POULTRY NOTES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 107, 8 January 1940, Page 2

POULTRY NOTES

FOLLY OF BARGAIN BUYING CHEAPNESS MUST NOT ALWAYS BE THE DECIDING FACTOR As pou!try-farming is a coinmcv- <-■ i;ii proposition, the cost of production. is a matter of vital importance. It must not be confused with the cost of the raw material, for the price paid for stock, food, etc., is not necessarily comparable with the actual cost of producing eggs ratable birds, as the case may lie. There is a tendency lo look to this problem in the wrong light, regarding the price paid for food or stock as the factors which determine the success of the business. Consequently, any one able to oiler something at a relatively low price stands a very good chance of doing business. In poultry-farming, however, this policy of buying in the apparently cheapest market may be a very unwise one and costly in the long run. There arc plenty of so-called "bargains" to be had in the poultry world, but the greatest care should be cxercised in buying anything below a fair markr* price, for in the va.'t majority of cases the reason for the low price is explained by inferior quality. It is the cost of production that matters, and in every phase of the work on the farm this fact should be borne in mind. Cheap eggs, cheap chicks, cheap foods and appliances, and last, but by no means least, cheap stockbirds are likely to prove bad investments and, in any event, should be regarded as a gamble. And as few can afford the risk of having even one bad season, it is always wise to adopt a safety-first policy when dealing with livestock.

VICE OF TOE-PICKING VALUE OF SALT AND MILK Anions tlit* troubles one meets with in the brooding of chickens is the so-called vice of toe-picking. Once blood has been drawn, a kind of cannibalism sets in. Many thousands of baby chicks are lost every year from this cause, while their owners are searching for the cause of the trouble or applying so-called remedies that are quite useless. Toe-picking is not, as so many poultrymen think, caused by too much sunlight on the toes, or by irritation by sand or anything of that kind. The trouble arises out of a deficiency in the food, mainly, experience has taught, a deficiency in sal'i, or the vitamins supplied by milk. The remedy, therefore, lies in a supply of both these essentials, but particularly of salt in sufficient amounts. Let those who are experiencing this class of trouble add to the mash food one ounce of salt to each five pounds of other materials, dissolved in the milk with which it is to be mixed. Feed this all day, and give chicken mixture for the last meal. With such treatment, cannibalism will disappear as if by magic. Feather-eating among adult fowls is curable in the same way, except where there is a lack of proper shell grit. If there is a shortage, see that it is made good.

HAVE AN IDEAL The poultry-farmer who lias not a clear, definite conception of the exact type of bird he is aiming at, is not a breeder in the true sense of tlie word. The real breeder has always lie l ore him a mental picturc of his ideal bird, in respect to type (breed points), size and egg production. The result of judicious selection, and expert mating year after year for the purpose of fixing the desired characteristics, is reflect ed in his flock. He knows what he wants and goes after it. Haphazard matings, with 110 set objective in view, find no place in the programme of a real breeder. EGGS IN COLLECTION-PLATE "Eggs in a church collection-plate would cause a sensation here," said a lecturer to the Women's Institute in England, "but they are O.K. in Kenya and Uganda, South Africa. The natives put them in instead of —shall we say—threepenny bits."