Poultry Notes

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19765, 12 February 1927, Page 21 (Supplement)

Poultry Notes

AYRSHIRE BREEDERS MEETING OF ASSOCIATION A meeting of the council of the New Zealand Ayrshire Breeders’ Association was held last week. Advice' was received from the Ayrshire Cattle Herd Book Society that it had decided to grant the association two silver medals for the best male and female respectively of the Ayrshire - breed, to be competed for at the Royal Show. All animals competing are to be entered in the Society’s Herd Book, or in the Herd Book of New Zealand, prior to the show. Copies of circulars regarding herd testing were received from the New Zealand Farmers’ Union. The chairman commented that the association’s attitude was always to encourage testing, but he thought that the association could take no definite action. The letter was received. In connection with the subsidy granted to breeders owning cows under test, it was decided that the breeder who received the certificate should oe granted the subsidy. Congratulations were extended Messrs. C. Morgan (of Woodville) and Robertson and Bldckley (of New Plymouth) on the performances of their Ayrshire cows under semi-official test. The cows in question are Maesgwyn Hazel (owned by Mr. Morgan), which produced 695.441 b butter-fat, and Floss of Braeside (owned by Messrs. Robertson and Blackley), which produced 678.581 b butter-fat. The first animal produced its butter-fat from 20,7231 b of milk, which, the. association bclieVes, is a New Zealand record.

. POULTRY PARASITES Parasites always make their appearance with the hot weather, and ext'.a attention should be paid to them. In. treating birds, for these parasaticai pests, different treatments should b< adopted for each, owing to their different habits. The hen body lice and like specica live, entirely on the .skin of the fowl, ’• and arc mostly found in the cavity under the root of tho tail, and to a leaser extent about the body. Th'? parasite lays its eggs at the base of tho feathers, principally about the posterior parts of the birds and sometimes under the wings. In cases of heavy infestation they appear clustered about the shin and the main thing to bo remembered in dealing with this parasite is that it is useless io spray houses or oil perches in ■«n effort to control it. The most efficient method of clearing those fowls infected is to either «iiy off the masses of eggs, or touch them very lightly with salad oil. Ke»» sone should never be used, as it bulM < tho skin. If these control methods are’ overlooked, and the parasites hatch out, there is nothing equal to flowers of sulphur dusted through tho. feathers as an effe’etive insoctido. To do the job thoroughly, the sulphur must bo worked right into the skin. Tho prooess should be repeated in about eight days, when the trouble should be’ at an end for tho time being. An excellent preventative will found in adding flowers of sulphur ' l he dust bath. TIMELY HINT 3 WHAT IS ENOUGH FEED? In one direction the poultry farmer who feeds wet mash, and in a lesser degree the dry masher also, holds balance of profit and loss from hens in the daily amount of feed given. When we feed ourselves the stomach wirelesses the brain that a little food is desired, or warns that any more sent down will make a crush. The beginner starting to food poul-. try cannot pick up the wireless from* the hen’s stomach—so wanting a right amount Io feed any hen or flock “How much?” In general the amount to feed any hen or flock of hens is all they will eat in a fair tim-', and the best evidence of a hen having satisfied her hunger is when she turr.s away from tho trough, hopper, or scattered grain. But Ibis action must bo general, lot all the bens turn away before the remaining feed, if any. is gathered up; because in feeding flocks of hens some nro nervous and will not join the scramble around a trough,., others have been bullied and are driven away, some are laying or have to */) lay during feeding, again some' r' temporarily leave the trough for vari ous reasons, so it pays, if every hen \ to have the wherewithal to make, eggs,' that tho feeder exercise tho wise oversight, as it were of father or mother over their children, in seeing that hens all have their sflaro. Hens that clear up their feed and , parade' up and down the fence waiting for more, may or may not need mor. Immediately after feeding it is ft sigu they should be given more, but soma flocks will got so tamo or develop the habit of doing the parade mention-d whenever the owner approaches. Hearty eating is a sign of better production coining, or previous undofl feeding. Voracious eating may on From tho latter cause, but combined ; with non-laying, after a period of pro- i duction, is a sure sign of worms. Never feed a stated quantity da’’y, —use your brains, don’t bo an automatic feeder. If tho hens don’t eat nil you give, either mash or grain, reduce the grain always, oven to cutting out one evening’s feed of grain. VALUE OF LIME Lime is not only useful for purifying the ground and white-washing tho walls of the poultry houses and tho making of egg shell, but it has also been long known as a necessary adjunct to poultry’ food. The following from an Australian paper will be useful at this season:—“Birds often fail, and some die, through want of limo salts. It may be present in sufficient quantities in the food, but there is an inability to appropriate it in the form provided. It has been found in practice that lime, given as lime water, corrects acidity, and is presented to tho digestive system in a manner which capable’ of immediate appropriate a and applied to bone and feather build- ' ing, but the cost of the finished product as sold by the pharmacist is prohibitive. This is not to find fault with the chemist, whoso products must ba absolutely pure' and of a required standard, according to tho British pharmacopoeia. Only small quantities nro asked for by the customer, and tho article must be filtered and bright, and the bottle neatly capped and tied down to give it that appearance of neatness and accuracy for whicu. th* pharmacist has always been famous. But this refinement is not necessary for the' poultry yard or for veterinary purposes. Lime water can be made at homo at the cost of a lump of limo, fresh burned, not slaked. All that is necessary is a stone bottle with a sound cork. The lump is broken smi’l enough to pass into the bottle, which is then filled with water, corked, and shaken. It should be turned upside down next day, and on the third (lav is fit for use. It can be decanted without stirring up the sediment, or drawn off and filtered, but exposure' to the air causes a slight loss. The amateur lime water maker cannot well go wrong, as water at normal temperature will dissolve thirteen and a haif grains to the pint only—no more and no less—provided the lump was leg enough to provide the quantity stated. A lump the size of an orange will certainly provide a gallon of water.” Four ounces to the gallon, and, white this dissolved and filtered, one tabtespoonful to tho quart of water. For the larger fowls throe to four spoonsful will benefit the health and hard*”! tho egg shell, and that is a lot to the commercial producer.