Poultry Notes

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 87, 13 April 1938, Page 11

Poultry Notes

VOULTKI KEEPING FOR PROFIT

MOULTING HENS

The seasonal decline in egg production from the hen flock is now apparent, as most hens are heavily in the moult. It is natural for the hens to moult annually, but because they arc out of production they should not be neglected; rather should they be given a little extra attention to help bring them back into profit at the earliest moment.

It is natural that hens are not particularly attractive during the moult, first, because egg production has almost ceased; second, because they are ragged and unkempt in appearance, and third, because the hen tfouse looks untidy with so many old feathers lying about. Hens in the moult usually are somewhat erratic in their appetites and though they should be well fed, the mistake should not be made of giving an over-supply of food otherwise they will tend to become over-fat and will be later in returning to production. I always make a point of creasoting the perches and combating the lice nuisance by thinly painting the perches with Black Leaf 40 about half an hour before roosting time. One application of Black Leaf 40 is sufficient, and it should be used sparingly. Incidentally, it is a poison and should be handled with care. When the last ot the birds have caste their old feathers, it is wise to clean the house by removing all the old litter and feathers, and replacing them with good clean straw. A few handfuls of grain scattered in the new straw after the birds have gone to roost will cause much scratching in the early morning. One of the greatest aids to the speedy re« turn to production is exercise, and experience has shown clearly that it pays to encourage this early morning scratching by a light scattering of grain after dusk. Birds that have not yet begun to moult should not be used as breeders. This to some may seem strange advice, it is usually found that those odd birds which lay right through the year, though profitable to keep as layers, seldom produce good chickens. Nature meant birds to moult and spell cnce a year, and it is unwise to work against this natural law. Again, I say do not neglect the moulting hens but rather give them extra attention at this time of the year.

Watch the Pullets. If you have practised daily culling of chicks throughout the brooding period you are likely to have nothing but good pullets. However, it should never be forgotten that some birds inherit low vitality, or short life, anti some of these may escape detection I during the brooding period. If you i wish to make money you should be on ! the look-out for such birds every time- | you feed and care for your pullet?, i The sooner a cull is removed from the I flock the smaller is the loss involved. I It must not be forgotten, however. 1 that many good chickens and pullets are made culls by improper care. Systematic culling involves a watchful eye on the caretaker as well as on the growing stock. If pullets aru crowded, if there is a lack of fresh air, if they are allowed to get coccidouisis or round worms or parasites, it is the poultryman and not the pullet that needs attention. In this case the pullets should not be slaughtered or sold lo the butcher, but the conditions thai made them culls should be removed. Now let us assume that your pullefs are mature and ready for the laying house. What is the first step in your culling programme? Perhaps the first step is to avoid conditions that will make heavy culling later a necessity. I suggest that the early maturing birds, especially those that are well grown and thrifty, be selected and placed in one unit of the laying house, and that, at the same time or later, pullets that are slower in development be placed in another unit. This will give both lots a better opportunity to function as they should. Importance of Management. Here again the poultryman must have things so organised as not to produce culls unnecessarily. Crowding in the house or round the feed hoppers a lack of fresh air poorly balanced feed, a lack of feed, or feed with inadequate supply of vitamins may change some good birds into culls. If the managerial factors are right, cullis easy. The first five or six birds, or better, the first 3 or 4 per cent, of the birds that come into production, especially if they arc underweight, are likely to prove a disappointment, but these birds should not be removed as culls until they cease laying and go into a moult. The last 5 per cent, of pullets that come into production ar« likely to be culls. Any Leghorn pullet that is not. in full production before she is seven months old may as well be sold. Treatment of Sick Birds. Having rejected all except the birds that give promise of profitable production, watch daily for signs of sickness, loss of appetite, or other evidences of weakness or disease. Such birds offer you a choice of two lines ot action; either lake Ihe birds out as culls, or find out what is causing Ihe condition and correct it. All sick birds, and all weak birds should, ot course, be removed to a hospital. It they cannot be quickly revived and brought back into vital action and

appetite, they should be sold as culls. Another step in systematic culling may be taken after pullets have been in production five or six months. The application of this step or the use of it will, of course, be governed by a knowledge of feeding condition, ana of the general health of the birds. If we assume for a moment that your pullets have been kept healthy, and have been furnished with a well-bal-anced diet, including an adequate supply of vitamins, especially vitamin A. well-faded shanks will indicate that the birds have been in high production for a long time. If the birds are sick or infested with parasites, or it there is no green feed, the shanks may be pale without heavy production. Under normal conditions birds that have heavy pigment in their shanks or bars of pigment on the beak are low producers, and should be removed from the flock.

Let us assume that you have kept you flock properly culled, but not over-culled, until your pullets have been laying 10 or 12 months, and you are ready to put a new flock of pullets into the laying house. Are you to assume because you have kept only good-looking birds, and healthy birds, that all of them are equally good layers? No. Nearly one half of the pullets that you have carried through the first year, even under a systematic culling programme, will not be profitable producers if kept a second year. This is the time when you must handle and examine carefully every bird in the flock. Egg Production. Some of your birds probably laid fewer than 150 eggs in the first year, others may have laid 250, and a very few as many as 300. Your job is to select for the second year’s production only birds that laid 200 eggs or better during the first 12 months. If you can do this and keep only birds of high record, you may be able to get an average production from your year-old hens equal to the production of your pullet flock. If you keep everything that make a profit during the first year, the average production from your old hens is likely to be from 20 to 30 per cent, less than for the same flock in the pullet year. What, briefly, are the indications of a good hen at the end of her laying year? Her eyes are bright and alert. Her comb is well-developed, red and velvety. She does not moult early. Her shanks are likely to be well bleached. Her abdomen is soft and pliable. The skin is thin and smooth. She shows no yellow pigment round her face, beak, or eyes. She is likely to have a long rectangular body, deep from the centre of the back to thu front of the breastbone. She is likely to have a back that carries good width from the hips to the base ot the tail. If you select a flock of birds such as these for your second year’s production and if in making the selection, you have preserved a few more birds Ilian you have house room for, watch how you birds eat. Reject those that go to roost with a partially filled crop. Keep those that eat fast and furiously. If you do each and all of these things, you will have followed a systematic culling programme.