THE POULTRY INDUSTRY.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume VI, Issue 4, 15 April 1913, Page 426

THE POULTRY INDUSTRY.

F. C. Brown

May Work.

It is full time the breeding operations were planned, for it is always a safe rule to be well prepared and have everything in readiness if success is to be assured. Of course, I am only referring now sto early hatching, to the breeding of birds for autumn and early winter laying. Hatching operations should certainly not commence before July, as birds of the heavier breeds hatched then will come on to lay on the rising eggmarket. While this is so, preparations for the important work should be got under way in May. The breeding stock should, even now, be on the proper diet, a healthy blood-clearing ration with nothing to unduly force the birds to heavy laying. The cock bird should also be got into vigorous condition. Green stuff, grit, fresh water, are all essentials to making the birds fit, while it is very desirable that at this time the breeders should have some range, and thereby an opportunity to secure the desired exercise. It should be unnecessary to emphasize that if vigorous and profitable stock are to be bred —and it will only be profitable if it is vigorous— can only come from parents of sound constitution in perfect health and condition at the time of mating. The parents at this time demand the . most careful treatment not only in . the matter of diet, referred .to above,' but should be comfortably housed without being coddled, and by good shelter and in other ways be given every opportunity to conserve their virility in view of their important work when mating takes place. It is useless having a strong male in the top of his form and the females in poor condition, and vice versa. The other day I saw a young imported cockerel penned by himself alongside a wire-netted run of pullets. The untiring activity of the young sire, racing up and down the pen, Was enough to bring him to a dangerous state of exhaustion in a week. With such treatment the bird was being rendered useless for breeding. Male birds - should be kept by themselves well c removed from the sight of the fowls, but it is advisable to keep young cockerels with a few old hens. Even when a male bird, through going off, has to be taken out of a breeding-pen, it is a mistake to place him in solitary .confinement. He will exercise more and eat better if given the company of one or two hens. The feeding- of the breeding-pen cannot be too liberal. Too often poor

fertility and unsatisfactory stock are the result of spare feeding of a breeding-pen, owing to a good cock bird being too solicitous for the hens in allowing them, to have all the feed. Of course, while the diet should be liberal it should be plain. Records are of no account in breeding operations. It is the record of fertility and percentage of vigorous stock, produced that should be the objective. Too often we hear of incubating and brooding troubles which could all be put down to mismanagement in the breeding-pen. It is generally recognized now that the late moulter, if of the desired type, is the bird to breed from, a principle I have long advocated and heartily subscribe to ; but if the late moulter is to be bred from. it should not be put into a breeding-pen immediately after the moult following its long and exhausting laying season. The best plan is to force the selected birds into- a false moult, in the direction of changing the feed from wheat to maize or oats. The moult having been brought about, they should then be liberally fed on a plain and nutritious diet, so that the stamina of the birds may be built up before mating. The quarters for the breeders should be as clean and sweet as possible. It is not always possible, however desirable, to keep the breeding-pens for their special purpose, therefore the houses and runs to be used for the breeders should now receive a thorough cleansing. Abundant scratching-material should be provided. This is an excellent means of inducing exercise, the best way of all of building up bodily vigour. It is advisable in poultry-keeping to neglect no detail in regard to cleanliness, proper feeding, and general management, but with breeding stock this attention to detail is, imperative.

Adopt Business Methods.

How few people there are, especially those who keep poultry as a side line, who really know whether their birds are paying them or not, much less know which are the money-makers and which are the wasters. It is coming to this in dairying : that the farmer who does not know exactly the amount of milk each cow in his herd is producing every year will have to retire from the business. While it may not be possible to keep a record of every fowl on the plant, still an intelligent study of the birds will enable. one to decide which are profitable and which are unprofitable. This knowledge is necessary to reduce the cost of production and make the keeping of ■> fowls really profitable. The profit-and-loss standpoint will never appeal to the poultry-keeper unless he acquires the habit of keeping a strict account of his receipts and expenditure. When he realizes, for instance, that his returns have declined he will be impelled to look for a cause, probably finding it in having too many old hens on hand, having bred from a weak cockerel, or not having been particular enough in regard to feeding and managing

the birds to the best advantage. It is surprising how contented people become with poor results when they fail to closely examine the financial side of the business. A simple poultry account-book ■ can now •be obtained for a shilling, and With this carefully, kept it should, be easy enough to ascertain at a glance whether the poultry is a paying or a losing transaction. If the latter, then something is radically wrong, for with the type of bird now available at cheap prices from the plants of the Department there is no excuse i: for want of success. The. only explanation that can be offered is want of knowledge or, carelessness on the part of the owner. '• J^bn>!).; ■ • „ .

The Dear-egg Season

We are now right; into the dear-egg season. , The production of eggs at this time of year is quite artificial. Therefore the fowl bred out of her natural season must be treated in an exceptional manner. Of course, it is the pullet which must be mainly depended • upon for eggs at this time. Bred at the right season and managed to the best advantage up to the present, she should be laying now at top if every favouring condition is present. There must be no weak link in the chain. The reason some fail and others succeed in securing eggs when these are most valuable is because in the one case some essential factor in management has been neglected, while in the other case the birds have been handled to the best advantage right through. Having the desired heavy egg-producing strain, hatched in the right season, is only one essential requirement. The birds should never have had the slightest check in the process of development. Then when they are about to lay they should receive liberal food of the best quality, and, above all, be properly housed, preferably in a roomy open-fronted building in which they can remain on cold and wet days and yet have ample exercise by scratching in litter. Dry feet with hens is just as necessary to their well-being as .with human beings. It must be remembered that I am now speaking of the artificial high-type layer bred to lay when we want her to and not when her nature dictates. It goes without saying that animal food at this'time of year, especially in the colder localities, is imperative. Where fresh meat cannot be obtained meat-meal may be used, as well as blood-meal employed with care, while there is nothing better than milk, and where this is not obtainable on an economic basis skim-milk may be used to advantage. If any argument be required to prove the necessity of this special care of the laying-fowl in the dear-egg season it is surely contained in the fact that, notwithstanding the greatly increasing number of egg-record stock . distributed throughout, the country and hatched • (by artificial means at the right time) eggs are still dear at certain seasons, certainly much dearer than they would be if all the birds hatched to lay now

were doing their duty. This emphasizes the fact that a high percentage of these birds have not been properly managed. Hatching the winter layer at the desired period does not mean that winter eggs will be secured. It is only one factor. More depends on the subsequent management, .. especially at the laying-period, when everything "in nature is against the bird laying.

I realize, that the farmer, or his wife, who has studied egg-produc-tion on right lines experiences a greater difficulty every' year in securing the necessary broodies, for the more the egg-yielding power of the flock is improved the greater becomes the tendency for the brooding propensity to diminish. The only thing to do is to go in for a small incubator ’ or . purchase day-old chicks from a reliable breeder. . The difficulty, of course, will not be so great with the heavier breeds, but if the laying strains of these be secured they are the only types worth bothering —the question of securing broodies will become almost as great as with the special egg-producing breeds, such as White Leghorns. The time is coming when natural rearing will be almost eliminated from successful poultry-keeping. While it is the specialist now, incubating only by artificial means, who produces the great bulk of the winter eggs, before many years are past it will be the farmer who will be responsible for the main supply. Before this comes about, however, the methods of the specialist will have to be adopted by the farmer.

THING-S TO REMEMBER

Do not starve your birds because they are not laying. Do not have the birds standing about in a wet yard waiting for the morning meal. 1 Feed the layers in the house if this is, as it should be, roomy and well provided with litter. Aim at making a high average profit from the flock rather than an exceptional return from a few. The yolk of eggs may be made a deeper colour by feeding lucerne, clover, or watercress. The moulting bird should be specially well fed. She has .gone through an exhausting laying - period, and if early eggs are to be expected from her she should be done well now. The wasters, which can generally be distinguished when quite young, should be weeded out without delay. Always bear in mind the food bill, the most serious factor of the business. Many hens die. in debt to. their owners; if they had been culled at the right time the boot would have been on the other foot.