POULTRY NOTES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXI, Issue 18785, 19 May 1923, Page 3

POULTRY NOTES

INCREASING THE WINTER „ EGG YIELD. "Winter time comes lound again. The pullets and hens are started on another year’s business. One need glance but a second at the market reports to realize that the cold days have brought with them a season of good prices. The poultry keeper finds in the winter months that time of the rear when his eggs are worth real money. Winter eggs have always been the main object of the poultryman, a sort of motto as it were, and this year is no exception. The forthcoming winter, demands just as many ! fresh eggs as has any past winter, if not more. .Every pullet that can be induced to produce a goodly number of eggs din ing the next two or three i months, will undoubtedly go along way towards paying her board lor the whole year, each ami every egg laid during this period will bo worth from two to three times the value of eggs laid during the Hush summer season, lienee the importance of securing eggs at this period. Ordinarily, hens c.o not produce large numbers of eggs during the cold, wet days of winter; that, is getting away from Nature, as she I stimuliites egg production in the spring i season—of warmer days; the season ' when she forces egg production for thej primary purpose of reproducing the 1 species. But man wants more than enough eggs to reproduce the Hock, ho wants a lot more; he wants eggs to | sell for profit. However, such a icward must come after careful managing and intelligent handling of the fowls. Winter eggs are quite possible: that is if the birds have been well bred and properly reared. For the present let us suppose that tile laying houses are filled with pullets and hens from good stock, and are birds of good, strong, vigorous health at the opening of the season. CON ST J T L T IO N ESSE N TIA L. "Without strong robust health no flock of pullets will be afe*. to give any thing approaching a satisfactory winter egg production, on vhich so much depends; laying birds depend a grc.it deal on their natural health and strength to help then-, to manufacture from the raw materials the very desirable finished product, eggs. As the birds go into winter quarters, make every effort to surround them with such conditions as will tend to | keep them in the very pink of condition. Keep tht hens confined during the cold months: hens vith cold feet don’t lay as many eggs. Hens running out in the yards during winter days lose j time, and consume enough feed to re- i suit in high egg production. Feeding! and general care can be better cou-i trolled when the layers are closely con-! fined to the houses. The litter covering the floors of the laying houses | should be deep, dry, and clean, feeding scratch grain in deep litter is lhe

method whereby a greater amount of exercise induced and consequent better health built up. Wheat or oat straw to a depth of'six or eight inches, makes a splendid litter. If there is a tendency to dampness in the house, mix equal parts of coarse shavings with the straw. Damp, wet litter, is a mortal enemy of winter > egg production. It encourages colds, roup, and many QiJier troubles, when the litter becomes filthy, moist, or too . line, change it. As a rule changing once during the winter will be sufficient, and often this is not even necessary. latter protects the floor, makes the house more comfortable for the birds and furnishes the materials m which they can scratch busily duviiig cold winter days Disinfect the fluors, roosts, and dropping boards from time to time, cs-, pecially if there is any infection or uis-' : ease about. Watch the water pan. keep it filled' j at all times, for winter egg production depends much upon the fowls hav- . ing free access to clean, fresh water. Wash out the water pans every , morning with a 5 per cent, solution of ■ home good disinfectant. It takes a bit ’ of time, but it helps to insure better and continued health. | Layers demand certain things in the • way of foods. They should be supplied , ' with those foods that wili most quiuk- . iy and most economically be turned ; • into eggs. J Egg producing foods cost money - ■ but they make more money. i It always takes money to make ,' money. / The Poultry business is a much bigL i ger proposition and a great necessity , to the welfare of the people that many ,: folk are aware of. Poultry furnishes .; us with an absolutely necessary product . and not a luxury, as some people would j have us believe, j BRINGING ON THE PULLETS. ’ r ■ . ■ "With modern bred-to-lay stock it is t ; somewhat difficult to hit the happy medium between goed feeding and

forced feeding. The difficulty is great-«-*r with early hatched stock, and that is one reason why later hatched stock who have taken plenty of time to mature, might make better breeders. If free range is available the matter is simplified, but if birds are confined, plenty of exercise is essential; when pullets have plenty of exercise, three feeds per day until they commence to lay is not too much. A medium layer properly fed will give better results than a good layer poorly fed. Do everything in season if you want to succeed —there is a time for everything. Every intelligent man or woman n ust have a hobby or something to cccupy their leisure hours. Why not try Poultry-keeping? DIGESTIBILITY OF MAIZE. A series of experiments have been tarried out to ascertain if there is any difference between the digestibility of old and new maize, these were carried cut with hens and roosters. The hens digested 96 parts out of each 100 parts of old maize, and 92 cut of the new ; while the male birds inly digested 95.2 of the old, and 89.6 of the new. The digestibility of the proteins were also tested, and they seemed to be digested in the same proportion in both the old and the new'. From the results obtained in these experiments, we may conclude that the old maize is better for poultry than tlio new.