THE POULTRY INDUSTRY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1485, 6 July 1912, Page 3

THE POULTRY INDUSTRY.

* * (By Chantecler.) '•

POULTRY FOR PROFIT. THE CARE OF THE BREEDERS. />Specially written for The Dominion by $. B. Jlcrrott, Cliristchuroh, and published )iy arrangement exclusively for out Traders. . Questions on poultry matters ' ; '\frill bo answered in theso columns .each 'week, and should bo addressed to Dominion \ Offico. [Continued From Last Week.] In order that eggs may hatch well and ?' ood strong chioks bo reared several deails require ,tho attontion of tho be(rinner in the care of tho breeders. The ■trouble with most poultry-keepers is tho difficulty of raising tho chicks. It is not, •difficult to hntch chickens, tut to raise : .them is tho problem. To have success,: caro of tho breeders is highly important. ; I emphasised tho need of selecting stock' Showing groat vigour of constitution. The food must bo of the best, and moist Bashes should bo fed three times a week, i lAmplo grain should be fed in litter' to rncourago exorcise. The listless, inrictivo birds will not produce vigorous clue-lens. To give strong life and activity to the chick exorcise is important. If a hen is fnt through lack of exercise tho chicks will stick in th 6 shell or if hatched will • bo weaklings. Green food or vegetable matter must bo fed. This gives tho rnin,ihe frame of the chicks. Oyster grit will give a good strong shell that will .readily dissolve under 'incubation and 'give the lime elements the chicks need. ■Birds should be kept warm and free from drafts. Any sign of catarrah or roup • will bo transmitted to tho ohicks and make them weaklings, Extreme caro of the breeders is needed to give good healthy chicks. Care of the Eggs. About I en days after the birds are mated tho eggs will bo fertile, and may thon be saved for incubation. They are fertile before this, but it is not safe to keep the eggs until tho above period has elapsed. Hens should bo mated with cockerels and pullets with cocks. If you havo a large number of hens, say 20 to 80 per male bird, you will have moro infertile eggs to test out, but you have a larger proportion of pullets from the chicks. A good plan is to alternate tho male birds, giving each bird threo, days in the breeding pen, and threo days out. If two birds are used, this may ho easily done, and result in stronger stock. Eggs Bhould be kept in a temperature of not less than 50 degrees. Gathered daily, they should bo carefully culled, and only those eggs that aro large and regular in «hape should be saved. Keep out all irregular and rough shells, small eggs, long, or round eggs. Keep only the best. If you set all eggs that aro laid you will reap a crop of weaklings and have no end of troublo in trying to raise them. Tho eggs should be stored small end down. This will allow the air cell to bocome established in itsiproper place. The eggs should bo set as fresh as possible. Preferably, not-more than a week. They will hatch, even at a month old, but the chicks are weak and scraggy. Many will not have strength to hatch at all while there will be a laTge proportion of cripples. Setting tho Hen. ' There are two methods of hatching chicks. On small plants'the hen is used, though the number of broodies are being lessened every year, so that incubators have to bo used to hatch the eggs. 'Through selection,'and by discarding tho ctucker, the raatornal instinct is quickly eliminated, and broody bens aro hard to obtain. Set tho hen in a quiet corner, or, preferably, liu I ,a coop; Make the. nest on the ground, nollowout arid lino with hay

or straw. Placo tho eggs under at night, provido food and water, and there is littlo difficulty to bo met with if tho hen is thoroughly broody. The Incubator. • I'ew poultry men expect to raise any number of -stock without an incubator.. It is always ready. Thoro is no fear of tho eggs being left and discarded, as is the caso with a desultory hen. Great < numbers of chickens may be obtained, and in every way it is most preferable to hatching by means of tho sitting hens. Start tho niachino is any sparo room or warm shod. Don't worry about cellars or underground incubator rooms. A spare bedroom may bo used if no other place is available. Wot a good-sized machine and avoid a small one. It is easy enough to put 50 eggs, if' needed, in a 120-egg machine, but you cannot use a 50-egg machine to hatch out 100 eggs. ,By the ■ tiino you test out infertiles, and , allow for eggs that will not • hatch, you aro scarcely better off i with a 50-egg machine than with a a couple of hens. It will not be.long before you, will need tho larger machine, ; so get nothing less than 100 egg size, should you need to sell you will find plenty of buyers, which is not the case when a small machine is up for sale. Follow the maker's instructions for your first few hatches. You may then experiment as your judgment dictates. See that- tho machine is thoroughly warmed and temperature up to 103 before placing the eggs in the incubator. After tho eggs are in the temperature will drop, and it will be some hours before the eggs are warmed through. Once tho temperature gets up (o 102 to 103, let it stand at that, and not touch the eggs for three to four days. You may then remove tho tray, and carefully turn the eggs,:airing them just as long as it takes you to turn them. In cold, frostv weather do not keep the eggs out of the'machino moTe than five minutes in summer extra time will do no injury. Turn morning and evening. Trim the wick every evening, so as to. assure a good steady flamo through the night. On the seventh day the eggs may be tested for fertility. Experienced men can do this on the fourth day, but the beginner should not test till the seventh day, and the tenth day for tinted ggs. Egg Testing. ' Invest in a good testing-lamp. A cheap ono will not give satisfaction, and 'you lose much of the charm in studying the development of the eggs. Y'ou will iearn by experience that some eggs arc strong while others aTe weak in infertility. In the first hatch or two you may rest content with discarding the clear eggs only. If the egg is fertile when held to the light it will show a spider-like appearance below the air cell. Blood-vessels will be seen centreing to a small dark spot, which is the early development of tho chick. It will bo easily and plainly seen. To becomo familiar with the different stages of incubation, a daily test should be made through the testing-lamp. Infertile or clear egg 3 should bo laid aside, and kept out of the machine... They only take up space, and make labour handling them. Some eggs will show a black spot. This means a dead germ, others will show red streaks, this means ruptured blood-vessels, others will show a watery floating appearance of the germ, this means a weak chicken. Others are cloudy, this means a broken yolk or an addled egg. As experience is gained, all these eggs will lie readily detected and discarded. The study of tho chick's development is one of the most interesting studies in nature life, and each day the growth of the embryo may be noted till tho fully-formed chick appears. Chicks for Australia. Mr. W. C.iDavis,.iNapier, has-succeed-.- ■ Ed in landing in' -Sydney a shipment of

day-old chicks with only tho loss of three. The chicks wero taken from the incubator the saiuo evening as the boat left Napier for Auckland. This is a successful experiment that will help to foster trado with Australia. Export Trade. A deputation of poultrymen will wait on Parliament this month, to ask assistance to develop tho export trade. Inquiries for eggs and poultry have reached producers from Honolulu, Vancouver, London, and Liverpool. An export trado could be easily worked up at a time when supplies aro cheap in Mew Zealand.