POULTRY NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume 100, Issue 16712, 30 January 1926, Page 19 (Supplement)

POULTRY NOTES.

(By "Moorfowl.")

THE FEATHERJNG STOCK.

Young chickens grow about thneo sets of plumage during their first year of development from spring to autumn. The feather growth begins as soon as the baby chick comes out of the shell, if not before, and continues until the adult plumage is, mature. The first feathers appear in the wing, and look like flight feathers, but before long the chick begins to grow its real flight feathers and those first little feathers which may have appeared to be badly off-coloured, are found on the 6ide of the wing as little insigniCccnt, old feathers about to be moulted out. Growth of the body seems to necessitate a constant production of feathers, and each new set of feathers is firmer and has a more durable webbing. The first set is quite flimsy, and the feathers on the cockerels are shaped and coloured like those of the pullets. With the next crop the character of the cockerels' feathers changes; and upon examination it is found that the cockerels are growing long pointed feathers on their backs. The development of the reproductive organs seems to influence this change..

It is sometimes difficult to tell when the one set of feathers is complete and another growth started, for there seems to be a constant shedding and growing of feathers in young birds;; but after the characteristic male plumage begins to develop, the cockerels of many varieties soon take on a very different colour from their sister pullets, and never again in these breeds in which there is a striking difference in the colour and markings of male and female, will the males be coloured like the pullets. For this reason some breeders of pencilled varieties like Silver Pencilled Wyandottes and Partridge Ro"cks, and varieties like Brown Leghorns and Silver Grey Dorkings—mark those little chick-feather-ed cockerels that have the best pullet markings, and then the following year they breed these males for the production of beautifully coloured pullets. Distinguish Cockerels by their Plumage. When a poultry keeper is unable to tell whether a chick is a cockerel or a pullet, because of undeveloped head parts, let him pick up the chick, and if narrow, pointed feathers, which arc characteristic of a cock's saddle, are coming out on the back, the bird is a cockerel. I have never known this test to fail. Forecasting the Colour of a Bird by New Plumage Just Starting.

In culling young birds for colour, always look at'the new crop that is grow ing underneath and judge them by it rather than by old feathers that appear on the surface and which will soon be supplanted by the new. It will be found that a Rhode Island Red cockerel which has a light coloured hackle will not show much improvement with age; but a Brown Leghorn cockerel that shows red in his breast will usually change into a pure black breasted bird; or a light Brahrna pullet that has black ticking in her back may clear up after she is six months of age. If the new breeder is not crowded for room, he should grow practically all his chicks the first year, that he may become familiar with the way they feather and colour up.

Young birds are not the only ones that change. A pencilled pullet after laying through the spring and-moult-ing in the summer, usually comes out as a better pencilled lien; and this mature moult, which comes at the end of the first year of laying to transform pullets into hens, may change an open laced pullet into a mossy backed hen. It is because of this uncertainty that many breeders prefer to mate hens for the production of hatching eggs. Hens have lived long enough for defects of colour and markings to have asserted themselves. By this advanced selection the different varieties of domestic fowl are being purified for colour and markings, and the number of good specimens in a hatch is to-day greater than formerly.

If is desirable, that chickens as well as older fowls that arc growing plumage should receive good care and nourishing food. The growing of plumage is a drain on the body. Under damp or crowded conditions, or as a result of poor feeding, a Brown Leghorn cockerel or lieu may moult in white, in their wing feathers. White is-a serious defect that may appear in all col oured varieties, and is as often the result of faulty condition as of poor breeding.

The fi/Soult Is an Indication of Egg Yield. The length of time required to moult is shorter in birds of high vigour. The question of length of moult is of importance because females do not lay many eggs during the time they are shedding or growing plumage. The average time required for a complete moult is 'JO to 100 days. The moult is considered one of Jhe best outward signs of egg production. When a female carries her old plumage late in the season, it is a good sign that she is a long distance layer that has not dried up and gone to moulting. The practice of culling out early moulters is for the purpose of eliminating the hens that are not persistently good layers. The practice, however, seems to work better with the nonsitting breeds than with the dual purpose breeds. A female of the dual purpose breeds that is set on eggs and allowed to brood a clutch of chicks, may begin to moult before her chicks are big enough to take care of themselves. She may have been a very good winter and spring layer, and after a moult prove to be a good late summer and autumn layer. The starvation during the setting period and the change of feed when running with chicks, brings on the moult. If hens were culled merely by the condition of their plumage—by the moult —more than one good Rock, Wyandotte, Red and Orpington would be eliminated. It used to be the policy to change and reduce the feed that hens were receiving during the summer to encourage the moult. This was called a "forced moult," and the purpose was\ to get the necessary and unavoidable process of shedding over with so that there would be increased productiveness during the early winter. The present-day policy is to let hens lay as long as they will, and then moult of their own accord.

Birds Growing Plumage Require

Good Care.

The beauty of all new plumage depends to some extent on feeding and condition. Buffs that are faded may moult out quite beautiful if • shaded during the process. Many Red females come in lighter in colour after moulting, but the number of non-fading Rhode Island hens is increasing. Purple bars on black feathers are sometimes the result of lice or retarded feather growth. Creaminess in white birds results from feeding •yellow corn during feather growth or may appear in birds enjoying free range, but will largely disappear as the sap in the feather dries out. One of the most important things in management is to see that the growing tail plumage, particularly on males, does not become broken as a result of a roost being 100 near the wall. These are simple things that will not transform a poorly bred bird into a good one, but may make a difference of a first instead of a fourth prize.

Vigour is of particular importance in both young and old birds, and everything that serves to maintain high vigour contributes to the production of good plumage. Poor feathering is a sign' of poor health and poor management. ■ ' Of course, in marked types the cockerels

feather slower but a chick which looks ragged and wretched when others of even age are well clad, is what an English fancier would call a "bad doer, and should be culled out.

JOTTINGS. Do not force hens to lay while they are in the moult. Feather development is a heavy strain and must be completed before egg production can ■commence. One of the most important lessons that the poultry-keeper has to learn is that neglect to do things at the right time is a sure fore runner of failure. The early hatched pullets will be quite a nice size now, and must not be overcrowded if they are to lay through out the winter.

Beware of unduly forcing a pullet. Precocious laying should be discouraged. It is a mistake to force pullets to lay by means of a meat diet. Such forcing is opposed to normal development, and the pullets subjected to it are weakened in constitution and will never be fit to produce a vigorous prolific offspring.