POULTRY INDUSTRY

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2717, 11 March 1916, Page 15

POULTRY INDUSTRY

I ißy Ohanteclkk,)

1 Charcoal to Fowls. "L.," Patea, writes:—"Since writing to you before, mid since reading your notes m THE Dominion, I have wonderful success with my small llock of poultry. Will ydu pleiise help nie further? How should I feed charcoal? By itself or mix with other food? Also, 1 have a good-looking hen which has done no good for months. She just mopes around and does not care whether she comes to her meals or not. The only remarkable sho has is that her comb is very black.'- _ Answer: Charcoal is usually fed in. the mash, about once a week, or mixed with the grit. If fed in a mash, feed half a pound to every one hundred fowls. It is <a purifier of the system, and keeps the hen from disease. Notes.. Hens'.turn out in the form of eggs the food with which they have been fed. Such being the case, it stands to reason that fowls should bo fed-when eggs are tho object in'view—with food rich in eggmaking material; or, when bred tor the fattening pen, with fooa which will form juicy flesh and plonty of it. Not only is it necessary in 6iipplying«food to fowls to give tho kind best adapted to attain the end desired, but attention should also be •givon to the necessity of giving vanoty, which, can be effected not merely nj changing from one food to .another, but olso by serving whatever, is available ,nlternaiely in a raw or cooked condition. One advantage of cooking food is that in that condition the digestive juices can more readily do their work, with the resuit that growth is quicker, eggs more 6peedilv produced, and the stock generally maintained in a better condition to perpetuate its species in strength and vigour. Prolonged,cooking has the power ot chemically changing the starch in loot! into , a dextrine—a condition more advanced in the process of digestion than is starch. ' Food should never be supplied to fowls in a sloppy condition, for, as we are told by competent authorities, "one ounce of dry, well-cooked food will, when well chewed," or reduced a 6 in the gizzardj Tproduce-4.0., call for—tiro ounces of the'digestive juices, while the same amount of food in a sloppy condi-' tion will produce or require less than one-fourth that:amount." When food is gashed down in a sloppy condition it ia not thoroughly digested, and is apt to ferment, causing various ; gß6es and acids, to be produced, all deleterious to health. Better give uncooked drr food than in;, sufficiently cooked and sloppy food, and,whether raw or cooked, give variety as much as possible.. Value of Cover for Poultry.—Consider, ing its cost, its high nutritive properties and feeding value, it is surprising ,-that this excellent article of food shourd have been so ignored or treated with indifference. There are thousands of people who keep poultry who'would either grow clover themselves or purchaso it at. a low cost if thev only knew its. intrinsic value as a food tor producing eggs in quantity and fertility; but because it is .plentiful and cai be bought cheaply, it is not appreciated. It not only balances tho ra-. tion, but is rich in lime, salts, protein, carbo-hydrates, aiid fat. Its most valuable constituent is protein, the flesh former. Analysis shows that an average crop of clover contains over 13 per cent, of proteins, 13 per cent, carbo-hydrates, and 1.9 per cent, of fat. It is during the winter months when there is so little grass to be had that the clover is the most valuable. The best way to use clov. er is to out it into short lengths, and mix it w.ith the. other foods. During moulting the blood must be kept cool, and this is best done by a good supply of green food every midday. Lawn clippings form an excellent food, and one that is greatly enjoyed, while cabbage aud lettuce leaves are eagerly devoured. A' capital plan adopted by experienced breedei'6 is to hang a cabbage or. handful of greens in a string net bag 60 that the birds may' find employment by pecking at it, and in a similar manner a turnip may be suspended in a run. The common garden thistle' is ,also much enjoyed by fowls. To ensure early laying of old birds they should be run through the moult as quickly as they can be forced. A little linseed, raw or boiled, will help them with their feathering, as also some fresh meat. But matters 6hould not be- overdone, and there niust positively be no uri; due forcing with meats, rich foods, or condiments, to stimulate tho laying birds. This is not to say that they must not, if they have no access'to places where they could pick up a little animal food, ns dunghills, etc., have a little cooked meat given to theiu. They will be all the better for a little. Fat hens never lay well; neither are chickens hatched from fat hens ever so strong as if the hens had been properly kept. ' N.Z. UTILITY POULTRY CLUB'S COMPETITIONS. The official results of the forty-eighth week of the New Zealand Utility Poultry Club's eleventh egg-laying competition for fowls for the week ended Tuesday, March 7, are'as follow:— i' LIGHT BREEDS. Total Total for toweek. date. Verrall Bros. B.L. 12 1038 H. Le.ger, S.C.W.L. 18 1166 Waikato Egg Farm, S.CW.L. 24 1202 Calder Bros., S.C.W.L. 13 1207 Heretaunga P. 0., - No. 1 S.C.W.L. 18 11« N. Solomon, S.C.W.L. .; 18 1021 T. AVordswortK S.C.W.L 23, 10P7 Dominion P. Plant, S.C.W.L. 20* 1025 M. P. Chapman, S.C.W.L 29 1166 Mrs. J.Tiliils, S.C.W.L.' 29 1283 A. E. Browne, S.C.W.L 27 1112 Heretaunga P. 0., No. 2, S.C.W.L. 15 1022 T. M'llwraith, S.C.W.L 18' 1001 C. Warburton, S.C.W.L 21 951 A. G. Brailey,.S.C.W.L. 20 1205 Wainoni P. Farm, S.C.W.L. ... 28 1121 tilencoe P. Ranch, S.C.W.L. ... 17 1187 A. W. Irvine, S.C.W.L 21 1081 Ashburton P. Fawn, S.C.AV.L. 18 970 Geo. Catteral, S.C.W.L 16' 1033 L. T. Wright, S.C.AV.L. .-.. 27 1261 L. Macdonald, S.C.W.L „.. 20 1025 Atkinson Bros, S.C.AV.L 28 11H A.E. Phillips, S.C.AV.L 31 1095 Dalmuir P. Yards, 5.C.W.L.... 30 1292 B; P. L. Clayson, S.C.W.L. ... 10 958 Green Bros., S.C.W.L 27 1221 Jack~Gree'n, S.C.AV.L 23 1306 A. B. Wilson, S.C.AV.L. v 21 1208 W. A. Nixon, S.C.W.L. !>. 22 1059 H. S. AVoodnorth, S.C.W.L. ... 21 1206 R Roxburgh, S.C.AV.L 20 1031 R. A. Lazarus, S.C.AV.L. 9 995 .A. AV'. Adams, S.C.AV.L 16 1121 T. Fazackerley and Sons, S.C.AV.L. 12 1050 AV. Davey, S.C.W.L 21 H63 W. A. Nixon, S.C.AV.L 29 1162 R. H. James, S.C.AV.L 16 1057 R. Mils, S.C.W.L. 11 1222 S. L. Leggett, S.C.W.L 10 1013 R. AVillis and Son, S.C.AV.L. ... 23 1110 George Gee, S.C.AV.L 16 1100 Green Bros., S.C.AV.L 15 979 Rangiuru Ejjg Ranch, S.C.AV.L. 15 737 Thos; Kennedy, S.C.AV.L 26 1076 Calder Bros., No. 1, S.C.W.L. 25 1210 R.'"'. Sawke, S.C.AV.L 16 989 .Mrs. M'Kinnon, S.C.W.L. ...... 19 1056 Green Bros, R.C.W.L 20 1119 Totals ' ; 996 53,993 *> HEAVY BREEDS. Total Total for to week. date. A. W. Adams, S.W 25 850 Green Bros., S.AV 29 932 E. Oakes, R.I.R 16 910 Cooper and Wainscott, R.I.R. 13 1038' AV. A. Nixon, Jft.l.R. ...( :.... 9 .380 A. E. Wilson, W.AV. ...' 19 861 T. Kennedy, W.W 27 1080 AV. A. Nixon, 8.0 20 1130 AV. L. Walker, 8.0 27 1121 E. AVillis, 8.0.' 22 1236 W. Bloomfield, 8.0 '; 29. 1063 Totals ....;..... 236 10,610 FOR DUCKS.--Tho New Zealand Utility Poultry Club's sixth egg-laying test for dudes. Returns for tho forty-eighth week arc as follow : i - Tolnl Total '. for to week. date. J. B. Jlerrett. I.R rs 21 906 T. R. Hall, I.R 12 1077 Glencoe Poultry Ranch, J.R. ... 13 1123 W. Davidson. I.R 7 1025 Thomas Dowthwaiie, 1.11 11 913 W. Knight, I.R 6 1251 AV. Knight, I.R 21 1018 Wainoni P. Farm, I.R .4 363 Totals , 101 7709