Poultry Notes

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19846, 21 May 1927, Page 21 (Supplement)

Poultry Notes

THE BREEDING STOCK Insist on the breeders taking plenty of exercise. This is really a matter of a good <leal of importance. Their muscles must be kept in prime condition. Their vitality must be maintained at a high standard. This cannot be had without plenty of exercise in tl:o digging of good mixed grain out of litter not too heavy, not too thick, not musty and damp, but clean and dry and loose. POULTRY LORE Here are some prognostics as to weather as indicated by poultry and | taken from an agricultural book over 1250 years old —“If the breastbone of a |duck be red it signifies a long winter; if white, the contrary.” “Ducks and 'geese, etc., picking their wings, washing themselves much, signifies rain.” I “If cocks crow more often than ordinarily, especially in the evening, or if j poultry go early to roost, it signifies [rain.” So far as the last of these 'quotations is concerned perhaps the j next time a complaint is made as tc crowing cocks is taken to court the defendant may be able to lay the blame on the weather. Whether the magisi trate will accept the plea is another ] question. With respect to the other , two items, these offer a field for the observation of poultry keepers.

INTRODUCING NEW BLOOD You may need a little “ non-related mating shortly, but select this outside blood with care. Don’t take something because it is cheap, unless it also possesses quality, and has good ancestry behind it, for it is an established fact that stock w’ill revert to faults much faster than they can be eradicated. Find some breeder who is close to you in quality, and who breeds with quality stock. If your original stock is from him, it is often so much the better, for you are sure then of no probability to reversion. THOROUGHBREDS v. MONGRELS Thoroughbred stock will always bo found to pay better than mongrel or nondescript birds. HAVE AN IDEAL J Tho successful productions of man in this world arc not accidents, as a rule. The artist, when he begins to use his brush, has a picture of his finished product in his mind; the sculptor has his model before him; so it is with the successful producer of a breed of fowls —he has an ideal. SOME WORLD’S RECORDS The world’s record for a single hen of any breed is 351 eggs in 364 days. This was by a White Leghorn at the Dominion egg-laying contest, 8.C., » Canadu in 1925-26. The next best is 1347, by a Black Orpington, at the 'Gatton (Queensland) competition. Tho next best score by a Leghorn is 345, got by a bird in a New Zealand competition. The 351-egg hen laid 213 eggs without break. OF THE GIZZARD One may learn a good deal by examining a lean young Jowl, when on moving tne feathers from the side of I the belly, nearest the gizzard, tho action of this wonderful organ can be Jolt, seen, and heard. On pressing with the fingers, the muscles of the gizzard will feel as hard as stones to the touch. When they relax the grain upon which they were then working passes on, and a further supply, as in the case of a I mill, passes under these natural rollers. I These actions succeed each other, and lon placing the bird close to the ear, as • the food and stone.* relax under the

• pressure of the muscles of the gizzard a sound not unlike the notes of the j Tide rolling upon o shingly shore maybe (distinctly heard at intervals. During [all this process the gastric juice slowly jflows in from the lower part of the gullet, or second stomach, and mingles intimately with the digesting food THE POULTRY RUNS WJien it is possible to do so, have two runs, and alternately seed them [down to grass, or sow oats or barley. [lf you cannot have two yards, provide ia movable fence in one, and cut off i the fowls from a part of the yard while the other part is sowed to some quickgrowing crop like oats or rape, and [when it is six er right inches high turn 'the fowls on it. A growing crop for lone season puts a poultry yard in excellent shape and condition for tho fowls, because the crop removes just the elements that were injurious to tho fowls. The runs should bo arranged so as to shift the fowls to new ground at [frequent intervals. CLEANLINESS IS IMPORTANT Cleanliness is an absolute necessity, and chickens or grown-up fowls cannot thrive without it. We cannot too forcibly impress upou the poultryman how essential it is to keep fowls in every way clean. Their houses, runs, eating and drinking vessels, etc., should be kept as clean as it is possible tp keep them. The houses, sheds, and runs ought to be swept every day and every particle of filth removed, the grounds disinfected, and fresh, clean sand or dry earth spread over; the eating and ’drinking vessels scraped and washed iout every morning, and no stale food [or dirty water allowed to remain. Last, [but not least, the birds themselves [should bo kept perfectly clean, free ■from sickness of any kihd, and vermin, [such as ticks, lice or mites, that gen I orally trouble them when not looked [after properly. A good insecticide ap- ' plied to the birds, dusted well into tho (feathers, will keep them free from such I pests.