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POULTRY NOTES. By Terror.

<,—-^Uif, — -^Uif drpington.s are making wonderful «ti'.ilos towards perfection, and a sound, even buff without a trace of white or black feathers, instead of being looked upon as an almost unattainable ideal, as it was a few years back, is now numerously represented in most of the best-known yards.

—Mr N. R. Fountain, of Port Chalmers, who won first Buff cocks, first in hems, and third in cockerels at the last Dunedin show, has, in a mob of selected pullets, quite half a dozen fit to compete in the best company. One or two whioh I handled on Saturday last — tempted to do so because of their outside attractiveness ac regards surface colour and shape — proved on examination to be sound to the skin. Such birds are bound to prove formidable in competition. Mr Fountain is not so strong in cockerels as in pullets, but can show two which for their age promise well j present colour is good and with weight may prove clinkers. The cockerel of last year is even better looking with age and if shown again should secure a card. I like Mr Fountain's method of housing and apparent interest in hie birds; but, possibly, it is because Mrs Fount-am is

also enthusiastic as a fancier that these yards are becoming famous. j — It is fiequcntly remarked that breeds ■ like game. Hambnig-s. Polish, and banta.ms i aro lapidly becoming of Ws and less imj nortantc at shows, and the ica«on ghen is, as a rule, that '" fancieio " nowa<lais j favour only those? breeds which, lrrespec- ' the of show attractiveness, pay for their '"tucker" as (iioducers. It is of course highly desirable that birds should be profit-, i able, but those who would )2oso as genuine | fanciers will find that to be in tho "swim" i they must show a strong loaning towards I beautj for its own sake. The man or I woman who has spent months or perhaps years in breeding for points, such as shape, I colour, lacing, or bizc can tako no interest j in the company of those whose only object ie phenomenal egg \ i«ld and for the continuance of tho fancy it is desirable — indeed necessary- -that this state of things should continue. On the othei hand, whilst the fancier may not look to pecuniary profit from his hobby, ho cortainly like* to see his surplus stock regarded as of \aluo and for such encouragement naturally looks to the fancier clubs. Yet what happens when | prizes aro being allocated by the said i clubs ? One member proposes that a good j prize should be given to, cay, Polish. He describes,. this breed as a genuine faney — one of those which are followed purely 'torn a desire to cieate the beautiful. The difficulties of the task arc explained and the umelfiah and sport->man-libe characteristics dilated upon. It is argued that in this utilitarian — i.e., money-grubbing — age such a hobby is worthy of encouragement, and, further, that lacking encouragement the particular fancy spoken of must die. All is thiown away, however, for no matter how much eloquence may bo expended in favour of a strictly fancy breed the majority of members of fanciers' clubs nowadays are utility men pure and simple, and invariably vote for the good prize and most of the prizes being awarded to the fashionable — i.e., the egg-producinjr breeds. — As regards egg-producing breeds it can be maintained that Polish. Hamburgs, Andalusians, Spanish, Langshans, Bramahs, and Cochins are just as capable egg-pro-ducerf as are any of the present-day falouiites, and will probably be regarded as such a few years hence "when the made breeds — i.e., Orpingtons and Wyandottes— are ruined by the utilitarians, who now, solely aiming for abnormal egg production, are " killing the geese that lay the golden eggs." As Dr H. B. Gr^en (quoted in these columns a few weeks back) says: — "The utilitarian who aim 6at prodigious egg averages, with the aid of trap nests and forcing diets, and breeds his stock only to that ideal irrespective of points of type 'and purity of variety, will* soon find that heredity decrees that hens which have so little propriety as to lay 250 eggs per annum deserve to die of cystic ovarian disease, or at least to have thoir powers of fertility effectively curtailed. The explanation of these things is that Nature demands that a balance of nutrition must be evenly maintained throughout ihe system. An extra, supply of blood to one organ can only be effected by economy in its distribution to another, and the impoverished parts lose their functions through inherited degeneration." As a matter of fact there is no best breed for egg production, and it is the duty of fancier clubs, if they have any duty at all, to foster, with prizes, not the fashionable egg-la-ying- competition winners of the present day but the re&tixg breeds, lest they be utterly neglected, for it is theee resting breeds that utility men will b* forced to fall back upon for their future eg" 3'iold, or at least foi the production of made breeds similar to those now to the fore. — Messrs Reilly, Scott, and Gill report for the week ending Saturday, 15th inst. : — Poultry still continues in excellent demand, our weekly sales being attended by all the private buyers on the lookout for either laying pullets, young hen 6, or table poultry. The trade is also fully represented, which ensures consignors securing good competition for all lots on offer. Good hens Eave an excellent market. The same remark anplies to good young cockerels and pullets. We sold : Hene, from 2s 4d to 3s lOd ; young roosters, 3s 6d to 5s lOd ; ducks, 2s to 4s; ducklings, 4o 6d to 5s lOd, the latter figure being for a fine line of Muscovy bred by Mr Korner (Wingatui) ; pullets real iced 3s 6d to 6s. No geese or turkeys were on offer. Eggs have been in good demand, but we reorret to notice some consignors have been holding eggs in anticipation of higher prices ruling. This is most ! unbusinesslike, and is the cause of numerous i complaints, especially during the past hot weather. With the temperature at oOdeg to 90deg incubation sets in and addled ep-<rs are the result. Butter is in good demand and we secured 8d in bulk and 7jd to lO^d for pats. Fat is in good demand. We *old : Rendered at 21s to 245. and rough at 18s lo 23s per cwt. Honey : Better inquiry ; section, 7jd ; bulk, 4d to 4|d. Pigs are coming to hand slowly and realise s£d to 6d. Beeswax (wanted), Is 4d. Horsehair, Is 6d to Is 9d. We specially advise consignments of prime young roosters and ducklings.

COOKED FOODS.

We have before this advocated the great ad\antage arising out of cooked foods for poultry. The way we arrive at that advantage is this : Most poultry raisers use Indian corn and Indian meal largely in their yards. These foods in their natural state undoubtedly cause the birds to put on layers of yellow fat, and render the hcn6 neither good egg machines nor the cockered e"ood table birds. The reason for this is that the corn in its natural state is not thoroughly digested. It is, for one thing, too big and gross. Just enough ie extracted to enable a 'bird to accumulate fat. tho very thing we don't want. The natural way for a fowl is that it should find its grain thoroughly moistened and probably half sprouted. And find it of soits — a little of this and a little of that at a time, and at its leisure.

Therefore, to feed a batch of fowls with half a bucketful of hardest dry Indian com, swallowed in keen competition with others, is about as bad a thing as we could do. The corn contains hard starchy cells unbroken up, and in consequence much of ite nutritive power is lost. One can readily see that cooked and flaked these cells aro completely broken down and the bird deriving a'l benefit from the nourishing properties of the grain instead merely of extracting just those properties only which conduce to fat.

Of couree cooked food" must cost more than uncooked. That is not to say it is more expensive. Less in bulk and weight will suffice for the fowls, In uncooked grain a good percentage ia absolutely

wasted — 751b of cooked foot will do as much good a« 1001b uncooked. Why then in 100 tons g-o to expense of cartage of 25 useless tons' Why insist on this unnecessary task of forcing so much useless matter unon fowls? The day is fast coming if it has not already come when competition will be such that a man can no more afford to laise poultry on uncooked food than our city dwellers can afford to walk a mile or two of street in the face of the tramcar.

When one looks at men's time wasted in carting and in daily carrying about that which is profitless to the "fowls, the fowls creeping- slovly to maturity and missing markets thereby, and the quality of flesh unsati=factory at the finish, and the extra weeks one must piovide food, labour, and runs- for birds that ought to ha\e been off if they had boon fed on cooked foods, one sees at a glance how penny wise and pound foolish it is to go on oil the old lines, purely because of a little extra outlay, or to waste time of men, and firing daily with all its; mess and inconvenience over that vfrhieh can naturally be done in a factory on aT much grander scale, and, therefore, at a. cheaper rate. Big- and little users of poultry food, when they feed uncooked food, are reverting back in principle to the bygone practices of those days when it took 10 men to make a pin. — Fanciers' Gazette.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OW19080219.2.160

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Otago Witness, Issue 2814, 19 February 1908, Page 35

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,653

POULTRY NOTES. By Terror. Otago Witness, Issue 2814, 19 February 1908, Page 35

POULTRY NOTES. By Terror. Otago Witness, Issue 2814, 19 February 1908, Page 35

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