POULTRY-KEEPING.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XXX, Issue 5, 20 May 1925, Page 344

POULTRY-KEEPING.

SELECTION OF BREEDING-STOCK. The coming month should see all the : breeding - pens mated up. There is yet ample time to commence hatching operations, but it is always 1 a wise course to have the birds mated well ahead, in order that they may be well settled down before the eggs are required for reproductive, purposes. A common mistake made, ' especially by side-line, poultry-keepers, is to use eggs for hatching purposes indiscriminately from a flock of fowls. If a good. laying-strain is to be built up or maintained it is of the first importance that only the best birds in the flock shall be bred from. These should be placed in a breeding-pen by themselves. The great underlying principle in all breeding is that like produces like. Thus, if the best returns are to be secured and cull stock reduced to a minimum, nothing but ideal specimens should be bred from. . . On all well-managed plants (as advised in previous ' notes) the proposed breeders for the coming season should- have been chosen and carefully marked before the commencement of the moultingperiod, for it is then and only then that the best specimens can be selected with any degree of certainty. For a bird to give a heavy egg-yield and be a long-season layer she must necessarily be a late moulter, and it is difficult or almost impossible to detect such birds if left till the whole flock has moulted. Where individual records have been kept by means of' trap-nests or single pens the birds can be mated according to their productive capacity, as the individual record is the only means of knowing accurately . the laying-power of a bird. This system of finding the best layer, however, is seldom adopted by other than specialist breeders. Thus if nothing is known of the laying-power of a bird she must necessarily be selected by her general appearance, and there is no better guide to this than by choosing the late moulterproviding, of course,. that the bird possesses desirable breeding characters in other respects. The eye for form is to some extent a natural gift, but with ■careful study and • observation the average poultry-keeper ' will find little difficulty in selecting the most suitable birds. In the first place, it is important to have fixed types of purebred birds, or at

least of birds that are fair specimens of the breed they represent. It is true that crossbred fowls which have no special / type or points . indicative of purity of breed will at times give a good egg-yield. There are exceptions to’ every rule, but this does not disprove that a definite type should be aimed at. The chief objection to breeding from a crossbred bird is that this invariably destroys fixity of type, and opens the door to reversion and the appearance of latent undesirable characteristics. Having purebred stock, the next consideration should be given to constitutional vigour, as, no matter how good the type or pedigree of performance possessed, desirable progeny will not be produced if there is the slightest constitutional taint in the. parent stock. Especially should the male be strong in points indicating

stamina. . The head affords a good guide in this respect. Generally a bird of either sex with a short broad head, a stout well-curved beak, bright clear prominent eyes, and face free from feathers and wrinkles has a good constitution. These points should be combined with a well-developed crop (indicating heart and lung capacity), tight feathering, short shanks set wide apart, and an active, alert, businesslike appearance. The shape of the hen denotes whether she is of a heavy-producing type or a meat-maker. The qualifications to be looked for in a good breeding-hen are indicated by an oblong body, well - developed crop, deep and full abdomen of fine texture, the bird thus tapering from thighs to head and forming a wedge-shaped appearance. '

Care should also be taken to breed not only from birds which possess points indicative of purity of breed, laying-capacity, and undoubted constitutional vigour, . but also from those laying a good marketable-sized egg —namely, 2 oz. or over in weight. In selecting a male to head the breeding-pen an endeavour should be made to have a bird with a maximum of constitutional points, and which is the son of a hen known to be a heavy layer of good-sized eggs. It is now generally conceded that the male bird is largely responsible in transmitting qualities for high egg-production. It is therefore well to make sure that he possesses a pedigree of performance in egg-laying. It is not possible to say how many hens should be mated to one male, as this depends entirely on the vigour of the male and the amount of range available. On a free range good ' fertility of eggs may be obtained with one male to twenty or thirty hens, but the number of hens must be considerably reduced when the birds are under confined conditions. In the latter case six or eight of the heavy breeds and ten to twelve of the lighter breeds are sufficient for best results. HOW TO FEED THE BREEDERS. It will generally be found that better fertility of eggs and stronger chickens are produced from the feeding of grain to the breeders night and morning, mash food being eliminated from the ration: On no account should high .egg-laying records be looked for in the breeding-pen. Thus meat, milk, or other forcing-foods should be fed with caution. At such a time birds cannot be oversupplied with green material, .while crushed fresh sea-shell, gravel grit, and clean water should be within reach at all times. The aim should be to feed the birds well, while at the same time guarding them against storing up an excess of. fat — a common cause of infertile eggs and the production of chickens that are difficult to rear. Having this in view, plenty of exercise is essential. Where a free range is not provided, exercise can be best induced by feeding the grain ration in deep litter in the house, whereby the birds are compelled to scratch for it. The male should be examined frequently in order to ascertain if vermin are present. If' these are found a good dusting with insect-powder will have the desired effect. Where it is found that he is not in a good breeding condition he should be taken out of the pen daily and given a good nourishing meal by himself. ' Very often a male is too attentive to the hens and allows them to get the bulk of the food, resulting in a rapid loss of condition in himself. An extra meal, as suggested, will do much to correct matters in this respect. PERIOD FOR HATCHING. For the main flock it will generally be found that from the middle of July to the end of August is the best time to have chickens of the heavier breeds hatched out, and for the lighter breeds from the middle of August to the end of September.' It should be always remembered that it pays best to have the chickens hatched on the early .side rather than on the late side. Besides

being more difficult to rear, the late-hatched chickens seldom grow to a desired size, and as a rule lay smaller eggs, and are always more susceptible to disease than birds hatched during the early season. The. aim should be to have the chicks hatching out as the days commence to lengthen, so that they will be well developed before the hot trying summer weather sets in. Of course, where early autumn eggs are desired the pullets must be chiefly depended upon to produce these, as at that time of ’ the year the majority of the adult stock are commencing to take a rest prior to moulting. In such a case there is no objection to, but rather an advantage in, hatching out chickens of any breed, even "White Leghorns, for the production of the high-priced autumn egg. Such 'stock will probably moult before the winter season sets in. The fact, however, of their producing a good supply of eggs when dear (at which time on the average plant there is much going out and little coming in) goes to show that there is more money to be made out of the early July-hatched pullets than the average poultrykeeper is aware of. Indeed, no plant can show a maximum of profit unless a good proportion of autumn and winter eggs is produced.

-F. C. Brown,

Chief Poultry Instructor