POULTRY NOTES

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2830, 22 July 1916, Page 15

POULTRY NOTES

(By Chantecler.) CROP TROUBLES We hava received the following letter from Palmerston North. It should interest bur readers-.— "Dear Sir, —I read with pleasure your weakly notes on poultry, and I noticed some tiuie ago you solicited inquiries as to ailments and information which, 1 understand, you give replies to. "I have twelve purebred White Leghorns, second season laying. They, are well housed, plenty of ventilation and 6un, fed in tlie mornings with poultry mash, midday plenty of green food, evenings with maize and wheat, with occasional meat (midday). There is always plenty of grit and charcoal before them, and good fresh water.- I have followed the method advocated by poultry experts of putting down four inches of loose litter for them to scratch in. ' The only material I have is lawn and grass trimmings, welL dried—in fact, it is practically hay. The birds are very healthy and are splendid layers, but recently I have noticed an irritation in the neck, which'causas them to stretch and gape. On close examination I have found their crops full, but with special care they have all recovered, but the ailment has again started, and the boss hen : of the pen, apparently with a strong constitution, a big hen and a splendid layer, lias been ailing for about a fortnight. T« try and effect a cure I shut her up from the other birds, feeding her on soft food only, withholding anything of an indigestible nature. I drenched her twicie a day with Epsom salts in warm water, and kneaded tho crop -with my fingers to try and disperse the congealed matter, but without success. She be6ame very weak, and I gave up all hope of saving her, so I killed her and opened the crop, when to my'amazement the full contents were nothing but three grains' of- wheat inside a solid mass of hay and litter. She could never have recovered. The quantity I got out of her crop, in short; was practically a good-, sized bird's nest. "In view of the information given you, I question the wisdom of feeding in hay or other loose litter. I showed tho nest to several poultry experts here, and they have asked me to communicate with you, and give particulars.of tho case, as they have , never experienced such a case before. I should be glad if you will kindly reply to my letter stating your opinion as to the wisdom of ]suttmg litter in the house, or if the constitution of the hen led up to the complaint. I wait with much interest for your reply, and in the interest of tho poultry industry and my friends who are interested I would thank you in advance.—l am, "POULTRY ENTHUSIAST. "P.S.—I would like to add that the birds are let out every afternoon and have green food in abundance. The feed, ;I am convinced, has not led Tip to the complaint." Our correspondent does good service in relating his experiences. To the experienced poultry-keeper, lawn clippings, dried, . are most dangerous as scratching material. When fed green as cut from the lawn, they are eagerly devoured and make splendid 1 green food; when, dried they attract the ,-fowls and are eaten in large quantities. Being dry tliey will not assimilate in the crop and trouble soon results. In scratching material use pea, wheat,, or oat straw'. Either of them will prove satisfactory. ' When a bird is crop-bound, the complaint can sometimes be cured hy pouring ' half a cup of warm water down the bird's throat. The crop is then to be massaged, when the foreign matter will be dislodged and the passage leading from the crop will be free. A' tcaspoonful of olive oil is also a .help. Should this fail the crop should be opened. Make an incision il the skin two inches long, push ..the crop to the incision and cut an' inch long into the crop. Remove the contents with a small spoon. Wash . the crop out: with warm water. Place two stitches with a'silk thread and draw the crop together and the bird will-usu-ally recover. .Too .much confinement will usually lead to the trouble. The policy is not to allow the birds, access to any indigestible matter. The writer has had six hundred birds confined for three months, and not a single instance oi crop-bound has resulted. Birds will not eat 6traw, but- they are attracted by.rthe .softness of dried grass.

N.Z. UTILITY POULTRY . CLUB'S NEW COMPETITIONS.

The official results of the fourteenth jreek of the Now Zealand Utility Poultry Club's twelfth egg-layinc 'competition for fowls for the week ended Tuesday, July 18. are sis follow LIGHT BREEDS. Total Total

for to Trcrk. dato. Vcrral Bros., B.0 16 321 Braokenfleld Farm, B.0 .. .13 208 W. Davey, W.L 17 275 J. B. Merrett, W.L 21 316 B. 6. Shearman, W.L 21 300 Hereteunga Poultry Co., W.L.... 27 227 H. Ball, W.L. I 15 268 M. A. Currin, W.L 26 293 Dalmuir Poultry Yards, W.L. ... 8 334 Mrs. H. . Graham. W.L. 21 . 239 J. Wordsworth. W.L 6 . 192 H. E. Boss. W.L 52 . 301 B., H. James, WJu 13 227 0. j; Norton, W.L. 13 '287 Alfred Baton, W.L 4 282 M. H. Walker, W.L 22 206 Green Bros. (No. 2), W.L 24 297 H. Leger, W.L 25 259 i J, Nanearrow, W.L 27 342 Calder Bros., W.L. 28 371 R. Pounsford, W.L. : 23 296 A. E. Phillips, W.L . 22 325 T. , Kennedy, W.L. ■ 12 210 V. J. Hill. W.L 10 227 B. 1>. L. Olayson, W.L 22 276 T. E. Conway, W.L. 17 256 Heret&unga Poultry Co. (No.'1), W.L. '. I.... 27 318 Rangiuru Egg Ranch, W.L 24 327 8. Diclt, W.L 17 263 G. Gee, W.L 15 266 H. 0. l'ates, W.L 13 243 E. P. Amyes, W.L 24 305 A. E. Wilson, W.L 26 305 Mrs. J. Mills, W.L. 27 346 A. G. Broiley, W.L 17 , 142 Green Bros. (No. 1), W.L. ...; 22 259 Atkinson Bros., W.L 24 300 A. A. Hoare, W.L. 22 260 L. T. Wright, W.L. 23 255 To Anau Utility Stud, W.L. ... 26 280 T: M'llwraith, W.L • 28 185 R. A. Lazarus, W.L. 24 : 237 H. W. Bower, W.L. 24 ' 237 H. S. Woodnorth, W.L. : 6 ' 202 Hokowhitu Poultry Co., WJi. ... 10 218 Calder Bros., W.L. 2} 311 J. B. Merrett (No. 1), W.L 25 266 Jack Green, W.L 27 335 Totals 970 13,545 HEAVY iBREED TEST. Total Total for to week. date. T. Kennedy,- W.W 20 no Gresn Bros., W.W 20 179 W. Knight, W.P 28 230 A. S. Cooper, R.I.R 26 241 Mies E. Willis, B.0 22 345 0. J. Norton, B.0 24 221 T.,.E. Conway, B.0 34 350 J. Nancarrow, B.0 19 293 Miss J. James, B.0 27 326 T. Dov.thwaite, S.W 32 253 A. W. Adams, S.W 19 133 Totals 271 2691 SINGLE PEN TEST. Total Total for to . _ _ • weiik.datA. S. Cooper, R.I.R 5 54 A. 8. Cooper, R.I.R 4 74 R. H. James, W.L .•„... 75 T. L. Wrieht, W.L 4 43 Rangiuru Egg Ranch, W.L 4 50 Green Bros., W.L 5 $7 Calder Bros., W.L; 5 72 W. Davey, W.L 5 J. B. Merrett., W.L. _ y A. E. Wilson, W.L — 41 Mrs. J. Mills, W.L 5 41 Atkinson Bros., W.L 4 =9 B. P. L. Clayson, W.L _ ' $r J. Wordsworth, W.L.- 1 3 Totals . ; .... 47 771 FOB DUCKS. The New Zealand Utility Poultry Club's seventh egg-laying test, (or.ducks. Returns for the fourteenth week a,re as follow:— Total Total for to v- enk. da1<\ W. Knight, I.R 28 180 Koretaunga. Poultry Co., I.R. ... 29 394 H. W. Bower, I.R 42 ' 418 TotaJe 99 992 The letters after each entry denote the hrced, as under:—B.L.. Brown Leghorn; W.L., White Leghorn; S.W.. Silver Wyandotte; R.I.R., Rhode Island Red: W.W., Whit© Wyandotte; B.O., Block Orpington; W.P.R., Whito Plymouth. Bock; I.R.. Indian Kunuer.