THE POULTRY YARD

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 544, 22 December 1928, Page 26

THE POULTRY YARD

(By

GEO. H. AMBLER.

NEXT WINTER’S LAYERS

Winter eggs are desired by all poultry-keepers. The greatest profit in market egg production lies in the selling of winter eggs. Now is the time to prepare for those high-priced eggs. Many people allow their pullets to go through the summer without any special care, simply letting them shift for themselves, and then wonder why they do not get winter eggs. In order to get the pullets to start to lay at the proper time, and to continue laying throughout the ■winter, they must have been hatched from mid-September to mid-November. Earlier than this date they will start laying in February and March, lay tor a while, and then moult. Pullets hatched any time from October 1 to November 15 seem to reach the laying age about April. They gradually arrive at good laying condition by the time cool weather comes in May and June, just at the time when eggs reach the highest price. Several important things must be taken into consideration to bring about this early laying in pullets. They must be bred from stock that been known to be heavy producers. Pullets that come from a healthy line of stock that for generations has been kept under sanitary conditions, and fed so as normally to develop all functions of the body, will make better layers than healthy pullets that have been kept in dirty quarters and largely allowed to shift for themselves. One may be as hardy and vigorous as the other, yet in the well-kept flock the function of laying has become a functional structure. The birds have organisms because they have the functional formation for growing them well developed—they have the laying trait. On the other hand, those pullets from neglected stock not kept under sanitary conditions or fed for the best development of the body, may be as vigorous as we desire, and yet lack the productive power. They are moderate layers; some few may be good layers, yet laying is not an inherent trait, because it has not been passed down to them by their aneeslors. If they are so fed that every bodily requirement is met. they will lav all the eggs they are capable of, but no amount of food will induce

them to increase their production. WHY FEEDING IS IMPORTANT Unless pullets are properly fed they will not lay. Food has as much influence as any other element, and perhaps more, as, without food life cannot be sustained, and without life there could be no laying. On the other hand, with food life can be sustained, even when other conditions are bad and no eggs produced. When we feed for eggs, then we simply feed for health, and to build up the body of the pullet without producing abnormal conditions. If we supply the elements demanded by the body, we also supply those necessary for egg formation. The egg germ is fed by the blood of the hen, and if she is in a perfectly healthy state, she will have an abundance of rich blood. There is no necessity for figuring the chemical elements in the egg and attempting to supply these same elements in the food. If the pullet receives what her body demands, she will lay all the eggs nature has endowed her with. Some may wonder why it is necessary to supply such a variety of foods, animal, vegetable and cereal, and why properly balanced rations are necessary when a pullet is not laying as when she is in the flush of laying. Many people do not agree with this idea, though. When pullets are not laying they deem any food good enough, but it is a mistake. It is true that a pullet consumes more food when laying than when she is not laying. When pullets have been given what I believe to be an egg-producing ration, and have failed to respond, I have found that the addition of green food to the: ration, or some simple thing in the way of care, will start them laying when food and condiments failed. METHOD!! DEPEND ON CONDITIONS Rations that are successful with some poult rymen give poor results with others. This is all due to conditions surrounding the fowls, methods of handling, and the like. In the spring everything in the vegetable and animal kingdoms buds into new life. Nature, as it were, stretches her limbs, and the instinct to lay is then more dominant

in the hen. She will lay regardless of her bodily condition, unless it is such that she possibly cannot. She draws on her body to support at least a few germs. If her bodily condition is good, she may lay a fair number of eggs, even though the food is scanty and poor; that is, if she has inherited these organisms to a marked degree, but if she has not she will lay but a few eggs. In case her food and environment are good, she will go on producing them at frequent intervals during the summer. Pullets kept in the laying house during the winter are placed under unnatural conditions, and thus it is necessary for the poultryman to supply all the elements that will be needed for egg production, and also to induce exercise by practical methods at hand. There is no more satisfactory way in which to promote vigorous exercise than by getting the hens interested in something that will keep them busy. The only appeal that can be made to them is through their food. Scatter the scratch grain in deep litter—eight to ten inches deep—composed of dry oat or wheat straw. See that the straw rattles, and be sure the grain sifts down through the straw and does not lie on the top, as is the case with a damp litter. If the fowls are allowed to obtain the scratch grain without any effort on their part, they will clean it- up quickly and hop upon the perch and quietly await the next meal. EXERCISE NECESSARY Exercise is not only necessary in the winter, but equally as beneficial in the summer. Pullets that are grown on a large range will develop more rapidly than those which are yarded. Those that are allowed free range will find a large amount of their food on the ground over which they roam during the day. They will find animal food, such as worms, slugs and the like. This, added to the green food, grain seeds and grit, gathered by the fowl, keeps the bird in good condition and assists egg production. In order to bring these conditions about for the yarded pullets, it is necessary to supply these food elements in the form of meat meal, beef scrap, buttermilk, green food and grit, with a properly balanced ration, likewise a good scratching shed, well covered with litter to scratch in for the grain. SEPARATING PULLETS AND COCKERELS It is essential to keep pullets growing throughout the summer, and to separate the cockerels as soon as possible. Have your laying house all eleaued and in good condition to receive the pullets at least three weeks before they are ready to drop their first egg. This plan allows the birds

an opportunity to become accustomed to their surroundings and gives the owner a chance to study them and note their development. It is a mistake to allow the pullets to mature on the range and then change them to their winter quarters, for the hen is a very nervous bird, and is very easily affected by change of surroundings. Therefore, the shift should be made early. Be on the look-out for lice throughout the summer. These blood-suck-ers will do great damage to your flock before you are aware of tbeir presence. GENERAL NOTES A good many poultry-keepers do not realise the importance of giving grit to their fowls. The foregoing will show the necessity of giving grit. At Oregon Experimental Station the winning hen, which laid 324 eggs in a 52weeks’ laying test, consumed seven pounds of commercial grit and tnree pounds of crushed shell, in addition to other mineral matter supplied iu mash and not accounted for. If a hen eats eight to ten pounds of various grits in a year, in addition to what she picks out of the earth, it must be to supply her needs in mineral elements, as it has been shown at numerous tests that a teaspoonful of grit wouk be sufficient for all alleged grinding purposes during the average life of a fowl. It is, however, quite evident a laying hen must have an ample supply of grit and shell. During an address at Brisbane by Mr. J. Bt Merrett, on the Australian Poultry Industry, he stated that h<= had received cables asking for 80,000 cases of good eggs to be sent to Great Britain. The Australian Egg and Export Association was not in a position to accept all that ordpr, but it had guaranteed 35,000 cases, which would be valued at £105,000. The eggs would be packed under regulations endorsed by the Federal Government, which set out that no egg less than 1 7-8 ounce would leave the country. Every egg to leave Australia would be first tested before strong electric lights and would be carried overseas in a specially-made container. Mr. Merrett also stated that he bad at his disposal £250,000 of Englisl money to operate on under his r operative scheme of egg export. Those who had supplied the money wanted him to spend it on the best of Australian eggs. It was not a speculative scheme. He had that morning received a cable from a man in Glasgow, asking him if he could supplv him with 50,000 cases of eggs each season. He was sending him B,Of cases. Just, as soon as Australia could guarantee a regular supplv this buyer would double his orders until the ful purchase o£ 50,000 cases were sup-

plied, but that man was not going ti tolerate a big supply one season and falling off the next. It was. therefore, most important that Australia should organise for a continuity of supplies. Mr. Merrett advised the formation of boys’ and girls’ clubs, and spoke in eulogistic terms of the good work done by the boys’ and girls’ poultry clubs in England. While there he had seen many colleges in which poultry was featured. In these colleges he h. seen girls doing well; in fact, in some of the colleges in Great Britain girls were doing even better than the men students. He had seen many women in Britain who were doing big thin.-, in the rearing of chickens and the securing of eggs. The following are the results of the Taranaki egg-laying test to and including the 36th week: —In the White Leghorn section W. Cameron’s bird has now reached the 200-egg mark, W. J. Davey’s hird being second with 191 eggs to her credit. J. P. Hawkins and F. W. Williamson are leading in the Black Minorca and Andalusian section, G. L. Gaylard is leading in the Black Orpington section, H. Kirkwood’s hen still being ahead in the Light Sussex section. C. C. Cleaver’s Rhode Island Red laid seven eggs for the week, bringing her total to 161. A. Gibbon’s White Wyandotte hen still maintains her lead over all competitors in the heavy breed section. In the Fawn and White Duck section V. L. Gane’s duck, which for months now has laid the possible, has again laid seven eggs for the week, A. Morse’s duck being second with 212 eggs. D. M. Waddell’s duck in the White Runner section has not laid during the week, but is still well ahead of her competitors. PERSONAL NOTES Fanciers will regret to hear of the death, at Dunedin, of Mr. J. Thomson, father of Mr. J. M. Thomson, Epsom, the well-known poultry and canary judge. Mr. Thomson, sen., who had lived to a ripe old age, being well over 90, took a keen interest in his son’s doings on the show bench as well as his performances w'ith the recent bowling team which toured England. All fanciers will join us in extending our sympathies to Mr. Thomson in his bereavement. During the w-eek I had a visit from Mr. and Mrs. Dodds, Mount Eden. Mr. Dodds recently acquired over an acre of land at Mount Eden, where he intends establishing himself as a poultry farmer. Mr. Dodds is a keen student, and, being a “canny” Scotsman with exceptional powers of observation, there is no need to fear the results of his enterprise. He has already’ several promising White Leg horns, and I have an idea it will not

be long before he is a competitor in the English White Leghorn classes. It was pleasing to note that Mrs. Dodds is just as much an enthusiast as her husband. Mr. Dodds. through the writer’s articles in The Sun, is another adherent to the dry-mash method of feeding. I hear that Mr. I. Ball, the wellknown Game judge, has had the misfortune to lose several promising English White Leghorn pullets, through the depredations of a rat which got into his poultry house. Mr. Ball has now only a couple of his English chickens left. Fortunately, he was able to capture the rat, which, needless to say, was speedily exterminated. It needs only one bird to win the champion prize, and it is just possible Mr. Ball may still have the winner. In any case he has our sympathies. * * * Mr. and Mrs. Nicolas, Remuera, also paid me a visit during the week. Mr. Nicolas is paying special attention to a fine lot of White Leghorn pullets, also a couple of extra good Black Orpington youngsters. Mrs. Nicolas has several bantam chickens which she tells me are exceptionally healthy.