Poultry Notes

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 73, Issue 424, 15 November 1930, Page 22 (Supplement)

Poultry Notes

TAKE CARE OF THE CHICKENS

Do not allow chickens and their mother to roam through long grass this month. October is usually showery, and wet grass soaks the soft down ol a young chicken, chilling it to the bone. In this way large numbers of chickens are lost annually. Confine the hen to a coop, and protect the chickens from vermin and hawks by a wire run- It tho chickens are able to bear it, they are always better roaming with their mother on fine dry days. Still, in this case, some arc invariably lost. They cannot keep up with the rest. The mother won’t sit to warm an odd one. She is generally ruled by the cry of the majority. As the chickens of different hatches grow up, varying, of course, in size, they must either be sorted out into batches of equal size or fed with the help of certain devices, A frame a few inches high, covered with wirenetting, in the side of which a few small holes have been made, will allow the youngest chickens to feed unmolested. The holes can be made in each frame to suit the size of the birds.

The early youngsters will by now have reached the age and size when culling can take place. Overcrowding is most harmful for growing stock, and the weeding process must be governed by the space at the disposal of the rearerIt is a waste of time, money and groundspace to keep on any culls or surplus youngsters, so the more valuable youngsters should be separated from the “weeds” and the latter disposed ofThe expert rearer will be able to tell at a glance which birds will never develop into good adults, so that to him the task of culling or weeding will be simple. Any novice who is doubtful on this important point is advised to call in a more experienced poultryman to look over his early-hatched youngsters.

If one is to be successful in rearing the pullets to maturity, one must ghe them every encouragement to make tho best growth. If they are allowed to run with the cockerels the latter will get more than their share of the food. The rearer should, therefore, separate the sexes directly they can be picked out. There will always be surplus cock-, erels on the farm, and it is wasteful to keep them on too long- The food bill must be studied, and the sooner the cockerels can be fattened and marketed the better. Any intended eventually for breeding purposes must, ot course, be kept on, but the surplus should be marketed early for table purposes. As soon as the birds ate plump they should be sold. » Keeping Fowl Run Healiliy The best way to keep the suil on a poultry run healthy and sweet is to grow some sort of green crop on it. So that this can bo done it is advisable to have the yards so arranged and divided that they can be rested periodically. One of the best crops to put in is rape. This matures very quickly and is greatly appreciated both by chickens and matured birds. A favourite method is to sow oats and field peas together with a thin broadcast sowing of clover. The first to show up will be the oats and the peas, and these furnish a protection for the clover and rape- Certain grasses and Dutch and white clover are also favouredScaly Leg This trouble is chiefly due to wet and dirt, and is caused by a minute parasite which breeds under the scales of the fowls’ legs. A few applications ot a mixture of equal parts of sulphur and lard liquified* with kerosene Io the consistency of thick oil will usually pn»'e an effective remedy. Scaly leg the birds a most unsightly appearam . and should never be neglected a*» a few affected birds can soon spread it through the flock. Keep the Chickens Busy There is nothing that promotes development more than keeping the ehi< as busv scratching for their feed. Wheat, chaff, and loaves make an ideal serai' h into which the grain may be scattered any time of the day. There is nothing more dostru< inc to the flock than over feeding. The chicks at once become inactive, the’* trouble follows. Better starve them a little at the start. A hungry chu k thrives much better than a diseased one. A sand bank is a tine place for the small chicks to scratch and get plenty uf sand for their claws. They like to wallow around in it. A load ol sand can be hauled at little expense, but H means a great deal to the young chickens. Change the Ground

The common practice of rai-uig voting chickens in yards that have been used rear after year by other and arc still being used by grown chickens, is in a large measure res-

ponsible for prevalence of worms in young stock. Old birds arc more or less immune to worms due to picking at droppings, but this is fatal to chickens in many cases.