Poultry Notes

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 277, 27 November 1935, Page 11

Poultry Notes

THE NEED FOR CULLING. September, October, and November are the months of natural egg production, and birds which are at present out of profit should be u culled from the flock. A bird which dees not produce at this period of the year is not likely to be a profitable prope-sitiun later in the season. For distinguishing a bird out of production, the head is probably the most definite indicator. A bird that is pale and contracted in comb, dull and sluggish-looking, can usually be considered out of profit. On the other hand it might be remembered that a gc-od layer is usually rather ragged in tail and feather, caused by daily visits to the nest-box; and the legs and beak have lost their bright yellow colour. Fattening. In the rearing of cockerels for the local market, it is well to remember that the best period of growth, to sell is when tihe birds are 3 to oilb. in weigth. This weight applies to light breeds, and if tire cockerels are kept too long, they become “stagy” or “stringy” and they do not find a ready sale. In being fattened for the market, cockerels will gain weight and condition. sooner if they are not allowed tou much exercise; therefore if they arc kept confined and supplied with an abundance of food, they will do much better than on free range. Mash mixed with skim milk is a suitable fattening food. The inclusion of ground maize or ground oats to the mask is helpful, but the cost of these two foods would scarcely warrant their use. In England quite a large trade has been developed in the growing of table chickens, and in Australia there are a few poultrymen who make a comfortable living fre-m rearing poultry for table purposes. There is a decided difference of opinion locally, whether or not it pays to rear cockerels for the table, but if it can be profitably undertaken in Australia, there is no reason, why it cannot be done here. Given suitable housing accommodation and an adequate supply of skim milk, it has been proved that early cockerels are worth rearing for the market. The Modern Egg Factory. In reference to the system now being tried in England, Poultry (England) says: — “What is known as the laying cage battery system was regarded, with suspicion when it was first introduced, mainly owing to humanitarian fears lest this form of exploitation of the laying hen might entail some suffering among dumb creatures. “Had that fear been justified, the laying cage battery system would have been, forgotten in a very short time; but experience has dispelled any doubt on that score, and most people have cause to believe that a hen is content when she is well fed, and that foraging and scratching are superfluities of which she is glad to be relieved. “The laying cage was never intended and should never be used for the accommodation, of breeding stock. With equal emphasis we may declare that hens which have been penned in batteries should never be bred from. “The cage is purely and simply for the accommodation c*f commercial layers, whose sole purpose in life is to produce eggs for market as long as they can do so ecG-nomicallv,. and afterwards to go to the poulterer’s slab or the delicatessen factory. “If this principle is clearly understood the laying cage battery may, indeed, serve one more useful purpe-se in emphasising the vital difference between commercial laying stock and breeding stock, and their requirements and treatment.” “No Minerals, No Eggs.’’ If a hen could formulate a slogan she would probably go cackling lhis cue; “No minerals, nu eggs.” it is a known fact that the nurnoer of eggs a year a hen can. lay is limited to the number of shells she can make. If she lias raw material for only a dozen eggs she will lay only a dozen eggs, and maybe one or two soft-shelled ones. Alter that she’ll quit to store up more minerals and get ready for another laying spell. To overcome this deficiency, hens should have minerals before them. Lime is the most necessary mineral, and is obtainable in the form of limestone grit, oyster shell, and, to a certain extent, bonemeal and meat scrap. In addition to lime she must have phosphate, obtainable through bonemeal, some of the limestone and to a certain extent through meat scrap. The grains which make up the majority of the ration also carry some of these minerals, but not in large enough quantities to supply the modern hen that lays eggs on a wholesale basis. The minerals can be supplied to the hens by mixing into the laying mash in a powdered form or in open hoppers in the coarse form or by botlh. Some poultrymen have a little of the minerals mixed into the laying mash, but the better method, I believe, is to supply it in hoppers, boxes, etc. Nature’s Pull. Birds of every variety are of artificial production by selection and other processes on the lines of a given and often arbitrary standard, and Nature is ever striving to get back to ' tibe original. Hence it is always an I uphill light to maintain the characterI istics of any breed —Nature is pulling one way and the breeder another way. This is true as regards utility strains as it is regarding fancy birds. This being so, there can never be any fixity in any breed or strain of birds it must always be only relative. The original bird and the bird of the standard are two entirely different propositions. All that can be done by a breeder is, when a uniform type has been decided upon by a consensus of expert opinion (which is another impossibility), to strike to keep the breed to that type as near as possible, and , in its main features. The foregoing is tact, and is well worth reflecting upon. For instance, let us note (1) that the standard is arbitrary, (2) that Nature is ever striving to have her own way, ■ (3) that the experts who frame the ' standards all have different ideals in their minds and that consequently the standard is only.a compromise, and (4) that the best the breeder can hope to do is to get as near as possible tb his

own conception of the standard, which he must remember is bound to be different from the ideal of the judge (and that judges differ). Lastly, when you get a clutch of chickens from the best possible mating you could desire to make, don’t be surprised to find that there are only a few chicks up to expectations —that, in fact, the proportions of culls is large; for, remember, Nature’s pull is against all your efforts, and she is strong. Nature is not “all out” as you are for 300 eggs per bird per year, and she has no desire for trio arbitrary markings insisted upon in Uhe standards when she instituted her breeding programme. There is room fc-r plenty of pride—justifiable prode at that —and satisfaction if only a few specimens, results of your care in mating, are up to expectation, for to score against Nature’s “pull” is progress. Keep Purebreds. It costs just, as much to keep a “dung-hill” or “barn-door” fowl that lays (5 eggs a year as it does to feed a purebred pullet that will lay 200 or more eggs a year. Such a remark has often been made, and, thought it is not exactly true, it is near enough to fact to be allowed to pass. As a mat ter of fact, the better the layer the more she eats, but she eats to her owner’s profit, and not to her owner’s loss, as does the poorer layer. Further, the eggs laid by the purebred bird can be sold as settings at a good price. Whilst the eggs of rhe “barn-door” fowl are never worth more than they fetch at the grocer’s. Four-months-old Chicks. When growing chicks are about four months old they are getting their last feathers. A little gentle encouragement does not come amiss at this time, and linseed is one of tlhe best helps that can be given. The .meal should be used in the proportion of 51b; to every 1001 b. of the other meals used in the mash weighed to a dry state. This addition of linseed will prove of great assitsance to Ihe growing pullets and complete the feathering process rapidly without imposing too great a strain on the system. Another important point is to appreciate the fact that whilst assisting the pullets in their production of feathers, it is wise to provide the means of rendering those feafih-ers strong and bright—in fact, healthy and useful in every respect, a real protection to the body in all seasons—and this condition is assured by providing them with plenty of good stone grit. The silica absorbed into the blood from the worn stones is necessary for the' production of good feathers.