POULTRY NOTES

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 45, 16 November 1940, Page 16

POULTRY NOTES

Toe Pecking Vice In Chickens

(By

New Laid.)

When a large number of young chickens are housed together it is quite a common thing to notice some of them pecking at the brightly-coloured toes. of the others and at the small veins which can be seen quite clearly through the skin in strong sunlight. Sooner or later a more determined peck than usual will cause a small injury whiih will instantly attract general attention. The pecked chick is soon badly injured and its. attackers quickly search for a fresh victim and so the vice spreads rapidly. In the opinion of F. C. Atkins writing in “Poultry (Eng.), toe-pecking and kindred nuisances always have a purely accidental origin, but are always worse in bright warm, weather. As a method of prevention some poultry men advocate the exclusion of direct sunlight from the brooder house. A popular method of doing this is . to cover the windows with blue “whitewash,” but Mr. Atkins says he has little faith in this as a preventive, and none at all in its efficacy as a deterrent,. once the vice has broken out. “Cannibalism,” adds the English authority, “is at its worst among chick flocks which spend much of their time in comparative idleness, and I have found that by far the best way to avoid this most unpleasant trouble is to keep the youngsters always busy and interested. In spite of small and frequent feeds of chick food well buried in the litter this is not always easy to accomplish; but I have been able to put a complete stop to what threatened to be serious outbreaks by keeping, the chicks supplied with small lumps of fresh raw butchers’ meat These pieces of meat, which should be too big to be bolted by any one of the chicks, will keep the whole flock busy and interested for hours chasing each other about for possession of the coveted scraps. Thus occupied, the youngsters will be very unlikely to get themselves into serious mischief or to form bad habits. It is important, however, that the meat should be fresh and sweet and that bits- of it are not left to lie about within reach of the chicks there to decompose. Carelessness on this point may be the cause of other and equally worrying troubles. Of course, it is absolutely necessary that any chicks which fall victims to cannibalism should be removed from the

flock immediately they are noticed —and thereafter a frequent and close watch should be kept for fresh sufferers. If injured chicks are left with the flock they will soon succumb and the attacks madii upon them will greatly aggravate the bad habit. Often enough the injured chicks are so badly hurt to respond to treatment when discovered, but it is somewhat of a problem to know what to do with those which are only slightly' damaged. Frequently some of the best of the flocks are among the attacked, yet there is not always separate accommodation available for the few sufferers. I have had to kill many fine chicks in the past for no other reason than that it was not worth while to give them separate and special attention. It is a fatal mistake to put toe-peckei chicks among another flock that have not become addicted to the vice of canibalism. Such an error will almost certainly spread the trouble. I have sometimes seen advocated the painting of the injured parts ,of chick victims of cannibalism with iodine or Stockholm tar, and if has been said that after such treatment the injured ones will not be attacked again and may be left with the flock. I have found this to be very far from true. I have tested the treatment thoroughly and in every case, the dressings (even liberal applications of tar) have been almost immediately pecked away. My advice to those troubled with toepecking is: Keep the chicks on the move, get them out in the runs as much as possible and, weather permitting, give small and frequent feeds well buried in the litter. and let them have a daily ration of small lumps of raw meat. • If the chicks have no chance of being idle it is most improbable that they will exhibit any determined signs of cannibalism.”

N.Z. Poultry Board. The annual report of the N.Z. Poultry Board- covering the registration year ended May 31, I'JIO, states that the revenue derived from registration fees amounted to £2159, compared with £2184/1.0/- iu the preceding year. The number of registrations effected was 11,08(1, as agaiust 11,364 in the year ended May 31, 1939. the decrease being due almost entirely to fewer registrations of flocks of less than 200 birds, the registrations in this category being 991" in 1939-40 and 10,291 iu 1938-39. Despite some reductiou in revenue, the board's financial position at the end of the year was very satisfactory. Expenditure was £264/3/- below income, cash in hand £142/9/6 and total liabilities £l6/7/-. Laying Competition Grants. The New Zealand Poultry Board has been advised by the Director-General of the Department of Agriculture (hat arrangements have been made for the payment of a grant, of £lOO to the Auckland Poultry-Keepers' Association and of a similar sum to the New Zealand Utility Poultry Club in connexion with the egglaying competitions conducted l by these orsaaiaatioiia,