POULTRY NOTES.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 694, 15 August 1914, Page 7

POULTRY NOTES.

THE BLUE ANDALUSIAN FOWL. Among the many varieties of poul- ; try which are worthy of attention en the part o!' farmers, there is none more highly to be recommended, both for general utility and for handsome appearance, than the blue Andalusian. Strictly speaking, it is not blue but blue-faced, and the sight of a number of these birds together upon a farm is one calculated to*inspire the outsider with enthusiasm for poultry in general, and for this breed in particular. Farmers might just as well try to make a show of high breeding in their poultry as in their other stock, .and the effects of do'ing so cannot fail in the long run to act as an advertisement, which will bring profit in due course. You must be, or do something out of the ordinary in these present times of competition, and it is by no means a nard task to earn a reputation by keeping a class of stock that will command favourable notice and comment. GENERAL, DESCRIPTION AND * QUALITIES. The Andalusian belongs to the Mediterranean classes of poultry ; it is 'one of the; long-combed varieties. From this two things follow as a natural result —the first, that it is a prolific layer, and the second that it lays white eggs. I do not propose to say anything here about the disadvantage of keeping layers of wjaitc eggs. A pure white egg, in my own cxparience, is more saleable than a pale, tinted brown egg, and when a basket of average Andalusian eggs is set side by side with another basket of assorted farm eggs for sale, the intending purchaser does not hesitate, long b afore making choice of the former for preference. But apart from this the farmer who is resolved that he must have brown eggs will find the Andalusian a wonderful bird to cross with other breeds in order to' prodifca winter layers. Indeed, if this crossing be managed wisely, a better result will be obtained from the utility point of than even with the Andalusian alcne. I will fore deal special with the subject of crossing Andalusians, but before doing so I will finish what I have to say about the pure variety. Being a long-combed bird, it is essentially a summer layer. All long-combed varieties are the same. They do not lay well during the winter, because their combs are liable to become frosted, and this makes them miserable and mopy. Of course, if they ars kept in a warm sheltered place they do not suffer in this way, and I know plenty of poultry farms upon which the Andalusian is being kept, and where it lays all the year round, never ceasing, in fact, except during the late summer and early autumn while ths moult is on. The Andalusian is a non-sitter, but like all non-sitter varieties if kept mixed up with other breeds given to sitting, she is liable to take the contagion, and thc-ri will "better the instruction"—at least, so far as obst'inate persistence is concerned —though not to be relied upon as a sitter in the slightest degree, for she will fly wildly o3 the nest at the Srst approach of her owner, and would certainly smash, by her insane ' conduct, any eggs entrusted to her to incubate. Farmers who keep Andulusians for egg production, therefore should keep them by themselves, as the habit of becomiug broody is one that greatly. interferes with the regularity of a hen's layings and brings down the superiority' of a non-sitter in this respect to the level of the mo'jt persistent old feather-legged brooder that inhabits the average poultry 'yard. POINTS OF THE BREED. Now a few words in regard to the points and type of the good-quality Andahisian, "with a hint or two upon breeding. As is the case, with all prolific breeds, these birds are very active in their habits, and hardy withal. Ten or a dozen hens may be run with one vigorous second-yeaV cock, and practically all the eggs will be fertile. The chickens grow and feather rapidly, and mature early (like the Leghorn), many being ready to lay at the age of five months, and even earlier in some cases. They do not, curiously enough, breed very true to colour. One always gets a number of white chickens, and frequently some black ones ; the whites are almost invariably splashed with black or blue feathers. The explanation of this irregularity in breeding probably is l that as the blue colour has originally been derived from a crossing of black with white,, the ancestry shows itself again and again. These mis-colored birds when breeding do not, as a rule, repeat their own defect, but breed fairly true, and in all other respects their points ""are quite up to standard. The most important show point in an Andalusian is, of course, the lacing, and it is that which gives a perfect specimen the real beauty which is the pride of a fancier. In shape and general conformation it resembles the Minorca and the Leghorn, but the comb has not yet been cultivated to the same extent as in the case of the two lastnamed varieties. The average farmer will not, of course, trouble himself much about showpoints. and my only reason for referring to them is this, that when it comes to making a choice out of a number of birds which to purchase or which to keep, one might just as well choose the standard sort. ' In choosing pullets for laying, select those which are largest and best grown, not too long in the leg, and showing the best contour in the hind-quarters (indicative of the fullest development of the reproductive organs). The darker the

colour, and the more regular the lacing on the breast, the better the type of chicken likely to be produced from the parent bird. In order to check the throwing of mis-marked chickens, the only thing to do is to discover, if possible, which hen's eggs they come from, and get rid of her. The darker the parent bird, the less likelihood there is of her chickens coming out in wrong colours.—"Poultry."