CURD FEEDING TO POULTRY

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 62, Issue 5, 15 May 1941, Page 341

CURD FEEDING TO POULTRY

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E. R. MARRYATT,

Technician, Ruakura Animal Research Station.

Most of the eggs produced in New Zealand come from farms which regard poultry-keeping as a side-line, and on many of these farms separated milk is available; What is the most profitable way of using separated milk? r To investigate the economics of feeding curd to poultry and to demonstrate that curd feeding to poultry is a satisfactory, alternative or adjunct to pig-keeping on dairy farms and perhaps offers employment for women, a trial has been carried out at the Ruakura Animal Research Station. This article summarises the results obtained in the first two years of the trial.

THE object of curd feeding to poultry is to-reduce to the minimum the' amount of purchased foods used. Separated milk contains only about 10 per cent, of dry ( matter, but drained curd contains about 20 per cent, of dry matter, so that the birds get twice as much -food from eating the same weight of drained curd as from separated milk. The dry matter of separated milk, moreover, is mainly protein, milk-sugar and ash, but the dry matter of drained curd is mainly protein, for most of the milk-sugar and ash have been removed in the whey, which is therefore .valuable for feeding to pigs along with other foods. Because drained curd is a proteinrich food, some food rich in carbohydrates should be fed with it./Maize is suitable for this purpose, as’ about 70 per cent, of its dry matter is starch. ; j Making the Curds The preparation of curd and the details of feeding the poultry in this experiment at Ruakura were" arranged by Mr. E. C. Jarrett, Poultry Instructor, Department of Agriculture, Auckland, and he has supervised the management of the flock from the beginning. The separated milk curdles in wooden barrels (Figs. 1 and-2), which are housed in a wooden box (Figs. 2 and 3) to maintain the temperature of the curdling milk.- ' ■

(1111111111 m 1111111 11111 C 11111111 i 111111 1H 11111 (111 i I i 11111 i I 11111111111111 Most, rapid curdling takes place when the milk is kept .warm, so that it is. best to pour the milk into the barrels while it is still warm after separating. In cold weather the temperature inside the box can be maintained by lighting a hurricane lamp and placing it inside the box between the barrels. Some soured milk or some whey may be used as a starter when curdling is first started, but the small amount of whey left in the barrels thereafter is sufficient . to maintain curdling. When a good hard curd has formed, sufficient for at least' the following day’s feeding is put into a draining box to dry. The draining box (Figs. 2,3, 4, and 5) is 2 ft. by 4 ft. and 9 in. deep with a sloping V-shaped bottom, like a cheese vat (Fig. 5), and with a plug, at the lower end. The box is in the open to allow wind access and is covered with a removable and ridged roof to keep out rain and animals. The triangular ends of - this cover are fitted with bird-netting to let the < air circulate. Wire-netting is sufficient cover in fine weather, and

the lid at Rua.kura has been adapted so that it can readily be changed from wire-netting cover to an iron one. The curd is placed at the raised end of .the box so that the whey may drain off into a receptacle, where it is collected for the pigs. The original feeding programme laid down by Mr. Jarrett was: — ■ S. From September to March: “Feed practically all curd; the mixture to consist in parts by measure of: — Curd,' 4 to 5 parts. Pollard, 1 part. Maize-meal, 1-3 part. Green feed (chopped), 1| to 2 parts. This mixture is to be put in the troughs at 8 a.m. ..The,, troughs are to be filled fairly full, and the birds kept inside the house until they have eaten their fill. Then let them out, but. allow them to come back for more. The quantity should be as much as will be eaten so that nothing is left by the following morning. At night the birds are to be allowed 1 oz. of grain (wheat and maize) each in the litter. , / From March to September: “As the curd goes off, increase the pollard and maize-meal and add meatmeal; morning mash with no curd will consist of 5 parts of pollard, 2| parts of bran, 1 to 1| parts of maizemeal, and lj to 2 parts of meat-meal. Allow 1 oz. (or If-oz. if necessary) of grain 'in the evening. , Poultry fed on curd may scour, and a lime solution should be poured over the curd. Make a lime paste with 2 lb. of rock lime and Tf- quarts of water and add a tablespoonful of the paste to a gallon of water. Pour this over the curd.” The lime solution was ’ used only once and no serious scouring occurred.

Chaffed grass was always included in the morning mash, and the birds ate all of it, although they had a free range on grass pastures. The value of this chaffed grass to the birds is not known. Figs. 6 and 7 show the method of chaffing the grass and what it looks like when chaffed. Prairie grass was being used at the time these photographs were taken. Fig. 8 shows the morning mash in the trough. Valuation of Birds The trial started on April 1, 1938, with 120 White Leghorn birds, con-

sisting of 22 hens and 98 pullets which were hatched on October 19, 1937. During 1938-39, 51 birds were culled and 14 died. On April 1, 1938, the flock was valued at £42 ss, and on March 31. 1939. at £l3 15s. Culls brought £5 10s 6d, so that the reduction in value of the flock for the year was £22 19s 6d. On April 1, 1939, the flock consisted of 55 hens and 73 pullets which were hatched on September 21, 1938. During 1939-40. nine hens and 16 pullets died, and eleven pullets were

culled. On April 1, 1939, the flock was valued at £4l 2s 6d, and on March 31. 1940, at £22. Culls brought £1 4s, so that the reduction in value of the flock for the year was £l7 18s 6d. Curd and Purchased Food The object of curd feeding to poultry is to reduce to the ' minimum the amount of purchased food used. The separated milk for curd feeding was supplied from a herd of 10 cows

grazed on the feed flavour investigation section at Ruakura, and this herd did not supply quite enough separated milk for the purchased foods to be reduced to the absolute minimum. Reviewing the work of the two seasons, a satisfactory proportion would be 12 to 15 cows for every 100 birds kept. The landed cost of purchased foods for the 1938-39 season was £5l 14s lid, and for the 1939-40 season £6l Is 9d. The quantities of purchased food and curd consumed are as follows: — Mean number of birds 111 117 Meals 12,4301b.' 7,1951 b. Curd 12,4801 b. 8,6821 b. Grain -3,8281 b. 2,7971 b. Separated milk may be expected to supply from 17 to 28 per cent, of its weight in drained curd, and from 60 to 69 per cent, of its weight in whey. A loss in weight of 5 to 16 per cent, will occur. Stated more generally, separated milk may be expected to produce curd to about one-quarter of its weight and whey to about twothirds of its weight. The whey secured in this trial was used for pig feeding. Egg Production In the 1938-39 season 20,119 eggs were produced, realising £l3O 4s 9d net, or Is 6|d per dozen, and in the 1939-40 season 20,371 eggs realising £154 8s 2|d net, or Is IOJd per dozen. In the former seasop the pullets did not begin to lay until the end of April, while in the latter season the pullets were hatched a month earlier and began to lay in late February. In the 1938-39 season 13 per cent, of the eggs produced were laid in the first quarter, and in the 1939-40 season 22 per cent. Thus, the returns for the second season benefited from the high winter egg prices.

In the 1938-39 season the net income (receipts for eggs less cost of purchased foods and reduction in value of the flock) was £55 10s 4d, and in the 1939-40 season £75 7s lljd. This is a return of £5 Ils per cow in the former season, and £7 10s 9d in the latter, and compares very favourably with pig-keeping. The production of a baconer per cow is looked on as a very high standard of pig production on dairy farms, and gives a gross return of £3 15s to £4 per cow. The production of a baconer requires from 750 to 800 feed units; separated milk will supply only 500 units, and the rest must be provided by purchased or farm-grown foods. An alternative comparison may be made by comparing the value of a gallon of separated milk for pig and poultry feeding. M. J. Scott ,in his “Results ,of Pig Census,” which appeared in the “Journal” for November and December, 1938, and January, February, March, and April, 1939, gives the earning value of one gallon of separated milk for pig feeding as ranging from 0.31 d to 1.96 d. These values were estimated from information supplied by 182 farmers from all over New Zealand for . the year ending April 30, 1938. No allowance was made for labour or depreciation on buildings or stock. t On the same basis, the earning value of one gallon of separated milk when fed as curd to poultry in the 1938-39 season was 3.7 d when the whey was not used, and 4.0 d when the . whey was used for pig feeding and valued a |'d per gallon. Allowing for the depreciation in the value of the flock, one gallon of separated milk was worth 2.6 d as curd for poultry feed- ( ing and 2.9 d as curd for poultry and whey for pigs. In the 1939-40 season,

with the higher average price for eggs and with less milk used, even better results were secured. This comparison of pig and poultrykeeping as side lines on dairy farms shows that poultry-keeping offers an alternative to pig-keeping, and at present may be made a more profitable enterprise. . All photographs are by the author.