POULTRY KEEPING

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21415, 6 March 1935, Page 6

POULTRY KEEPING

* PIGEONS, CANARIES, AND CAGE BIRDS I [By • BARRED ROCK"! The Christchurch Poultry, Pigeon, and Canary Club have been successful in securing the rooms of the Central Mart, 213 Cashel street, opposite the New Zealand Farmers' Co-opera-tive Association, for their young bird show to be held on March 29 and 30. The proprietors have given the building rent free, and this should help to make the show a great success. The selecting of suitable judges has been well considered, and good men have been secured. Messrs Green Bros, have received another order for a pen of White Leghorns from South Africa. This firm has sent several lots to that country, the progeny of one pen having won the South African competition. Balancing: the Flock For best results the laying Hock should be properly balanced as to proportion of pullets and hens. Production in the average flock generally drops to a low level in the autumn, but this can be prevented by proper handling of hens and by early hatching of pullets. With Leghorns a practical plan is to have a flock of extraearly pullets to begin laying about January. A reasonably uniform production of eggs the whole year round is the poultry keeper's ideal, but as a rule he falls far short of achieving it. Beginning in late summer the egg yield of the average flock falls off rapidly and reaches an extremely low level during the autumn and early winter months. Greater uniformity in production and better profits can be secured by properly balancing the flock. By this term is meant maintaining the correct proportion between the number of hens and pullets, also having pullets of different ages. The production of hens in their second year is always lower than in their first, speaking in averages, and they seldom b<?gin laying until after the winter, so that the average price of their eggs is decidedly lower than that of early hatched pullets. One-year-old hens, however, are much better for breeding purposes than pullets and their chief value to the poultry keeper, therefore, is in producing eggs for hatching. The fact that such hens do not begin laying until early spring is no objection, indeed, is an advantage, as it insures a supply of eggs for hatching from fowls which are just coming into laying after a long rest period and which are capable of transmitting the highest vigour and vitality of the embryo. Poultry keepers have long recognised the fact that their only chance for keeping up the production of the flock and securing a good number of eggs during the highpriced months is to have a large percentage of early-hatched pullets—pullets that will come into laying early in the New Year, as a general average. There are practical reasons, however, why the proportion of such pullets in the flock is usually comparatively low, and it is something of a problem for the average poultry keeper to determine how many he should try to raise and when these should be hatched, to maintain just the right balance between hens and pullets. Poultrymen usually recommend that the major portion of the flock be made of pullets in order to have the most profitable producers. The hen lays a larger number of eggs the first year of her life than the second, and a larger number the second year than the third, decreasing the number each year as she grows older. The best pullets are kept the second year as yearlings and the inferior ones sold. Those sold are selected according to the best judgment of the operator, who tries to pick the poorest layers. By dividing these flocks according to the proportion of pullets and yearlings, the advantage or disadvantage of keeping a large proportion of yearlings in the laying Hock should be shown. Total Receipts It has been proven that poultrymen whose Hocks have 50 to 70 per cent, of their number in pullets obtain greater total receipts for the flock and for each hen than any other class. They also receive the highest number of eggs a hen, except in the class having 80 to 90 per cent, of their flock in pullets. A well-balanced flock must carry 30 to 50 per cent, of yearlings to produce eggs for hatching, otherwise the poultryman will need to buy his eggs for hatcning. This proportion allows the development of a flock with good vitality, and with enough old liens to give it stability. The average proportion of pullets on these farms is 61 per cent. They have just about the right proportion on the average. With more attention to the subject, oven the one and two-year-old hens can be handled so as to get more eggs from thorn during the autumn months. This should be done by giving them a needed rest in early summer before there is any tendency to moult. If this is properly done the moult can be delayed for several weeks in the autumn and the laying period correspondingly prolonged. We have a good deal yet to learn about the moult, but in the case of persistent | layers at least, production apparently | governs it to a great extent.