POULTRY.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 136, 24 January 1916, Page 1

POULTRY.

Selecting Layers.

A Melbourne exchange says: Mr Alfred Hart, the Victorian Government poultry expert, who is doing fine work in developing the industry, has the natural gift of a poultryman. He knows how to pick out good layers, and relies largely on handling the pelvic bones, but be is also guided by texture of the skin over the oviduct, and goes on the appearance of the head and eye in a layer. Texture of the comb is also an indication, whicb he often describes as "smooth and lovely." 1 have recently read the lines of Mr 0 ti Kent, the instructor at the Cornell University, in America, on the problem of picking out good layers, and he says:—"There are four physical indications of a hen's laying condition. These are the times of moulting, colour of shank, texture of comb and colour of ear lobe. The first and third points apply to all breeds, the other is only to those having yellow shanks and yellow in the ear lobes. Good layers moult late and quickly. If you go through the flock and pick out the hens that are just beginning to moult, or have not started, you will get most of those whicb are laying. In yellow skin breeds the paleness of the shanks hfter a period of laying is a good indication of a hen's capacity. Any bird with bright yellow shanks after a year of laying may be picked out as a poor producer. Soft pliable combs are also an indication of good laving cuDdition. When a ben stops laying her comb dries up and becomes smallsr and harder, while those which are laying well have soft and pliable combs; not necessarily large combs, however. In breeds like White Legboris, which show a yellow cast in the ear lobe, the colour fades as the pullets or hens start laying, and after two weeks or a month one can quickly pick out the layers by this change of colour. it is important to observe the colour and shade during the year. No one of these tests alone is infallible, and may be, not all of them when taken together, but when carefully applied by an observing poultry keeper, they should prove of great help in sorting out the flock and picking the good and poor producres.''