POULTRY NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume 107, Issue 17994, 12 April 1930, Page 22 (Supplement)

POULTRY NOTES.

POINTS ON CULLING. Generally speaking, according to Mr F. C. Brown, chief poultry instructor to the Department of Agriculture, a safe principle to be guided by in culling is to eliminate all birds showing weakness in constitution, for no matter how well a bird has laid or however good the type she must necessarily prove disappointing as a layer, and to a greater degree as a breeder, once her vigour has become impaired. Obviously 'for a bird to continue heavy egg-laying (which is an artificiallyproduced condition and causes a severe tax on the reproductive organs) health and vigour must stand foremost as compared with pedigree of performance, desirable type, or indeed anything else. A bird may prove to be a first-class egg-layer, but if in this effort her vigour has been weakened she should be rejected as a breeder, and it will seldom pay to keep her for any other purpose. The period of moulting gives a good guide to the constitutional vigour and laying capacity possessed. It is the long-season layer, the bird that lays well in other than the natural laying season (spring and summer) that is desired and is the most profitable to keep. To do this a bird must necessarily be a late moulter, as the laying season usually ends when the moulting period begins. Therefore the birds that show evidence of being early moulters should be culled out and the late moulters retained for laying and breeding purposes. It must be remembered that this test only applies when the birds have been hatched at about the same time, and have been fed and managed under similar local conditions, JFABk .example, when first

and second season layers are running together it will usually be found that the former will moult first, so that ■ oiiie allowance must be made for this. Especially is this so when the older , ,ii-< Is have been selected as late moullers in the previous season. An early moult may also be caused by broodincss and by allowing a bird to sit on the nest for weeks at a time. A sudden change of food or quarters is also apt to have a similar effect at this period of the year. No rule is capable of universal application, however, and exceptions must be allowed for in applying the moulting test in the work of culling. Apart from early moulting there arc

other signs suggestive of poor laying capacity. These include an over-fat condition, loose feathering, dull, sunken eye, an inactive appearance, and poor development in the abdominal region In the case of breeds with yellow legs it will generally be found at this season of the year that tho.se birds which have lost the deep yellow colour —the legs having become more or less white and bleached-looki'ng—are the best layers, and the strongest birds in the flock, whereas those with legs of a rich yellow are the drones. It must be noted that this sign only applies towards the end of a bird’s productive season, for after it has moulted the legs will soon regain their yellow appearance. The fact that the legs of the good layers become more or less bleached as compared with those of the poor layer is no doubt due to the yellow fat being drawn from them to supply the egg yolk with its yellow pigment. Obviously the greater the layer Ihe greater will be (he tax on

the I’al content of tile legs, and consequently the more bleached the logs will become. What applies in the case of the legs does so in like degree to the body skin, particularly about the vent and also lo the beak. It may be mentioned that hens running on a . grass range do not usually 'bleach out In the legs to the same extent as those ! kept in confinement. As is the case I with early moulting, leg colour is not ; always an indication of the conclusion j of ihc individual fowl’s normal laying | period, and here again local conditions j must be taken into account in applyi ing the test. ' In addition to being a late moulter i the high-type layer will usually prej, sent Uie following signs indicating j laying capacity and constitutional j vigour: Tight feathering, bright, pro- ! rninent eyes, clean face (often the ! head being devoid of feathers, a sign | seldom or never found in a low eggproducer;, deep abdominal development, with fine texture of skin, welldeveloped crop, an active, businesslike appearance, a more or less lean condifion, and a woni-oul, unkempt, rough-and-ready plumage. The reason l’or this is obvious, in that a hen could not lie expected to lay on fat while proi ducing a maximum egg yield, j Summarising the foregoing points, j the birds that should be culled are ; those that show signs of moulting; ! those with a well-kept plumage, and ! which are above the normal weight of their breed; those with hard development in the abdominal region; and those with signs indicating a weak constitution, such as a dull, sunken appearance of the eyes, heavy, wclli’eathered eyebrows, bright yellow legs, loose feathering and sluggish appearance.