Poultry-keeping Section.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 57, Issue 6, 20 December 1938, Page 548

Poultry-keeping Section.

Fresh Blood and External Parasites.

/°\N representations made by the New ON Zealand Poultry Board and the Zealand Poultry Board and the Poultry Producers’ Federation, the Department , decided, under certain conditions, to import some White Leghorns and Utility . Black Orpingtons for its poultry-station at Wallaceville, where they could be kept under strict isolation for observation, &c. Stock and eggs from these birds will be available for sale to poultry-keepers who require fresh blood. Last February Mr. E. Hadlington, Poultry Expert, Department of Agriculture, New South Wales, was asked whether his Department could 1 supply some Utility Black Orpingtons, and in reply he stated that they could do so if we meant “ Utility Black Orpingtons ” which they now called “ Australorps.” Accordingly, six hens, two pullets, and two cockerels were imported from the New South Wales Department of Agriculture last June, and Mr. Hadlington, who selected the birds, wrote as follows : v Mating the Birds. \< “ The birds are placed together in the coops as they should be mated the cockerel from Hawkesbury Agricultural College was placed with hens from Seven Hills, and the cockerel from Seven Hills with pullets from Hawkesbury Agricultural College. The cockerel from Hawkesbury Agricultural College is bred from an imported; bird from England, mated with College pullets which averaged 34 eggs tor twelve months. All the pullets laid over two hundred eggs. These were selected for good egg-size. The two pullets supplied you were checked for egg-size, and laid eggs not less than 2 oz. in weight. All the hens were tested for size of egg last year. Eggs of 2 oz. and over were laid '.during the period <of testing. The hen with band ring No. 372 is the one which I selected as the most typical Australorp.” (This bird is shown in Fig. 1.) Some promising young stock is being reared from these birds, and a limited number of cockerels will be available for

sale about March next at £x, £i nos., and ,/2 each, according to selection. Poultry-keepers requiring a change of blood are advised to make application to ; the Poultry Oyerseer, Veterinary Laboratory., Wallaceville, per Private Bag, Wellington, C. 1. A consignment of two White Leghorn cockerels, three White Leghorn pullets, and a Langshah cockerel is being imported from England, and particulars of these will be published when-they arrive. 4

External Parasites. Poultry are susceptible to infestation by a number of varieties of parasites, and the industry is subjected to heavy losses each year by the ravages of insects. One of the chief reasons for the expression, even at the present time, “ poultry won’t pay,” is because of the failure to keep them and their houses free from vermin. These remarks apply'to those who keep poultry but who are more or less uninterested and expect too much from their birds for the attention they give them. ‘

The interested poultry-keeper realizes the great importance of keeping; his birds and their houses in a clean and sanitary state, just as the successful orchardist knows that it is absolutely useless to expect profit from his orchard unless he does bis part in keeping his trees in a clean and healthy condition. Many Birds Lost. Many chickens and young turkeys are lost each year , through the ravages of insects, and many more are stunted and fail to develop into profitable birds, because of the same cause. Pullets, if infested with vermin, will never grow as they should. They often fail today an egg until nine or ten months old, and even then they seldom produce a great number. ' Disease may attack poultry which is free from vermin, but it is unreasonable to expect birds to be healthy if they are infested with vermin . The poultry-keeper who finds his birds going off colour or troubled with looseness of the bowels should first examine them and their houses for insects, for it is useless to give medicine to correct the bowel trouble if he does not first remove the real cause, which in many cases is vermin. As insects play such an important part in the general health and productivity of poultry, every care is necessary, especially during warm weather, to guard against their infestation. Poultry-keepers must keep fighting these pests from one year’s end to the other, for if they relax their vigilance for a while the parasites may get such a hold as to upset the plans for a whole year. ■ How They Attack. Vermin attack poultry in different ways. Some suck the blood, others irritate the

skin by scratching with their sharp claws, ■ while still others form crusts or scabs. The worst of all external parasites are those that suck the . blood. Upon the digestion and assimilation of good food depends the bird’s growth and productivity. The blood carries the nourishment to the different parts of the body, but if sucked as fast as it is made there is little chance of growth or production. Those parasites which irritate the skin by crawling over it and clinging to it with their sharp claws, giving the birds no rest day or night, are the cause of much trouble. Although it is not necessary for the poultry-keeper, to know the lifehistory and habits of all poultry parasites at the same time it is well for him to know a little about the worst of them in order that he may adopt the correct methods of fighting them. . For instance, some insects live continually on the body of the fowl, others

visit the. birds only at night, while others again live in the filth of the house, under stones, or in cracks and crevices. Some insects breathe through tubes in the sides of their bodies and can be destroyed with fine dust, while others have ' additional means- of breathing and cannot be destroyed by dusting. Dark, damp, or badly ventilated houses are breeding-grounds for poultry parasites of all kinds. . It is, stated by Dr. Salmon that the third generation of a pair of red mite may amount to one hundred and twenty thousand, - and all this can fake place in almost eight weeks. It will be seen therefore that these parasites are most prolific. Most Troublesome Parasite. Red mite (Devmanyssus gallinae) are of a light grey or whitish colour, unless filled with blood sucked from the fowls. They are the most destructive of all external parasites that infest poultry. They prick the • skin and suck, the blood. They are seldom seen on fowls during the day, but swarm over them at night. If plentiful, however, they will infest birds day and night. These parasites must be kept in check at all costs. Dust will not destroy them, and a fluid should be used. If it is found that these parasites have obtained a hold, all litter and nesting-material should be removed and burnt, and the nests, walls, floors, and perches should be sprayed with a strong solution of ’sheep-dip, carbolic 5 per cent., kerol, creosote, or some other good insecticide. . The large chicken - louse (Ganioctis abdominalis} is generally called the headlice, because is usually confines its activities to parts of the head. This louse is about three times the . size of the small, common fowl-louse. The best treatment -for this pest is to rub a mixture of two ‘ . .. . . , , , „ - ' j ■■ ... ' " .. . " ' Mk '

parts of vaseline and one of mercurial ointment on the head and under the throat. ' ■ < The common hen-louse (Minapon pallidum) is very small and slender, and is brighter in colour than other lice. If allowed to get a foothold they will hang in clusters on roosts or nests, and will quickly get on the hands of any one who happens to touch the nests. Life-history. As a rule, lice- spend their entire life on birds. ; They lay their, eggs (nits)' and securely cement them to the barbs of the feathers. In from five to ten days, according to the weather, hatching occurs, and after several moults the young lice become mature and the cycle is repeated. A good treatment, is the application by a small paint brush of nicotine sulphate to the top of the perches just before the

birds go to roost. As the eggs, or nits, are not destroyed by one application, the treatment should be repeated in about ten day's time. Most insects that infest birds can be destroyed or kept in check by dusting line powder into the fowls’ feathers. A suitable mixture for the purpose can be made up of equal parts of dry earth, lime, and flowers of sulphur. “ Scaly-leg.” “ Scaly-leg ” is caused by the scalyleg mites (Sarcoptes mutons), which attack the unfeathered portion of the leg above the foot, and often the top of the toes. This minute parasite crawls under the scales of the legs, and there irritates the tissues for the purpose of obtaining food with its mouth parts. As a result of this irritation small blisters appear and, after a time, rupture. The serum dries and makes a minute scab, and as the

parasites become more numerous they cause a piling-up of the scab. The itching is • more intense at night, and the bird, if not treated, may become weak and even die. A good™ treatment for. this trouble is to soak the legs in soap and warm water, when the scabs may be removed, and then rub in a mixture of sulphur and lard. The treatment should be repeated in about .ten days’ time. If the houses are ■ kept clean and dry and' plenty of sunshine is allowed into them and the perches are dressed each week with a good liquid insecticide, such as waste car oil, kerosene, creosote, or similar material, the poultry-keeper need not fear parasites. ' ■

—C. J. C. Cussen,

Chief Poultry

Instructor, Wellington.

Export of Eggs.

DURING the past egg-export season, which has just closed, a total of 7,759 cases, representing. 232,770 dozen eggs, were shipped from New Zealand to London, as compared with 2,338 cases (70,146 dozen eggs) during the 1937 season. ' The quantities shipped from the respective centres were as follows : Auckland, 1,053 cases; Canterbury, 3,525 cases ; Otago, 3,181 cases. The cases were of thirty dozen eggs each. if - . -

• —C. J. C. Cussen,

Chief Poultry

Instructor, Wellington.

Examination for Chicksexing. ,'IH

OpWO candidates qualified for firstclass certificates a chick-sexing class certificates at a chick-sexing examination held at the Wallaceville Poultry Station on 7 Friday, 14th October. • <; : -M il They were Mr. L. Doughty, who sexed two hundred White Leghorn chickens in twenty-four minutes five (. seconds, with an accuracy of 96-5 per cent., and Mr. J. C. Jamieson, who sexed two hundred White Leghorn chickens £in . twenty-six minutes two seconds, with (; an accuracy of 96-5 per cent. xi ’

~—C. J. C. Cits sen,

Chief Poultry

Instructor, Wellington.