Poultry Notes

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXI, Issue 18790, 26 May 1923, Page 7

Poultry Notes

By

“CHANTICLEER**

1 “A LIVING IN POULTRY,” IF p Poultry raising, properly conducted, ' is one on the most fascinating, healthr i'ul, profitable and useful of occupations. 3 To all who are genuinely interested, it • offers quite a dignified means of livelii hood. To achieve success it is abs<> * iutely necessary to acquire a thorough - mastery of the foundation principles - upon which the industry is built. Few who have not actually tried to make a living with poultry realise what a large amount of knowledge is required to make a success of this apparently easy1 to-learn business. The great ‘‘secrets of success” with poultry, as with most ether businesses, is “knowledge,” and to come by that necessary knowledge, it is generally advisable to apply oneself diligently io a i somewhat lengthy apprenticeship. While an individual with a very limited amount of capital may make a success, another man with plenty of capital may i fail owing to his having insufficient knowledge of the business. Poultry raising can be successfully conducted on the back end of a city lot, and a living can be made from poultry on a very few acres of land, and very little capital is required to start, “if a man; knew how.” Too many people waste valuable, years of time and money in costly pcrimenting,” instead of profiting by' the knowledge and experience of specialists who have made a life study of the poultryman’s problems a/id requirements. OPPORTUNITIES. There is no branch of agriculture and scarcely any industry to-day in. which the opportunities arc greater for competent and well trained' men and women than in the poultry industry. Our population is increasing, and the people must depend to a large extent upon the production of poultry and €ggs. Poultry and eggs can be produced on limited space in any climate., by any class of people, and by people of all ages. When properly conducted, there need b« no hard timas, no dull seasons in the poultry business. But it is utter foolishness for a person to enter tlio business, even on a small scale, without fust being properly instructed, properly trained, and properly equipped. A few pounds spent m this way at the very beginning will often save possibly hundreds of pounds later, besides saving you from disappointment and distress. In proportion io the amount of money invested, few businesses will give you greater opportunities and greater icturns than poultry ; but you must know, or lie taught the way to success by someone who has had the experience and who has made the mistakes lor you to profit by. SEASONABLE HINTSAlaximum efficiency within reasonable limits of expenditure, should be the key of the design of the poultry farm. * * * • By feeding poor or not quite enough food during the moult, the non-pro-ducing period will be doubled. Fowls eat less during the moult, but what they have should be good. A man who sold his farm the other day, told the purchaser he was not using much food. His fowls were not laying too well, so he adopted the s’ogan of “no eggs, no tucker.” No wonder he sold out Judged on appearances a woman and an egg must not cnly be good—they must look good. « • • * Heavy laying depends on three factors, suitable feeding, good management, and a good strain. AYHAT CO-OP. STANDS FOR Herbert Hoover, Secretary of Commerce, A\ ashington D.C., has recently said some things about co-operation, which poultry men in particular would do well to heed. He says: “Co-oper-ative Marketing Associations should receive the support and encouragement of Government agencies because they make for economical distribution and for stability in markets and marketing, h hey bring about an improvement in the quality handled. Co-operatively they save waste, and by increasing his income they raise the standard of living of the co-operator who is a meirber of the association.” AVe commend the foregoing to every poultry-keeper, who at the present tune is not marketing the product of his fowls in conjunction with liis fellow producer. It seems to us that we remember to have hoard a saying to the effect that “ united we stand, divided we fall.” This old saving seems to apply to poultry-keepers more than most people. In poultry-keeping we must admit that without the winter eggs our chances of profit are greatly minimised. Therefore we must concentrate upon getting high winter production when ‘eggs is eggs,” and when they are at tup prices. Anything in feathers will lay in the summer, but winter egg production is an exact art calling for every care and attention in housing, feeding, and management, together with the right breed for one’s environment, and the laying type in that breed. There is no “best way of feeding.” Breed, condition of the' birds at the time, .and environment must ever decide the ideal system of feeding. WATCH FOR MITES. Tn hot weather red mite and chicken mites flourish. Keep a careful watch on ' the perches and paint them with kerosene tar at regular intervals, but only

- in the morning, so that they will be dry before the chicks went to roost. i, Jhe chicken mites will run all over 1- 1 your bootis pnd cljothes if they are u . about. Apart from painting all wood t ; work on the ground level with kerosene •-: it is often necessary to put a layer -' oi thoroughly slack lime or sulphur on h the floor of the house to get rid of these s ' mites. It is said, starlings are respoav ; sible for their presence in some places a, 1 this year; bin; loose timber, boxes and e. filth in the chick houses will also cnj j courage them. 1 executive of the New Zealand } 1 Poultry Association met in AVellington b recently. The remits passed at the - Nelson conference were dealt with. The l regulations dealing with the manufac- , ture of egg pulp were considered in 1 conjunction with the Government , Health Department, and satisfactory r conditions agreed upon for 1923. It > was considered that the time was too • short to get all the improvements re- [ quired by the Health Department in b readiness for the coming season. Chief , among the regulations is a separate » room for pulping, testing of eggs beL ; fore breaking, use of new tins, labelling ; the tins, showing contents, and the transfer of pulp to the freezer within . two hours after manufacture. The amalgamation with the Farmers’ Union took . place, and i-emits were laid before the 1 union to solicit support with the Government. An export shipment of 30,000 dozen eggs was arranged for during the coming spring. The establishing of the chain brand of eggs through New Zealand was arranged for, and will be introduced oh July 1 next. This will ; mean a uniform brand right through the Dominion. Arrangements were made to take up an advertising cams with the Railway JAepartmenc, arid fifty signs will ho displayed in the stations of the four centres, urging the consumption of eggs. Placards were also arranged for bakers’ and grocers' windows. The market commission dealt with the matter of fixation of prices. 1 It was considered that Is -Id for the . south and Is 6d for the north would _ be a payable price for the coming suui- • mer.