Poultry Notes

Evening Star, Issue 21753, 22 June 1934, Page 2

Poultry Notes

'ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. “ Troubled.”—There are two distinct causes for the enlarged or swollen wattles you speak of, though the prevailing cold and frosty Weather may account for it in your case. It may he caused by a scratch becoming fouled with dirt. You should foment the swollen wattles with vinegar made rather hot and dose . the bird freely with warm water. If the swelling does not disappear paint with tincture of iodine and pass a large needle threaded with worsted through each wattle in the under side; cut off the worsted sufficiently long to allow of the ends being tied together loosely, so as to form a loop, move the worsted daily to and fro.’ AVhen the swelling has disappeared the worsted should be removed. ‘ M. 8.” writes: Will you kindly inform me through your notes if poultry should have other grit besides ' oyster shell and sharp little stones?—No;. If the fowls have oyster shell and small stones they do not require any other kind of grit. The oyster shell is shellforming material, and the stone is for grinding, and in the grinding siliac is provided for the blood. FANCIERS’ CLUB SHOW. The 1934 Fanciers’ Show is now a thing of the past, and owing to the very full reports which have already appeared in the ordinary course in this paper there is no need for me to say more than that the club is to be congratulated on ;a show, of birds of good quality and on a rather better “gate” than 'usual, Mr A. E. Gillam won in. the pigeon section four specials, ten firsts, and two seconds. In the Minorca class he got a first with a cockerel, but had the misfortune to be told afterwards that a mistake ijad been made. When the bird was being photographed the judge noticed a crooked toe, and changed the award to a second prize only. ■ , Mr F. G. Hansen won the male Black Orpington championship. In the judge’s opinion this bird excelled in type and colour, and had a beautiful head. It was certainly well shown. Mr A. S. Barrett gained a first with a cockerel, third with a hen, and highly commended with a pullet in Austrolops; and Mr P. Hitchcock got- . first with a hen and first with a pullet '• with birds of this breed. Mr C. Barkley gained a first with a White Leghorn hen. Mr A. C. Goodlet was first with a White Leghorn cock, second with ■ a ; hen, and very highly commended with a pullet, and first prize with a broed- . mg pen. JUDGE'S REPORTS ON FANCIERS’ SHOW. At the annual dinner held by the Dunedin Fanciers’ Show, at which Mr F. G. Hansen presided, and the - judges at the Dunedin Fanciers’ Club ; were present, the following reports on the show were given:— -• Mr A. S. Jarvie, utility poultry judge, said that the Black Orpington, Minorca, Leghorns, and Rhode Island Reds Verb perhaps the most outstand- ' ing classes, but he expressed the opinion that there was hardly a bird on the benches not worthy of being shown, and it was difficult to separate the winners. In concluding Mr Jarvie thanked the club for the invitation to be present. Mr Tibbies, the fancy class judge, in his remarks said that he was disappointed with this section, but stated that Mr Bolwell, whose bird won the championship, had a very fine bird. Other speakers during the evening were Messrs Bradford (president. South Island Association), Mr Thomson (judge of canaries), and Mr Stunner. During the evening Mr F. G. Hanson was presented with his life-member certificate. DO AWAY WITH UTILITY CLASSES. I have always regarded it as a fact that the inclusion of utility classes at shows is a mistake, and have frequently stressed the matter in these, notes. Other writers in New Zealand and elsewhere have expressed themselves similarly. The egg-laying competition is the proper place to prove the egg-laying ability of a hen or pullet, and the show is the ptoper place to prove that birds are bred to stand requirements. The

I Contributions and questions for answering should be addressed . 1 to “ Utility-Fancy,” Poultry Editor, ‘Star’ Office, and re- 1 1 ceived not later than Tuesday of each week, “ Utility-Fancy ” I will only answer communications through this column.

show judge can only judge by appearance and comparison with other birds in the same class, he cannot possibly tell whether the one bird will lay better than another—both handling well according to his judgment. Mr L. Cocker, Government poultry instructor, when addressing members of the Hntt Valley Poultry, Pigeon, and Cage Bird Society recently, said he could not see the need for fancy and utility sections at the -shows. The essential point was purity of breed, and he exhorted fanciers to pay particular attention to breed type and blood purity. The fancier could thereby he of inestimable value to the utility man, who often looked to the show-pen for his new blood. Fanciers, he continued, lost opportunities in many cases by breeding for a feature which the utility man did not want. “Be reasonable,” he said, “ in breeding to fancy points, strive for symmetry, and thereby achieve beauty, and do not neglect egg production.” BEST SORT OF STOCK. Following up his remarks (see above paragraph) on utility section at shows, Mr Cocker, turning to the utility side of stock breeding, stated that the main point looked for was egg production, and in that rcspec\ the utility man should be satisfied with reasonable output. While he admitted that the 300egg hen was a good proposiion, she was not necessarily a good standard. Average flock output was the best test of stock, and by looking after the average rather than worrying over individual records more profitable results could be obtained. The speaker instanced a case where a poultryman, having 1,100 birds, had brought his flock average up to as high as 200 eggs per bird, and had netted £4OO over his food costs for the year. An average flock return of 185 to 200 was quite a profitable result. It was not advisable to breed from the high-producing bird unless constitutional vigour and size were also present. The progeny of the 300egg hen seldom reached her level, and striving after record production without due regard to those essentials opened the door to impaired vitality, the forerunner of disease and parasitic infection. It was important that the breeding pen should consist of birds a trifle over size in order to maintain the medium-sized layer required. SEX DETECTION. Mr Yogo, the Japanese poultry expert, is now in Australia presumably to teach the Australian poultry-keepers how to detect the sex of day-old chickens. In Japan, we are told, the detection of sex in day-olds has become an established practice. Mr Yogo has visited Canada (as well as European countries), and it is said that 300,000 chickens were successfully dealt with there. There is no word yet of Mr Yogo visiting New Zealand. The separation of the sexes at an early age is very important so far as utility poultry farms are concerned, and no doubt Mr Yogo will be invited to come across the Tasman and impart his knowledge. ■ The method he adopts has already been explained in these notes, but no doubt ocular demonstration will make things clearer. Evidently it requires good eyesight to detect the male organs in a chick, and judging by reports from abroad even the expert only obtains a percentage of success. The percentage is a high one, however. WHEN TO PEED CHICKS. " There are differences of opinion as to when the newly-hatched chicks should get their first feed. There arc still some who advocate giving the first feed the first day they are hatched. They say that that is the practice which was adopted by their grandparents years ago, and that they were successful in raising good and strong chicks. Whether their grandparents were in a great hurry to remove the newly-hatched chicks from under the hen or left them there for twenty-four or forty-eight hours we arc not told, but the inference is that both grandmother and the hen knew that at the start of the chick’s life warmth was more important than food. Now we know that there are two very good reasons for not giving food to newly-hatched chicks until they are forty-eight hours old: (1) Just prior to their leaving the shell they absorb the yolk of the egg from which they were hatched; (2) their delicate systems are not in a fit state to receive food. Up to this age all they require is warmth and brooding, which is sufficient to give the strength (from lying Hat on their stomachs witli outstretched wings) to enable them first to stand and then to run about. The first feed can now be given of bird sand sprinkled on a board, the idea of which is to get the gizzard into proper working order; they have no teeth! The First Feed.—Some experienced breeders are satisfied that a little dry oatmeal is all that the chicks need as a first meal, and this meal is repeated about every two hours. Next day the oatmeal is moistened with milk just sufficiently to enable it to he served in a crumbly state. After two or three days ground wheat is .added to the mash, and some is served alone, also a feed of any fresh green stuff finely cut up may be served. Care must be taken to remove all foodstuff that is loft over after a meal. If any is left it may turn sour and cause bowel trouble. As I have already said, there are various opinions as to how chicks should bo fed, not only respecting time of first

[By UTILITYFANCY.]

Advertisements for this column must be handed In to the office before 2 p.m. on Thursday.

:==tifc===y

sed. but also of what it should coiiist, and some prefer giving dry intend of wet mash. The following para-

■ s may interest novice breeders: — The First Feed. —Every two hours for the following two days the chick should be fed with a wot mash of either breadcrumbs moistened with raw beaten egg. or in severe weather with fine oatmeal mixed with milk. It must be given in a dry, crumbly state on a clean board (never on the ground), and any food left over should bo removed, for such, becoming sour, is the forerunner of digestive or bowel trouble. Warm milk and water should be given the chicks to drink. After the first three days a little finely-chopped leek, onion, or dandelion, should be given them, and from then onwards they should be encouraged to eat juicy green food. As special health-giving qualities are contained in powdered or granulated charcoal, this should be given from thq very start, but keep it dry and clean. For the next four weeks it is now necessary to determine as. to whether the dry feeding or the mash feeding system is to be employed. Mash Feeding.—This method is undoubtedly cheaper and gives better and quicker growth, because it is more easily taken up by the system, and is advised where only a few chicks are concerned. Overfeeding, however, should he avoided. Dry feeding is naturally an easier method and more suitable to farmers and chick-rearers on a large scale. AVhen the chickens are a week old a variety of foods can he employed; wheatmeal, oatmeal, ground oats, and thirds or sharps are all suitable. AVhatever meals are employed 10 per cent, of granulated meat should be added. The meals should be scalded with boiling water and fed crumbly moist, not sticky. From a week to four weeks they should be fed every two and a-ha.lf to three hours. Dry Feeding.—This system consists of using a mixture of small grains entirely for the first four weeks. The seeds are fed in the straw chaff litter, and the chickens have consequently to scratch and forage for all they eat. Exercise is as essential to .birds of all ages as fresh air and pure water. Ready mixed dry chick feeds can be purchased, but it is generally better to buy the grains and seeds separately. It is cheaper, and the resulting mixture is better and cleaner. A suitable mixture may be made as follows: —31b broken wheat ; 2lb dari, canary seed, and oatmeal ; Hb each broken maize, buckwheat. rice, meat,, and grit. The most vital period of a chicken s bio is the first ten-fourteen days, and when they are able to survive this they usually make satisfactory progress. Dry conditions. sunshine, and mother earth (not stone or brick) floors are great helps to this end. „ , . . ~ As to the feeding of chickens, they should, says a Victorian Government authority, be kept without food for at least seventy'hours, till the yolk (absorbed just prior to leaving the shell) is digested. “No food ” does not include water or milk, grit, and charcoal. The first food may be rolled oats for two or three days and a little hulled and crushed oats. Afterwards any of the proprietary chick feeds now on the market are good, provided they aie fresh and sweet to the breeder’s own taste. This purely chick feed should be continued till whole grain (which should he gradually introduced) is freely eaten, after which soft mash and gram feeds may alternate, as with grown fowls. Green feed should be before the chickens at all times. DISPENSING AVITH HEAT. The average weaning time for chicks is at about six weeks of age, and heat is gradually dispensed with. Towards the end it is provided at nights only, and then left off completely. No hard-and-fast rule can be made; early in the season heat must be available for a longer period than what it is later on. As the time approaches for withdrawal of heat the chickens show every inclination at night to sleep outside the hover. Leave the latter in position to attract the young birds, even though the lamp is not lighted; to remove the hover may cause them to lose direction and to seek corners of the house at night. Where intensive rearing is followed the early hatched broods can be weaned and hardened off in the brooder house, going out into growing stock houses at about eight weeks of age. In that case it is well to prepare them gradually for outdoor conditions. For the first week or two baby chicks need to he protected, from floor draughts. When, however, they are a month old they are of good size, and hardening can be commenced. Let in more fresh air and don’t he afraid to open up the shutters and windows; avoid warm and stuffy atmospheres at all costs. A PERIOD OF RESTS. Frequently in these notes the broody state has been termed a period of rest. There are those who contend otherwise, however, and in this connection an Australian authority reminds us ns follows. —“ Some of the older writers expressed the opinion that broodincss was a period of rest necessary for the well-being of the hen. It was a kindly thought, with no biological backing, flow about those hens that will go 1 broody ’ half a dozen or more times in a year? Also, what defect in health is noticeable in the thousands of non-broody, high-class layers? These do not exhibit broodiness. Gcrharty some years ago published results of energy metabolism of broody hens that show that the broody state is one of physiological depression. There are, of course, cases where hens cease laying for considerable periods without showing any sign of broodiness. So evidently antecedent laying is not necessarily the prelude to broodiness. Some trifling irritation in the region of essential cells will cause a bird to exhibit some of the symptoms of broodiness for brief periods and at frequent intervals.” “RAMBLER’S” NOTES CONTINUED. —Laying Competitions.—Those at Papanui, Massey Agricultural College, and Auckland were the laying contests w r e saw'. Papanui does not compare favourably with the others as regards housing. Some of the birds were perched in draughts due to cracks in the hack of the houses. 'Phis cannot be conducive to best results. Caro and management appeared the same for the single penned birds. Each had individual food, greens, and water container, thus minimising the danger of spreading disease. Owners’ names were prominently displayed giving the utmost publicity possible. At Massey' College a special

feature of the contest is tile trap nest section. Thirty birds are housed intensively in sheds 12ft by 15ft. Water is provided on the drip system. Sixteen trap nests aro in each house, and eggs laid out on the floor (just 1 per cent) were few enough to be negligible. The results were considered quite satisfactory, and the cost as compared with the single pens was 75 per cent less. Mr Kissling, the manager, is satisfied that he has the ideal trap nest (the “ Sure Trip ” trap), an adaption of an American idea which is now being manufactured in the dominion. —Massey College.— The Massey principal gave us most of a morning and was kindness itself. He held us long enough in the laboratory to show the tests of milk and cheese, and to perform the recently perfected chemical process by which, in a few seconds, the exact proportions of pure wool and coarse fibre in a fleece become visible. Some readers may bo interested to know that this has been put on a practical commercial basis and particulars of supplies can be had by writing to Box J 67, Palmerston North. The poultry section of the farm is our chief concern here. Mr J. H. Kissling is an enthusiast of the practical expert type. He keeps several breeds, White Leghorns, Black Orpingtons, and -Rhode Island Reds being the most numerous. The manager considers that the whites arc still the most popular in the north, but that the future belongs to the dual purpose breeds. His special weakness is the red, bub .he has some splendid Australorps as well. The ducks kept are Khaki Campbell—favoured for their laying ability, their fine table qualities, and their large pearlwhite, untainted eggs. Experiments with turkey rearing have been conducted with the customary ups and downs. Dir Kissling’s advice is to rear these birds intensively where many arc kept, as they gather disease so easily from ground tainted by older stock. One or two management hints may bo worth passing on. Grain is stored, ready mixed, in old square iron tanks. Those arc set in a shed about bucket high, with a sliding door at the bottom and front. Thus the food is kept from rats and waste and is always “on tap ” by placing the bucket or bag beneath and opening the slide. For special small breeding pens there are provided triangular movable houses, built like an old-fashioned hen-and-chick-coop in shape but about five feet high and of roofing iron. These are placed in yards where the birds have freedom. We gathered that Mr Kissling would be quite willing to give help and advice freely to any who were interested enough to approach him. PIGEON NOTES. The Dunedin Homing Pigeon Club held another evening show for young birds flown 100 miles, Mr James Scoullar judged both classes in bis usual able way. The cock class was taken first, thirteen birds being entered, and the platings were; H. .Millard 1. C. Conley 2, R. Fitzgerald 3. W. Hargreaves 4, A. Goodman 5. In the lieu class twelve birds were benched. This was a very fine class, and was won by C. Conley, with C. Buxton 2, G. Yardlcy 3, A. Goodman 4, G. Contis 5.