POULTRY NOTES

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 70, 15 December 1917, Page 15

POULTRY NOTES

(By Chanticleer.)

A Grateful Reader. "U.U.W.," AlasLerton, writes:—"l and several other readers of i'ufc Dqminiii.s iind the Poultry Wotes very mterebiing aud helpful. Will you advise which is we beat time to sell olf the oidur liens? tiomo say before moulting—others aftor. Somo always sell at linnter. aud get a ttetfcor price when birda. are reieatuered. We have .had several diwjussions among ourse4ne3, and jiow submit, lor your opinion." Answer.—Mnch depends upon, the etrain of bird 3 you have. Komo hens will lay right on into March, aud complete their moult without ceasing to lay. Such birds aro invaluable, ajid should be retained as breeders. Others will ceaeo laying before tho end of the year; and will occupy three or. four months completing thoir moult, decking ihemselvos in fine foathers, and will not lay suDioient eggs to pay for their food for six months in" tbo year. Theso birde should.be sold olf as soon-as they cease laying.. I will.deicribe my' method of selection. No. 1 draft: In September I go through my birds, and all that aro not laying are sold. If a bird does, not lay, then she is not worth keeping. This culls out tho wasters At this time of year hens are. usually at their best values, and- realise good prices on tho market. No. 2 draft takes place early in tho year. • "A close watch is kept for. drones, Heus that bogin to moult are eent off to the market, no matter what the price may be. These hens can never make big layers, and it docs not p*y to keep them till-after the moult. is. ■ It is true they get their foathers quickly, and look "well, but the market price does not increaso sufficiently to warrant keeping them.' Ttaodifference would not pay. for tho feed and trouble of feeding. No: 3 draft takes place at end cf March. Hens that, are still laying'..arc treasured and used as breedere. Others, if not required, are then sold This pyetem of selection also includes the rigid cuillng that takes. place for all weak birds. My advice is to sell as soon as the hens etbp laying. The difference in market \elue is not snffioient to pay for the bird to be" kept till moulting 'is complete. I shall be glad to hear further of your discussion, and if you care to write the pros and cons of your discussion, space' will be found in this ootamn to publish same. Weeding Out the Unfit. ■ The poultry-keeper, be he large or small, who wishes his fowk to pay their way, must ever be" on the watch to weed oul tho untlt Bpeoimen. In a state of nature & certain percentage of weaklings Is pro: duced, , possibly with tho idea that they may provide food for natural encmlos. Although .fowls have been kept under domesticated conditions for several centuries, tho natural scheme is unaltered, bo that those weaklings are produced in the same number as was previously the oaee; probably, more so, for the reason that the enervating physical condition set nj) by continuous confinement has had tho effect of causing a larger percentage of weaklings to be produced than would be the case M the domesticated state was not in operation. As there are no natural enemies nowadays to eat up tho sick and weakly chickens, it is the plain duty of the poultry-keeper who wished to be Ruccesaful in hie operations to weed them out. More than one man has based his calculations cf the money which can Be made out of poultry farming from tno returns which aro Issued from the various laying competitions. But Jew'of them realisethe fact that at these competitions the competing birds are, in every case, tho best nix that tho competitor can. pick out of hie jard. The production from a thousand hens whioh have been selected in this way would probably bo twice as much as from 1000 hens brought together without selection, and in the case of which there is to history of the culling, or weeding out process It doee not matter what the form of life ie-somo of the Bpecimene will l-o weaker than others. Of a hundred cabbage plants, something "like 80 will turn out to le from fair to good specimeno, and the other 20 wiil he no_or— weaklings, in fact. In a sparrow's neefc which contains five young biros, one will be weaker than the other four, and will bo the first to Too snapped up by the hawk or prowling cat. Nothing can shift the fact that in every form of life a certain percentage cf weaklings must be produced, and. as I eaid. the poultrykeeper who wishes to make his fowls give him a. profit must ceaselesr.ly be on the lookout for th>> poor specimens, and be ready to kill tbcm put of hand when discovered. TMb is tlie right lime to" talk about the weeding ont of the unfit, ns thousands of <hiokone aTo in evidence all over the country, and it ij with the chickens tJiat c.nllinir sVinulS beein. XoDlfes to 'J.H.Q." and "T.G." will ap. poar next week.