POULTRY INDUSTRY

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1285, 14 November 1911, Page 8

POULTRY INDUSTRY

THE CONFERENCE AT CHniCTCHURCH. (By Chan feeler.) 11. Tho fwnnil annual poultry conl'eren™ was hold at ChriMchurcli last week. Mr. K- Jirown delivered an <1 i iif;ly iiiicn.'.'-tiiij: paper mi <m " Preparation of Tablo Poultry, in which lie painted out Hie »n\s nl different foods and the manner in which Ihcv should prepared. .Mr. JJutiierford questioned Mr. iirown whether the use of salt is necessary, either lui fattening tiic birds or l'or nlitaittin;: l;tlI :;r levers. Mr. lirown replied Ilia! "llie chief use of salt is to prevent fail Inn- eating. Bovond (hi? I cannot speak ol lis value. It is an old custom and worthy ol investigation." . Mr. llawlcc: I knew of n laym;; compctition wliero salt was used. 'Hie caretaker had met with an accident ami appointed his brother to act for him. Not knowing the e:.act quantities to use, I ho man put in too much salt and Hie elfeet was disastrous. I would Uso as little salt as possible. Mr. iirown: I know of a ca'so where .".00 birds died within a. fortnight through too much salt being used. Mr. Jiabcoek: With regard lo outs, I have tried different places for ground oats, but liml that young cockerels do not like the husks. They like very line ground oats. Mr. Brown: I would not recommend nnvmic to buy ground onts, bill buy plump oats ami grind them with a .spwiiil mill. Oatmeal would be good for Hie birds, but it is too expensive. Mr, Vincent: Could Mr. lirown (.ell us which bird has the finest flesh? I believo there is a distinct dill'ercncc in the ta.sles of the bint. Mr. I'roKii: There is just as vast n difference in tho strain as there is in the breed, '['ho Dorking is about tho nicest I have known. A question was askfid about a good fattening food for poultry, and the follow-, ing foods were mentioned:—Maize meal, meat meal, mixed with milk. Willi rtvjard lo salt: When wc cook food, we c.iok out of it all Hie salt, and that is why housewives put >nlt in tho cooking. It is known in the medical world that salt is a. poison taken in exccss, but a liltle salt is useful. ' Are oats good for fattening? Mr. Harvey: "There are certain elements in food Hf.it wo cannot afford to let go. The birds must have nitrogenous food—carbonaceous food that makes fat — and the bird must have heat and energy. I must mention one thought that many people ignore. You find (hal, as a rule, they leave out altogether any mention that is made of the salts. What arc the natural salts for? They supply the digestive juices. It does not matter how rich the carbon or nitrogen food, tho birds must have green food and cut bone. With regard to oats: There is a mechanical action that we must observe in the birds. If they ore given indigestible foods they pass through finally undigested. The tubes of the intostine swell, and thus harm is caused to the birds. Mr. Merrett complimented Mr. Harvey on tho part he took in tho discussion, stating that it had been of great benefit to those present. A discussion arose on Mr. Brown's paper, "Preparation of Table Poultry." Ho staled that scarcely any of the chicks recently sent to the market were in a lit condition for consumption. They are not fattened sufficiently in the short time they ought to be. They should not bo kept too long before putting on the mdrket—about ten weeks. Mr. Pounsford showed how White Leghorn chickens of nine weeks were sold for Bs. 4d. per pn.ir. whilst another gentleman's chick of five weeks brought only id. per pair. Ho suggested that, instead of being thrown out at five weeks, take tho chicks aiid fatten them "up for thb English market, and a price , approaching •is. M. per pair would then be forthcoming. ' EXPORT TRADE. In the absence of llr. Brittain-BuII, the president, Mr. Harvey, read a very interesting paper, "Export Trade," in which Mr. Bull gave liis opinion that by sending birds Home for the London market there was not sufficient profit made,.andthe low prices received for New Zealand poultry in 1 London gave altogether a wrong impression to the English marketers of the qualify.of ?Ccw Zealand poultry. Mr. Pounsford stated that in his experience ho had sent birds Home, and had, for chickens, received 10s. per pair. These birds had arrived at. the latter end of the season, when poultry was fairly cheap. An Auckland poulterer, who sent chickens lo the London market mads such good profits that he was prepared to send 20,000 or 30,000. With regard to packing, Mr. Pounsford considered that to singe' and draw a bird rui- packing purposes spuils it. The singeing: taSes off the bloom, dries the skin, and when the. bird comes out of the freezer on reaching its destination it is found tn be. mouldy. The colour, of tho flesh is not considered a drawback to the- sale of tho bird; for, if it is of good quality and prime, it will be found to bring its price. .Another speaker stated that a great advantage tn the New Zea- | land poulterers (members of tho association) would be to appoint an agent in London. A shon could be opened for tho sale of New Zealand ponl-

Ir,v. Hii' '.-iinr- im li:ibien ii|ii'|iml fur New /,<iil.tnil un.il, mill in llii'l im.v pvrn belIrr piiii"; would !)*■ ulitiiiiii'il, Mr. Men I'll; II iiuy i:<hh| i l ' In In' forthI'liniii;; from r.\|nni I null' I bey unit iln nil I hey cull til in in ii I; i 111; 111 n I li lj I Jilt-111< iiiiil <i|ii M ii|i I rude tvilli l .'iiiml.'i, as ue|l Hi wit:, Kiiijlnml, i:nil lie li'll sine Hint I lli< I j Hie is niniiiii; when we wiiulil be iivi r-(fCfJiln/'i7i)f. Dili' Ibousand line liiiiiilri'il do/,en i'K|!« lnivi- rci'i'iilly been shlppi'il liv III" tinmen' l igg <Vim|i;in.v. Mr. Ili»l.i:-ini jiniiilfil (ml, that ii >;n"il. tli.-ndvajiliiue In llii' export Irnilc was the liiet Ihnt heavy freight-; were levied 'in i';;i:s Iravelling from ililfi'i'i'nl stations, lor ins! ain o. n iaw of uppln.-, could l>:> .'l'lil. li'iiii I'lii'viol lo (/hri.'ili.'linji.'li for IM., whilst, a box nl eggs I ravelling from Chin int. In. ('hri.-l.cburc.il, n distance (if HO miles, (.".ist over Is. t;il Mr. Mcitcll: A heavier duly slmnlil br. put. (11l nil incoming eggs. 'I In: pi ici* (if eggs here is regubileil by Iho cmlcclinncif., wlki nil import, eggs from i<irrii;n markets for Oil. per dozen fill through t;ic year. .Mr. A. K. Kent gavo mi address on Mir"Commercial Aspi-els uf Ilio Poultry Jniluslry," Hi; considered it. unwise to en-c-'iurago Iho agricultural tanner to compi'le against the poultryiuon. •Mr. Kent was it'it. in sympathy with ex|iiirl; trade, as lie considered tho time I'll' i-hipping eggs during I lie dear wawm was I<m slkii-I jiiul would afiord little relief to ill" loenl marl:";. Mr. .1. M. Ferguson (Wellington) gave nil e.M'ellenl. iid<lt"-s on "(Jo-operalinn." Iln inninl;iitied Hint n scheme was iKusible where producers i.otild market I.lieir produels and obtain their food supplies with profit* lo tin iiHiruied Hint, there wa.s t-'i'i much nilvoraoy for Ihe produelion nl llif eggs, mid 100 lillie cojii iilcriil.ioii lo the marlvoling of the egg'. Th() atldr°=s v.as listened to with gr<-at iiilt'iesl, and .Mr. Kitjiimui received I lie thanks of the confcrenro for his able dealing with I lie suhj-.ot. On Wednesday nf!irmr.ti about BO delegates and their Mends visited the. eg-,'. J.'lvilli; f:o»i|)i'lilioii at Papariui. Dr.-igs met the (runs and conveyed the visitors to the grounds. The president of thertilil.y ('tub I,Mr. Ilnwri-v and several members of fhe coiiiuiill"o accompanied Iho visitors to the pens, and la pleasant, time was spsnt. viewing the birds. He-fre:-;bments were then supplied by fix: indies, and loasts wr-re given on behalf of the elub, competitions, and the Xcw ;!r:tlaiid Poultry Association. Several of the delegates llien visiitd the A'ew Zealand ]'on I try Institute, St. Albans, and -aw (lie up-tD-iiale plant and v.fll-;-tockcJ farm kept by Mr. Merrett. At the evening session on Wednesday 31 p. Ferguson's paper on "Co-operation" was (lisciisscd. It was decided that although co-oneration was a snlendid tbins for the nssseiation as a whole, yet it was rather pr-einaturo just yet. Tlie assocint'pn is a young one.and must feel its wav at first. It was decided to elect a eo.'n mittrc to consider Mr. Furgson's schcnip and report at next conference. 31 r. Gordon delivered an interesting ad dress on "Fireless Brooders." The brooders were very ably fecfibcd by 3fr. Gordon, and also the methods nsod to worlc them. The subject created great interest, Ann fit the closc of the address several rinpstions were asked. 3lr. T. H. Rutherford Olasterton) roafl a papor on/'Les;ons from tlie Esg Circle ..tovement. fhe pgg circle movement in the Aorth Island had spread rapidly. Iherc were now 13 societies at work. The aim was lo market the eggs in a better manner, clean cg?s, regularly graded, and strictly fresii. It was also suggested b\rl;- - , that cach circle should affiliate with the Xew Zealand Poultry Association. v