GENERAL NOTES

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 526, 1 December 1928, Page 30

GENERAL NOTES

The new national egg-laying competition, which has just been opened at Milford, Surrey, England, is the largest egg-laying test in the world. The site of the test covers 27 acres, of which 18 are used for 224 houses and pens which have been erected. Of this number , f houses, 200 are all the same size, and are divided into two pens on each side. The remaining 24 have been built to accommodate the championship pens. Each of the 200 pens has an area of 144 square yards. Owing to the championship pens having- double the number of birds competing, the pen area is increased, but the amount of floor space is absolutely the same as in the o.ther 200. In opening the test, Captain W. J. Todd said it was 32 years since the first test was held in England. That test drew an entry of seven pehs of birds, whereas the number of birds competing in the present national test amounted to 2,592. POULTRY BUSINESS TO-DAY ; The poultry business to-day Is not carried on even as it was five years ago. To-day it is not a trifling plaything. Some of the changes are mammoth incubators, ensuring a flock to be all of the same age, and getting them out in time .o make winte layers of them, and also hatching a larger percentage of all eggs set. Larger brooders are now’ being These have saved thousands of chick Larger, deeper houses, a: :l larger flocks, together saving time in caring for them, are part of the present day equipment. To be an up-to-date poultryman, one has to adopt the new ways, and get out of the old ruts. Visit successful plants. No one man knows it all. I have visited farms all over New Zealand, and picked up new ideas, and I have been studying poultry for over 40 y-ars. To Lie amateur, my advice is: Keep one breed, and study it thoroughly. The following are the results of the Taranaki Egg-laying Competition to and including the 33rd week. In the White Leghorn section W. Cannon’s hen laid 7 eggs for the j week, bringing her total to 183. W. Ferguson’s hen laid 6, making her score 175, A. J. Davey's bird coming next with 174 eggs. J. K. Hawkins’s hen is still leading in the Black Minorca section. In the Black Orpington section G. i i

L. Gaylard’s bird is still leading. H. Kirkwood’s hen is well ahead In the Light Sussex section. C. C. Cleaver’s hen is ahead of her competitors in the Rhode Island Red section. A. Gibbons’s White Wyandotte hen laid 6 eggs for the week, and is still leading over all her competitors in the heavy breed section. V. L. Gane’s Fawn and White Runner has again laid the possible, bringing her total to 215 eggs, G. L. Gaylard’s duck being her nearest competitor with 198 eggs. D. M. Waddell’s White Runner is leading in that section. The last of this season’s shipment of eggs to leave Auckland for England, were dispatched by the s.s. Mataroa, which left Auckland this week, making Auckland’s quota 481 cases. Owing to the inability to obtain space early in the season, Auckland producers have not been able to ship as many cases as it was originally intended they should do. As the Mataroa’s shipment will not arrive in England until after Christmas, it is hardly likely prices realised will be as high as previous shipments. New Zealand has, this year, shipped 7,000. cases of 30doz each—2lo,ooo dozen, amounting to 2,520,000 eggs. This season’s shipments have exceeded those of any previous season, the highest being in 1924, when 6,669 cases were shipped. Poor egg production and an emaciated appearance of the hens, as well as unthriftiness of the chicks, are very often due to the same cause. They feed by sucking blood while the birds are on the perch or nests. It is not only the loss of blood that is injurious, but the restlessness caused is serious. When not feeding, the mites are in hiding in cracks, crevices, and points of the perches, nests, dropping boards, etc. This habit makes it impossible for the birds to protect themselves by dusting, but makes the destruction of the mites simple if the proper attention is given. Greenstuff must be provided in abundance to keep the fowls in heali When the house door is opened in the morning, the air should smell quite fresh if the house is not carrying too many birds. See that the house is well ventilated, but free from draughts. It is a good plan to fit a j wire-netting do r inside the ordinary door of the house. The main door can then be opened during the day to ventilate the house. Make a saturated solution of boric ; acid to which a little carbonate of I soda has been added. Swab each eye. i

using a clean piece of cotton in treating each chicken. If the same piece of cotton is used on more than one chick it may carry the infection. As a rule it does not pay to doctor sick chickens. Find out the cause, then correct that wrong condition.