POULTRY NOTES

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 37, 7 November 1942, Page 4

POULTRY NOTES

Management Of Growing

Pullets

(By

New Laid.)

Animal food should be fed sparingly to growing pullets as, overdoing it will have the effect of forcing the birds to lay at too early an age. This is undesirable, because it is not possible for a pullet to dp her best as an egg-producer unless her frame has been developed to the full before she starts laying. When a pullet commences to lay she ceases to grow, and if she has been forced to maturity she will produce small eggs, and her season’s tally will not compare favourably with that of a bird 'that has been so managed that she han a well-developed frame and full constitutional vigour befoi'O she starts to lay- , , . Many small producers make the mistake of feeding the same mash to their growing pullets as that fed to the adult layers. . This means that the growers often get too 'high a proportion of forcing food such as meat, meat meal, etc. It is sound policy to force all the eggs possible out of adult layers which are not intended for future breeding purposes, specially from those it is intended to cull in the autumn, but immediately pullets show signs that they are reaching maturity too early, forcing food should be cut out of their ration. If this is not done the growers will lose all the advantages derived from good breeding stock, sound hatching and careful brooding. The more free range the growing pullet can be given up the time she is put into her laying quarters, the better she will thrive. Discussing the development of pullets, an English authority writes: “A distinction should be made between a precocious pullet and one which matures at an early age. Tlie former is one which commences to lay before the body is well developed, with the result that it lays small eggs, and will almost certainly moult during the whiter because it will not maintain condition. A pullet which matures at an early age is’not necessarily precocious. If it has good body development, it is very probable that it will prove an excellent layer, since early sexual maturity is correlated to annual egg-production; therefore, although’ Hie age at which the first egg is produced is important, it is necessary to also take into consideration the development of the pullet at the time that egg is laid. When a pullet commences to _ lay, growth practically ceases, for the simple reason that food consumed is used up in body maintenance and egg-produetion, there being little surplus for body-build-ing. On this account, very early sexual maturity is an undesirable factor, which should not bo encouraged. The problem then resolves itself into one of delaying production until the body has been built up, but the solution is by no means a simple one, for it is impossible to supply the feed necessary fol’ the building-up process, and, at the same time, starve the ovary. This fact is sometimes overlooked with, in many eases, disastrous results. Attempts io delay production by keeping the pullets short of feed, or supplying them with unsuitable rations, have proved a failure, for development is then re-

tarded, with general loss ot stamina. Common sense should surely tell us that during the growing period of a pullets life an’ abundance of nourishing food is required to build up body and frame, that short rations at this vital period must have a detrimental efleet upon the flock. Early sexual maturity is an inherited factor, linked with high fecundity and. provided trm pullets possess vigour and the management is sound, we must expect them to come into production at an early age. The most important factors affecting the rate of maturity are inheritance and environment, the latter including nutrition but inheritance plays the greater part If we constantly select fowls for lii-h fecundity and early sexual maturity, it stands to reason that we shall get strains which mature at a rapid rate. In feeding the growing pullets, we should endeavour to ensure normal development.