Poultry Notes

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXII, Issue 19437, 24 October 1925, Page 13

Poultry Notes

By

“CHANTICLEER”

VICES OF HENS We read- in the Good Book that on one occasion devils entered into a herd of sTvine, and that the whole herd ran violently down a steep slope into the sea and perished in the water. There are times when the Devil seems to get into a flock of hens. Winter is a trying season to the poultryman at best, and the season is often made more trying by the sudden outbreak of vices amongst his hens. Egg eating will be taken up, and no sooner is an egg laid than it is devoured. Feather pulling will be begun. The rooster’s comb will at once possess a sinister fascination, and in the most innocent and affectionate manner his wives will sidle up to him and try to cat him up alive. Specific correctives are recommended for these vices, but the best corrective is to give the hens something to do. Did you ever notice that it is the active and adventurous hens, the hdns that are laying the most eggs, that are the most prone to take up these vices? A laying hen is a hungry hen; and she wants to eat all the time. And she feels the need of a wide and varied ration to make her egg out of. So, she seeks sustenance from all sources—innocent or otherwise. In the case of egg eating, you will have to put in considerable time in the pen for a few days, and gather up the eggs as fast as they are laid. When the hens pick at the roster’s comb, take him out of the flock and shut him up by himself until his comb is healed, and at the same time hang up some raw meat or bones in the pen for the hens to pick at. In the case of feather pulling, find the worst offenders and remove them, and give the hens something else to do. A bundle of green lucerne hung on a string will soon be stripped bare of leaves and will give the hens both green food and exercise. Hens are like children—they soon forget or take up something new, and a little patience and ingenuity will tide a poultryman over an experience that at first seemed intolerable.

JOTTINGS. Don’t let the vigorous youngsters damaged each other by fighting. The fighter is likely to be the winner in the show room and the breeding pen. Culling, selection, elimination kept constantly in mind and continually practised, will mean healthier fowls, stronger chicks, earlier pullets and eggs when they are most wanted. Such a thing as scaly leg should never be seen on any pure-bred fowls. Frequent examinations, with an occasional treatment will usually be sufficient to ward off any trouble. Give the houses and coups a thorough cleaning. Spray every crack and crevice with disinfectant to keep down vermin and kill disease germs. If you wish to use fowls for your own table, you will find their meat much more tender if they are kept in confinement. When allowed full range their muscles become hardened, which means toughened, and they lack the juicy tenderness of those raised in small quarters. Poultry raising has recently been attracting increased attention, and prospects in its connection are brighter than ever they have been. Women are specially well qualified ; for the work of poultry raising, for the reason that they are naturally more , patient and gentle than men. STANDARD-BRED POULTRY. Rather more than twenty years ago one of the poultry papers had a symposium on the question—Should a breeder of Standard poultry undertake to produce a distinct strain of his own, or should he try to follow the Standard as closely as possible? The form of the question seemed to present fts terms as alternatives—“mutually exclusive,” as our Mendelists say. It also seemed to imply that in so far as a breeder departed from commonly accepted interpretations of the Standard, it was done deliberately and with the intent, more or less malicious, to do something contrary to the Standard requirements. There has always been quite a general disposition to discuss Standard specifications as if they were very explicit, so plain that the intelligent breeder could easily follow them to the letter —if he were disposed to do so; and that departures from them were inexcusable. The fact is that the Standard is rigid only in its disqualifications for certain, generally minute faults. In everything else it is either more or less vague in its requirements, or so elastic in application that the result is the same.

This vagueness of description and elasticity in applying e the Standard arc unavoidable, because the variability of living creatures is so great that if wo attempt to make Standards for improved domestic animals and birds that give accurate rigid specifications for every character, wo find that they are “impossible Standards” for all but the most highly improved Standardbreed races. When we first undertake to standardise a breed or variety we have to make a standard that suits the breed or variety at the time, and also takes into account the possibilities of improvement in size, form, character. Naturally opinions on such points differ; and as the making of a Standard that will be accepted by breeders with different ideas as their general guide, is largely a matter of finding characters and sections which fix the things upon which they agree and leave the things upon which they dis-

agree undertermined, most standards abound in alternative specification, either directly stated a ssuch or ■ contained in the rules for applying the Standard; and within the limits established by the rules for applying the Standard, breeders and judges are free to exercise their personal opinions as •to what should be 11 Standard. ,r They are not only free to do so, but each 01 them individually will do so, and as the actual limits are quite wide apart, breeders will establish their more or less readily distinguishable strains, and judges will popularise the features of the strains which please them best, making them and it “the style.’' This change in styles is one of the most curious and interesting phenomena of Standard-bred poultry culture. It popularises one strain and sends others to relative obscurity or oblivion. But in doing this it works slowly and gives those who are wise enough to recognise that a change is impending, time to adjust themselves to the change and equip themselves to produce the style of bird demanded in their variety, either by modifying their stock to meet the change in style, or by replacing their stock with stock , of the stylish strain. It is quite a‘ problem for the breeder to know -what to do in such cases. His own stock may have distinct strain character. It may please him better than the other style. He may consider that it is in every way more desirable. He may think that the preference for the other style of bird is only temporary, a%d that after a little the demand will come for the style of bird he favours. One who holds to his favourite style of bird after it is evident that some other style is coming in, or has established itself, takes long chances oh putting himself out of business. ft does sometimes happen that the old style comes back. More often it is another new style—possibly like the older one in certain particulars, but differing from it in others to an extent that leaves a breeder -who has clung to an old style in the expectation that it is coming back, as much out of the running as he was before. The only way to be sure of your market for Standard-bred poultry is tjo keep up with the times. The amateur who makes his living from something else may fight a popular style but the breeder who makes his bvmg from poultry cannot afford to do so. From the business point of view it makes no difference whether a competitor really has produced something that influential judges like better, < r some turn in the general demand benefits that competitor by increasing the demand for his stock. As soon as the buyers begin tk) show a preference for a certain strain or style of a variety, it is time for every breeder of that variety to take notice, and to consider ways ami means for adjusting his own production to meet the demand. DELAYED HATCHINGS. This is a trouble sometimes met with in artificial incubation, more usually by beginners, who either do not understand the instructions given with their machines, or are using faulty equipment. Various ways of placing the thermometer have been adopted by different incubator manufacturers, some being considerably more fool-proof than others. Whatevqr is the method : in use, it must be borne in mind that the purpose of the thermometer is tfo show the amount of heat which the eggs are receiving, and that if the bulb of it is an inch or thereabouts higher s than the eggs, 104 deg. io 105 deg. on the thermometer scale wpl correspond to 103 deg. where the eggs are lying. It will likewise be seon that if the thermometer is at a lower level than the eggs, as in the case of an incorrect (lower) temperature will bo indicated; in like fashion, if the thermometer bulb is placed on a dead or infertile egg, the reading will also be less than if placed on a fertile orie. The heat required, usually 102idcg. for the first week, and 103 deg. for the remainder of the hatch, is that of the germ of the egg, which is always upper-most, irrespective of the position of the egg. It is usual for eggs from good stock to pip on the twentieth day of incubation, and for all liveable chicks to be hatched out on the twenty-first day, providing, of course, that the correct heat has been maintained. If any doubt exists as to the accuracy of the thermometer, by reason of delay in hatching, it should be tested and the error, if any, allowed for, or a new ono should be obtained. Oddments. To maintain a hen in proper laying condition, she must bo well nourished, but never fat; always in good appetite, but never starved. Leghorns are hardy and active, do not fatten readily, and when well looked after lay an egg in size, weight, and flavour, equal to that of any breed worth considering at all as layers. Fowls kept in a shed roofed with corrugated iron suffer severely from the heat of the sun in summer, iron being a heat conductor. Guard against lice in the -poultry runs; no matter how well birds are fed they will cease to yield profitable returns if these parasites are allowed to congregate upon them. Chickens hatched by a hen suffering from scaly leg are certain to contract the trouble from her. As soon as they can be safely detected, the wasters should be weeded out of the flock, so that greater attention and increased accommodation can be given the remainder. To maintain fowls in proper health it is necessary to supply them with a liberal allowance of green food; animal food in moderation, and a varied assort-

ment of standard grains. With the advent of summer absolute cleanliness becomes imperative. The interior of all poultry-houses must be kept scrupulously clean, free from vermin and from bad odours. In poultry raising thoroughness is the keystone of success. Carelessness and inexperience are fruitful sources of failure.