POULTRY NOTES.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 401, 14 January 1904, Page 5

POULTRY NOTES.

We bays belief that the Wyandotte was ttis coming bird for all round:, utility «n£ it is coming to the front mors now than previously. There are at present fire different varieties of Wyandotte—vit., golden, silver, white, partridge, and buff "(the latter being a comparatively new breed, being shown for the first'time in England in 1893 by-Mr AVG Bradujt,of America). !The buffs have originated from different methods of breSdihg, In America the silver Wyandottes were crossed with the .Rhode Island reds, while in England tne breed was obtained by crossing tbe silver Wyandotte with the buff Cochin, and this is reckoned to breed the best buff Wyandotte, which requires to be a true buff color. The Wyandottesare reliable winter layers of fair-sized tinted eggs, and stand .the cold weather very well. Not only are they well above the average as egg-producers, but they are firstclass table birds, the cockerels weighing when fully matured from 7£lb to 9|lb. The hens make very good mothers, and are very quiet to handle, but are apt ■ o leave the chicks and come on laying before the chickens are old enough to look after themselves. Another argu« ment in favor of tbe Wyandottes is that a five-foot fence is quite sufficient to keep them within bounds.— « Hackle" in the "Evening Star,*'

OLOVER AS A FOOD. Clover is now recognised as one of the best and most profitable foods that can be given to bens. It if* quite equal to maize or wheat as a flesh-former, and cer airily far ahead of them as an egg-producer. It contains a considerable proportion of lime; in fact, it is said that it contains all the lime a hen requires. We know of many cases where the fowls are fed with clover, and the results have been excellent, It will not do, however, to go and pull clover by the handfuls and feed indiscriminately with it. A hen will greedily eat clover and other green stuff out in the open where it is growing, as with" one ,end of it in the ground she can pull it off just in the lengths she can do with, but if it is thrown loosely about the run, she very likely won't f £bk at it, or if she does she is very likely to become crop-bound, owing to her swallowing long pieces of grass or clover. The proper way to feed clover is to use the clover hay and cut it up finely; put a quantity in a bucket or a similar utensil, and pour boiling water over it at night, cover it over with some thick covering to keep in the steam, and in the morning -add some pollard and bran and a little linseed meal, with a pinch of salt. Mix it up thoroughly, and feed in a trough. It wiU he keenly appreciated by your hens, and their returns will be just as keenly appreciated by you. If the clover bay is cut finely it may be fed dry, as you would wheat or oats, but the mesh is the better food, and gives the better result.

Ducklings can be raised and fattened for market on very little else than clover.