POULTRY NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20483, 8 December 1934, Page 31 (Supplement)

POULTRY NOTES.

(By “CROW BLACK.’’) The Christchurch Poultry. Pigeon and Canary Club will meet in the Fanciers’ Hall on Monday evening. The card and social evenings, organised by the Christchurch Poultry Club to augment, the funds for its special prize schedule, will be continued this evening. At a recent meeting of the New Zealand Utiljtv Poultry Club the entry fees for next year’s egg-laying competitions at Papanui were reduced considerably. 7’he new- fees are:—No. 1 Test, J. IT. Shaw Memorial Challenge. 12s 6d per bird; No. 2 Test, three-bird teams, single penned (White Leghorns only). £1 7s fid: No. 3 Test for Black Orpingtons or Australorps (three-bird team). £1 7s 6d; No. 4 Test, any other variety, heavy or light breeds other than White Leghorns, Black Orpingtons and Australorps (tliree-bird team). £1 7s fid; No. f» Test, for flock teams of six birds, to be single penned, to be known as tire six-bird test, £2. This is a new test, and should be well supported, as the individual scores of each bird will be kept. No. 6 Test, for flock teams of six birds, to be tested as a flock, £1 ss: No. 7 Test, for three-bird duck teams, single penned, £l. In the hen tests all birds are to average two-ounce eggs throughout the competitions. The club will provide the second and third prize winners with ribbons. The schedule for the 1935 competitions will be issued much earlier than usual. The next meeting of the Woolston branch of the New Zealand Poultry producers’ Federation will be held on Tuesday. December 18. Important business will be dealt with. The Christchurch Poultry Club is receiving many requests for its sealed leg; hands. Fanciers realise the importance of ringing their birds for both show and pedigree purposes, and a good num-

her of utility breeders have purchased rings for marking their pedigree stock. Hints ror Breeders. Excessive quantities of greenstuff in the moist mash may endanger tlve health of fowl® it is desired to benefit. This is a factor often overlooked by poultry farmers, for, although great prominence is given to the need for green food, few warnings are issued regarding tire danger of giving an oversupply, states “ The Farmer and Settler." Admittedly a certain quantity of greens is necessary to ensure proper health. It should be realised, however, that the green food is bulky, and if the mash contains an over-supply, the crop will be distended with food that does not contain sufficient flesh and 'eggformihg material*?. The food given to fowls for egg-production should be concentrated. Grains, animal food and various kinds of seeds should form the basis of tlm poultry ration, and green food should be added as a corrective. About one-fourth or one-fifth in weight of greenstuff is sufficient to add to the moist mash. Some green fodders contain a larger amount of protein—the most valuable element—than others. Lucerne contains the greatest percentage. Eggs more than any other food rank with milk, vegetables and fruits in adding to breadstuffs the substances wl|ich are needed to furnish a highly efficient dietary.Turkeys have big appetites once they pass the first few weeks. After they have been weaned from the egg diet, they should have a small allowance of the best fish meal or the best meat meal; 5 per cent of the total ration will be sufficient, if no milk Is available. This allowance is for birds intended for market, and would he unnecessary if Plenty of milk could be fed. and if the birds have free range. Nothing Is better for them than milk. A box of bran left within reach of the turkeys from the‘first will be relished. Though many resort to breaking the neck, it is not really a satisfactory way of killing ducks, tor it does not suilieiemly drain the body of blood to obtain that whiteness of flesh so necessary in them. The proper method of killing is by lirsi stunning the bird and then hanging head downwards. Bleed by sticking a sharp penknife either at tne back ot the head or through the roof of the mouth. In the former case it is as well to remove just a pinch of feathers in order to allow the blood to flow, and the beak should be held firmly in one hand till bleeding ceases. Either method is easily learned and very simple in operation with a little practice. The bird should be plucked completely, with the exception of the head and neck. For marketing dead, the entrails should not be removed, but for private customers they should be, as the flesh keeps better in hot weather, and the process is appreciated by those who have to prepare them for the table. The more trouble you can devote to dressing and preparing the better, especially for a private trade. The less the cook or housewife has to do the better she likes it, and the more likely in consequence will orders be repeated. Moreover, with buyers of most articles of food, ducks included, appearances go a 'long way.— •• Poultry World.”

Size and comb development have a close relationship with egg production, states Dr A. W. Greenwood, of the Edinburgh Institute of Animal Genetica. He associates long sequences of production without moulting with the state of comb development. Dr Greenwood expressed the belief that birds producing an egg a day over a twelve month period are within the realm of possibility, and states that it should be possible to produce birds in which the period of profitable production is increased. He says that attempts should be made to develop a strain of birds in which the natural periods of non-production are absent. In administering medicine to a fowl there is' often a stoppage of the breath and partial suffocation owing to the liquid passing into the air passage. The correct method will avoid all risk. Hold the bird in the usual manner and turn it gently on itsback. Bring the head around under the arm to the front, so that it can be held comfortably between the arm and the body, and supported by the left knee. This leaves both hands free. Open the beak with the left hand and pour the medicine on to the roof of the mouth and gullet. This will ensure its direct passage to the crop. Disease is carried by dust, dirt and vermin. To prevent and check disease these three things must be removed. Dirt and dust can easily be got rid of. Vermin has always been a problem owing to its great rapidity in breeding. The egg is a perishable food product like milk and meat. No farmer would think of storing fresh-killed meat without chiling it thoroughly and then putting it through a preserving process. The dairyman knows that milk contains animal heat: for that reason, a cooling tank is an adjunct of every good dairyman's equipment. But. principally, because the egg has a tight shell around it, and one cannot see the nature of its Interior. many poultrymen handle eggs as though they were so manv bits of stone. Dike milk and meat, the eeg spoils quickly if It is stored at a temperature above 6R degrees Fahrenheit. A point to remember in connection with fighting amongst cockerels is that this most often occurs when the food is strictly rationed. Any bird will fight for food. Feed liberally, especiallv the wet mash part of the ration, and see that there is ample feeding space. No stock cockerels on range or in good grass runs have ever yet been brought to an overfat condition through anv»ie supplies of food in general use for breeding stock.