THE POULTRY YARD.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 1923, 23 April 1880, Page 4

THE POULTRY YARD.

MOULTING. A writer in tho “Adelaide Obsetver ” makes tho following useful remarks upon this subject: poultry undergo is somewhat similar to the shedding by trees of tboir leaves or bark at stated times—it is designed to get rid of the old, well-used covering to make room for the production of the now coat. Fowls moult here at the commencement of the hot weather, and consequently are j üb„ now getting through the duty of exchanging woe-i-out feathers for now. Some moult earlier and some later than others—or, rather, they moult much more slowly. To all it is more or less a drain upon tho constitution, and therefore fowls should be fed liberally during tho moulting season with nourishing food, and moreover they should not bo allowed to ‘ sit ’ on eggs —all their energies are required for the reproduction of feathers. Very few fowls attempt to * sit ’ or to ‘ lay ’ at moulting time, although Cochins will, especially if they have been prevented from hatching in tho regular season. The Spanish fowl suffers most when moulting, os the process is more than ordinarily slow with it. The Spanish is practically a nen-oittor, and all fowls of that class feather very tardily. Tho Cochin and Brahma race —renowned for their sitting propensities—on the other hand, got over tho disagreeable and troublesome ordeal with far less effort. It has been asserted that non-sitters weaken tboir system by producing eggs in the quantities they do, and consequently there is little stamina left for tho production of feathers. The tax upon a fowl’s system must be enormons iu the moulting season, because the feathers consist mainly of material which has to be made up from the food eaten, and if that food does not contain the proper proportion of substance required for creating the now covering to replace the old one, the bird gets on but slowly. Fowls look particularly miserable at moulting time ; their frames are thin, their feathers ragged, dry, and dropping away in patches till the yard gets covered with the drifting deiris of the flock, as though a pillow had bean wrecked and cast adrift. Any parson rearing Cochins must have noticed how slowly the chickens feather ; they remain for weeks with half their bodies bare, and wretched enough they look. Spanish, Hamburg, Houdans, Game, and others of similar habits feather quickly when yourg, and, as before stated, suffer less in moulting, but they are all the better for redoubled care and good feeding, which, unfortunately, they seldom get at this critical period. Fowls having free range and access to good wholesome food moult easier than those shut up and illnourished. Moulting fowls require cooling diet—plenty of green moat especially, and clean, fresh water ; a little sulphate of iron in it occasionally helps to strengthen the constitution of the bird, and to give lustre to the now plumage. Stale bread soaked in ale does not come amiss to a sickly fowl. With clean water, nutritious food, access to grass or vegetables, fowls will moult, take on feathers, fatten readily, and look splendid in a very few weeks.”