THE POULTRY YARD

Hutt News, Volume 2, Issue 23, 31 October 1929, Page 9

THE POULTRY YARD

CHOICE OF OTSTv BOXES,

.-Althougfih niany pbultry-lceepers'wiil; gp to any, trouble and- expense to inas-. ter.egg-productipn/they^nvariably iaU; when it comes to the c-holee of nestf

boxes.. \V .■ i ■ ■;" ■'. ;•.; - v ,';'.'.. :.;•■ Egg production depends}' of. courso; on housing and feeding, once one ha3~ ; procured '' quality bkds. One mi^st not, however, finish there, egg. supply, depends, for number, aiter all; on what you collect from tie nestboxes. I was recently perusing a read-

er's egg records, and there was one item 1 could not follow. "Against each daily total there; was a certain .'minus;;-. For Monday, the total read, .13. ; minus": 6d. Naturally, I raised-the question as to what they represented, imagining the poultry-keeper to' say, that of 13 eggs laid, six went into the house for domestic use. Back came the reply that the smaller -number stood for-, breakages, thin-shelled eggs, and such like unmarketable produce. CAUSES. OF BROKEN EGGS. . I wish therefore,. to point the .moral of preventing egg wastage. Then^eae-h poultry-keeper will be on the^way to obtaining maximum yield "Lack of nesting material will always:- bring in its train- broken or eiaeked eggs, arid particularly will you notice non-sitting breeds like Leghorns, troublesome \u this direction. However, you must know what'is me*ant:by an insufficient supply of nesting material. To line .the .nest well with straw, -is npr enough,; as the majority of layers are fidgety when laying. Watch a LegJinrn. hen . when' sic. enters the nest to "lav* She seeks, first ol all a cosy'box, one thac is in the dark,, and if ie is occupied^, she -retires to - the "run. ■" tajking "all . the time and: telling her sister to; hurry up. She-is indeed .restless. ;: Finally, wheri she does enter a vacant ■compar-1> ment she is an.' adejot^ at acrobatic movements.' . • ,-•' ,'./■/ ■ ~ NEST-BO^ "MATERIAL;. : ' Sac\ twists-and tuTns,?erapeS-out the material from tie centre until the bare boards of the bo;x bottom aTe levealed, : and then she fqels easy and1 -comfort-j able. Later she rises and the egg. drops—on the bare boards. Being" a tall bird, th,ere is a lengfhy^ drop, and the shell is. broken. To.ascertain these' details you. must make a hole in' the | side, of the roost: and watc-a. the per-. forma'nee, »but, as I have ali-ea^/cati-ied out t&cse • ob§jH-vations,;. you need, not attempifc boring* that "peep-hole with a- red-hot poker. You can r.vcreomo this> Vtrawbock by placin g >n tho, bottom of each nest-box a. two-i;ieh depth- of sawdust or earth, and overthiVput :f>h'r ■•f eul nesting- material. :: Then- should 'afidgety .]>cn .scratch out.. rhe material from, the Centre of the nest, sh.-> will'bain, contact wiih the soft'; sawuxist iini not."hard;.- boards. - ' • ■ ' ; ' CAULKS OF EGG-EATING. :.-Finally,., we must deal with egg-ear--iri'g, which.robs the. nest-box, veryheavily in most ;fDscks. although>Unbe~ -■knc.wn ,to the owners.. ' E.s: g : ea'l;ing--,may start-^-and u'liually does—from a.- broken 00-.i;', tlie yolk being tasted by one of "the rhens and the habit spreading until ■ nearly all the bir-,ds : in the. floeJv are. ca v\ iirg-'thc.' egg%. . We must ; 'at, all costs, tliciefore, pxo.veiit an trgg fror:-. beeoiii,iß,G':'bV6keri/ •'if-'it-fall&; on a hard"-sui-- ■; xat>e ; : like tiie.:;l^Qttom (■&£.: th^ ])jext-biix'! the egg will iun.the Tisk of being broken. If we do'^ot:Tseep shell alway^be.■ior'6, the birds,, we shall . obti".n thin-, shelled *ggs that ;will\ea3ily b^eak, .a>. 'we frhail if the porches arc .too high ,or ■V 100 foTcing'a .diet i-v fed—.•igaih. 'fbirds afe .allowed 'to get over ,fat. Giie• sapuld ever- b"e on the look-out/for- . sof t:shelled. e-ggs and odcl.eggs-^dropped "in the litter, all ■of r \thich should- be collected im4iiediately they are noticed. This will go far to remove, the, temp tg. : _ "tion of egg-eating; ''''„ c: ;'.:,; -;

II am " rather-..-particular about ; the Ltype of nest box and I ani against [open fronts. Again, I; am not in favour of low. nests.: My. objections arc

that ' tfie nen • can -;sce^ her;"egg when laid, and other birds : talking to. and fro on the floor can see their sisters in the boxes! The result is that they arc attracted <when drops,, a 'scramble follows, and e^g-eating may their commence. 'All nests should be boarded up in front, except for a. cir-^

eular entrance thole. Procure a piccir of thpin wood the size of the front, and cut.alOin circular hole therein.. Fastea, hinges at one end and, on the box itself, fix a wooden button. Then we haye a front that can be easily opened for purposes, ,and the completed 'nesting sections- fit in with my ideal. ' POSITION OF NESTS, In the first place, the nests should be fixed in a dark cornel" of the liouse ■ arid they should be off the ga'puniu If the.inside 'pattern is favoured, they can be fixed on legs. I prefer to have the boxes twer/feet off the top of the lifter, and then birds passing to and fro esfnhot see what is going on within. A'few inches below the bottom of the aperture ot entrance a perch-or flyrup board should be arranged, so that the layers can. alight thereon Dpfore en-tet-iing the nesting sections. The perch siiould fit loosely into sockets, so that it is. removable. The nests standing on legs, the ground space will not be wasted, .ja's the ~birds can se-ratch in, tne-iit-ter help-w the nests. It is a mistake to hay -i too few iiests-—better to have top many. For six,tp twelve birds I should 'prefer one nest-box tP every two. layers, and for larger one nesting, section. ' to every three -or four birds might be provided. The fiy-up perih at the base 'of the nestrboxes should be only three ; inches or so away from the fronts—just J-a step for the hen entering,

JQSTTBEIO'R OE s HOUSE

Poultry-kee^fers "ma|ce the greatest mistake in having internal fitmentSi-ior roosts placed tpo high. I have frequently seen xdrop-boards four • feet ,6S^ the; ground.. A 2£ft fly-u.p perch is quite enough. for pullets, and 2ft for . adulit hens. • The excitenlent" .brougi!it rabout by 'hens, flying up, to -high;perehes an<3\pf teil, a?-daarkness seta in, niiasing . •theii' "objectivey ;is harjnful. Likewise, it is Karmfivl rfor birds to have a.high, drop espebially prt to a hard floor, when ' 'iGAving tlie pbrehes-in, the morning.. If a' movable; dropbparcl: is adopted/where by it .can be lowered fox birds in the second season, so niueh" the" better. The' •fitting-VLp 'of the perch and drop-board should be carefully carried- out.- Mr3t ;% of all the drpp-bpaxd should slfdevinto Wrooves,-and not, be : a fixtuTe. The sockets to carry the perches should be sere-wed to. tthe drop-boar 1, while the perches themselves, several Inches.'above ■should be movable. ' '..?'-■■■