POULTRYMEN CONFER.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2124, 16 April 1914, Page 8

POULTRYMEN CONFER.

;SST;clegaies%ls:;;i!ie/iM ?iiii!ioWve6iitiiiiie!lKlhVij- ; v ; !Uplibei-fs!ioiiwat, ,'( jycslerdayi:;'ilivS.; Jij.rilnll:' flifj" >hair. V Amo!*K;';>Shoie;;spfpsi>ni ' wore -iff.'. "■" : Jil- l ; Department ■of-'vVgriciiltnVeS-Mr.'^'^rKKeakVs--,. Uirrc.-' ,t<M^«iid>Jir:^A..y^i:UJriipc;-. ; :'i\K'(islniil.])i; rector.'-"'"!' ;Hie r :■ si nu, .o.fj;t par tin eh flvMiift '■ : yfi; if: ■v : -'riip; chairman"'staled illuif-tlie'object of 'asking -tin! .mbiiilicrs of' Ih-o-'-Agricuitural IJ-epaitmehi;' loiaiteiid -was.-fo impress up- ; on.'theiii\-fbe importnnce. of Hie industry. ,;Th'o in..tho. pnsit ■'hail been burdening the Minister et' Agriculture with («o many requests, the result j'being that the. bulk of"them had been lost sight of. : He expressed Hie hope (hat, at the next' conference,' (lie .association would"be .able to-bring down, something definite, which, they hoped would rcrcive, . fhw favourable consideration..of tho Jtini.ster. He also expressed the view that • the appointment.of wore nonltry instnrctors and 'also experimental work, ' was necessary';' : I!; -'-.-- -■ / ..; '■ Afr. O. Willis, (chairman of the Xew Zealand U(tlity : ipo'tiltr.r Club} also empltaaispd (he need for experimental work; Mr. Pope said that it was" vary likely that, in the.near future, two woro i«*fFactors- wofiltt be- appointed. The Department quite recognised that the industry was going to mean a great deal to the revernio of tho country. As things were at present there must be something wrong when only 30 per cent, of the highest-grade eggs roaehed.the retailer in good couditidu.

Mr. Reakos staled that it was satisfactory to note that Hie industry; was on a very much bettor footing than ever s>efore, though there was still a great deal to do. The advance, so far as it iind gone, wan due to better- methods of orgaaiaitiGß. A feature of ttte past year had" been the development of the export trade «uul. tho speaker expressed hops that it would further increase this yesr, He was interested, in the remarks that had been made concerning experimental work. -'Its establishment, on'right lines, would mean x good deal to tho industry, ami lie hoped that the conference would be able to bring forward some definite lilies oa v/Jitcft such work, could be carried out,.

The chainiian, in raoTing a lEolion of thanks to the. Department's officers, remarked that they had given the conference mows than a- ray of hope. The n»tioii was carried by acclamation. ■

Motheds of Rearing Chicks. " "Jfodcru Methods of Rearing Chicks" was the subject of n paper by Mr. }.'. Cussen. Mr. Cussen stated that failures in the poultry business were more largely due to the inability of poultrymett to renew thtSi' flocks than to any other cause. The knpcrtnist point was that the stock bird must bo of good constitution and in. good health at; the time of breeding. Good management could do a great deal in the matter erf health; but constitution depended on generations of heredity. The nest point of importance was cleanliness. Brooders and houses should iw ' regularly and thoroughly cleaned and disinfected and eggs should bo given, eare and attention (hiring, the period of. incubation. It was not.'sufficient to hatch eggs; the-y must, bo well hatched. The better the hatch the larger would be the percentage of chickens reared. Whatever' class of brooder was used it should be built for warmth, and that meant a certain thickness of the walls. A gaod brooder contained a hover, which took tho place of th» hen, and under which the chick spent the greater part of tho first two weeks of its life. Any lack of room, warmth, or fresh air would result in a strain on tho vitality of the chicks, and only the strongest would be raised. Chilling and overheating undoubtedly destroyed ?- large number of chicks during the first two weeks. It was advisable to keep a good watch cm the chicks with n view to noting how they 'were .ictip-g under the hover. 'Hie best results had been obtained when not more than 50 chicks aro raised at a time in each section. The speaker then went on to deal with the most suitable food for. chicks and also with the best methods "of, "hardening off" tho young broods.

The Expert of Eggs. Mr. S. H. Osoper read a paper dealing with the export of eggs, which, tie said, was'still ia its infancy. Considerable- progress .had however been made, a.nd this was largely due to'tho co-iterative movement which Bad been initiated fey tho egg circles. The absurd prices at which eggs wero sold in the country pointed to tjw necessity for improvement as far as the producer was concerned. Ajj esport trade baiilt on sound lines would naturally mean much, and he urged the necessity for establishing ait organisation which, sotild take in hand the work of finding good 'oversea markets for surplus eggs. For such, an Organisation co-operation-amongst producers was neeessarv.' Agencies, could Ijo established where eg'S could be received, tested, (Traded, and packed, and the work of grading and testing should be under Government supervision, as .was already the rase with regard to butter and meat. The speaker went on to deal with the size and weight of eggs for osport, and also with the question of safe packing. The temperature on board ships where egrgs were being carried .should be maintained at from'3o io S3 degrees; He thought that producers might profitably take heed of the fast that, with the opening of tlw Panama Canal, there' Will bo better facilities for export to Xca* York and Chicago, as well as to Great Britain,

Centralisation of Markets, "The Centralisation of the- Egg and Hi© Poultry Markets" was (he subject of a paper by Mr. W. Bierre, of Falinerston North. Ho stated that the poultrymeit wero still at the mercy of the middlemen, and wero likely to remain so unless the mods of marketing was radically changed. The first step towards improving the methods of marketing was centralisation. They should mats arrangements for one wholesale distributer of eggs and poultry, in each centre. Through sheer indolence or want of business sense, a great many of the poultry pernio could not get out of Hio old rut—they still stuck to tlio* middleman. Jouitrym-M had a stake large enough for them to be their own middlemen. A central depot in each town or district.eoitld do tho business both cheaper and better than having to deal through present, channels. The position of the indusry to-day was, however, somewtat better than it had been, this- l>eing due to. tho energy of the egg circles. " .

Hatching and Rearing Ducks, [ A paper dealing with the hatching arf. ■ rearing of ducks was read by Mr. S, Hf. | Scott (Auckland). The speaker dealt | at length with the artificial methods nf breeding ducks, and the attention which was necessary when they were hatched. For profit on egg-production, hens could not equal ducks, .provided that the laying strain was present, The initial expense in establishing' a duck farm was small. In the autumn and the dear month?, the Runner and tho Buff Orpington.wcro seen at their best as money. > makers.' Pens with running ■ water should; hs provided it' possible. January and February and J«»o and .July wcro not suitable. ■ months in which to breed ducks. . The speaker further recommended hens (rather . than incubators) for hatching ducklings. The first six weeks of a. young duck's life was the critical period, and when this stage was successfully passed a profit was certain. , Standard for Hen's Egos; ,i After some discussion, the following standard (100 points) was adopted for grading purposes in. respect to hen's eggs:—(l) Size of air cell (not to ba dried down), tfl points; (2) weight of egg (2oz. standard), 20 points; (3) texture of shell (smooth and thick throughout), 15 points; (4) colour of yolk (deep orange), 5 points; <5) consistency of albumen (not watery), .5 points; (fi) uniformity, fi points; (7) shapo, 5 points; (8) clean shells (washing undesirable), 5. points; total, 108 points, Seiiosis detects were specified as follow i— Blood-spots and shuns, cloudy yolks, developed Jicrms, adhesion of yolks to slicl!, and malformations. Packing Demonstration. t)nring the aftemooti a demonstration of how to grado and pack eggs for export was given, by tho Government /poultry expert, Mr. I' 1 . C. Brown. At the coiielusion of tho dcuionstratien, Mr. Brawn was aecoxded a hearty vote, of thanks.

ffll.fivas>'(leciileil lo'n.tk'-t.hn ('iovcrsinieiil. jinji'i/sisf"in IdivitiK the proceediniji! at tin'{coiilereucfy.; printed.' :'- -..,■' '.~, .■':;.- . SsSSI'S" ; Officers}' Elttli)(l.V'. : ;iv yff''" .- iSi'lie"' ioliovviug oifievrs wer»- 'eleidfil'- for' illi<!?;"iisiiiiiK'.vi.iir:-) > r.« ( !deiii, Mr: K. I'l. M.uiiiliy i (Wnllfiijjfon); -""■■vice-president'-, "Mrssi's. AV.'Bierni (f'nlninrston North} oud iilr^-nmi.'■ (Widlingfnii); fmi'i-oliiry ■ and .'.ires,--Mirer,'. Mr. .1. !>. Mnrrclt (''-hiistVhmidi): ficiMilivi'.-Mi'Mrii. II." M'.-Hoct-MiiilftoH flfiish-t-liiii). S. J). Bull fAyclchtnil), W. SiwH'-fNmv Plviuonth), U. .AVillix (fllirivtchiii-eh),-hikl S. If.' Hcott CAui-Kliiml); nudilor, ,Mr. - J'.- A, <.'oopcr (U>\\?r HhlDj adviwr, Jlr, I': C Tlromic .iWidlitlßlon). '/>;,-.:. ;;;'" ' "'-.;« '"'■<:■ ]h* .'.-■-. -j EVENING siESSION. -'.-.", : _' p/uTfIdTY; rOUI/rilY./S'l'A.XDAfin.. .■'"''At'.lho'eVbiiiwf: se.-iswn.-Mr. <i. Willis rend ii paijer dealing with tho Kew ilealuiul":iitilily poultry Mr. .A, G. iluuibv whs in the olinir. flu Kew Zealand, stated Mr. Willis, a critical period had been reached in poultry culture. There was ncc-el for the mutual recognition of tho work both of ■ the fancier aud of tho utility breeder, for both were exerting an influence on poultry. Up till .now' New Zealand had been teholiten- to tho English Poultry Club for its standards, and the question, now was whether it was or was not desirable to frame a standard according to our own requirements. Now. Zealand poultrymen had no'voico in the control of the English standards, and a, Nc.f Zealand utility standard, therefore, appeared a necessity. The bulk of New Zealand poultry was (.lie outcome of a combination of dilfevent strains, 'mostly Australian, which again wero mainly from English and American stocks. It. therefore, seemed imperative that something should be done to bring about a.'common'agreement regarding the qualities to be'iiimcd at here. Kxpericnce had, for exnmple, .taught poultryfiien that loose and excessively fluffy feathering was not conducivo to gwd laying.' Lijht plumage aiid free laying went together. Though they wero indebted to tho fancier for preening varieties that would otherwise liavo beranic- extinct, nevertheless greater study had b£Mi given of lato years to utility characteristics, aad mistakes committed by eiirlier fanciers were not likely to be. repeated. What was .now desired was it standard framed on the kno*ledgo now possessed. A. "utility standard to be true to its designation should give prominence to those sectioiM which were of real value, in such proportion as to overcome the total of purely "fancy" points, in. order that winning exhibits might.bo .possessed of ■ those qualities known to bo'worthy of propagation. The speaker went on to illustrate how. by methods of measurement, certain standards were sot for cattle. Mcasurftraenta <tS. a slmila? kind could be applied to fowls. There seed Iw no fear for the future of poiltry if utility eha-racteristscs (being the fbuniktion. of our standards) wiira insisted' on. , Mr. Willis's paper fevoked a namber ol .questions, and a very interesting discussion followed.