POULTRY NOTES

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 40, 10 November 1917, Page 13

POULTRY NOTES

(By Chanticleer.)

Treatment pf Breeding Stock. There is seldom any troublu about, the fertility- of the egga. or thu. hutching results, in thosa. oiieee whero tho breedine birds have a wide, free run. There often is bother iu this direction where tho fowls are contlned in small xards. ' Why? Tho answer may take the form of anothor Question, which in: -"Wherein do the couclitioua diflev? The reply -ta obyious. It is that tho free birds have any amount of exercise, and'tho confined lowlu nave not. The daily exereise oi chasing wingod insects and scratching out woruiß, grubs, etc., caueea the fowla to hecome loan and tough, wjiioh k' the Jileal fipnditJQU- lor breeding stock. A contributing factor is the protein-which is found in.the insects consumqd, and causes a healthy condition of tho bodily systoni Vj bo maintained. On tho other hand, as a general {bine, the confined fowls don't have suDioicnt exercise. Tho yard isn't lite enough, unfl the ground has been turned up »o njucii oy the birds as to- have become exhausted ot insect life. Fowls which are cou.flflcd to small enclosures are very likely to become over, fat, and this is a condition which adversely affects tho fertilisation of tho eegs and the hatching results. There is no reason, however, why contlned fowls ehould not give good percentages 111 both' directions. It U merely a, question of exercise, and tho supply of animal lood to take the place of the insects referred to. The exercise items may bo easily attended to by covering tho floor of tho pen with straw, dry leaves, or dry horso manure, into which the whent should bo thrown. - The bodily activity resulting from the scratching which will folios wi« be muoh the same as that of the birds which have a free run. Cooked, lean meat makes an excellent substitute for the bugs and worms. I don't know of any bettor egg-producer than boiled bullocks liver, finely cut. up, and fed. at the rate, of lax. per bird every day. If tho juice from the liver is mixed in with bran, and pollard, the combination leaves nothing to be dcTho suburban poultrykeoper who secures bud hatching percoritasee Las. no ono but himself to blame, in view of the foregoing statement of tho position. .