Poultry Notos

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 255, 27 October 1937, Page 11

Poultry Notos

TURKEY REARING. SIDELINE FOR FARMERS. Many turkey flocks are, of course, established in what really amounts to a wild state in this country, and do fairly well in the warmer parts of the Dominion. But they can bo of very little commercial value. An experiment was made in exporting turkeys for table to Great Britain last season, and while this holds possibilities, a really good class of bird will be required. The wild ones very often have to be shot to be captured at all, and may prove to be any age, while a good table turkey should be bled in normal fashion for fat stock and should be about six months old ana not more than a year. As for using the turkey hen for rearing on the farm, she makes a fairly good mother, but especially if a stag has been introduced to the flock from a highly “civilised” strain (and there are some splendid imported strains in the country), the hens will lay far more eggs than they can sit on themselves. They will lay 30 to 40 eggs or more in a clutch if the first 20 are removed from the nest, leaving always a nest egg, of course. The surplus eggs can be sold for eating or they can even be preserved for selling to bakers (who naturally appreciate the large size) next winter. But if the object is to raise a good-sized turkey flock, then the extra eggs must be set under hens or put in an incubator. Turkey eggs take 28 to 30 days to hatch, generally the latter under hens. Choose good-sized hens of the short-legged, stocky type, and set each on nine or at the most 10 eggs in a saucer-shaped nest of earth, with just a little nesting material. By the third week the hens can have a good quarter of an hour off the nest each day, and the last week 20 minutes, with dry dust handy for a bath, so that they will not get too bored or out of condition with the long sit. Damp the nests thoroughly with very warm water just before the hens return on the 26th. and 27th. days. It is usual to set three hens at once and give the chicks to two, or even one, if it is not a good hatch. Eggs can be tested for fertility, over a bright light at night, after the seventh day. Intensive Method. Although rearing by hens or the turkeys themselves is by far the most usual method on the farm, and hatching by incubator and rearing indoors seems unnatural, more trouole and everything ‘that is wrong with birds so near their wild state, yet there is not the least doubt that artificial methods can be far more successful than the more natural ones. Turkey eggs hatch well in an incubator—quite as well as hen eggs and better than duck eggs. Machines can be used after the rush of hen and duck hatching is over, so that it should be quite easy to get turkey eggs customhatched where there is not a machine on the farm. Even the saving in eggs broken during hatching amounts to some advantage, although it is in the rearing that greatest advantage is looked for.

Newly-hatched turkey chicks’ needs are exactly similar to those of ordinary chicks. That is, they need more warmth than ducklings. They can even be reared in a “cold” brooder, i.e., a well-insulated (and ventilated box in which they will keep themselves warm if shut in between meals. But this is much more work than if a little heat is supplied. The great and important advantage of artificial rearing for turkey chicks over natural methods is that they can be kept off wet or damp earth for the first three months of their existence and away from other poultry ol any kind. Their brooder, whatever form it takes, should be in a shed. Wood or bitumen floor would be ideal —it can be cleaned so thoroughly; but a dry earth floor can also be kept comparatively clean. Wiien planning such rearing it is very necessary to keep in mind the enormous growths that turkey chicks make, and that they are bigger than hens at three months, before it is advisable to release them to natural conditions. Also although they must have cosy quarters for the first week or two, after that they need very well ventilated sleeping accommodation and at five or six weeks like to perch. An openfronted shed, facing north or northeast, is ideal. If easterly storms are about when the chicks are young, sacking should be tacked up to prevent the floor getting wet. Feeding. Turkey chicks need more protein and more green feed than ordinary chicks, which possibly accounts for them doing better wild than under the usual farm conditions. Starchy foods are not particularly good for them, although a little bread and milk, squeezed dry, does not harm for their first feed; it is so nice and _ j asy lor them to pick up and so learn to feeci. In the feeding again, there is a great advantage in having the chicks without hens or turkey broodies, because they can be fed dry, and any trouble with scouring is most easily eliminated. Start broder chicks on flaky bran, the third day gradually changing this to 301 b. bran, to 251 b. pollard, 151 b. maize meal, 101 b. oatmeal and 201 b, meat and bone meal and ilb. salt. If it is desirable to use dry curd, this can be introduced for one meal in the day, at 10 days, and increased gradually, but it must be strained very dry. Should skim milk not be available for this, dried buttermilk powder should take the piace ot a third of the meat and bone meal in the mash suggested above Maize is splendid grain for them, though if it has to be bought, a mixture of cut wheat, hulled oats and kibble maize in equal parts may be less expensive. A Clean Up. A thorough clean-up now will save heavy losses later. Red mite and other parasites not only torment the birds during the night but are believed to convey disease from one that is ailing to others that have hitherto been healthy. Thorough creosoting of the perches and the sockets or supports on which they rest leaves them clean and if done in the morning of a sunny day th creosote is dry by the evening. If there are houses to spare, it is better to give each one in turn a complete rest while it is being cleaned and overhauled eo make it weatherproof and sanitary for the winter.

Among the first houses to receive attention should be those in which the most forward pullets are to be placed. The young birds need time to settle down before they start to lay as if moved too late they are likely to go into a moult, which would seriously affect autumn production. It is essential their new quarters should be free from any contamination left by older birds. Troughs, hoppers, drinking fountains and other vessels should have a thorough overhaul, followed by scalding. If particles of foods are left in crevices and cracks and not removed they make troughs, and particularly hoppers, sour and generally unpleasant. Any falling off in egg production can be checked by the precautions mentioned, but the most important safeguard is to provide all the nutriment needed by the birds which have been laying. A mixture composed of three parts of weatings two parts each of home-milled bran and maize meal and one part of white-fish meal supplies all that is needed, and a layer eating about 22 ounces of this mixture daily will have every assistance in keeping up a good regular output.