POULTRY NOTES

Waikato Times, Volume 111, Issue 18642, 21 May 1932, Page 19 (Supplement)

POULTRY NOTES

GENERAL INFORMATION.

A Rhode Island Red hen of Langtm Herring, England, owned by Mr W. Whittle, has laid an egg 4in in length and 6|in in circumference. It weighed 440 z.

The dust bath contributes to the health of poultry as the water-bath does to the health of human beings. Birds that are kept free from the ravages of lice, etc., are the ones likely to steer clear of disease and give the maximum production. Fowls literally revel in a dust bath —ruffling their feathers to enable the dust to get down to the roots and so disturb any insects that make their homes there.

When blood spots are found in the yolk of an egg; they are caused by some slight rupture and consequent haemorrhage in the ovary, but when they occur in the white the rupture has taken place in the oviduct. Rough handling may of course, rupture small vessels which, when a hen is in lull lay, are working at full pressure, nut over-stimulation is the more probable cause.

A white Leghorn pullet, which laid 311 eggs in 11 months in the last egg-laying competition at Burnley, was retained at the competition ground to permit it to complete a continuous test for 12 months against the official record for a white Leghorn of 331 first-grade eggs in 365 days. The test has been completed, says The Australasian, and the bird has established a new record for a white Leghorn in these competitions of 337 first-grade eggs in 365 days. The bird Is from Mr J. L. Edgecumbe’s white Leghorn farm at Plenty. This record is one less than the Burnley record for any breed, established some years ago by an Australorp (Black Orpington).

A fancier, who has conducted trials with regard to incubation, has come to the conclusion that the one vital thing lacking in artificial hatching was the inability to provide the wriggling •characteristics of the lien. He maintained that in this wriggling process the action tended to diffuse a certain fluid which disintegrated the albumen, thus allowing the chick’s body free play and the blood vessels easy passage. He supplied this apparent lack ing element by brushing the eggs with a hat brush dipped in warm water. — Poultry World.

No success can bo attained with poultry unless the fowls are kept comfortable. A fowl drenched with rain is not comfortable. A man caught in a rainstorm may change his clothing, and thus avoid a cold, but a fowl must allow her clothing to dry on her. No fowl can stand a constant exposure to inclement weather, and the more they are protected the better will be the results.

It is not the price you receive for a product that counts most, but the difference between production costs and selling price, plus volume. If production costs arc low and the price at which you sell brings you a profit, you are on a sound footing. 'Then, if you Increase the volume you will increase your profits, which is the main object of every legitimate business enterprise.—Reliable Poultry Journal.