THE POULTRY INDUSTRY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1132, 20 May 1911, Page 15

THE POULTRY INDUSTRY.

v (By Chantecler.)

misunderstand mo I Not for 0110 moment do I wish it to bo inferred that tho poultry 'fancier is any worse than his noighbour. The fault lies in tho fact that it is so easy to depart from the straight path in this particular business. Hero wo have the reason why tho fresh recruit, after completing his novitiate, finds himself unblusJungly dealing with others as ho himself has been dealt with.

Notes of General Intarost. Tho Christchurch 'Poultry--''Club has obtained over 1200 oiitrics for its coming show. Quito a number of the North Island fanciers bavo decided to;go to the premier show of Now Zealand, if not the whole of Australasia. ' Mr. R. D. Johnson, a noted silverwyandotte breeder, at Ashburton, has just refused a £25 cash offer for a cook bird, and £20 for a 'cockerel. Mr. Johnson has some of tho finest silver wyandottos bred outside of England. The egg-laying competition at Subiaco is not being carried on this year, owing to insufficient entries. It was here that-A. H. Padman-established a world's record of 1564 eggs. . The information contained in the article: on breeding'-in this column should bo studied.carefully. by. every , poultry breeder. Tho season is now upon us, and .beginners -should" purchixso second year, hens from reliable breeders, rather than immaturo"pullets.- Tho best evidence goes to show that the healthiest stock is raised from m'aturer birds. The returns from the eggrlaying competition at Christchurch continue to be satisfactory, though'so'mo-of the pens have dropped into a moult, and have fallen off in their-returns. The ducks showi better form this year than last. Mr.' Leger,. of Levin, . reports good business this .season. Ho has already a largo number of chickens hatched, and is specially equipped for the coming season. '.-•■■. ' ' Tho prico. of eggs shows that there are Bona top.many fowls in the' Dominion', and that-there is scope'.'for men who knowlhow to produce, eggs in winter. Thousands of columns'of ready mattor have been issued on "How to Get Eggs in "Winter;" but the writers .fail •to show the full basket that is the,test of practicability. .' A Splendid Catalogue. .... One of tho.finest' catalogues issued in tho poultry business, "appears as .a supplement, in the May issue of'the "New Zealand Poultry Journal;" from the Now Zealand Poultry Institute af Christchurch. This establishment ranks high; in the .poultry industry, and the catalogue issued gives some idea; of the largo business done by its proprietor Tho'front,cover contains a" three-coloui plate of a group , .of -chickens', undei which appear tho words: "We have .come to relievo the money stringency." • Breeding From Pullets. The careful breeder does not raise stock from pullets. If we aim atbodily perfection, stamina, and constitution— and this is requisite in utility stock as much as it is .in show birds—it is only to, be assured by breeding from matured hens. This principle holds good with all classes of live stock. To breed from immature animals leads 'to degenera- ■ tion."' We never find ; a long-headed breeder, with a reputation' for tho size and vigour 'of his fowls, including pullets, in his breeding pens. Nothing younger than a hen well into her second year is considered safe or satisfactory. With tho utility breeder it is .all the more, important that he'should haven knowledgo of tho productive : capacity of a hen before he breeds from her, otherwise tho chances. are that ho may bo perpetuating undesirable qualities. He breeds from the poor and the-.good ■layer alike. Of course ono may breed from a. woll-jdeveloped pullet with every apparent success, but it : is breeding in thei.dark,va's> : it* : -wer<v and' it leads to deterioration in &• few-;generations at most. There is a great temptation tc breed from' 'pullots, because they arc generally laying early in -the- season, when the eggs aro wanted for hatching. '..'.' '~.•■ Almost invariably a hen in.her:sot ond year's laying will produce large) eggs than in her first' season, wlncl goes to, how that she is not. fully developed and capable of giving tho best re suit until her second year. One miglr even go further, judging from the dat: derived from oilr laying competitions . and say that to secure the best result a hen t should be tested in her secom year as well as in her first before sh can be bred from with absolute confi dence. For practical purposes,. how over, tin's test of constitution and sus tained productivity may bo' dispense! with'. '''~. It is tho almost general experienc that hatches from pullets aro not s> satisfactory"as thoso from the second year hens. This cannot bo reduced t exact figures based upon any Austra lian experiments, but wo. can qnot from data obtained at tho-West Vir ginian experiment ■ station - (U.S.A.) which shows practically the same thing In this tost 2000 eggs were incubated and the following vcomparativo result noted:'-:- ■■" ',"''' Per cent eggs hatched: Hens, 76.' per cent; pullets, 67.8 per cent.. Average weight, 100, ,'ot hatching Hens, 8.28 m.; pullets, 7.121b. - Average weight, 100, at throe to fou • weeks: Hens, 29.561b.; pullets, '23.071b Chicks dying beforo . four' weeks Hons, 5 per cent ;■ pullets, 14.5 per cent In all such experiments, a very grea deal depends upon tho-individual bird tested, .but theso results may bo re gardod as approximating the diffcrenc between breeding from hens and pullets and, if tho comparison bad been con tinued further, it would doubtless hav bsen even more convincing, for pro bably everyone who has given the qucs tion any study- will agree .that stocl from tho older hcus do better and mak better birds on tho averago than tlio-s from tho immaturo breeders. Whoi one breeds from pullots, he does no givo. natural selection-a chance. W hear a good deal about tho survival o the fittest. It works in the ben yar as well as anywhere eke. A certai. proportion of pullet 3 stand .up unde the strain of heavy laying better tha tho rest, and.it is such that nro bos qualified to be tho mothers of the nes generation. Nature weeds out th weaklings, but by breeding from pullef we aro not giving Nature a chance. B breeding from none but fullyimaturc and proved hens, the vigour of a floe can' bo increased, and tho complainl of inferior stock dono away with. Fallacies and Misconceptions. Tho beginner in the poultry fane starts, with- high ideals, which, afti a more or loss lengthy appronticoshi nro liable to bo rudely shattered. J is almost in an analogous position ■ that of Oliver Twist when he made tl acquaintance of tho "Artful Dodger, I would not go so far as to say th; Co-rlyle's description of tho world i being composed of one-half rogues ai the other half fools, applies more fi tingly to tho poultry fancy than other walks in life; but I do say th the fancy is a fertile brccding-groui of tho germs of roguery. Pray do n