POULTRY – KEEPING.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 5186, 3 October 1927, Page 4

POULTRY - KEEPING.

CARE OF BROODER CHICKS.

(By F. C. Brown, Chief Poultry Instructor, in the Journal of Agriculture.)

Strict attention to details is the great determining factor in successful poultry-keeping, and there is no matter of greater importance than avoiding late-hatched stock on the plant. This being so, every effort ■should be made to get the last of the eggs for the season under incubation as early as possible.

In recent notes some advice was given regarding the common caasejs of mortality in chicks during the brooder stage, but it is as web. to again emphasise the necessity of their not being subjected to extremes of temperature. Usually tihe later in the season the chicks are hatched the greater is the loss from this cause. It is common for poultrykeepers to xbork their brooders in exactly the same manner in October and November as during the early season, when heavy frosts are often experienced. This is a mistake. During the early season the weather conditions are more uniform than is the case later, and because of this uniformity the desired degree of temperature and ventilation demanded by the chicks in the brooder can be easily controlled. With the approach of summer however, extreme variations of climatic, conditions are often experienced, and it is these that must be guarded against. It frequently happens, that a warm night follows a cold one, and that is where the chiejf danger lies. This is chiefly because the chicks become overheated at night, and in leaving the brooder next morning thei extreme change of temperature proves too much for them, resulting in chill and its consequent troubles' —white diarrhoea, droopy wings, etc. It will thus be seen that as the season advances the greater must be the attention to ensure that the young birds, are provided with a uniform degree of warmth and the necessary fresh' a.ir for their welfare. ACTION AGAINST VERMIN. Now that the. warm weather is approaching, vermin are apt to multiply in abundance. Even if one is certain that there is no vermin in the poultry-house it is always wise as a preventive to adopt the same necessary mejasures as if they were present. This means that the, perches must frequently be given an application of pure kerosene or strong disinfectant. The nesting material should be renewed as often as possible, and above all, the quarters should be maintained in a thoroughly sanitary state. Dusjt baths, which are the natural remedy, should be provided to enable the birds to rid themselvqs of body lice. No flock can produce the maximum number of eggs if the houses are infested with vermin—particularly that great enemy of the fowl, the red mite, WOMEN AND POULTRY-KEEPING.

An important movement is bQlng set on foot by certain women's organizations in the North Island for taking advantage of the assistance given by the Department, of Agriculture to foster the poultry industry. The aim of these organizations is to arrange meetings in th© various districts whereby any women interested in poultry-keeping may be afforded an opportunity of attending lectures and demonstrations by the poultry instructors. No doubt t'h& spread of the movement throughout the country districts would not only do much towards creating interest in poultry matters, but also prove of great educational value to those concerned, and in due course t&nd to increase the poultry products of the Dominion.

It is very satisfactory to know that farm womenfolk are among those responsible for instituting th' e organizations referred to, and are taking full advantage of the opportunity afforded of gaining knowledge in connection with the various branches of poultry management. Thq interest created in the districts where lectures and demonstrations have already been given is indicated by the fact that requests for our poultry publications are frequent, while inquiries for tihe department’s utility stock and eggs for breeding purposes are constantly on the increase.

Some, people are advocating that poultry-keeping should be recommended as a sole means of livelihood and not as a sideline. This contention would be all right in its way if the question of managing a large flock profitably were as simple as it is now difficult. The; knowledge of how to make poultry profitable on a large scale is certainly available, but it is 'essential ’that simch knowledge should first be tested in practice. Obviously it would npt be .advisable for the average pe.rs<OTt to do this at the outset, on a lars ;e scale. Gaining expei’ien<ee in a sma ll way as sideline, and extending th e plant as warranted, by 'the increased , knowledge gained, is the only safe I course. „ '

As regards large plan,th, it .is satisfactory to know that these are on the increase throughout the Dominion, as shown b’y the latest census returns. These go to show that fa 1921 there* werfj ninety-six persons keeping flocks ’of from 500 to 999 birds, while ini 1926 the; number of such owners Irad increased to 148. In 1921 there were forty-one plants carrying I,ooo’ birds and over, while the number 5n 1926 stood at sixty -

It is safe to say that the{ great majority of* those conducting these large, poultry plants find the business a profitable ‘undertaking. With the necessary aptitude and knowledge concerning control and manage ment they are enstbled to work eve, n to the extent >of increasing their present stock a’n assumed lines. Beet tuse these men p ossess the esential qualifications fo’r the successful mana, gement of a plant it should not be thought th:at aiayone possessing a mere insight of the business can c, 1o likewise. For people with no know - ledge of the in-flustry to take up the ' business as a stile means of livelihood

would be nothing short of courting disaster. The increasing number of large plants which have been established has been brought about, in a natural way, and generally by the type of man well fitted for the business. For the welfare of the indusr try it will bq well, to allow the expansion of future large plants to develop along similar sound lines as hitherto. If those who are at present successfully conducting large plants could be induced and encouraged in every way too increase their flocks it would undoubtedly be a mejans of increasing production and consequentplacing the export trade in eggs on a sound footing.

Hithero the. great bulk of the, eggs and table poultry has been produced as a side-line by the small settler on the land and the suburban resident, and it will continue to be so, because on such places poultry products can be produced at the lowest cost. The best proof of the increasing popularity of side-line poultry-keeping is the fact that according to the last census the number of householders keeping poultry in the Dominion had increased by 11,102 between 1921 and 1926.