THE POULTRY INDUSTRY

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1657, 25 January 1913, Page 3

THE POULTRY INDUSTRY

(By Chantecler.)

Tho Auckland Conference. The Auckland poultry men are making a good eil'ort to havo a record poultry men's conference at Auckland during Easter week. It is expected their will bo a large liumbdr of delegates from 'tho various associations, and that much will lie done to place tho industry on a better basis. The'following is the programme:— Tuesday, March 25—10.30 to. 1, annual report and election of officers; reception by Mayor, Prime Minister, and repre-. sentativos of Agricultural Department; paper on "Eggs from Mating to Market," by F. Brown. Wednesday, March 26—Egg Circles Organiser's. Report: "Strength and Weakness,"; H. M. Boddington; "How to Breed Layers," A G. Mum by; "Dry Feeding," Mr. Martin. Visit to Riiakura Poultry Farm as guests of Agricultural Department. Papers on "Table Poultry and How to Produce It," D. D. Hydo and F. Brown. Thursday, March 27—"Disposal of Poultry Products," S. Brittan Bull; "Registration of Egg Sellers," T. H. Rutherfurd. "Fireless Brooders," W. C. Davis and G. Carr; Poultry Houso Competition—display of "designs. Lecture: "Weaknesses of the Poultry Industry," J. 8., Merrett. Notes for the Novice.' If you are after eggs, don't forget that. it is tho medium-sized birds which make the_ best layers. ■ , You want to know -why? Well, they eat about the same amount of food as the : bigger birds, but they don't need so much to maintain tho bones, blood, feathers, etc., so that there is more surplus left over out of which to make eggs. There isn't any fluke or luck about getting eggs. It is;only a quostion of selecting the right birds and feeding and housing them properly. Any one who will. take the troublo can do,it. .... But, keeping the birds in a small yard, with nothing to scratch at, and nothing to occupy them, and feeding on wheat all the time (which makes fat and meat, but is of'little use for making eggs),, is not the right way to do it. Tho right way to do it is to have plenty of straw, or ot'lier loose litter in the yard for the fowls to scratch in; to feed green stuff of some sort every day, to boil upj the house scraps and mix with bran and! ;pollard for the morning meal, and to.feed wheat lato in the afternoon.- This is-the right way, and the fowls do well, because the variety of food supplies the needs of the body, . keeps the bird in health, and the 'food contains tho. elements out of .which eggs are made.' Especially is this the case with meat and ' tho juice from boiled bones.

• Another reason why the smaller fowls are usually the best layers is tho fact that their active temperament or nature wilt not allow them to, become fat. Tho lean, tough fowls aro quite the best'for laying and for breeding, and the reason why they are lean and tough is simple of explanation., They eat a lot, but their digestive apparatus converts the food, in to energy, and not fat, and as tho fowl eats more than it wants tho surplus goes into, eggs,| which,aro laid in considerable numbers by tho lean; well-bred lien. " Tho placid, sluggish fowl .that eats and then lies about- the yard for a snooze is all right in ■ its place,' and that' place is on the dinner, table, on'the broau of its baclc, with its'-legs nicely tucked 1 up; in other words, a ? table bird.'

Now is the time when you should begin to sort out the birds. You don't want to carry them all over to next season, and perhaps you want to make room for the young pullets coining 011. Don't forget that the moult will begin in' tho next few weeks, so go through the birds and sell, or pot,- those you don't to carry into the next season.

The. birds to keep are those that have a bright red comb and face, bright eye, feathers, holding well, /and that'" feed heartily. l'lioso that look pale and 1 washed out/.that are, poor feeders : and. .slow movers,, they are the ones to pass,out. Go through' them at night, an hour after they, have, gone to roost, 'and-you will bo able, to. find the good fecders. They'.aro the. ones. They can't make.a lot of. eggs unless they eat a, lot -of food, which is plain common sense, isn't-itf In selecting, young stock as breeders for next season, keep back those that were first hatched. These should'bo the best grown ,an(l tho. strongest,- because tho parent'stock should liavo been at their top_ after the-, moult, and tlio spell fronr laying, and the lato winter, and spring weather conditions more suitable to' tho growth of chickens. '

In your breeding operations, don't, forget that tho big rooster isn't such a good stock-getter as! tho: medium-sized, . wiry bird. Why? 'Because big birds are' sluggish in their movements, their food often goes to niake fatj and they are too heavy for ,thp hens, ,who evade them..as. much as possible, so that the: fertility suffers. On tho other hand, tho smaller medinmsized bird is usually a bundlo of energy— a good feeder, whoso food is turned into muscle and energy, and a bird that the hens like.

It, is much better to mate big hens and a small rooster than it • is to mate a big rooster.to small hens.

In breeding show stock, it is a mistake to use a rooster that weighs more than tho standard demands, for tho reason given in the foregoing paragraphs. Don't forget it—the big fat bird gives poorer fertility than the small to medium-sized bird.

If your fowls are weakening in vigour, try some new blood, and get it from somo breeder whoso fowls have a big run. This stock will put back into your birds tho vigour that they have-lost. If you occasionally do this, you will have more eggs and less trbuble in hatching and rearing". The. reason of it is this. Generally speaking, tho suburban yards are limited in area, so that tho fowls haven't much room. Fowls are/active birds, that require abundance of exercise if they are to, keep well and'strong, and as they don't get enough exercise in the suburban yard, as a -rule, they become stale and, go off generally, which explains why the occasional introduction of fresh blood from some yard where tho . birds have, plenty .of run is desirable. I -.

A daily run for an hour will brighten up confined chickens wonderfully. Try it and see.

Have you thought about running up a shed to keep tho hens in during tho coming winterP It is worth doing/There will be no mud, no dirtj eggs, no smells, and no insanitary conditions, and the hens will lay much better in the warm shed. The general experienoa is that in tho cold weather the good hen in.the shed will lay five to six eggs a week. If she were outside in the open yard she would lav two or three, or none at all, according to the general attention given. You know the idea. The outside hen needs pretty well all the food 6he oan pack in to;keep lip tho warmth necessary to withstand the cold and sustain : life. The hen in the shed will eat about the sairie amount of food, but as she'is protected from the cold does not use up so much of it for the maintenance of warmth and bodily health, so that there is more loft over for the making of eggs. It is simple, isn't it; but it is very true.