POULTRY NOTES

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 136, 9 May 1940, Page 14

POULTRY NOTES

(By “Brooder.”) In answer to all questions regarding amounts of food, the point lias always been stressed that the guiding factor is whether the birds consume all the food immediately. Should any be left over it would be obvious that too much had been given. “Amateur” has moulting birds and finds that 3oz. per bird is too much ; he should cut down the ration and increase it when the birds are back to laying again. In the last Hawkesbury test, 540 birds were fed 3oz. (dry weight) per day. Another question regarding the length of time taken to moult is well answered in Poultry. It states: “By a curious law of Nature, hens begin to moult a little later every year, take longer over it, and feel the strain more: in fact, if permitted to die of old age, nine out of ten hens would finally find the moult fatal. Moult therefore, comparatively is easy to pullets, and may take only from five , to six weeks, whereas with hens the period may extend, according to age, to 10 or 1.2 weeks. Langshans and White Leghorns head the respective breed groups in the latest Hawkesbury (New South Wales) laying competition. For six birds in each section 1441 eggs were laid by the White Leghorns, and 1413 by tbe heavy , breed, Langshans, Australorps also were very prominent, as would be expected. A team of Rhode Island Reds was fifth in the heavy breed section. A leading judge of poultry in Australia says a fowl cannot possibly he fully trained for exhibition in two or three weeks prior to the show. He, of course realises also that if preparation for showing is extended unduly birds will lose bloom and condition due to over-penning. Those who have bad experience in this will agree with this opinion, particularly with regard to overpenning. However, the fact remains, that unless birds have some training in a cage, or pen, prior to showing they will not, unless they are very docile, "please the judge. Ho must handle the birds for defects not seen by the eye. If he has to contend with an excitable or ferocious bird lie is not greatly impressed and in many cases refuses to take chances by handling. Periodically all prospective show birds should be given short, course of training. Such a method gets over the difficulty of long periods in a pen to which many exhibitors -lightly object.