POULTRY KEEPING.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 5035, 4 October 1926, Page 1

POULTRY KEEPING.

THE YOUNG STOCK.

(By F. C. Brown, Chief Poultry Instructor, Journal of Agricultuie.) If all the chickens required this season have not been hatched no time should be lost in getting every possible egg put into the incub,ator or placed under broody hens. There are only a few weeks more for tho production of stock which will meet with those favourable conditions necessary to their best development The drawbacks to late hatching are many, the chief among whiich being that the chickens have th© midsummer heat to cointend against, and ar© then subjected to the cold weather often experienced in the early autumn befoie they are properly developed. Poultry-keepers who have to depend on the natural means- of incubatibin and have been handicapped in securing the number of .chickens they require owing to the inability to secure broody heps may counteract the drawbacks of la,te. hatching to a, certain degree (now that broody hens are more plentiful) by judicious management. The chickens, should in every way be encouraged td develop without check. They Should be well protected from the wijid and hot sun. The coop should be frequently moved tor fresh ground. Only good, wholesome, grain food should be supplied. Green food is of special importance, and should be fed in abundance, finely cut -succulent grass, lucerne, watercress, lettuce, silver-beet leaves, or even young cahb.age-leayes, provide excellent green material for growing chickens. A constant supply of charcoal, grit, and clean water should be kept before the young birds. There is nothing better for chickens or, indeed, fowls of any age, than fresh skim-milk. Where this, is available it may be given in good quantities, Care must' be taken where milk is provided that the drinking-vessels are kept in -a, clean, sweet state. It is a mistake to supply sweet milk one day and sour, the next, as this, is apt tp bring on bowel trouble; it should be always sweet or always sour. Personally, the writer prefers it td b e sweet at all times where very young chickens are concerned.

If ny one requirement should b$ emphasized more than another it i s that of cleanliness, and; preventing the chickens becoming infested with parasitic life. This implies to th® frequent removal of drojppings and the spraying of the quarters with a reliable disinfectant. It is also important that the mother hen and her brood have .access to tei, good dusting place in order' to free} themsqlvss of insert pests, CHICKEN-COOPS. A great weaknessl on many, plants is the makeshift appliances which do duty for chicken-coops. This is not to infer that elaborate or expensive coops are necessary. There are few men on the land who cannot -make a good enough coop. Where tlw worst mistake is made is in failing to construct the coop solidly enough, and in not making it sufficiently draught and rain proof. A box with a sack thrown ovex' it and a few bricks placed on top to keep the sack i n place, may do in ideal weather, but such a contrivance is duly inviting trouble and disappointment when unfavourable weather conditions prevail. Again, much loss is incurred by coops not being cat and rat proof. The makeshift coop generally proves a dear thing in the, long run.

Not only should the coop '.afford propei' protection foi- the hen and hex' brood, but it should also be .arranged in such a way that plenty P? fresh air is vailable at all times. It is, a common thing fox' hens with chickens to x-efuse to go into the coops provided, even when cold, wet weather P l *®- vails, unless they are forced to dol so. The obvious reason is that thle hen knows what is best for hex' chicks, and rather than take them into an ill-ventilated poop, which is too often infested with, red mites, she. prefers to remain in. the open run notwithstanding the.- discomfort which she has to endure. The. coop should alsd have a run attached, which will effectively protect the young birds during the day from '-cats and vermin. Losses in chickejusi from almost any cause are usually put down to b.ad luck, but in the great majority o'f cases they are due to bad management. ' On no. account should chickens be overcrowded. ' A cominon mistake made is to dump the chicks hatched from two or more hens with one mother. This is alright in its way when pool’ hatches are obtained and the number haas been reduced. It is put twenty or more chickens; with one mother is not sound practice. It is true that the hen may rear the majority of them, or even all, but it cannot be expected that they will make such sound development as! if the numeber had been reduced. It is more profitable to real' a few chicksi properly than many indifferently.