THE POULTRY INDUSTRY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1372, 24 February 1912, Page 5

THE POULTRY INDUSTRY.

1 (By Chanteclcr.)

Something About the-Egg. American professors at tho present time ore making exhaustive experiments with eggs, and tho result will bo announced later. They have nlreadv discovered somo interesting things; notablv Unit quito an extensive, business is done in the way of saving bad eggs and convert, mg them into such reputable condition that they can bo, and are, used in making foodstuffs. Some of the experimenters found that the reformed bad eggs made better cakes, etc., thnn perfectly fresh ones—that was, to the tnste. They prov'ed that germs entered tho egg through tho shell, and rapidly developed. Eggs smeared with dirt from barnyards, into wliich various bacilli had been'introduced, developed noxious germs very quickly. Thoy noted tho fact that thorough cooking killed all germs, which is a comfort to know. They discovered- that tho harder and denser the shell tho freer was tho inside from gorms; the egg f ro i» the guinea fowl being first in this rea. pect, and almost entirely free. Eggs token from clean yards were invariably found to bo freer from disease germs than thosa gathered' from dirty, nnelonned runs. In Now York there is a movement on foot to have the lower gTades of eggs, known as "spots" and "rota," disposed of as garbage,. under the direction of the Board of Health. The cheerful thing that sticks cloar ont is tho fact that thorough cooking may bo rolied upon to kill all tho eerms in the egg.

Lightly Boiled. Thorough cooking means ha.rd-bol]od eggs; but lots of people like tho Ughtlyboiled article, and in these, if tho profesSo , r3 , to k® believed, the germs are not al! killed. Indeed, some of them may be said to bocome so stirred up, and so fighting mad under the influence of the heat that they got" to work viciously, aided by the ptomaine toxins that tliu germs throw off; and Btill theso people hve, and thrive, too. This germ business sounds worse than it really !«,

Ths Raw Eggsrj, Then there are the raw eggera. Numbers of people swallow two or three raw eggs every morning for brenkfnst, and don.t die any oftener than otKer peoplo do. There seems to bo no doubt that eggs contain all sorts of germs, that go into tho man s stomach. Vet ho lives and keeps going pretty woll. Every now and ogam a man falls sick;'it may bo from the germs in eggs, fruit, meat in I ?'S '?' n,llk ' in water, on his friend's hand that he warmly shakes, on the doors of public vehicles; the germs nro anywhere and everywhere, in fact. .The ma'n takes Ins chance.. If he is fit and well the cteienc ing germs in his system destroy the intruding germs. If be is slack and run down, and a hungry typhoid germ, say, comes along,' the odds are that the defending germs, being flabby, like their owner (the man), will get beaten, which means the man will be tucked in his little cot for some weeks.

Practical Hints for Novlcei. _ Don't nse cockerels or pullets for breedin| purposes until they, ore twelve months New men are bound to make mistakes, but the best man is the fellow who £ Sn ,, uake the same mistake twice. . Don t keep a lot of breeds. Specialise in one. Look around, and you will find the successful men are all renowned for one particular breed; Don't think you know more than these old stagers In poultry breeding, don't forget to look ahead. Keep up tho staminas-breed from hens as against pullets. It is very nice to have egg machines, but you must keen it up if you are to do anything. The precocious- pullet is a good layer in the first year-leave it at that. Don't bre-d from her until the second year, when she has had-a couple- of months' spell, lavs a bigger u cgg, and is a-stronger bird Here is a rough, but practical, way of finding the best ayers. Go to the roos H I * nn *,' the ,lflns thl »t have full,' t„ 8 i^ PaC i keC I CTO P S nre all,,ost certain to be the best performers. . If they have a bright red comb, and a bright e/o, you may be sure they are. °

The, Broody Problem. ,lnT™X 9 Dnsea sonable, perhaps, bu< loesnt hurt anyone to cast an eve 01 it at any timo. Of late years noarh ZJtt*** haS >>l l e w ° rk «> and deve T& li ? Pt bl ?° dles are disappearing ihe white Leghorn craze has caused thi disnbution'of thousands of these bird and the sign of the cross is,, everywhcn ■E rDn V one W" 10^ 0 " ould get thi plain, ordinary, barndoor sitters, gut toi wAf h, ll T 7, The Leghorn cross run: right through. The barndoors nowaday: PS o *!' ia them > nnd >'t i! this bit of blood that gives the unreliabh wfr-rrP' 1 ?, m y c^ t ' 1 . 0 s ame with othei breeds The | black Orpingtons have beer so much pushed for eggs that they don'; go broody nearly so much as the ok: timers did, and they aro not so reliabli either. 'Ih e buff Orpingtons are stil fairly satisfactory broodies; but the writci knows no better way of learning to use bad language than to put a big buff hen on a dozen Leghorn eggs, ■ for she in. variably, smashes some of thorn, and al ways squashes a few chicks. A small bud hen makes a good sitter, but small buffs aro not numerous. Probably the besl sitters to-day for thin-shelled eggs ar< the white and silver Wynndottes. What about shade-fixed it yetp It onlv needs a few split bags, sewn together, ano 1 stretched over a light frame, which costs little, and is easy to do. Then, the soil underneath should bo finely broken up and'water poured on overnight, so that next morning, it is damp and soft, and ready for the birds to lie in. These two things and the drinking water placed in the shade will prevent deaths >on the hottest days. „}? ] ll H n r , nn J in C at largo needs almost all the food she can pick up to maintain the bodily function's, and repair waste tissue. This j s the reason why she ays fewer eggs than the penned hen, who has ample food provided at regular intervals and doesn't have to run a hundred yards to catch a grasshopper. If you rear chicks'under a hen, she scratches for them If you hatch them in an incubator, they have to scratch for ffrT™ £ aDd thi9 ' ? nd tho absent o do Vol? TeaS ° nß y incubator chicks

Eggi and Feathsrt, !'n,,Hi!f £>i' a £ r ll 1 * Tooted lt<m in the Pave™ Tim 3- s£ow - blr d« are not good 'to J„i n' may , bo tn,M(I back to the pood old days, when the exhibito Tar I When J tho P ull "t to lay her growth ceased; w th tho lavW chocked she continued to grow, "nd th ug made a better exhibition specimen The &XT Mfc"* I'? constant"; moving the birds about, the.feeding of nonstimulating food, and -so forth. A. fu? ther causo of retarded laying was the fact that good exhibits were sent from show to BJunr (this remark £ hngland whence most of our sTofvTtoek tZt I,US Chccldn s of the laying continued from generation to generation finally ended in specimens which were mg stock is pronounced, and th" B nm«

To th« New Man. Suppose yon become prominent, yon will do some, business, and this » th/Zy to Ko about it. Send out your birds In clean, new crates, with the address dearly displayed. Ascertain nil about trains £} rh« w"' and * P ", lh " ! ,irdß ***** at the last moment; keep them in comfortoblc quarters as long as you can. When ,1™ ! nro .f}°! n K °.n a eea journey, drop a few shillings in to the ready hand of the ship's butcher, who 1,„ charge of poultry. Make the crates as light and handy as possible, and leave no nails or points of iictliiw stickino- out to worry the men who handle tho boxes and who are likely ,(o drop the crates' suddenly (just as you would do) if a nail fr C JZ i] lt' ?" Kcr3 - , T1 !? '^ vcr ™' 3 "«" iroignt, therefore make it as easv for him as you can, consistent with strength and safety of the crates. Answer letters at once, and study your man. If he writes a short letter, give Mm a brief, ter*c reply. If he spreads himself vou can let out a nnieh nnd give him a longer reply. Don't o rental* the aunlifcr of

How to Cull. The action of a fowl probnbly best indicates its physical condition, and u few of (he many ways of (oiling fowls which have weak or poor constitutions and should not bo allowed in breeding pens will not bo out of place, as it will givo the now chums timo to wnk'h the various characteristics that go to make up tho weak lowl. Tho physically weak liird is inactive, nml is more likely to squnt than to stnnd. It. does not scratch for forago actively. It is tho Inst to get off tho noreh in tho morning, and tho firßt to go to roost at night, anil is frequently found on tho perch during tho day. Tho loudness and tho frequency of tho crow of tho male, or tho cacklo of tho hon, is a rclinl)lo indication of strength. Tho weak fowl (ioldom orown or cackles, and is loss likely to do no when in tho presence of a slfTTng individual of tho samo box. Gallantry on tho part of tho male is shown in his gonorosity and consideration toward (ho females, as indicated by his Milling thorn and sharing food. This is one of tho surest indications of physical vigour on tho part of tho male. 1 ho »ha|v> of (ho body is olosoly related to tho health and physical vigour of tho fowl. Tho deep, thick, compnet !>ody shown greater vigour (.linn tho long-joint-ed, (dewier, more, delionlo body of tho fllimo variety. This is particularly noticeable 111 comparing (ho strong and weak innlos. A fowl of low vitality is likely 0 have n long thin benk and head; long (Inn neck; lung, slender body; long thin legs ami shanks; and long thin toes. Tho revorso is true of tho physically atrong. 1 he head in the physically strong should bo medium In large, short and broad; while in the ww«k it is more likely to bo long, (lal. and thin, with long, flat beak, producing a "orow-liendod" appearance. A strong fowl nhould have a medium to large bright red comb and wattles. Tho low! onrrhvi Its health eortificato on top of its head. The eye is the mirror of ,'f, ly '. Tt " ,ICIW "' unmistakably, conditions of health «nd discaso. A fowl in good health nhould havo a bright, clear, round eye, which should stand out prominently. Tho'slie of the tail and the war it i« carried is also an Indication of rigour. A fowl having a strong constitution has a full development of tho tail feathers. 1 hose normally are carried erect. A fowl of tho same variety having a weak constitution, especially if it is suffering irom diseases, is likely to have tail feathers less developed, and to carry them on ono side or drooped. This is moro nppnrent when the weak fowl is suffering from fright, which usuallv will be tho case when placed in tho presence of the strong. The breast should bo round and V in ol *' oll ° wc " covered with moat, lhis indicates good musenkr development. A fowl shows ill-health and weakness quickly and unmistakably by a shrinking nway of the muscles about the Keel. The shanks arc a conspicuous ini Vi"l of tho strength of a fowl. They siiould be of pronounced colour characteristic of the variety; large and plump as comparied with tho faded-out. thin shanks of the fowl of low vitality. It is a common symptom characteristic of most poultry dj B( , fts< , 5 . The quantity, brilliance, and nature of the plumage are very reliable indications of constitutional ngonr. Tho feathers of a fowl of low nta..ty grow very slowly. They are likely to be dull end ruffled, as compared nth the cose-fitting, smooth, fully developed, bright plumage of the vigorous The appetite is also ft good indication tt vigour. A vigorous and strong fowl xmsiime-s large quantities of food. It is usuallv found with a full crop if suitable fond is available. A fowl that is constitutionally weak seldom ca-rics more than a small amount of food in tho crop no matter liow much is accessible or how attractive it may be.. It cannot bo mado to oat. It lacks appetite This indi;ates a weak digestive system. Any single evidence of* physical weakness alone may not necessarily be conclusive, but a combination of several wealc jliaracteristics is absolutely reliable.