Poultry Notes

Horowhenua Chronicle, 21 October 1911, Page 4

Poultry Notes

OCTOBER A BUSY MONTH

(By F. C. Brown, Government Expert.)

This' is a busy month- The maxi im-mn a,mount of stock the plant can carry should be on hand. Even with the lighter breeds all chickens intended to be reared should be hatched not later than October. Of course, where ducks are kept, those can be Matched later, as they come to maturity earlier than chickens It is apparently still necessary to reiterate that chickens hatched later than October- make unsatisfactory stock, and tho later the hatching the more disappointing tho results. A 111:111 is better witlhout such stocks. Not only do they only lay in the cheap egg season, but they involve constant trouble in regard to disease, and seldom or never make good breeding-stock, however good the strain. Of course, where ample shade and shelter is available, especially in a climate wbere extremes of temperature are not experienced, hatching operations may possibly prove satisfactory, even wlhen early maturing birds are brought out early in November: but the risk is always there. PREPARE TO FIGHT VERMIN. October is essentially the time to fight vermin, for it is during this month thai, these natural enemies of poultry are making their appearance. 'I'he best way to fight them is to prevent them getting a loothold, and October is a month when this can lie most effectively done. A very good material—Kerol—i« now on the market for spraying houses and appliances. Those Who have tried it prefer it to sheep-dip. _Body-lice, how ever, will not the overcome by any spraying. Powdering individual birds is out of the question on a large plant,. The natural treatment is a dust-bath'. A good preventive is to tar the inside of nest boxes, and keep these well sprayed. Care should be taken not to allow the birds in these till tihey the thoroughly dry. The timber of any fixtures in a fowl bouse wants a good coating of tar before being nailed on. Crevices are excellent harhmiriiig-places for rod mite, and 'provide a means of these vermin getting beyond iJhe reach of any spray. Closer up with tar. sproying is effectual, whereas the spray never reaphed the hiding places of these night marauders, which waited til! tihe spraying mixture dried and then cot to work on their blood-seeking mission. SHELTER NECESSARY. The man has been wise who has provided shelter-hedges and shadetrees for his stock, and even now it is not too late, if the time can be spared, to do something. Treelueerne. or some such rapidly growing 'bush, should be planted. "What' ever is used it should he pruned af tor it gets a good start, in- order tfl give a thic-K bottom growth, otherwise it provides merely shade, and it no protect ion from tho wind. YOI'XG ONES SHOULD BE TREATED WELL.

Half the h:ceding goes down thethroat. If birds are to develop into good breeding-stock, or are t<i give a maximum yield of eggs they must have the stamina, and this can only be scented by liberal feeding of the right kind of food. No man ever succeeded in poultry uiho stinted his young birds. Green food is tho growing stage is essential. Tt. is surprising the amount the young ones will eat. to their own greatadvantage, and to the interests of the owner's pocket, as a liberal ration of green food will induce the birds to eat less of more expensive foodstuffs. As mentioned before, it is useless relying on grass as green feed at this time of the year . BROODIES.

fininediaieiv a broody-hen is seen on tlto ne.st at night place (liter in the broody-coop *,a 'box with slats on the bottom. or siifh a structure as that illustrated in the June number), for there is nothing which encourages vermin so much as a hen sitting long on tllre nest. Again, the longer a hen is allowed to sit the longer will be her broody period. A bird in the first stage of hroodiness does not come off to feed a.s she should, and consequently gets run down, and if she undergoes this treatment for any time she is not in a fit condition to lay well when she is over the broody fit. It is frequently said that a bird is all tilie 'lietter for a rest. Ido not agree with this. As long as a bird is kept in good condition, and is oroperly fed. she needs no rest for the comparatively short laying life demanded of her in these davs of forced-laying conditions. l£ is a mistake to illtreat or starve a broody hen. You will expect a lot of her, and if you are to tret it you should treat her in a liberal manner. ARTTFfCTAL CHICKEN-PRO- -

In the artificial production of chickens tho greatest success will be achieved where tho poultryman can control temperatures at all stages of the process: and the control of temperature is just as important in brooding as in incubating. It is unwise to take any risk in this mattor. Think of the. hen. She hat-r dies her chicks by means of tho heat of her body, and when the chicks are batched she continues the work of supplying the beat of her motihorbod.v till the chicks are fully fledged and can take care of themselves. 'Hie men who have advanced the work of artificial incubation and rearing most are those who have studied nature and have' endeavoured to copy her methods. In this connection it has always appealed to mo as necessary to successful brooding that while the chicken is supplied with artificial heat it should be able to secure as ■much fresh air as possible, justas tlho chick under the mother's wing can put out its little head and breathe tho outside atmosphere. To achieve this end every endeavour has been made- on the plants of the Department to provide for the admission of fresh air to the brooder box. The hack half of the top has been sloped to encourage the heater air to rise and pass out at the top of the front, which is absolutely open, a provision which is especially essential in the caS« of

diucklings. Anything whicih: draws ■upon the heat generated by the chickens' present and ultimate advantage, especially in these days when there is such a heavy drain on a bird's constitution as is entailed by our present method of getting all we can out of a bird in one or two forcing seasons. TIT 10 COCKEREL. Those who have e-oiniimm-cil hatching early will find it necessary this month to separate the sexes; and it is not too early now for those who make a business of supplying stud stock to cull, placing the selected birds under the most favourable conditions, of which a good rango is one of t'lie most important, for the best development. The inferior birds should be penned for fattening and marketing. Hero a common mistake is made. The cockerels for marketing are too often given .a cheap bulk food, with the. result that t'hey roach the market in an unsatisfactory condition, being rather stores than fats. ft. will pay to feed early-hatched cockerels well, and market them from four to four and a half months old. ■when from os to 7s a pair should be easily procurable. B MOODEii, IMPROVEMENTS. The brood'or at the Ruakura Farm of Instruction ih'as been brought thoroughly up to date. A distinct feature is that the whole back of the brooder is glass, so that when the chickens are in the brodcr-liox iihey can be observed from the alley-way without the necessity of lifting the lid, thereby disturbing the young ones as well as allowing the heat to escape. In order to quieten the chickens when very young a little blind is hung over the glass on the outside, .so that tihe brooder-box may be darkened No doubt the placing of glass, for Observation and lighting purposes, is a vast hi ore vement to placing it on top, as is usually done. As on the Department's other plants, the pipes are brought as close to tho back wall of the brooder-box as possible, there being only Gin. from the centre of the aek pipo to the back wall. This effectually prevents the • chickens crowding to the back of the brooderbox-- which is the great cause in the ordinary iirouer of overheating and consequent chill and encourages them to mow. to the safe space in front of the pipes. This space, by the way, is as roomy as possible. The measurement of the hrnndcrbox from hack to front is 2ft. 9in., 'and the front is absolutely open. The 'hover, which is closo on the pipes, rests on two supports fastened to the sides of the box, so that it can be shoved along and does not i 4 e(|nire to bo lifted. The brooderbox is 2ft. high, but when it comes in line with the front of the hover it falls s|an;wise to the hack of the box, whicih is only Ift. <sin. high. The hover is not brought close, up to the hack wall, a space of about lin. being allowed 'between it and the wall.

A HATCHIXG PROBLEM. I'roably an incubator will .• ever yet he made to give as good a losult as tho lion, especially when there is any weakness in the embryo. Km' instance, when eggs hare travelled any ureal distance it is practically impossible to got t'he .same resnlt in a machine as it is possible to get under a lien.' and even where the distance is not so great, it is always safer with special eggs to put theni under a reliable hen. There is much less risk with the hen than with the tir.ichine : and it is never ,safe taking a risk with -high-priced eggs, oir eggs the birds from which are intended for foundation stock. Instances could be multiplied where men have blamed eggs for weak chickens and unsatisfactory hatching results, whereas the whole trouble lias been in the work of hatcliing.