THE POUETRY KEEPER

Waikato Times, Volume 96, Issue 15353, 29 September 1923, Page 18 (Supplement)

THE POUETRY KEEPER

3y “MoorfowL"

THE AFTER-CARE OF CHICKS, There is a tendency on the part of many poultry-keepers to regard chicks alter they have reached the age of about six weeks as having passed the danger zone, ancl for that reason to be liable to neglect them. This is a fatal mistake, and a frequent cause of failure to rear stock capable of producing eggs in satisfactory numbers. Although it is true that the same close attention required in the earlier stages is not needed, there must be no neglect, for ii healthy and fully developed stock is to be reared, growth must be continuous from first to last. A common cause of retarded growth and check to development is the keeping of chirks longer than is necessary with the mother, or crowded together in the coop or brooder, and so causing them to become over-heated. Proper ventilation, giving a free supply of oxygen, is one of the chief essentials to health and growth. Removing the Hen. The mother.therefore should be removed as soon as the chicks can do without her body heat. Their removal to a chicken house fitted with perches should follow when they have been “hardened off” for a few days without the hen, or in the (jase of artificially reared chicks, without any heat in the brooder. It is important that every effort should be made to get them on to the perches at as early an age as possible. No injury to the breast will result if the chicks have been properly grown. Crooked breasts are not due to early perching, but to some weakness in the chicks . themselves, either inherited from the parents are brought about by defective feeding or rearing. Want of-' shelter during the hot dry days •in the summer is a common cause of flagging, and young stock without any protection from the burning sun at such times will receive a cheek which • must seriously affect their growth and development. A simple .(yet effeotive shelter may be constructed out of a hurdle raised 18in off the ground on pegs and covered with a sack, or a couple of hurdles covered with straw and placed lengthwise to lean against each other. Watch For Pests. Body vermin, and red mites in the sleeping quarters, must be carefully guarded against by frequent examinations, and as a preventive the chicks should be dusted occasionally with a good insect powder and the perches and their sockets treated with paraffin or creosote. The feeding must be regular and directed towards a steady but hard growth, and to the encouragement of exercise by throwing all grain feed into litter or any available long grass. The morning feed should be rather scanty, to induce foraging, and in the evening chickens should be given as much as they can eat, though anything in the shape of forcing foods, sucli as meat or fish, should be strictlv dimited, and entirely omitted on any sign of too early maturity. The necessity for an ample supply of fresh green vegetables must not be overlooked. Fresh, clean water should always be within reach, and also grit and shell. TESTS FOR DUCKS. A very useful part has been played by egg-laying tests for ducks in England, in forcibly demonstrating the value of ducks as egg-producers. The method of trap-penning the birds for individual, records was described in these pages some time ago; but a variant has been instituted here with the present series of laying tests, in that pens of-five ducks are recorded collectively. There are about thirty of these pens set out in a dell, down the middle of which a small stream flows. In order to induce the competitors to take enough exercise, the grass runs arc long and narrow. The birds are generally at the far ends of their runs in the morning, favouring the opposite bank of the stream, where their shelters are placed, in the afternoon. Most or their time the ducks are out in the open, the hutches being chiefly visited for laying purposes. Whilst there is not sufficient range for the birds to enable them to supplement materially the food which is regularly supplied, the test is interesting,, as it proves that the approach towards normal farming iconditions is not detrimental to the supply of eggs; in fact, the average number of eggs laid per bird is a trifle higher with the pens than the large trappenned flock which runs concurrently.

OUR GREAT HOPE. The export trade has begun, remarks the N.Z. Poultry Jonral. The Southerners especially have risen to

the occasion. Canterbury is sending 15,000 dozen; Otago, 14,000 dozen; J and both in Canterbury and Otago | there is a determination to follow on with another shipment. It is unfortunate the chamber will not hold the full complement of the North, but there are other boats to follow, and as there appears to be an ample supply of eggs, we hope to see more efforts made. In any case one shipment is not enough to try out a market. Personally we should like to see more eggs follow on. The market commission of the N.Z. Poultry Association has done excellent work in organising the first shipment, and now the machinery is at work, it will be an easy matter to get more eggs away. The Government instructors have dione splendidly. Under Mr Brown and his assistants, the eggs are going forward in splendid order, and if any country is sending England better eggs than'ours, well, we won’t take the information on hearsay. Producers must feel proud of their effort. We wish them the best of results. HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Coarse sand makes an excellent grit for newly-hatched chicks. With plenty of coarse sand available, no other grit need be supplied. Keep the chicks comfortable and happy. This is of far greater importance than fussing about brooder temperatures. Sunshine and fresh air are Nature’s best disinfectants and disease preventives. No danger of having too much fresh air. i

Fresh cut green bones will Interest the chicks. Try it and watch results. Let young stock range in the vegetable beds. They help keep down the weeds and insects.

Market poorly developed specimens as soon as marketable weight is reached. There is no room on the present-day poultry plant for anything but the best.

Arrange to place all brooders and [chicken coops in a location where sudden rainfalls will not flood them.

Why raise mongrels? Try a flock of day-olds from the yards of a breeder of thoroughbred stock . September chicks usually thrive well. Provide shade and shelter for the growing chicks. Berry bushes, growing 'corn, and fruit-trees afford excellent shade.

“Cannibalism,” or picking at one another, is a troublesome habit in young chicks that are kept in crowded quarters and improperly fed. The remedy is obvious. Cull the chicks when they are put in the brooder, again in about three days, and then at three weeks. After this any that fall behind in growth will not be so slow in growth and can be grown for market. A pullet that seems unthrifty or undersize at any stage of growth will bloom out at maturity, so that she can hardly be distinguished from the others. But she will never be a good layer, so why keep her? To decide which of the cockerels to keep, pick the best balanced birds. If you are fond of a good even comb, or high or low tail, as the case may be, don’t let your eye for this one feature cause you to lose sight of other qualities which are more important.