Poultry Keeping

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 224, 21 September 1928, Page 14

Poultry Keeping

By R. J. TERRY

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

ARGUMENT has four Leghorns and four Black Orpingtons in a pen with a Leghorn rooster. A sitting of eggs laid by the Leghorns was set. Eight of the chicks were Leghorns and four were speckled like Anconas. My correspondent would like to know how* it nappened?—This is one of those instances when people are often misled. It is possible that at least one of the Black Orpingtons lays an almost white egg, and its eggs were mistaken for that of a Leghorn. If this were not so then the Leghorn rooster was not absolutely pure, and the fact_ of Black Orpingtons being iu the pen might influence this throwback. I cannot concede more than this. I know that some people think outside influences such as colour, etc.. affect the progeny. That is quite true in many cases as regards animals,* but one has to remember that a bird, in this case a domestic fowl, does not carry ita young VITAMINS.—I cannot understand anyone living in the vicinity of Auckland saying that it is a difficult matter to procure green stuff for eight fowls. Tli»*re is not a wayside hedge at the present times from which you cannot collect thistles, etc. You could ger wayside grass and cut It into short lengths with a sharp knife or a pair of scissors; then there is the outside leaves of lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, etc., potato and apple parings. WHEN A CROSS IS A BENEFIT. I have received an interesting letter from a correspondent who signs himself "Thankful." lie has crossed the Langshan with the Orpington -with very gratifying results. He kept 98 pullets last year, about one fourth Orpingtons and the rest Langshan-Orpington cross, and got as high as 82 eggs a day, but he decided to wait for another year before writing. This year he has 155 pullets, which started in April and have laid from 105 to 125 eggs a day. He has breeding pens of Orpingtons in addition to the Orpington roosters with the cross Langshans, so is able to see the result in comparison. The cross came through the moult quickest. I am. not surprised with the result this correspondent is getting, for it is easy to see the real personal interest he takes in the birds. He goes on to say, "I am writing this letter in the incubator room and a foot away from the machine, while about 200 or more of what I have termed Terry Langshan descendants are peering out as if sending their love to you. They are the most contented I have ever seen. One would expect them to ask how long their term of imprisonment is going to last." My correspondent has also had great success with fireless brooders. One has to remember that the Lang-shan-Orpington, strictly speaking, would not be a cross—it would be what the sheep man would term a "comeback." The Langshan was used in the make-up of the Orpington to a very large extent, the Orpington being composed of Langshan, black sports from Plymouth Rocks, and broken-faced -Minorcas. The original Langshan was used, and in this case there has been simply a further strain of their ancestors' blood introduced. Some of my readers may remember that some few years ago I imported a few of the original Langshan as found in China, which were tight, close feathered birds, very different iu type from the show Langshan. BROODY FOWLS. At this season of the year I get letters from some readers who wish to break off the broody propensity in their birds, and others, again, are anxious to develop this; others ask if it is advisable to encourage broodiness or not? There are different methods of treating the broody hen. The method adopted would be guided by what it is subsequently intended to do with the broody hen. If she is to be kept as a breeder for next season, and possibly the season after, and she has already laid a large number of eggs, let her sit for a couple of weeks, or, better still, three weeks, and bring out a clutch of eliieks. The broody fever is a natural rest, and if the bird intended to be a breeder is again later on allowed to sit for a few weeks she will be a better winter layer and a better breeder; but if the bird i* intended only for egg production, in fact to be used as a machine and killed when it is worn out, then adopt a different method. "When the bird is noticed to be broody, take it off the nest and put it in a "box or other receptacle with either wire netting or battened floor, so that the bird cannot sit down, but must perch or the feet of the bird pass through the. large mesh of the wife. Now, instead of starving or semi-starving the bird, feed it on richer food than usual, and the pullet or hen will soon come on to lay again. It is a great mistake to allow the bird which is intended for intense egg production to sit on the nest for even a few days, as it will rapidly lose condition and call upon the surplus of its own body for its maintenance. Post mortems that I have carried out in the past tend to prove that one of the first calls of the broody hen is upon the developing yolks in its ovaries, which rapidly shrink. It is onlv common sense to suppose fhat if these'yolks had been allowed to shrink, a considerable time must elapse before they are again sufficiently developed for the hen to recommence laying, whereas if the hen is richly fed she has no cause to utilise, and so decrease, the development of the volks.

For the same reason it pays to allow the hen with the chicks to help herself in some degree to the chick food. In fact, a little fat can in most cases with advantage be given to the hen which has been broody for some little time. Perhaps it would be advisable while on the subject of broody liens to again impress upon readers the folly of always putting the same' number of eggs under a hen, which is in most cases thirteen. What really happens when a hen is sitting on eggs? We may liken the hen to a stove. She supplies the heat to the e Pg s > the lamp does to the incubator. The larger the number of eggs and the larger the incubator, the higher you turn up the flame, therefore, is it not somewhat silly to give small hen, weighing perhaps only 3ilb, thirteen eggs early in the season when the nights may have been very cold, for as the eggs are"turned by the hen each in turn mav be chilled and disappointment follow at hatching time. The same hen, if given nine eggs or eleven eggs, might have hatched the lot. On the other hand, fifteen or seventeen eggs are not too many for a large hen, especially if the nest is not in an exposed position. PIP. Some of my readers who are recently from Home or any part of Europe are apt to think their birds have a disease which they term the "pip." Old-fashioned authorities and books will tell you that I this trouble i» ii di.-r;;? ;;nd to use their \ :\ -erin." The

tongue becomes dry, later on horny and even scaly, the feathers ruffled and the bird mopes about. It will be found that the so-called disease has nothing to do with the tongue. The brown dry tongue is due to the bird breathing through the mouth because the nostrils are completely blocked. Clear the nostrils, using a little germicide, and the trouble is over.