POULTRY FARMS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2811, 29 January 1908, Page 35

POULTRY FARMS.

METHODS OF PACKING BIRDS. (Fhom Och, Own Correspondent.) AUCKLAND, January 22. The methods of packing buds for the market by some poultry farmers do not commend themselves to Mr Leihy, of the I Government poultry depot, \vho spoke of the need for improvement to an interviewer. I "For instance," he said, "the other day I we received a case from the country containing 20 young- roosters, and it measured ' only 24in by loin by 12in. Four of the birds were dead on arrival here, and I, several of tha others were pretty near it. ! That is only one case. There are others. 1 Very few breeders take sufficient care with j their packing. One man sent in a crate with a bottom of sacking. He was evidently too tired to nail on a few boards. The lesult was that some of the birds had their legs broken and many of them ! were more or less damaged. Then others send in crates without any names on them, and wonder what has gone wrong when they get jig acknowledgment. " The de.mand here absorbs all the local supplies," continued the grader in reply to a question, -" and there is next to nothin«." offering -for -lexport. Cxtopee. have been received -for «xport, bu*>thii has-been countermanded later .on, and the consignments have, gope out of the local market. The- prices were-so tempting that'the owner was • induced to sell Jocally. . He 1 also avoids the .risk of the Home market j fluctuations. Business still brisk? I should ' say it was, and with a rosy outlook for j the coming season It is doubtful if thJ6 building will be big enough for the work. Certainly, we shall have fo find more accommodation if the industry ahotes the same increase next year as it has this. At present there are 12 men. engaged at the Auckland depot Consignments are arriving daily, by train and boat, from all over the province. The egg season is now on the wane." Asked for a comparison between the industry in Auckland and that of the southern centres, Mr Leihy (who recently came from Christchurch) said the local ! poultry trade, as far as he .could judge, ! was ahead of that of any other city in the 1 Dominion, both for supply. and demand, though he could not say that the quality of the birds all round was anything "exceptional. " Striking an average," he said, " they are fair. There seems to be a tendency to go in for the runner duck, which is a big egg-jjroducer, but not a very satisfactory table bird. The breed of birua is a matter which I think the poultry farmers of Auckland might very profitably pay more attnetion to."

EGG-LAYING COMPETITIONS. BLENHEIM, January 24. In the Blenheim egg-laying competition the total for the week was 1648, and the total to date 71,827. The highest for tb» •week are: — Scott (white Leghorns), 29; A. and P. Association, 23; Law (white Leghorns), 27^ The highest to date are: — Law (whita Leghorns), 984; Silcock (white Leghorns), 967; Teichart (white Leghorns), 966; Hawke (white Leghorns), 945,j Brown (white Leghorns), 945. CHRISTCHURCH, January 27. The weekly report of the Utility Poultry

Club's (Lincoln College) third egg-laying 1 competition for the week ending January 24 shows that during the week 882 eggs were laid, bringing the total up to 37,333 i The best pens for the week were: W. A.Nixon, Ladbrooks (silver Wyandottes), 37 ;| W. A. Nixon (white Leghorns), 32; F. GT Brittan (white Leghorns),' 32; Allan Petrie (white Leghorns), 30; J. Jackman (silver Wyandottes), 30; A. W. V. Clarke (silver Wyandottes), 27 ; - G. Robinson (white Leghorns), 27. The best totals so far are: — Allan Petrie (white .Leghorns), 1047 ; J. Tong-e (whit© Leghorns), 995; Miss Rita Nixon (white Leghorns), 985; W. A. Nixon (silver Wyandottes), 954; W. Forrest (black Orpingtons), 952; F. G. Brittan (white Leghorns), 929; W. A. Nixon (white Leghorns),915; A. W. V. Clarke (silver Wyandottes), 903; T. Kennedy (silver Wyandottes), SOS.

(From Our, Own Correspondent.)

GREYMOUTH, January 26. ,> The thirty-eighth week of the New Zea- \ land Poultry Journal's duck egg-laying competition shows that 271 eggs were laid, while the total to date is 13,252. Leading aggregates are:— J. Douthwaite (Auckland), 888; W. Knight (Hutt), 830; Scott 'and Warehow (Blenheim), 826.