THE POULTRY INDUSTRY

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2211, 25 July 1914, Page 19

THE POULTRY INDUSTRY

: /. - V (By Chanteder.)

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. "N.H.D.," Manaknu.—l am glad to ?°- i y Vi aro givin S poultry a &ir trial Ihe cause of that result was ovor-forcing. You matured the eggproducing tunetions too quickly. Possibly the birds wore kept too muck enclosed, and 'wero not Kept on tie move. The aim is to develop frame, flesh, and muscle, and got size, but not to stimulate tho egg functions. Cut out tho animal food till sou wish tho buds to start to lay. Government Assistance. Tlioro is no officer in the Department of Agriculture that is more in demand than tho poultry instructor. He is continuously on tho go,.and meeting less, than one quarter of tlio demands made Upon him. The Government has promised (additional instructors, and at least twojmoro could be profitably put in tho field. There is no industry that would more quickly respond to tie investment, and it is t<? be hoped the necessary men will be forthcoming at an early date' to render tho assistance m> urgently needed. The Farmer's Need, It is tho farmers of tho country that need instruction. Many of them have nttlo or no exeperienco with poultry. Iho country is losing largely by the inaisonmmate methods adopted. Farmers' wives and daughters itould do much to increase tho production of poultry if only instruction were given them in the selection of breeds, systems of housing, and feeding. It is the fanner who produces three-quarters of our egg supply, but tho methods they adopt lead to heavy losses, and should be corrected. Value of Skimmed Milk. The value of skimmed or separated milk for poultry is not fully appreciated. Such milk is a valuable adjunct to tho poultry food menu, either for fattening or egg production. In England skimmed milk is often used for' making white flesh on poultry. The method is thus described:—The milk is allowed to become 6our before it is mixed with the meal. Tho acid generated iny-fche milk in a' sour, stiito stimulates the appetite, prevents sickness, and gives a , nice flavour to tho flesh. Much of the success in fattening depends upon the ineal employed, and the , colour of the flesh is largely determined by whether, milk is Used or not. _ There is a. large amount of phosphates in tho solids of sour.milk. A great advantago in using sour milk, butter-milk, or whoy is that waste product is .made profitable.- , ; . Protein Food. : A number of years ago, the New York Experimental Station by a series of experiments proved conclusively that to get the best results tho fowl must : not only have a protoirr food, but that the protein must be derived from' animal matter. They conducted experiments with several lots of laying liens, feeding tno rations of equal protoin content. One ration was made up entirely of vegetable matter, whilo the pother contained a laige part of animal .matter. In theso experiments the hens , fed on tho. animal matter ration laid from , 3o to "40 per cent, nioro eggs than those fed on giain feeds alono. Tho same sort of experimeat was carried qu with young ohicks. In this caso it shows that the ohicks fed on the animal matter ration gained 66 per cent, inore than the other. Tho fertility of eggs was another matter of exppnraont. In this case'it" was found that a much larger percentage of tho eggs from the hens fed with animal matter ration was fertile. It was also found that the eggs from the hens fed on animal ration produced muo'h more vigorous and better ohicks than those fed on the grain feeds alone. Milk Chloliena. ' Among the products of the poultry industry in. Belgium . are "milk chickens.", The demand for these is very large, more especially during the early months of the year. They aro produced exclusively in the egg districts of Belgium, as the breeds used for larger table poultry aro useless for the purpose Milk chickens are lulled .when eight weeks old. At this age they are naturally in a fleshy condition.■?, They weigh from Boz'. to 10oz without any special preparation, except that for aoout two weeks the birds.selected- for killing are'fed on'soft food mixed with milk, which softens and whitens the flesh. They are, tin fact, the cockerels of light-bodied, egg-producing ' breeds, which, if permitted to grow, would be of little value for'the table. They bring about Iβ. 9d. each. The finest milk ohiokons are of I'tho Brackel breed, Oampines coming next, with Leghorns -in third-place. The industry is.combined with tho breeding of pullets for.' eggproduction. One great advantage., it ■ possesses is that it enables cockerels" to be eold.at good prices.

E. Munger, 81.0. 27 i 329 Miss Bita Nixon, 81.0. ... 18 397 Miss E,. E. Lain R) 81.0. 10 168 A B. Browne, 81.0. ...... 27 239 E. Willis, 81. 0 19 25S t. B. Merrett, 81. 0 • 11 197 . J. B. Merrett, S:W. . ; 27 218 A. W. Adams, S.W. ...... 17, 160 fae. Ashtpn, S.W, , 24 ■ 23G T. Kennedy, S.W 20 205 Thos. Wilson, S.W. ...... ■ 24 239 W E. Green, S.W. ..:... 17 283 R. Boxburgh, S.W. ......... 11 183 Totals 351 4168 FOR DUCKS. Tho New Zealand • Utility Poultry Club's fifth egg-laying test for ducks. Returns for the fifteenth week are as follow.— ■ ■ .. . Total Total • . -. v ■ ' for to weoti. date, T. Dowthwaite, J.R. ...... 23 156 Herotaunga. P. 0., I.R. 28- 320 Wninoni P. Farm, I.R. ... 27 64 Glencoe Ranch, I.E. ...... 21 311 Evans and Johnstone, I.R. 35 197 T. R.-Hall, I.R. ............. 28 ! 77. Totals ..........,...;.... 162., 1124 The letters after each entry denote the breed, aa under:—B.L., Brown Leghorn; W.IJ., Wliite Leghorn: R.O. W.L., Rose Comb White Leghorn; 8.M., ,Black Minorca; W.W., White Wyan-' dotte; W.R., White Rook; 8.0., Buff Orpingtoh; Black, Wyandotte;' 81.0., Black Orpington; S.W.; Silver Wyandottes; 1.R.,, Indian Bunnere. .