THE POULTRY INDUSTRY

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2138, 2 May 1914, Page 15

THE POULTRY INDUSTRY

-4 — ; — (By Chantecler.)

I The Egg-Laying Tists. Most of tho competitions in Australia are now complete, and they como to us with a bunch of surprises. Last year, when tho 1632 record was" rcached in Now Zealand, it was felt that we had reached high-water mark, but, both at Bondigo and Burney,~our records have boon badly beaten. At Bendigo the splendid return of 1675 was obtained, whilo at Burney 1668 was the total. These aro splendid achievements, and go to showwhat it is possiblo to do with a pen of six lions. It makes ono wonder when wo are going to stop. Tho 1700_ egg goal seems near, while some predict 1800 as possible. Theso nro splendid figures, and if wo can maintain tho aizo of eggs and retain the constitutions there is nothing to fear. It is to bo feared that, in our desiro for- numbers, wo may just overdo things, and Naturo will require us to pay tlio penalty. Wo do bo many things in antagonism to Nature in poultry-keeping that .we have ceased to fear her. No doubt, of lato years, the average production has gono up remarkably. The following figures will be of great interest to all thoso interested in poultry: —

• .New Tests at Hawkesbury. Tho tests, which began at the Haivkesbnry College on April 1, iucludo tho following now features:— 1. Tho intensivo -system. An intensive house of 10 sections has been erected, and 10 breedors have entered duplicate pens, ono of which will be penned in open yards, and fed on tho orthodox ration, including wet mash, while the counter, hens will bo kept continuously in tbe houses and fed according to tho dry mash system. ' ■ 2.' Six pens, without any houses wliatevor, will bo contrasted with duplicate pens from tba same breeders tliat have nouses. 3. The testing of .100 white Leghorn pullets in an intensive house, against .100 under semi-intonsivo conditions,, both lots being fed on dry mash. These 200 pullets liavo been supplied bv Mr. S.Ellis. . ; Record Pen Average. Tho olHoial report of tho egg-laying oonlpetition, which closed at the Queensland Agricultural College on March 31,' is to hand. ,As already announced, two South Australian competitors occupied tho leading places—Moritz Bros., Kalangadoo* 1504 eggs; and Mr. A. H. Padman, Adelaide, 1036 eggs—both from White Leghorn liens. TKcro were 40 pens (240 birds) iu the competition, and the eggs laid in the 12 months numbered 52,420, an average of 1310.5 per pen, or 215.4 per bird? constituting a new world's record. The morning feed consisted of equal quantities of bran and pollard (by-measure), with 1 Jib. sun- , light oil cake, and Jib. dcsiccated meat, raised to a crumbly mass with hot water m winter and .cold in summer; ■ J .of a pint of this was fed each morn-; mg about 6.30, except on ■ Sundays, when, oats were . substituted. At 9 o'clock the pens were visited to seo if all the food had been cleaned up,_ and to give more to pens that needed it. This system was followed throughout, except during January, when dessicated meat, being unprocurable,. was omitted from the..i , at_ion,-,and tliQ I r l laying fell '.off Eomewhat ;ia ! Cons'cqubiice; i : M midday chaffed green lucerne was fed, _a good handfuLfo.-each'i)en>-.and a little soup meat, when...avallaole3{3®Mstwico a week), also a handful per-pen.. Tho •evening- meai consisted of ' wheat, as -rauch. as 'the..birds- would cat up^clean .(about 1 pint;more or less). Great caro was. taken- throughout 'to got all birds to eat as much as possiblo without leaving anj'.. Fresh clean water-was given every morning, and shell grit was at all times available in the pens. Tho total Value of eggs produced—after allowing for breakages ■in the caso of consignments to the Orient Company—was £242, and the cost of food £61, leaving a profit over cost of feeding of £181, or, if prize money and entrance fees'aro taken into consideration, of £182, on the whole competition. Tho cost of jabour in • connection with the competition may be estimated at £50.

Bentiigo's Record. (Conducted by the Bendigo Poultry Society in closed houses, with no yards'; six hens in a pen.) Tho competition at Bendigo finished on <Anril 14, and the first three places wero, tilled by AVhite Leghorns, as 'under:— 1 ' H. Hanbury 1675 . A. AV. Hall 1567 . AA'. J. Spotswood 1546 AVhite Leghorns filled tlio first eight positions, and Black Orpingtons wero ninth and tenth. This rccord of 1675 under intensive conditions beats the 1632 which was got in Now Zealand last year by W. A. Nixon's AVhite Leghorns. The Burnley Figures., Tho figures from the Burnley competition are'wonderfully good, and have created new world's records for officially controlled open-yard competitions. This is lio.w the contcst, which concluded on April 4, worked outTho winning scoro (by J. H. Gill's sis AA'liito Leghorns) was 1668. 'l'ne previous record was 1539, got at Roscworthy (S.A.) by a pen of Victorian AVhito Leghorns, which wero bred from South Australian stock. Gill's 1668 also beat tho 1632 got last year by W. A. Nixon's AVhite Leghorns at the privately controlled competition ali Papanui (N.Z.), under semi-intensivo conditions —that is to say, the birds were kept in the shedß during tho cold winter weather, tho warmer conditions-promoting a greater output of eggs. Tho average from 378 birds, of all - breeds, was 213 —a wonderful record, and better, relatively, than tho 218 from tho 240 hens at Gatton (Queensland). The average from the first 12 pens (72 birds) was 20l per pen —a truly wonderful rccord.

Test of Judgment In Selection, At the Hawkcsbury College, New South Wales, there have been'tests for proving the, ability of the breeder to select pullots that are good layers, and thoso that aro bad layers. So far, these tests have had 110 apparent result in either one way or the other. I hat is to say, the figures from the "bad layers have been practically tho sanic as those from the''"good" layers, rlio idea was to cot 10 competitors to pick out tlicir "good" layers, and their layers, of tho same breed and age, and to give them precisely the s<imo food and general attention throughout. This is what the last test showed— "Good" "Bad" Layers. Layers. T ° ta Lns gS . '. ai . d .. b . y .- 6 ° 11,21S ' 10,400 Average per hen ••• , I ®' I™ Total value £o l' a }u, \~,'J Vniuo per hen 18/10 It 12 Profit over feed per hen 13/1 H/ u Egg-laying Compared. Tho ecc-laying was as follows: "flood" "Dad" Competitor. Layers. Layers. 1 2,129 ' Oil 2 1,096 900 3 1,198 1,041 4 010 751. 5 1,127 1,030 0 1,169 1,003 7 1,290 1,232 R 1,031 1,05(5.0 1.115 7 1.213 10 1,101 i;i73 . " Totals 11,218 10,400 With' the exception of the first four it may be 3aid that tho judgment in

selection was poor, as was the case in the last test. Inter-State Comparisons. Following are figures which show at a glance tho position >.with regard to tho competitions whicli were conducted by tho Stato Departments of Agriculture, and which have just finished:— • Concluded on March 31. Highest score. No. of A'vg. p, r pen of hens, per hen. 6 birds. South Australia— I'arafield ... 060 179 1,4-14 New South Wales— Hawkesbury 300 177 1,306 Queensland — Gatton 2-10 218 1,564 Concluded on April 14. VictoriaBurnley 378 213 1,668 .As usual, Gatton is in front with tho peti average, and tho continued supremacy in this direction may bo ascribed to four factors:—(l) The comparatively small number of birds enables closer and more continuous attention to be devoted to them. (2) The natural egglayers—tho Leghorns—greatly outnumber tho other breeds. Out of 40 pens on the occasion under notico 34 were composed of AVhite Leghorns. (3) Tho climate is very well adapted for eggproduction, tho rains after Christmas, ■ which, it is understood, are usual at Gatton, bring on tho grass in the pens, and have the effect of improving the egg output during tlic closing three months. (4) As a usual thing, tho competitors aro a more seasoned lot, it being realised that a pen must bo very good to have a chance —tho averago of 218 per hen, and the fact that tlio lowest 'score from six liens .was 1109, confirming tho accuracy of this statement. As a commercial proposition—tliat is, as a guide to the man who has tho desire to go in for eggfarming—the South Australian figures provide tho best (lata. At Parafield, four times more hens (960 to 240) were handled than at Gatton, and the figures in bulk, so to speak, being what the would-be eggfarmer requires, are relatively tho more valuable as indicating the likely results to bo gained from the large number of liens that would have to bo kept whero a living is required to bo made. •