THE POULTRY KEEPER

Waikato Times, Volume 94, Issue 14776, 15 October 1921, Page 13 (Supplement)

THE POULTRY KEEPER

By "MoorfawL" I

POULTRY HOUSES

The method of procedure in the construction of poultry houses is a subject which should command a great deal of attention. There are still a number, id' people, unfortunately, who think that anything is good enough for poultry. The contention of such people is that the hen in her natural state slept in the open, in the I roes, anywhere. They think, therefore, they are treating the fowls quite well if they provide draughty, crazy building's, through which in bad weather, when the stock require special treatment, the winds can howl, and the water pour. They overlook the fact that the hen in her natural state laid only a few eggs in the year, and that the high' egg yield of the modern hen is an artificial product, and that artificial means are thus necessary to obtain and maintain it. Hidden deep in the jungles of India the Little jungle fowl laid in the spring time only, and thus it is easily recognisable that if the hen of to-day is to be kept laying to the fullest extent right throughout the year, she must be kept as near as possible under conditions alike to those of spring. She must have a warm comfortable, roomy house, in which she can exercise instead of standing about in the wet yard. Colds and roup in chickens and adult stock are almost invariably caqsed by inferior housing, and the poultryman, knowing the contagious nature of roup and its dire effects on birds, will take the initial step in its prevention by the erection of suitable houses. Altogether it is utterly absurd to keep high-class birds, and house them poorly. There arc a number of people who overdo the housing of their poultry'! in other words, they seem to be under the impression that no air must be allowed to enter the house, and that the only opening should be the little door for the passage 5n and out of the stock. This is going to the opposite extreme, and is perhaps more harmful than the use of 100 airy buildings. Closed in fowl-houses must ultimately result in a decided weakening in the constitution of the stock while the too airy structures have at least the advantage of causing a survival of the fittest.

The type of house to be built depends upon the number of birds kept together 'in one flock, and upon the climate. In the Walkalo where the climate is mild, and comparatively equable, the open-fronted house is the one to adopt for the accommodating ot flocks of 15 or more layers. By an open-fronted house is meant a house draught-proof at the back and on both sides; with the front boarded up for a height of about twenty-four inches, and with a downward sloping hoori placed at an angle of about 45 degrees from the front of the house attached at the top of the front. On the remaining portion of the front lis scoured wire-netting of a fine mesh to defy the sparrows. (To be continued) FOWL WHEAT. ALLEGED FOUL DEALINGS. A PROFITEERING CHARGE. Was it a fact that importers , of fowl wheat were allowed to make bigger profits than the growers of Dominion wheat? asked Mr G. Witty (Riecarton) in Parliament the other afternoon. It was reported that they were making more profit per bushel than New Zealand growers ma'de per sack. The Hon. W. Nosworthy replied that, speaking offhand, he believed that prices were adjusted on a parity with locally-grown fowl wheat. Permission had been given to import a certain amount of fowl wheat some nine months ago; but there was some misunderstanding over shipping, and it was not brought into New Zealand. He had, therefore, given permission to import a limited quantity, up to 15,000 sacks. Re would have inquiries made as to what the understanding witli the Wheat Control Office was as to the importation of this wheat. iif Hie importers were charging more lhan fhey should he would have steps taken to rectify that. Government Protecting Interests of Poultrymen. Retailors are selling fowl wheat in Palmerston North at 10s Oil per bushel. A Standard reporter enquired of the manager of a local milling company why this should be, in view of the fact that the Board of Trade price for milling wheat is 7s 7id. It was pointed out that the maximum price for fowl wheat I'n the South Island was 8s 3d, sacks extra. The North Island dealer sold fowl wheat with "sacks in," so that it would be seen that after paying freight and transport charges his profit was not great. Our manager stated that the Government was doing all in its power to protect and further flic interests of poultrymen wilh regard to wheat, but despite this fact it was thought in sum! quarters that he reverse was the case. The attitude of the Government, towards the poultrymen was exemplified in the stringent regulations governing the importation of Australian fowl wheat into New Zealand. In the first place it was extremely difficult for anyone to procure a permit to import the commodity, and when the permit had been granted a guarantee was required that only the best fowl wheat was being handled, that it was free of weevil, that it was part of last seasen's crop, that it had not been chemically treated in any way, and that it was intended solely for sale as fowl wheat ami not for manufacture for human consumption. Many of those interested in the poultry industry diil not realise that .such action was taken, and that the Government fixed the price of the imported product. Our manager thought that a. wilier dissemination of these facls would result in greater satisfaction prevailing in the minds of poultrymen. THE POULTRY SP.'DUSTRY. AS SEEN IN CALIFORNIA. (Continued.) Somo Shortcomings. In some respects, however, Ihe American was deficient, no attention was paid to Ihe strain, type or size of the birds: he saw fewer good birds in California lhan he had seen in New Zealand, and he had seen many 111 il the New Zealand poultry farmer would refuse to keep. The average standard was far below the New Zealand types. Then, again, there were no properly conducted egg-laying competitions. A! Santa Cruz, the speaker saw a competition, in which i' l men had entered six birds each. The fowls were idenlifled by leg-hands and laid their p'-'g<, in Irap-nests which had to be perpetually watched to cheek ihe laying. There was no single pen testing, such aa wc had ha New Zealand.

A man to whom he had spoken had now introduced the single pen system, and was loud in his praise of it. Great attention was, however, paid to feeding, and they showed good results. With regard to the marketing »f their produce, the Californi'ans had a very One co-operative society. It commenced operations only six years ago with a capital of £500.000, and last year the turnover was £2,500,000. That was not the value of the entire produce of that district, but of that handled by the co-operative society. As in every country but England the egg market had fallen low last summer, and the Americans were quick to .take advantage of the better prices in England, and sent a sample shipment of 30,000 dozen eggs to London, followed by another consignment of ten times that size, a 32 clays' trip by sea. Here in New Zealand we were only 38 to 44 days distant from the Home market. New Zealand, according to their association's representative in London, should produce a large portion of the eggs England required, the market for which was worth £8,000,000 per annum, and they did not get any more than that for their butter. The English market was available, but they must first produce sufficient eggs for home consumption. Exporting Expectations.

The speaker went on to describe the patent process of preserving the eggs by dipping them in boiling oil of a certain kind, which, while the egg was in cool storage, kept a film round it that prevented evaporation of the egg and a disagreeable humidity from permeating the porous shell. The machinery necessary to establish this process had now arrived in New Zealand, and in a month or so the Corinthic would take a sample shipment of oil-preserved eggs and egg pulp to London. The egg pulp was produced in Australia and New Zealand on a better system than elsewhere, and was sure to command a market. It had the additional advantage of being less bulky than eggs. If the initial consignment proved a success, they could all prepare to extend their businesses at once. They could achieve great things, but it will require time. The preserving of eggs in water-glass and lime had been extensively discarded in favour of this more modern method. The speaker said he had a pulping plant in Christchurch that could pulp 800 dozen orgs per hour. Ten dozen eggs were done at a time. Every vestige of the white and yolk were extracted from the shells by means of centrifugal force.