Poultry Keeping

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 230, 28 September 1928, Page 17

Poultry Keeping

By H. J. TERRY

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

LOST LETTER.—I believe a letter from a correspondent has been lost, therefore someone will not get a reply to his query. If this is so please write again. TRY HARD (Taupaki).—lt is possible that you open the machine during the hatching of the ducklings. Tou must not under any circumstances do this, especially. as a wave of moist air will leave your machine, and will be replaced by a drier atmosphere, which dries the sticky of the membrane of the egg sheil and prevents the duckling from turning' in the snei: to break out. It\a* possible that the eggs are faulty, butljf so the ducklings would probably have died earlier than at the pipping stage. LYNX.—The pisjeon, in all probah . - r ; has the disease known as "going light." another name for a form of tuberculosis. Snrh a bird would be unfit to breed from, even if you patched it up. HENS.—The mash would be quite all right if you are using the right albumen meal. One meal contains substances that the other does iiot. Two ounces of grain per bird at ni}:ht is about right, but it is unwise to limit laving hens. They should be laying at their best now. I am getting eight and nine eggs per dav from nine hens, and their run Is rather exposed. Discontinue the maize feed for the ducks, and give them oats or ' soaked peas for two or three weeks. If ' they continue to lay soft shelled eggs reduce the food till they cease laylnVT 1 ! 1 " ° f wpeks an( ' the, » Increase 111 u them again, when in all probability the eggs will be normal. U o l hi7k^ reS %f near thC Tent of the aff «ted cnicks. If a creamy coloured fluid y have what 19 known as white scours' or "White diarrhoea." «IT !i, es s f round ,f possible. Clean all feed and drinking Tessels. and put a good germicide in the drinking water. The swollen Joints would point to orerheatmg of the floor of the brooder. T o» OU r m t y rem " ve the comb . 1 Leghorn if yon wish. If vn,wL t , , think !t Ss necessary, if you desire to do so it would be better h,n Ut , off the eomb close to the head than to remove half of it. You mav remove It with a very large pllr of °F a sharp knife. To check the rif have some cotton wool which you have pulled or teased out, to that ' the consistency of half a dozen cobwebs. Place this on the cut er 80n *® tannin powder, which g i* t v f , rom the chemist. The cotton wool helps to form a clot and sfbllitv of th th W K e . dinsr - Tbere 18 « possibility of the bird bleeding to death if you bungle the operation. Cl £o£f?n STREET.-The birds making a noise in the throat points to roup Get to hold each bird under The T on open the mouth and look fln«»r r e y»L growths, then put your of th* h?ri f. ach Bide of the throat teak von tSn ♦£* Unp towards the 5*r a *: * 0n *1" then see the entrance to the bronchial tube. It is a slit or Xf, lng ' and J ou see it opening and ..V l "rrvs ,Mcbed »»"

"EGOS ARE TOO CHEAP."

This is the theme of many letters that I am receiving. If I me et poultrymen in the street this is the subject of converexnort deplore the lack of an export. bhippmg companies are not very keen to find cool storage for egea in transit. It is a tricky cargo. If tie temperature is too high the eggs deterlorate, and if it is below freezing the shells split, and so a cargo of cracked eggs would be landed, but there ia not \ e 7 BT ea t risk in these directions. The risk lies in the fact that other cargo cannot be shipped with eggs if it has any distinctive gmell, aa the eggs would absorb it The remedy for this trouble would be to export sufficient eggs to fill a freezing chamber. I would again impress upon my readers the value of the local market. . What does the average poultrykeeper do to increase the eonsumption in the local market? A few may meet and suggest that a notice be put in the papers saying to the people: Eat more eggs," but you do not impress upon the public that there is any advantage in eating more eggs. You do not tell them why they should eat more eggs. \ou don't say that at the price e SS s are in the spring that they are an economical food. There are a hundred things you could say about the egg that you don t say. I am of the opinion that if the Government had given £500 per annum for two or three yeara for propaganda work, and placed it in the right channel, not only would the industry receive a great boost, but the effects of the boost would be permanent. Other countries have to boost their wares. The Californian fruitgrowers were on the verge of bankruptcy before they started co-operation and publicity. The Danish pig industry was at a low ebb till the public were educated to eat what might be termed the portions of a pig not uaed in the making of a side of bacon. If we really put our minds to it we could even beat that great advertiser "the Yankee," because we have solid grounds to work upon. America sometimes has an "egg week," then such slogans as "eggs—food for angels," "Eat eggs for vitamins," 'Uncle Sam is celebrating national egg week," "Eggs—the keystone of cook-

cry." Radio messages are sent out re the value of eggs. You are reminded of our debt to the humble hen, you are asked, "do you know eggs?" Special luncheons are organised featuring eggs. Some of the railways will actively cooperate. serving special egg dishes on their dinner and luncheon menus.

When I joined the Department of Agriculture in Tasmania eggs could be procured at fourpence per dozen during the spring months in the country districts, and at sixpence in many towns. In the winter time they were practically unprocurable, and a fair number were imported. Before I left the importation was being turned into an export, and the Taßmanian egg was the favourite egg with the catering department of the largest steamship lines leaving Australian ports.

First, the quality of the product had to be improved, and this was brought about chiefly by the bulk of the eggs marketed being infertile; there it was rare indeed for a bad egg to be on the breakfast table even in the middle of summer. I had u chat with the head of the Education Department, and arranged to borrow his cookery mistresses for agricultural shows, etc. Demonstrations confined to egg cookery during afternoons and evenings were given to crowded audiences, and so the industry was gradually put on sound lines. What one country can do another can. In fact, we should be able to do better because we do not have the extreme summer heat. I am afraid the idea of propaganda will have to be taken up either by merchants or by the Government. Co-operation so often stops at the name. Unfortunately, to make it a 3uceess there must in inost cases be a penal clause. Well, if this is necessary why not face the situation and put into a fund, say, a penny on every ten dozen eggs sold, or twenty dozen if you like. Propaganda is not necessarily an expensive matter, it is more a que-tion of how it is done. It will be generally admitted that the "Star" has done more in the direction of increr.sing the eating of eggs than any other publication, but that is no reason why you all should not assist. You have several organisations, varied brains on committees, etc. Well, combine them and evolve something. Just bemoaning the price of eggs and the lack of export will not raise the price.