POULTRY NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume 103, Issue 17412, 26 May 1928, Page 22 (Supplement)

POULTRY NOTES.

MINERALS FOR POULTRY. Mr Richard Ward, M.P.S., writing in the Feathered World, in referonce to this subject, says:—ln calling the attention of poultry-breeders to the importance of this interesting subject, I do not .lay claim to having made any new discovery, for the requirements of the constituent parts of a fowl remain the same as they were thousands of years ago, when the earth was made and animals and birds jf all kinds were created by an alseeing Providence for the uses and service of mankind. My object in putling pen to paper is to direct greater application of the prevailing deficiency if those mineral elements without which neither beast nor bird can thrive. Experiments of a technical and useful nature go far to prove that cereal foods alone do not embrace all the elements necessary to mild up a sound constitution on an adequate framework. The deficiency of.lime, phosphorus, chlorine, sulphur, .1011 and iodine in the daily rations — especially of fowls kept in a confined run—is to a great extent accountable for many present-day Disorders and Diseases.

No wonder so many chickens die from nalnutrition or are stunted in growth, vvcak in legs, and lacking in substance, .uppleness, and richness of feathering. Without an adequate supply in the system of the elements already referred to adult fowls fail to function according to the iaws of Nature. Not uily so but during the moulting season fowls are apt to change their ;dumage tardily, and the new growths do not possess the much-desired qualities they otherwise might possess. As regards fowls kept for egg production, there is a marked difference in the size, quantity, and quality of the eggs produced by hens to which mineral requirements are regularly supplied and those in the menu of which mineral salts arc deficient. Lime enters largely into the component parts of bone, and is also absolutely necessary in the vital functions of the body as a whole. Calcium, i.e., lime, exists in the crust of the earth—more so in some districts than in others. Chalk answers the same purpose. Lime for building and other purposes of a like nature is manufactured by the burning in a kiln of free limestone, but this being more or less of a caustic nature, it is certainly Not Suitable for poultry

until it has been converted into a carbona/e by "Slaking" with water and exposure to the air, after which for .safety's sake it should be stored for a time in a dry place from which a current of air is not excluded, and it will be all the better if turned over occasionally. Oyster shell dust and finely ground limestones arc recommended as a substitute for Hie above, and gives less trouble. Phosphours is found in Nature only in a state of combination chiefly in the form of phosphate of lime, and only in this and a few other chemical combinations is it safe to administer phosphates lo poultry. Cereals, especially wheat, contain phosphoric elements, but not nearly enough to supply full requirements. The preparing of a mineral mixture should be left to a practical chemist. Phosphorus exists in large proportions in bodies of birds, in the blood, in the feathering, and to a great extent in the bones. Chlorine occurs in Nalure in great abundance in combination with many mineral substances such as rock salt, but I do not recommend its use for poultry in this crude state. Salt, in moderation, in combination with inert mineral matter, is valuable for purifying and enriching the blood. But it should be borne in mind too much has a deleterious effect. Sulphur in one form or another must not be overlooked. Small repeated doses unmixed with substances of a chemical nature, are best. As this is not a lecture in chemistry I refrain from a fuller explanation at present. Sulphur is found in nearly every part of the earth, ohieily in the form of ores, but in tills crude form it is not suitable for poultry. .The changes which It has first to undergo are many and vau4ous, and need not be defined in such an article as this. Sulphur is Directly Beneficial |

in the purified or sulphated stale. lodine is contained in Nature ' principally in sea plants and sea water in the tv*m of iodide or sodium, magnesium, and potassium. The great source of iodine is burnt seaweed, commonly known as kelp. It is largely manufactured in Glasgow, and made also on the Scottish a.nd Irish coasts. In use for poultry potassium iodide is most •suHablr. Other minerals there are, some d'ozens or more chemioal elements which are comprised in the animai body, but at present. I only allude to those that tan safely ba

added to the customary rations. Charcoal should never be omitted. Sulphate of magnesia (Epsom salts), and sulphate of soda (Glauber’s salts), and also useful, but the two last named need only be used as occasion dictates. KEROSENE IN INCUBATION. The artificial incubation of chickens dates back to 1000 8.C.. or thereabouts ;#but incubation such as was carried.on in China and Egypt in those days was done by expert egg hatchers, whose training was a life-long business. The secrets they held were not known to all and sundry; rather were they handed down from father to son. Many of the secrets required considerable inherited skill, one of these being the extraordinary methods of judging, by sensations on skin and eye, the temperature of the underground hatching ovens in which they hatched up to a million eggs at a time. Since the discovery of kerosene, which made possible the development of the modern incubator, artificial incubation has been reduced to a fairly simple process. At the same time, •there are certain factors which make for successful incubation, and which it will not pay poul'try-raisers to overlook in these days of keen competition. Although the manufacturers •of incubators and brooders have developed their machines to quite a high state of perfection and efficiency, inferior kerosene will do more to ruin 'their good work than anything else. The incubator depends on the kerosene for its performance, but it is obvious that the best incubators produced in Australia or New Zealand will not hatch chickens if, for example, the lamp splutters out through the night. Obviously, with valuable eggs—sometimes of pedigree stock —none but the best kerosene is really worthy of consideration. In signed testimonies, many manufacturers have stated that Laurel burns cleaner, lasts longer and what is considered by them the most essential feature of all —it burns evenly, evenness of temperature being a sine qua non of the best hatching results. Kerosene should be chosen with | much care, as has been already indicated. When eggs are chosen to hatch layers, the wise poultry-raiser investigates the laying record of the hen. So it is not unusual, but wise, to study the record of the kerosene to he used to hatch valuable eggs. Mr J. Wear, a successful poultry- . farmer at Wcrribee, in Victoria, stated j recently that all his best competition birds had been hatched by Laurel kerosene, which he had used exclusively for the past ten yea-'s.