POULTRY NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume 106, Issue 17840, 12 October 1929, Page 22 (Supplement)

POULTRY NOTES.

ANXIOUS TIMES. The brooding and growing periods are the times in which to guard against crooked breast-bones. They are due to inability of the chick to grow bones of either because of lack of hone forming elements in the ration, or because the chick is not able to make use of these elements to the necessary extent. Chicks should be given plenty of opportunity to run in the direct sunlight, and it is often wise to add cod liver oil to the ration at the rate of one pint to every hundred pounds of mash. In the past early roosting has been blamed for crooked breastbones, but this is not the cause. Early roosting should be encouraged, to save grief later, when the pullets are ready for the permanent quarters or laying

houses. If they have not the habit of roosting then, they will sleep on the floor, which is not desirable. Chicks should be encouraged to roost when they are four to live weeks old. GUINEA FOWLS. At one time quite a number of people had a few guinea fowls. These birds are a great table delicacy, and make a wonderful substitute for many game birds, such as quail and partridge or grouse. People will always be found to purchase guinea fowls. Guinea fowls in the wild tend to mate in pairs, but it is possible to secure fertile eggs by allowing three to four hens to one male. Good birds will lay thirty to forty eggs in a season. They can be gathered, and after a week or two hatched out under an ordinary hen, which can cover about eighteen. The hen and young guinea fowls are fed and cared for in much the same way as a brood of chicks, except that the young birds like to roam in the fields and pick up most of their food. In the late summer the guineas will weigh about one and a half pounds, which is plump. They weigh when matured about four pound and grow rapidly. They usually are sold in pairs, with the feathers on. They are strong, and lit'le susceptible to disease.