THE POULTRY YARD

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 418, 1 September 1928, Page 30

THE POULTRY YARD

(By

GEO. H. AMBLER.)

Mating for Pallets

OAN we mate for pullets ? This is a question which is giving **j poultry-keepers much food for thought, and there is no doubt that the growing surplus of cockerels year by year is becoming something of a menace to egg-producers all over the country.

Especially is this the case with the man with a small section of land at liis disposal. To him the large percentage of the male sex is a very great evil, for not only is the feeding- of them the same in cost as the pullets, hut the actual cost of eggs for hatching, or day-old chicks, the rearing, housing, and time spent are the same in their case as in that of the pullets, which repay him in eggs for his outlay and care. s

The great number of cockerels hatched is also felt very much by the breeder of pedigree stock, who, although he can usually obtain a good price for his male birds, yet is prevented from keeping a larger number of pullets owing to the time, labour, and room taken up by the cockerels. Thus in this case, as in the case of the backyarder, egg production is kept much lower than would be the case were the hatch of cockerels, say, five or ten per cent, lower.

PEDIGREE SELECTION If we can. therefore, lower the percentage of male birds hatched, we arc on the toad to increased egg-produc-tion, and, incidentally, increased profits. Those of us who hold auy views or theories on the matter should place these in front of everyone, if possible, so that the problem can be tackled and a solution arrived at in as short a time as possible, to the benefit of all. In placing my theory before you, I do not profess to be an expert in these matters, but I have caried out many experiments over a period of several years and have gained a fair knowledge from them. My theory, then, is to line-breed for pullets in a similar way as we now breed for egg-produc-tion. The birds chosen should be true to type, in good condition, and bred from prolific layers, for tile laying capacity must be handed on to the progeny or our object will be to lower production of eggs even though we increase production of pullets. The right sort of cockerel to choose to mate with these birds requires some thoughtful and careful selection; and as a start. I think the best way would he to look up the records of the best male birds at present in breeding pens, or these which are about to be mated up for the coming season, and find, if possible, the percentage of pullets “thrown” over a season by their sires. The cockerel whose rather threw most pullets over his season should then be mated with some of the best egg-producing hens. All eggs taken out of the trap-nests should be marked with the bird’s number and date of laying. Hatches should be run for at least three months, the longer, of course, the more valuable and more reliable the results. As

the chicks are hatched they should be taken out of the pedigree bags or cages in which the eggs are separated a day or so before hatching, and he toe-punched or marked in some way will enable everyone to tell from which hen they were bred. At the end of the period of experiment the hens' individual records can be compared, and those which show the highest percentage of pullets may be mated back to a son of the hen showing the highest percentage or “power of control.” It is known that among human beings there are families whose offspring show a preponderance of one sex, the children of several daughters being in some cases all males or females. This shows that the mother has the “power” to control the sex of her offspring, perhaps not in the case of every child she might have, but at any rate in the majority. In the same way poultry may have the power in a lesser degree, owing to the increased number of offspring. If, therefore, we can mate hens with the power to control the sex of their progeny, we can by line-breeding separate those with the “female” control from those with the “male,” and by carefully trap-nesting, recording, etc.. I see no reason why we should not have “so many per cent, pullet-pro-ducing strains” of poultry as we now have the “so many egg-producing strains.”

Of course, this is only theory on my part, but breeders who r»u their stock and plant on modern lines should find no difficulty in putting this theory into practice, with very little alteration in their every-day methods. Unfortunately, I am unable to conduct an experiment like this on a large scale, but as soon as opportunity offers, itself I intend to put my theory to the test, if in the meantime no breeder has thought it worth his while to try it for himself. GENERAL NOTES The “Methuselah” among hens is at last dead. The Rhode Island Red hen owned by Mr. G. Male, of Fording - ton, Dorchester, was 21 years old, and broke the longevity record of the poultry world by a couple of years. hi old age hens grow weak, and lay only about a dozen eggs a year, Mr. Male’s hen, however, was an exception, as she laid well until some six months ago. The Onehunga Racing Pigeon Club held its annual old bird race from

Poro-o-taroa last Saturday, a distance of approximately 120 miles. Mr. W. Sargeant’s hen, Dusky Rose, was the first to clock in with a velocity of 1,169 yards, Langton Bros.’ Royal Doulton being second, closely followed by the same bleeder’s Pearle de Luxe.” I learn from the South London Press that Mr. W. R. Dunlop, who holds a research grant at Oxford, has invented a machine that automatically picks out bad eggs, and grades others according to their weight. The machine, which resembles a modern switchback, has for some time been in operation at the United Dairies’ depot, Streatham, and consists almost entirely of parallel sets of toy railway lines, set on a gradient down which eggs roll by force of gravity. In their descent they pass over a series of 111 l ing balances which pick out automatically those that correspond with the standard weight at which the balances are set. Thus absolutely accurate grading is ensured. The eggs thus derailed are tipped into miniature lifts, which convey them, one at a time, to a further set of rails, whence they roll into a compartment ready to be repacked in crates. If the eggs are stale they fail to take the first ascent in the switchback, roll backwards, and are tilted out of the way for rejection by the packers. This automatic rejection is due to the fact that as an egg loses its freshness the yolk gradually drops inside the shell, and alters the weight and balance. Girls working this machine were able to grade accurately and repack eggs at the rate of 50 a minute, or nearly nine cases in an hour In first candling the eggs—testing in front of a bright light for blemishes—girl experts in this art, who have been trained at the United Dairies’ egg depot, worked at the rate of 40 eggs a minute. The following is the result of the 20th week of the Taranaki Egg-Laying Competition, held at Normanby:In the White Leghorn section, A. J. Davey’s hen has been overtaken by W. Cannon's bird, both having laid 100 eggs each, W. Ferguson’s bird with 99 eggs, and E. Wright’s with 98 eggs, make the competition in this section very keen. J. K. Hawkin’s hen is still leading in the Black Minoreas; F. W. Williams’s bird in Andalusians. Black Orpingtons are lagging behind Leghorns, the leading bird, belonging to G. L. Gaylard, having laid 75 eggs. H. Kirkwood’s Light Sussex is still going strong and leading over all other I birds in the heavy breed section, j C. C. Cleaver’s bird heads the | Rhode Island Reds, with 60 eggs; A. | Gibbons’s hen leading in the Wyan- | dotte section. ! In the duck section E. V. Gane’s j Fawn and White Runner has again | laid the possible, having now 121 eggs to her credit, A. Morse’s duck j occupying second place with 113 eggs. J. W. Carrick’s duck heads the White Runners with 102 eggs, j From reports to hand there is a bigI ger demand for day-old chickens this t season. Scores of people buy chicks [ in preference to keeping breeding pens j of birds and running the risk of inj cubation. In buying sittings of eggs or | chicks, it is, however, advisable to go to a breeder with a good reputation behind him. Miss Blanche Badcock, the young markswoman who nearly got into the King’s Hundred at Bisley two years ago and who is this year the only woman eligible for the King’s Prize, is a successful Hampshire poultry fancier. Bulls’-eyes and chickens are not unheard of as combined hobbies, but Miss Badcock’s case is, we should imagine, a unique one. Mr. Taylor, who recently took up poultry farming at Glen Eden, has sold out and bought a block of land at Papatoetoe, where he intends going in for poultry farming on an extensive

scale. Mr. Taylor, who is a returned soldier, took up poultry keeping chiefly for health reasons and, from what I recently saw of his flock, he has made a success of his venture. Fanciers will regret to hear that Mr. I. Ball, who damaged his knee in an accident some three or four weeks ago, is still unablti to return to work. All fanciers will wish this popular fancier a speedy recoveiy. On Tuesday Mr. Geo. H. Ambler, Glen Eden, will give a lecture on “Housing of Poultry,” from IYA, Auckland. HEALTHY EGGS Dr. Josiak Oldfield, the well-known food reformer,.- who, some time ago, addressed the Fruitarian Society on “Diet and the Birthrate,” in the course of his remarks, said: “Eggs today were not as healthy as they should be, because the fowls were overtaxed with egg-producing food, such as fish, blood and meat. In his hospital thej r made sure that their egg's were got from fowls which fed naturally from grain in the fields.” This eminent authority upos human diet has not to rely upon egg farming, it would seem, as a commercial pursuit, and he has also, it appears, overlooked the fact that fowls belong to the order of carnivora or flesh-eating animals. While Dr. Oldfield may take every precaution as to the source of his egg- supply foikis hospital, he has no guarantee that though the eggs may come from country fowls which roam the fields, the eggs are not in a great measure due to the worms, slugs and insect life which all fowls notoriously enjoy. The doctor, too, if he were to go strictly into detail, is in error in presuming that the egg is a natural human article of diet. The Great Power that ordained things did not intend it as such; its purpose being merely a link in the pei-petuation of a certain class of life. It is man who has resorted to it as a food, and if a fowl in its natural sphere is carnivorous, why should the pi-oduce of the bird kept artificially but hygieuically and fed upon sound grain and the proper proportion of animal food be much less healthy than the farm fowl that secures the bulk of its egg stimulant from not merely the fields, but the grub of flies generated in the refuse of the stock yard? Moreover, the fowl fed entirely upon cereals would not be a profitable proposition commercially, and if “overtaxed with eggproducing food,” she would bi-eak down physically and become immediately non-productive. Whilst I should certainly hesitate to query Dr. Oldfield’s views on human diet when he touched upon eggs, it is obvious that the subject has not had his deepest consideration. One wonders if he would exclude from his hospital dietary the eggs of country waterfowl, who may be seen at any -time gobbling up live frogs with impunity and with complete indifference as to whether the eggs produced are humanly healthy or not? That eggs have been a wonderful aid in restoring invalids to health no one can deny, and the great bulk of the eggs used in our hospitals have been the produce of artificially-fed and managed fowls.