Poultry Notes

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 20127, 21 April 1928, Page 22 (Supplement)

Poultry Notes

CROP BOUND FOWLS. .Everyone who keeps fowls is more or less familiar with the ailment known as “crop-bound.” The fowl’s crop becomes packed with loud liiai has ceased to pass into the gizzard ns it should ido. if thch contents of the ' crop consists of grain only, the fowl should not be allowed to cat anything additional for reveral days. In addition, the crop should be manipulated with the hand, theh skin gently massaged in one direction, and then an- ' other. This will tend to loosen thej grain, and start its passage into the gizzard, where it cun be ground up. 1 ►Sometimes crop-bound is caused by feeding cut hay or dried lucerne, and it- has lodged or become packed at the point where food should pass out of the crop. In cases of this kind a good plan is to pour sweet oil down the bird’s throat, which has a tendency to 1 >sen the mass. In bad cases, the quickest and most certain way •>, effecting a cure is to cut the crop open and remove the collected food, afterwards sewing up the crop. This 1 does not cause the bird much pain, and j if any cate at all is taken in the oper-1 ation, there is no danger of the bird dying or being injured thereby. After! this operation is completed, feed the! bird only on milk or other light food j for a few’ days. I MORE ABOUT CULLING On well managed poultry plants the chief culling of undesirable stock 1 will already have been carried out.' but this is not to say that further! culling is necessary. Indeed, if the i best results are to be obtained the i weeding-out of inferior birds should be done to a more or less extent throughout, the whole year. It is a mistake (although a common one) to conclude that because the weak specimens have been eliminated from tli-* I flock in. say, February or Alarch, all the remaining stock on the plant will I pay for keep for another year. It ’ should be remembered that everv in-1 ferior bird retainer! on the plant is ai drain on the profirs made from the( good slock, and if they are in good) numbers they may easily make the dif i ference between success and failure. The keen poultry keeper is always on

the alert when working among his flock to detect birds which givj evidemo that they-hai c pas.'V'i tiieir best period of usefulness. A fowl may give every indication during the autumn months that it will be proii able to keep fir another year, but then is no telling when, owing perhaps to some abaormal internal condition, or through impaired vigour due to strain brought about, by heavy <*gg production, the same bird, in the eye of the practical man, will instantly be declared a cull. Ju these -lays of high-priced foodstuffs the hard maxim should always be applied that when a bird is not paying its way, n*t likely to in ths future, it should be got rid of. Again, any bird must be xegarded as usele.ss if it does not possess the desired constitution. COW PEAS AS POULTRY FOOD. The value of cow-peas for the enrichment uf lhe soil, even afler the crop is cut off, i.s well known, and its mciils as a great soil improver, a means lor maxing poor land rich, for making good lands more productive, have never been denied. But cow-peis as an egg food have had but little prominence in the poultry world. Cowpeas are readily digested by young poultry, and furnish a stimulating an 1 nourishing food. Jt has long been decided thiii beans and peas in general are gicat bone and muscle foods, and. consequently are strong in the elements tha* make both growth in young stock and eggs in 1-ens. Cow peas contain these elements, and of the beau, and pea family arc practically in the lead. Every poultryman having a lew acics tu spare, or even but an aero* should sow the available ground to this crop, which will give food that is not. only cheaper but also more economical from the fact that it contains the elements necessary to make good, strong egg production. Freedom for young chicks and growing stock is very necessary. When chicks are \ cry small and aro let our. with the mother, she knows where t.» lake them for sufficient exercise. Stii . they must be watched, as at times sho umy wander too far and through damp places which will cause the little ones to catch cold; but freedom is a desideratum for all poultry, as they are ab!o to find a lot of animal food for theni selves, such as fine various kinds of insects and worms, and the exercise in running about makes them grow and keep well in health. Fowls should never be kept too confined; the moi' free range they are allowed the bet ter they grow, and the Jess liable they arc to suffer from disease.