POULTRY NOTES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24399, 10 September 1940, Page 11

POULTRY NOTES

By Terror

Answers to Correspondents "Novice," Ka'itangata, says he has heard cod-liver oil highly recommended for chickens, and asKs: " What is the dose of the oil required, and how is it best to add it to the mash." Cod liver oil is chiefly recommended when there is an aosence of direct rays* of the sun entering their shed. Both the direct rays of -the sun and cod liver oil supply vitamin D, which is necessary to prevent some troubles, particularly leg weakness. Birds kept intensively are more liable to suffer from leg weakness than are those on range. The absence of vitamin D in the food is not, however, the only cause of leg weakness amongst chickens. Chickens brocded under the hen are not lying down, but standing rigidly up, so that their little backs get the warmth of the hen's body, and tnis is Nature's way of strengthening their legs. Chicks reared artificially • get all the warmth required without standing upright, and unless they are made to scratch for their grain, their legs are notexercised.'&nd consequently are not strengthened. Two per cent, of cod liver oil is the dose recommended to be added to the mash, and it is best thoroughly mixed in the bran before that is mixed in the rest of the mash. But as-cod liver oil is expensive, I suggest that less than 2 per cent, should be used, or none at all, according to the amount of sunshine-they enjcy. Dr H. P. Bayon, in his book, "Disspeaking of, "Cod Liver=Oiiand Vitmain D" says: "It is comm®y*J£nbwn ihat:.' ifU intensive; lack 'of sunshine, that,.is,; of vitamin 4>r can be .substituted by feeding up to"2 per cent cod liver oil in the mash. Instances are not infrequent where this has been done, and yet a certain number of • the chicks will show signs of distorted breastbones, thick joints and leg weakness, all o£ : which point to avitaminosis p. A careful investigation will then reveal some fault in the mixing of the ' cod liver oil, so that some chicks have received more than their due and some not at all; and since the latter remain weak, they get pushed aside by their stronger companions, and eventually fadeaway. In other instances old and unreliable cod liver oil'has been employed; for by no means all so-called cod livef oils are alike, the source and preparation have a great influence on the vitamin A and D content. Therefore, before blaming laboratory theories in cases of leg weakness, the .source afid- age of the cod liver oil and its distribution in* should be well scrutinised. The discovery of the beneficial effects; of this oil as a substitute for' grass and sunshine has rendered intensive poultry breeding en a large scale, at all possible. It may be mentioned that .it .is' possible to poison experimental animals by an excess of vitamin D, but that the quantities required for such effects are not present in foodstuffs." It will have been noticed that in the foregoing Dr Baya mentions grass as well as sunshine being substitutes for. cod liver oil, and the fact deserves stressing that fresh young grass, contains all the vitamins known to science. If poultry-keepers were careful in feeding their birds to give all the' variety possible, and;-suitable, and-make them - exercise, there would be no need vo worry about vitamins. '■ „",■.„ , "Oyster Grit" (Gore).—Soft-shelled eggs may be due to other causes than the lack of oyster-shell grit. The best way to feed grit of any kind is to supply it in a container of some sort so that the birds can get at it whenever they, require it. \ When birds are laying they consume, more oyster shell than when they are moulting'and off the lay. The probability is that you are overfeeding them, or that you give too much forcing food in the mash, for instance too much mash. See note below oh causes of soft-shelled eggs by Mr Gutteridge. a well-known authority on poultry culture. J. C. Waipori Falls.—You should lance the lump on the shank, press out any matter, apply iodine to the wound, and then bind up the wound with a clean linen bandage. I do not know the cause of the trouble, because you give no particulars as to conditions in which your fowls are kept, but as the fowl is otherwise healthy I think- the

treatment I have suggested is all that is required to effect a cure.

A New Fancier Mr Martin, of Tomahawk, is not seally, as described above, a " new" fancier, but he is now advertising, determined, evidently, to introduce himself, and his stock, to his fellow poultrymen. Mr Martin's farm is situated on a sandhill site. His houses are shipshape and sanitary, and he has some very fine White Leghorns and Black Orpingtons. He has been careful to select birds of good laying strain, and is going- to breed extensively with the object : of being-in a position to provide day-old chickens, from his incubators: Encouraging to Smallholders, - In England an Order-in-Council has been signed suspending all by-laws and covenants prohibiting the keeping of pigs- and poultry .near houses and in backyards-: Tliis.l Order, covers all private individuals and building societies, but does not permit cockerels. Amount of Charcoal Asked:- '-'What is the standard dose Of charcoall?.:: -The Poultry World expert given varies between-S"and"it) grains according to the size of the bird leceiving it. Charcoal is not given in doses, however, but rather added to the mash or put down in a grit hopper where the birds can have free access." Hatching Turkey and Gees Eggs Turkey eggs take 28 days to hatch and geese eggs 30. The time of chipping of the shells depends upon their freshness and the temperature followed during incubation. Some goslings come off on the twertty-eighth. and twenty-ninth days. One may expect chipping to start normally on the dav before hatching off is due, and the rest to be completed on the twenty-eighth and thirtieth. days respectively. Result of Idleness Feather picking is encouraged by the lack of something to do, and is the penalty of intensive methods. Often it starjs with one bird, and unless this bird .is removed the habit becomes general. Sometimes it commences with bullying, due, often to mixing different ages,, the older chicks peck the younger. Rellly's report: Heavy supplies were penned at our weekly sale, with good table birds realising satisfactory values:— Hens—3 at 8s sd, 4 7s 2d, 13 7s, 6 6s Bd, 12 6s 6d. 37 6s 4d, 7 6s 2d, 2 5s 6d, 3 4s 2d; cockerels—l at lis, 210 s, 99s 6d, 30s 2d, 3 9s, 4 8s 6d, 7 6s 6d, 9 6s 4d. 2 6s, 4 5s 6d, 18 5s 2d, 11 ss, 18 4s 6d, 18 4s 4d, 10 4s 2d; bantams—2 at 5s Bd, 2 3s, 2 2s 2d; pullets —23 at 13s 6d, 3 13s, 6 lis. 9 10s 6d, 18 10s, 15 Bs-6d, 12-Bs, 12 7s 6d, 9 7s. 18 6s 6d. ducks—6 at 9s 6d. All at per pair. 5 turkey hens at. 8d to 9d per lb, 9 turkey gobblers at 9d to 9Jd per lb.