POULTRY NOTES.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4585, 11 July 1923, Page 1

POULTRY NOTES.

• MATING THE BREEDING BIRDS* (By F. C. Brown, Chief Poultry Instructor.) The busiest season of the year, and the .most important one—that for hatching and rearing young stock —is now near at hand. This implies the necessity of getting the breeding birds mated up at the earliest possible moment; it is a mistake to delay putting the birds (together until just before eggs are required for hatching purposes. Every opportunity should be given them to become well settled down and in a proper breeding condition before the work of incubation commences. This will not only ensure a greater proportion of fertile eggs, but in addition will tend greatly towards their containing stronger germs. When pens are first mated up it frequently happens that the male bird will exhaust himself, and it may be weeks before he regains a condition to produce even a fair percentage pf fertile eggs. This does not apply to the same extent where all the hens are not in a laying condition.

Wise poultrymen, and those who have acted in accordance with advice given previously in the "Journal,” will have selected and specially marked the best breeding specimens during the late autumn, or at some time before the birds moulted. It Is at that period of the year that certain signs manifest themselves in a striking manner whereby the good layer can be distinguished from the poor one. Where the choosing of the breeding females has been left till the flock has moulted the accurate selection of the most desirable hens will be found a matter of great difficulty. Indeed, in most cases it will be found an impossible task. It is well known thait, when birds have been hatched at about the same time and have been fed and managed in a similar manner the late moulter is generally the one that has laid the best in the past and-is likely to do so again in the following year. Obviously, when a flock has moulted, and all birds are in a similar condition so far as plumage Is concerned, it is impossible to distinguish between the early and late moulter, ( except, of course, where they have been marked to indicate this point. * The poultry keeper who has neglected to select his late monitors during the autumn may .expect a high percentage of unprofitable stock as a consequence. ; While laiteness of moulting can generally be accepted as indicating good producing power, this does not mean that all late moulters are suitable specimens for the breeding perSomething more is required. If a heavy-producing strain is to be built up or maintained it is imperative for the poultry keeper to have pictured in his mind .a definite type, and to aim for this at, all times. Breeding from birds of mixed types, merely be- . cause they happen to possess good laying points, or even an ancestral high egg yielding performance, will never tend towards reaching the desired end. Permanent results can only be secured by breeding from fixed types of purebred strains. Sdirhetime.s birds of inferior type will prove good layers. but in a general way such stock have not the power to transmit their laving qualities to their progeny, and are thus undesWable for the breeding pen.

Tn making the final selection, even where the late moulters are concerned, every bird should be carefully examined in qrder to ensure that it is healthy and possesses undoubted constitutional vigour. No matter whafi other good points the bird possesses, whether it, be male or female, if there is the slightest constitutional taint it should be rejected from the breeding pen. Health and vigour form the base of all successful breeding operations. Points indicative of these essential requirements are a clean face free from wrinkles and feathers: clear, bright, prominent eyes; short snanks, set wide apart ;* alert carriage; and tight, glossy plumage; while in the male bird of such breeds as Leghorns, Minorcas, etc., no bird should be bred from where the comb has insufficient base to enable it to stand erect. A folding-over comb usually indicates impaired vigour. Thie ideal breeding male should have a masculine appearance in every respect, but this does not imply coarseness.

The question of size is another important, matter. AU birds conspicuously under or over the w.eight clauses' specified in the New Zealand UtilIts Poultry standards should be rejected. It is, however, better to have a good big bird than a good small one. No matter how well they have laid, small, diminutive specimens of their breed should not be used for breeding. SuclU stock usually produce weedy progjeny which yield only second grade eggs. In mating fowls the aim should! be not only to breed from those birdsi which lay the most eggs, but also frojn those producing eggs of good marketable size—that is, of a", least 2oz. The production of small eggs is probably the greatest weakness in connection with present-day poultry keeping. The size of the egg can be increased only by careful breeding, and by the selection for, breeding of only those birds that, lay' large eggs. Many specialist breeders secure the individual egg records of their birds by means of single pens or trap l nests. This is too troublesome for the average poultry keeper to oe bothered with, but with a little study and observation, a»id the • annual selection:.

of the late moulters and those birds with a broad back, well-developed crap, and deep abdomen, the egg yield will be increased to a surprising degree. ’ Never breed from a bird of either sex that has had a severe sickness, as it is rare that they thoroughly recover. Such birds may look well, eat well, and appear healthy, but as a general rule they fail to produce desirable progeny. In breeding to renew a laying fiock pullets should not be used if it can possibly be avoided. Where they are used they should be mated with a second season male bird. I would again emphasise that in breeding profitable fowls the beginner in particular should aim at definite laying types of purebred stock.