POULTRY-KE EPING.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 54, Issue 3, 20 March 1937, Page 182

POULTRY-KE EPING.

Selecting Breeding-stock. The most important work of the year on all commercial poultry-farms is the selection of the breeding-stock for the coming season. If this work has not already been done no time should be lost in giving it the very best possible attention. So important is this work that no poultry-keeper can afford to miss any opportunity of making the very best possible job of selecting his breeding-birds. If this work is put off much longer it will be. impossible to select all the best birds, as once a bird starts to shed its feathers those points which go to indicate usefulness mostly disappear. The difference between the cost , of production and the. price received for -products is often such that mistakes made with the selection of the breeding-stock may easily mean that, the poultry-keeping may show a loss instead of a profit. • Disease is causing many poultry-keepers much concern, and unfortunately some have experienced considerable losses. .Those poultry-keepers should take extra care in the selection- of their breeding-birds. Quality not quantity should be the aim, and only the very best birds having good constitution, should be selected. If this is done it will be found that the resistance of theyoung stock will be such that disease will have little. dread for them. In fact, it may be said that the whole future of the poultry, industry depends very largely upon the care taken and the skill shown by poultry-keepers in the selection of their breeding-birds.

The novice who has had little experience in . the art of selection should endeavour to get some practical lessons from a successful person and then try his hand at selecting from his own flock those birds which he considers will make suitable breeders. After he has made his own selection he would be wise ,to get some experienced person to check over his work, point out where mistakes may. have been made, and how improvements could be effected. The successful breeder or selector has not only the ability to more or less correctly gauge the value of the visible characteristics of his birds, but ,by years of careful selection and a constant study of the individuals of his flock he places himself in the best possible position when selecting his breeders to guard against those undesirable invisible characteristics which so often have such a disappointing influence on the progeny. It is well to remember always that each bird possesses not only visible but numerous invisible characteristics, which may be transmitted to the offspring,'and unless the selector has some knowledge of the pedigree of the stock he is selecting he is, to a certain extent, working in the dark. A pure line of descent from parents that have been carefully selected for constitution, production, and breed characteristics is what is required. Every healthy purebred bird is capable of transmitting certain characteristics of its breed to its offspring, and the longer and more carefully the breedingbirds have been selected the more likely are those transmitted characteristics to be. favourable. While a pure line or pedigree strain is so desirable, the great value and importance of individuality should never be underestimated. This point is mentioned because many beginners' plants have been visited where certain birds have been used as breeders just because they were brothers or sisters to certain competition or show winners.- The results from such birds have, at times, been most disappointing, because they lacked that individuality or make-up of visible characteristics which is so necessary in a breeding-bird. ■ - . It is true that the secrets of heredity are, so far, well guarded, but there are some people who by a careful study of a particular breed and an almost uncanny ability , or “ gift ” of selecting can detect those birds which have, in a marked degree, the power of transmitting good characteristics to their offspring. ■ : These . people have a natural genius in that particular line, and have by their natural, ability been able to build up such a name for their stock that it is keenly sought after owing to its general- high quality: ’ - If it were possible for those of little experience or those who have had trouble with their birds to engage one of those “ gifted ” selectors to pick out their breeding-birds and only -breed from such birds, it would be the very best way of guarding against disease, and maintaining the good name this country has for utility stock. - Though all poultry-keepers are not likely to become outstanding in the art of selection, as the natural aptitude for the work is possessed by few, still it is well, for beginners to bear in mind that the art of selection can be cultivated, and if one is an enthusiast and is a keen observer he will soon find that those, together with a little practical experience, will enable him to make a very fair job of selecting his own breeding-birds. The-chief essential' characteristics required in a good breeding-bird are purity of blood, vigour, constitution, and capacity to produce and reproduce. The first step a poultry-keeper should take in order to become a successful selector and builder of a high-class strain or flock of utility birds is to acquire a knowledge of the standard requirements for the particular breed he intends keeping, for unless one has some definite standard to guide him much permanent improvement can hardly be expected. Like the carpenter who is asked to build a certain style of house, he must have plans and specifications to guide him. ’ . . The second step should be, when selecting, to heed that principle “ like produces like,” and always select-those birds which show characters nearest

to the model aimed at, for it is a fact that the offspring from purebred birds of the same breed are more likely to possess characteristics like their parents than those of other birds.

No doubt at times variations will cause disappointments, but all successful breeders have experienced such setbacks, but they, are never discouraged by a few. disappointments. It is really these numerous variations and more or less individual differences which do crop up that make the great art of selecting so difficult yet so wonderfully: interesting. The third matter, and perhaps the most important when it comes to actual picking of the breeders, is the bodyits size, strength, and shape. Just as the life of any structure depends largely upon the strength of its foundations and frame, so also does the life and usefulness of a strain or family of birds depend upon the strength, type, and size of its individual members. •.... , vv/..'' There is a tendency with some to place too little value on body-size, and rather too much on egg-records. While it is true that the medium-sized bird is often the better layer, it is well to remember that experience has proved that the best breeders are as a rule a little larger than .'the best layers, and that smallness is not the cause of great egg-production, but its effect. ; At times some are inclined to be influenced too much by a nice comb or lobes, and, while it is most desirable to breed birds as near to the standard as possible, it is well to remember that the body is where the eggs come from, while the comb and lobes are furnishings. It will prove better financially and otherwise to first pay the extra attention to the developing of good bodies rather than to developing good combs and lobes on poorer bodies. • The chief visible characteristics of a good utility bird are : Body will 'show length, depth, and width ; a good crop-capacity and depth of abdomen ; back rather flat, with width carried well back to the tail; the texture of the abdomen should be fine, silky, and flexible (a most important point) ; legs of medium length carried well back and wide apart : head fairly fine, showing strength and character, not coarse, but rather wide at the top, and of fair length ; comb of medium size and thickness, not too small and not coarse or flabby ;• wattles of medium size, fine in texture, and carried close together; feathering hard, tight, dense, and often* of. a worn threadbare appearance at this time of the year ; eyes large, bold, and prominent.

—C. J. G. Cussen,

Chief Poultry Instructor, Wellington.