POULTRY-FEEDING WITHOUT WHEAT.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XII, Issue 6, 20 June 1916, Page 468

POULTRY-FEEDING WITHOUT WHEAT.

NOTES ON THE MILTON TEST.

F. C. BROWN,

Chief Poultry Instructor

The feeding test recently concluded at the Department’s Milton Poultry-station, final results of which were published in last month’s Journal, has brought out several useful facts. v The most important of these demonstrates -what was really the sole object of the test namely, that a satisfactory egg-yield can be secured where wheat is totally eliminated' from the ration. It has also been shown conclusively. that lucerne is a most valuable constituent of a fowl’s diet. As oats were also used with the lucerne, the favourable results obtained from a diet from which wheat was eliminated cannot, of course, be attributed to the lucerne entirely.

■ The morning mash during the test for pens Nos. 1 and 2 (birds fed with wheat) consisted of 2| parts- pollard, 1 part bran, 1 part maizemeal, with 5 per cent, meatmeal added. In both rations the proportion of pollard had at times to be slightly varied according to its quality. The whole was moistened with hot water, and the birds were given as much as they could eat without waste. The evening meal consisted of whole wheat, and was fed in straw •litter.

The morning mash for pens Nos. 3 and 4 (birds fed without wheat) was prepared and fed on similar lines to that of pens Nos. 1 and 2. In this case, however, the lucerne-hay . chaff was placed in. a 0 bucket with boiling water, overnight,, covered with a sack; and allowed to steam' in its-own. heat. . This process . had the

effect of making it swell, practically doubling its bulk. The moisture contained in it, together with. any liquid that was not taken up, usually provided sufficient moisture for bringing the mixture to a right consistency. The amount of lucerne used was varied according to the birds’ appreciation of this food. When it was found that the lucerne was being left in the trough and the ground grains eaten, the indication was taken that the birds were getting too much of the lucerne, and the proportion was reduced for a time. It may be mentioned that, apart from the amount of meatmeal mixed in the mash in both cases, it was supplied in a separate receptacle and left always before the birds, thus giving" them an opportunity of balancing their own ration. When there, was no grass in the pens green feed (chiefly . turnips) was fed during the day, while gravel-grit, crushed oyster-shell, and also clean water were always before , the birds. The oats used in connection with the test were Sparrowbills of a good plump quality.

The most striking comparison is in regard to pens Nos. i and 2. It will be seen that during the first period pen No. 1 led pen No. 2 by 168 eggs, whereas for the fifty-two weeks pen No. 2 not only caught up pen No. 1, but beat it by twenty-five eggs.

It will be noted that twelve White Leghorn and twelve Brown Leghorn pullets took part in the test, one pen of each breed having wheat: in the ration and the others having none. By using one pen of each breed of the same age and strain, and supplying a different ration respectively, it was considered that the results obtained would be more conclusive than would be the case if only single pens of the same breed were used. . The birds were selected as evenly as possible, both in regard to laying type and points indicative of constitution, while breed-points were not overlooked, the whole of the birds being good specimens of the breeds they represented. The

even laying returns produced by the individual breeds, as well as the individual pens, clearly indicate that there is a special laying type, and that a bird’s laying-capacity can to a great measure be determined by any one possessing the natural eye for form.

The test has demonstrated in a striking manner that the Brown Leghorn when bred from an egg-producing viewpoint is a highly profitable breed to keep, and that it is well adapted to the southern climatic conditions. The two pens of this breed laid a greater number of eggs than the White Leghorns, and No. 2 pen returned the highest profit over the cost of production. It may be mentioned that this particular strain of Brown Leghorns is the result of crossing at Milton some six years ago an American standard male with English standard females. From that time the flock has been bred and selected on egg-producing lines, while combining the points that go to make up an English standard Brown Leghorn. The birds now conform in a great degree to Ludlow’s plates in Lewis Wright’s “ Book of Poultry,” being smaller and more active than the majority of Brown Leghorns to be seen in the classes at the poultry shows in New Zealand.

The accompanying photographic reproduction of a table compiled to present the test in a compact form at the Department's wintershow exhibit will enable the above comments to be followed. Other tabular matter concerning the test has been printed •in previous issues 'of the < Journal.

' ..Totals'for First Totals for 24 Weeks. . Totals for 52 Weeks. Pen No. i • . 778 eggs 1,438 eggs. Pen No. 2 . . . 610 ,, 1,463 „ Pen No. 3 •• 742 „ 1,433 „ Pen No. 4 • . . 602 ,, 1,449 „

The test has also demonstrated that nothing less than the yearly record can be taken in regard to a bird’s laying-capacity. This is proved by comparing the results put up by the individual pens for the first twenty-four weeks of the test with the yields for the full year, as shown in the following table: