POULTRY-KEEPING.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4463, 6 September 1922, Page 4

POULTRY-KEEPING.

By F. C. Brow, Chief Poultry Instructor, in the Journal of Agriculture. Where winter eggs are the objective, September will prove the best month for hatching out the popular egg-producing White Leghorn. Obviously, during this period the great bulk of incubating and brooding work must be carried out. Providing the stock are to be reared under, ideal conditions there is no objection to hatching White Leghorns early in October, but the end of September is certainly the better time. On no account should hatching operations be extended beyond the end of October. Stock brought, but later than this not only prove difficult to rear, but, even, if they are reared, they seldom or never prove really profitable. Another drawback to late-hatched birds is thas they are always more susceptible to passing ailments than are the chickens brought out earlier in the season. In short, it will generally be found that the breeder is better without such stock. Points in Brooding. Losses in the brooder stage are inevitable, but the greatest loss usually takes place about, the end of the hatching season and with the appoach of hot summer weather,. Much of the mortality could be easily avoided by studying the best methods of applying heat and ventilation in the brooder. In this connection the system of management must be amended to suit the prevailing weather conditions. It is common for poultry keepers to work their brooder in exactly the same manner in October, and Nbvem'ber as during, say, July and August, when heavy frosts are experienced. By th’s it. is not implied that the late spring and summer weather is necessarily more favourable for chicken rearing than are the earlier months—far from it. Personally, I prefer the latter-, chiefly for the reason that at this period of the year the weather conditions are more uniform than is the case later in the season. It is the sudden extreme variations of climatic conditions- experienced with the approach of summer which have to be guarded against and which cause great mortality during the brooder stage. It is common at this season for a hot night to follow a cold day, and this is where the chief danger lies, chiefly fpr the reason that the chickens become overheated at night, and on

leaving the brooder next morning the extreme change proves too much for them, so that they succumb to chill and its attendant trouubles —white diarrhoea, etc. It is well known that during hot weather chickens will, even wthen at a, comparatively young age, invariably thrive better if moved from the brooder to a colony-house. Undoubtedly this is chiefly due to the increased amount of fresh air wihich is made available to them. Of course, it is not suggested that the chickens should be hardened'off at a very early age, as this often means a serious check in development. They should be well brooded, but care should'be taken to provide (the desired warmtn and fresh air at all times. No brroder is complete unless home provision is made for allowing the chicks to move away from the heat when this is excessive, and at the same time to secure the necessary fresh air which instinct demands. A plentiful supply of fresh air in tlhie brboder-fbox is one of the chief secrets for the successful rearing of chicks, especially when wairm-weather conditions prevail. Towards the end of the last hatching season many complaints of very heavy mortality reached me from plants where colony coke-burning brooder-stoves were being used. In the majority of cases it was pointed out that good results had been obtained earlier in the season. I attributed this largely to the lack of mosture in the brooder-chamber, and to some form of gas created when the warm weather set in. As a preventive I advised using fpr bedding fine earth frequently moistened with a fine spray of water, instead ofi the dh'aff mostly used for this purpose. This, generally spe.aking, had a desirable effect. On one plant, in addition to keeping the soil under ths chickens moist, the owner hung wet sacks around the walls of the heated room. He later reported that his chickens did better undep these conditions than ever before. It would therefore appear that by using sucto means the chickens are not only provided with the necessary moisture demanded for their welfare, but, in addition, it is very probable tibat the added moisture put into the room has the effect of breaking up any injurious gases that may be present. Of course, where colony brooders are being used, in view of the large number of chickens being reared in the one small room, it is imperative that ample ventilation-space be provided.