POULTRY-KEEPING.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXII, Issue 4311, 31 August 1921, Page 1

POULTRY-KEEPING.

(By F. C. ferown, Chief Poultry Instructor, in the current issue of the

Journal of Agriculture.)

The chief concern of the poultrykeeper at present should be to ge: every possible chicken hatched out before the end of September. If chiokens are to thrive and return a maximum of profit they must be well over the brooder stage before the hot summer weather sets in. The production of late-hatched stock is the weak link on many unsifccesslul plants. One cannot urge too strpngly the importance of hatching the young birds out at the right season, and also of giving them the best of attention from first to last.

It may be advisable in this respect to point out to the novice that disaster is invited if he attempts experiments in the work of incubating the chicks or during the .time?" they are going through the brooder stage. I have recently come in contact with a surprising number of beginners who practically refuse to adopt the most approved methods we have of working incubators and managing brooder chicks. In a recent case I saw one of the most modern " makes of incubators turned into a death-trap merely because its owner, being under the impression that more ventilation was necessary, made the walls of the machine like a honeycomb with augar•holes. Again, in regard to fireless brooders, few beginners strictly adhere to the conditions laid down as to their working. For instance, where a single piece of blanket is recommended for the hover-frame it is not uncommon to find the beginner using from two to four pieces, and in one case I saw a piece of sheep-skin being used. Of course, in these cases the morta'lity was great, and it would have b.een surprising in the circumstances had it nqt been so. The novice will be well advised tp choose as his authority one who has paid for his experience, and folk>w his advice tp the letter —at any rate, until such time as he has gained sufficient experience to sift the chaff from the wheat for hiinself. Gaining experience in a small way and working up by degrees, or serving an apprenticeship under a competent man, are the only safe courses for those who contemplate poultry-farming as a sole means of livelihood. True, to experiment is one of the best means of gaining knowledge, but where the whole success of failure of a plant depends on the result of an experiment obvious,l(y it is one of the things the novice should avoid.

A CHICKEN TROUBLE, It is not generally known that much of the mortality which takes place in chickens when frpm three to six w.eeks old is due to the yolk (which is drawn into the chicken’s body just before it leaves the shell) failing td digest. In such cases the yolk, instead of being gradually absorbed to provide -nourishment for the chick in the first few days, as nature intended, gets into a more or less hardened state; when death sooner or later takes place. Thus, when this condition is disclosed in a post mortem examination, the cause qf death will be made apparent.' It is generally believed that failure of the yolk to digest is due to feeding the chicks too soon after hatching, or to overfeeding' during the first week. It is also often considered .that breeding from overfat hens is responsible. While all these factors may have some influerice in regard to this undesirable condition, experience goes to show that it is due more to improper incubation than to any other cause. This is confirmed to a great extent by the fact that the trouble is seldom found 'n chickens that have been hatched by the natural mother. There it will be found that the yolk in its sac is in a more or less liquid state, which enables it to run freely and finally become absorbed. With incubator-hatched chicks the chief weakness probably lies in having the temperature too high during the whole or part of the incubating peri-' od, thus causing half-baking of the yolk and rendering it incapable nf absorption. There, are still many problems to be mastered in the work of f*atificial chick-production, and those who are disposed to investigate will find the trouble referred to an interesting one to follow up. In this connection it is always advisable to open up any chicken that dies, in order to discover, if possible, the cause &f death. REARING DAY-OLD CHICKS. Some people who purchase day-old chicks and depend on the natural mother to rear them make the mistake of giving the hen charge of the young ones a day or two after her broody period lias commenced. This invariably means that the hen resumes laying in a short time, and ceases to properly mother the chicks before sufficiently old to look after themselves. When a broody hen is being used for this purpose it will 15e found a wise course to allow her to sit on the nest for, about a fortnight before giving her the care of .the young ones. As a general rule,, the .Itonger a hen is allowed to remain, broody on the nest the better will she .mother the. incubator-hatched chicks.

FUTURE BREEDING-COCKERELS.

It is an old saying, and undoubtedly a true one, that in breeding poultry the male bird is more than half the flock ; yet there are few breeders who really know the correct ancestry of the male birds they are using. lit this connection, the surest means of breeding male birds that will advance; egg-laying powei is to use a .selected individual hen. Such a bird should 1 ; be of outstanding quality, having riot?

only a good laying record, but also the necessary breed requirements, constitutional vigour, desired size, and the production of good marketable eggs., if such a specimen is placed in a pen by itself, and has the presence of a striking male for, say, an hour each day, the cockerels produced (or at least the best of them) can be used for future breeding purposes with a great degree of certainty that desirable progeny will be produced. The ideal breeding hen, even when her individual egg-record “«s not available, can be selected with a great degree of certainty by the man who understands his business, but in the case of a male bird selection is an entirely different matter. Thus the .only safe course is to definitely know that the male to be used, in addition tp possessing the other desired qualities, is the son of a heavy producing mother; Having eggs from the special mating referred to, it is preferable that these ba, hatched and reared under a natural mother, in order that the young birds may enjoy the most favourable conditions possible for their welfare. Sound breeding is the first great essential in building up or maintaining a heavy producing strain, but unless this isaccompanied by good feeding and favourable environment the results will prove disappointing. The system of specially mating for the production of good breeding cockerels, as compared to merely selecting them by chance, has much to commend »t, and the breeder who adopts it from generation to generation will be well repaid for his trouble.