GROWING STOCK

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 182, 22 October 1927, Page 26 (Supplement)

GROWING STOCK

Ca re By

the Breeder

UVERYONE seems unanimous that it has been a good chicken 1J season. From all quarters there come reports of successful broods, and the eggs have been very fertile all the way through. This has helped the breeder and encouraged him to keep on hatching, and there seem but few of the ordinary ailments of chickenhood.

TAKING it all round, the average rearer has found things to his liking. Reports go that chickens have grown wonderfully, and are developing more rapidly than the most sanguine • expected. But although stock does well in favourable weather and misses all the common ailments which usually follow, it cannot make old birds of youngsters, nor produce that old look so often seen in some so-called chickens. In spite of all, this growth depends a great deal upon the feeder. Two people may have some eggs at the same time and from the same pen, but six months later the comparison is odious. So much rests on the feeding and management. One keeps the birds free from insects, insists on a clean coop and fresh ground whenever possible, ensures the water vessels are clean and sweet and the water fresh, and provides such grit and green food which is necessary for a healthy constitution. The other breeder, however, thinks he has done all these things, and attended them properly, when one day he is busy and leaves something, while another time they miss their food because he must be off, all of which, small enough at the moment, means so much when it comes to the result at the adult stage. If you want chickens to grow they must have care and attention without any of the coddling or greenhouse existence which weakens their natural vitality. CHICKS AND DEW On several mornings lately there has been a heavy dew, which if the grass is long, very soon soaks the chick all over; but when it is short it is pretty to watch the chickens run out and pick off the dewdrops which glisten in the sun. The correct advice is to say, “Do not let the youngsters out while the dew is on the grass, but wait till the sun has dried it up,” and yet when the t grass is kept short it is an ideal spot for young life, even in the early morning. Put the very young ones on the lawn, and see them run about after the dewdrops, then you will conclude that they take no harm. The successful chicken rearer must use a good deal of common sense and adapt himself to his own conditions and surroundings. Many of our poultry keepers have no lawn, nor yet any pad dock, still they get on and raise the right stuff. Those who have beer, t earing their chicks in the garden havliad a glorious time. The recent dr> weather has meant freedom, and tin youngsters rush around all over th> place. Where the soil is light it can b< dug over every day or two, and the chicks just revel in scratching amom it, at the same time getting that exer cise which is so necessary for a health: existence. Iveep a chicken busy, and i will keep eating. A good feeder wil produce a robust constitution. I have always argued that a garden is an ideal place for chickens up to six weeks old, because they get so much chang* and variety. The ordinary food is tin same, but they can have fresh groun. each day if necessary, either by shifting the coop or turning over that around them. Look at the happy hunting ground they get under the fruit trees. The manure used for the trees encourages small insects, which feed the chicks, and once they start the> soon know how to hunt them out. There is always a quantity of loose straw and light litter on the strawberry bed. This, again, provides pleasure and exercise for the youngsters. Perhaps the garden has no such beds as these but the greens are nearly over, and in another place the potatoes planted, so

that the chicks can use spots like this for a l'ew weeks without any harm to the plants and with much profit to themselves. It is not always the big *man who is most successful. Where there are acres of land it means much work, and the stock does not get so much attention very often as when the man has only a few yards of ground. In the crowd they are all served alike, and sometimes they all grow alike, but when it is just a brood or two, and of the right sort, one can give individual attention which in the end usually means a larger bird properly developed. FREEDOM NECESSARY For raising good sound stock there is nothing like freedom, because the birds grow naturally and have no forced growth; but it is not everyone who has the acres, and so, as stated previously, they must make shift with the yards. Wherever there is determination the breeder will succeed, because his mind is on it. and when any difficulties arise he will meet them and rise above his conditions. Chickens hatched in July are now showing their adult plumage, almost enough in some instances to give an idea of what they will be like when fully grown. It is often when a small man gets a flock of these birds that he is in a quandary till he can reduce them by picking out the culls. Just at this time of the year most places have more head of stock than they can‘properly carry; but till a little later it is not easy to pick out those which are not worth keeping, and even then no one likes to kill the pullets, because they should come in for laying later. SORT OUT THE BEST Now, if the stock is of good quality, and wanted to grace the show pen later, the best plan is to sort out the choice ones, give them the room, and , watch that they get all the essential things. It is these which are to bring you fame, or hold that which you already have, and they should receive as much attention as you can spare. Of course, you must not neglect the ordinary flock, but the picked ones are those which should receive most attention, for they must go out and win. Bv all means keep the sexes apart. Both will grow better, and they do not worry or fret in any way. If it is possible to make only two pens of six birds each, that is enough, if only the finality is good. True, the man with a flock of 200 has a better chance to lelect than you with only 20; but it Joes not follow that he has any better ones than you have. It has been known lor a man to sell a sitting of eggs and fir the buyer to produce a better bird than the vendor has done. Given good stock to commence with there is no reason why you should not breed a big ur'nner the first time of asking. CONTROL OF MOTHERS There is a difference of opinion as to the treatment of the hen and chicks. Some people will always keep the hen in the coop and let the chicks run free, while others like to let the hen out with them, so that she can roam about with them and find grubs and insects, which is impossible when she is cooped up. Here one must be governed by one’s surroundings. If the place is safe from vermin, and the chicks cannot get too far, then they will do well when out together; but if the chickens are at all weakly there is the danger of the hen’s wandering round and tiring the chicks, so that they become exhausted and cannot follow her all the time, and in the end lose themselves. Where it is possible there is nothing to beat a part being wired off just for the chickens only, but the wire must be small enough mesh so that they cannot get through.