Poultry Notes

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 20150, 19 May 1928, Page 10 (Supplement)

Poultry Notes

CHARCOAL AS A HEALTH AID TO FOWLS Many poultry raisers do not fully realise the value of' charcoal, ft is the finest intestinal cleanser that there is. It is a bowel corrective and must therefore be of great value towards the health of a flock. Many physicians arc great believers in its use as a cure for indigestion. It has also valuable disinfecting qualities which must not be overlooked. In Japan the doctors declare that it is useful in cases of internal poisoning for the patient to consume charcoal. Its absorbing powers are wonderful. It clarifies such substances as sugar, and it has a strong action on alkaloids. When red wine is put through a charcoal filter it is turned white. In cases of strychnine poisoning, it acts as a direct antidote, and it is useful if given in time against poisons contained in certain mushrooms, cyanide of potassium, phosphorus, laudanum, arsenic, and ptomaines. Charcoal seems to envelop the poison nt once. Its absorbing power and its avidity for all gases result in an innocuous combination. One volume of charcoal is said to be able to absord ninety volumes of ammonia gas. Such being the case in human beings, it is not surprising that it is effective in absorbing and neutralising the noxious gases generated in the digestic organs of the fowl. The gases if not absorbed enter the blood, which reduces the vitality of the blood, and invariably sets up bowel trouble, if not attended to. In this way charcoal must also assist the digestion of the food, and is therefore of great use to heavy laying hens. It is certainly a blood purifier, and if taken in correct manner will maintain the tone of the system, which means better health for the fowl. It must not, however, be overdone. How it Should be Fed. All growing chicks should be given a certain amount of charcoal, for it will be found it keeps them in better health. It can be fed to them in their mash .in the form of powder; one large teaspoonful in a quart of mash being about .the right quantity. It can also be placed in a small hopper in the granulated form, and they will help themselves as occasion arises. In the case of larger fowls, five pounds of powdered charcoal to every 400 pounds of mash, will give beneficial results. It will be noticed that the quant : ty is not large, and will not discolour the mash, otherwise the hens might refuse to consume it. The older hen.s will be found to get through quite a lot of the granulated charcoal trom the hoppers. If too much charcoal is given, it will be found that it affects ihe droppings, these Incoming hard and dry, and often streaked with blood. This form of constipation is not conducive to good health. Birds cooped up for fattening should have a certain amount of charcoal. The heavy feeding and unnatural conditions make themselves evid.-«r by the noxious smells that arc often present in a fattening shed. Charcoal neutralises | most, of that. It also improves the quality of the flesh. It enables the birds to consume more food, and they consequently put on more flesh. It must be sparingly used. The birds will readily consume it if placed in their troughs in small pieces. Turkeys derive quite a lot of benefit from the use of charcoal, both in young and adult stages. OYSTER SHELL FOR FOWLS When hens are in full lay, care must be taken that a plentiful supply of oyster shell is always on hand for them. Soft shells will not always be the result of a ihortness of shell-forming material, for many hens will cease egg production altogether. even although everything else is suitable. They will cease laying and utilise their food for putting on fat. and so cease to be profitable for the rest of the season. The life of a hen is short, so that such spells of unproductiveness mean a dead loss to the poultry farmer, which seldom can be made good. Oyster shell provides the calcium which forms the egg shell and allows the hen to lay a sanitary egg. There is no doubt that this form of food is of vital importance to the laying hen. It is eaten with avidity, and serves a different purpose than ordinary grit. Several of the American colleges have carried out experiments and have been able to give valuable data as to the results obtained. Experiment Results. The State of Missouri has recently completed some tests on these lines, and the results are very significant. In one’

experiment, twelve single comb While Leghorn hens laid 499 eggs in sixty days. This same flock was then deprived entirely of oyster shell. N>> change was made in the other part uf the feed formula. They dropped from laying 499 eggs to a production of eight eggs in thirty days. They were then given oyster shell during the following thirty days, when they laid 194 e gg s , which proved conclusively that oyster shell is an important item in the laying ration. In another experiment at the same station there were twenty hens in each of two pens, which were cared for exactly alike, with the exception that one pen was supplied with crushed lim? rock and oyster shell, whilst the other received neither of these ingredients, lhe pen that was supplied with lime in the form of crushed rock and oyster shell laid 1500 eggs in the same time that the pen without limp laid 161 egg! which is almost ton tu one in favour ui the lime-supplied hens.