POULTRY NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20541, 16 February 1935, Page 19

POULTRY NOTES.

(By “ CROW BLACK.”) The Christchurch Poultry. Pigeon and Canary Club will meet in the Fanciers’ Hall on Monday evening. The schedule committee’s report will be aeait with, also the recommendations of the special cat and rabbit committees. The question of holding a young bird show will also come up for consideration. The United Pigeon Fanciers’ Club held its first young bird table show for this season in the Fanciers’ Hall on Wednesday evening. The classes were for juniors only ,and there was a small entry. The judge, Mr C. Gallop, made the following awards:—Any other variety Tumbler—Cloughmore Lofts (Whitesides) 1. Any other variety Fancy Pigeon—Cloughmore Lofts, Owl 1, Jacobin 2. The New Zealand Cat Club will hold its first kitten show of the season in tlie Fanciers’ Hall on March 1. Classes for cookery and needlework are also provided. • Mrs G. Radford will judge the kitten and cookery sections and the needlework section will be judged by Mr S. M. Dimond. Entries close on February 23. Mr L. Wilshire, the well-known racing pigeon fancier, started to breed budgerigars a few years ago. lie has had splendid results, and this season has bred a cinnamon-winged, apple green budgerigar. These birds made their appearance in England the season before last. One was exhibited at the Crystal Palace show last year-—a cinnamonwinged cobalt hen. The bird was catalogued at £6O, and was claimed a.t that price. The card and social evenings conducted by the Christchurch Poultry Club in aid of its special prize fund will be continued in the Fanciers’ Hall this evening. A combined meeting of the members of all specialist clubs will be held in the Fanciers’ Hall on Monday evening to discuss the question of holding a young bird show at the end of March. Members of the United Pigeon Fanciers’ Club are making great efforts to increase the value of the special prize list for the club’s annual show. Members are donating pairs of first-class birds to the club, and at the next meeting a splendid pair of self white Tumblers donated by Mr J. Low will be auctioned. The Woolston branch of the New Zealand Poultry Producers’ Federation held a utility poultry show In conjunction with the Woolston School fete last week. The show was a great success, there being a good entry in all sections. F. Ashworth secured the ticket for the best bird in the show with a splendid White Leghorn cockerel. The egg section attracted a large entry in both colours, the eggs being of good size and quality. This show was the first of its kind to be held under the auspices of the federation, and it should be the forerunner, of larger shows in years to come. The New Zealand Utility Poultry Club tendered a farewell social to Mr F. C. Brown, chief poultry instructor, last Monday. The large attendance incluled many of the older members of the club. A presentation was made to Mr Brown, who is retiring from the Department of Agriculture at an early date. The fancy and utility clubs will tender a combined farewell social to Mr Brown in the near future.

Cod liver oil is a valuable source of organic iodine, and green feed grown In the coastal districts usually contains sufficient. However, when working inland it may he necessary to supplv a small quantity of iodine artificiallv. In this case it is most convenient to use potassium iodide—not more than three grains to the gallon of drinking water, or half an ounce to one hundred gallons, if the water is supplied from a tank. Potassium iodide must be given in a non-metallio container. The use of iodine as a food accessory must not be confused with the giving of medicinal doses of iodine, and the rule is, never give iodine in chemical form if it is possble to include an iodineconveying food in the ration, such as cod liver oil or cod-oil, fish meal, or green feed grown with an iodine containing fertiliser, such as ground seaweed or fish fertiliser—(“Poultry World ”).

Many residents in the suburban areas keep a few fowls in the back yard in order to supply fresh eggs for the table. Many of them run sufficient birds to supply, not only themselves, but many of their neighbours. Then there are a few keen men who breed high-class stock in their back yards for exhibition purposes and make a good living from a few good birds. In the majority of cases, however, the suburban backyarder is not dependent upbn his birds for a livelihood, and only looks after them in his spare time. As a rule the capital invested ’>y the backyarder in stocking his pens is a small item in the general expenses. If a little more attention were given to the class of birds stocked, backyard poultry-keeping would show greater profits. Anyone who has a fondness for poultry and has a suitable yard in which to build pens, would do well to consider the advisability of keeping poultry for profit. Starting off with good stock, it should not be difficult to make a profitable business of it. Never at any time have the prospects of the backyarder been so good as they are to-day. He is able to purchase well-balanced foods, and the birds bred for egg production at reasonable prices. Added to this there are facilities for obtaining information and advice on the many problems which beset the beginner.

The backyarder must necessarily adopt the intensive • or semi-intensive system, and much of his success will depend upon the design, construction and size of the sheds erected. The number of birds to be kept is governed by the amount of space available, but on an area of a few square yards it is possible to house a comparatively large flock. Seven species of lice attack domestic poultry. They are all “ biting lice,” and feed upon the feathers or the scales of the skin. None of them suck blood, like the “ sucking lice ” found on four-footed animals. What is known as the “ sucking louse ” of the domestic fowl is really one of the mites, which is not an insect, and in no way related to the louse tribe. The commonest parasite is the so-called “ body louse,” which takes it popular name from its habit of remaining on the skin rather than on the feathers. As a general rule its favourite spots are where the feathers are not very thick, such as under the wings or below the vent, but it may be found at times on practically every part of the body. This louse is a pale yellow colour and very active, and can be seen running about on the skin when the feathers are separated. It Is the most injurious poultry parasite known, with the possible exception of the red mite, as infested birds are kept in a constant state of irritation and unrest, and their health is seriously affected. In heavy infestations a marked reddening of the skin is noticeable, and not infrequently large scabs are formed. These lice breed very rapidly. The eggs hatch in about a week, and the adult stage is reached about a fortnight after emergence from the egg: hence fowls that are not properly looked after by their owners are soon swarming with parasites. The eggs are laid on the feathers, generally on the lowest barbs of the quill, and as the egg mass is added to as long as oviposition lasts, it sometimes reaches large dimensions. Sometimes the louse defeats its own objective by laying so many eggs on a single feather that the latter drops off through the weight of the egg-mass, and when this happens the eggs perish as the heat of the fowl's body is needed to hatch them. For this reason when masses of eggs are found on fallen feathers they may be regarded by the poultry owners as innocuous.