted that there is an accumu-* lation of white, cheesy matter beneath; (3) death usually occurs within a fortnight of the appearance of these eye lesions. A careful examination of the mouth of the bird shows a very characteristic appearance. At the back of the throat and under the tongue small white ulcerous areas are seen. From these a white, cheesy matter similar to that seen under the eyelids, can be expressed by pressure with the fingers. If the birds are held in a suitable light it will be seen that these ulcerous areas are present also in the gullet, and if a bird is examined after death, they will also be found in the crop. The cleft in the palate on the roof of the mouth shows the presence of a whitish, cheesy material, similar to that already described. The only other noticeable lesion on post-mortem examination is a pecular spteckling- of the kidneys. This disease is attributed to the absence of one of the necessary constituents of foodstuffs called vitamins, in this case vitamin A. A§ vitamin A is present in quantity in greenstuff and in cod liver oil, it is natural to suggest that either greenfeed or cod liver oil will effect a cure. And that is exactly what happens. Except in the case of birds in advanced stages of thte disease, it is possible to stop all further progress of the trouble in four days, to make marked progress towards recovery in seven days, and to have the flock practically normal in one month, by the feeding of green stuff or the administration of cod liver oil. Naturally the time of recovery bears a direct relation to the period during which the birds were fed on a diet deficient in green food, but treatment of the affected eyes is usually of no avail. Almost any green food may be used in safety for poultry, but it is advisable to make sure that the cod liver oil usted is pure and unadulterated. Tt is advisable to purchase pure cod liver oil so that one can be sure the birds are obtaining the necessary vitamin. Hints for Breeders. Dubbing aids breeding operations, and is a safeguard in very cold weather against frostbitten combs. Again, where

flock mating of Leghorns or any single comb light breeds is adopted, the dubbing of the cockerel is a Utility point. By removing their combs and wattles the cockerels running together do not fight so much, and, naturally, they have not combs or wattles to tear, damage, or hang on to. Take every care of your best secondyear and older cocks, and for preference keep them on their own for the moult. The value of the young cockerel depends upon the condition you have him in by mating time: that of the adult cock on the way you get him over the moult ■ and into breeding condition. On his own < in a small cockerel box with run he will come nicely through the moult, and can be specially fed. Being on his own, he will usually eat well. To allow him to run with a flock of fifty hens just because he is out of the way, and because it saves finding the necessary small individual accomodation, is not the ideal. A male in the moult cannot be expected to make a good and complete moult when mated; and a male still moulting when mated cannot be expected to give fertility or robust chicks.