The Poultry Yard

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 780, 28 September 1929, Page 32

The Poultry Yard

(By

GEO. H. AMBLER.)

CHOICE OF NEST BOXES

ALTHOUGH many poultry-keepers .will go to any trouble and expense to master egg-production, they invariably I fail when it comes to the choice of nest-boxes."

the nest to- lay. She seeks, first of all a cosy box, one that is in the dark, and if it is occupied, she retires to the run “talking” all the time and telling her sister to hurry up. She Is indeed restless. Finally, when she does enter a vacant compartment, she is an adept at acrobatic movenfents. NEST-BOX MATERIAL She twists and turns, scrapes out the material from the centre until the bare boards of the box bottom are revealed, and then she feels easy and comfortable. Later she rises and the egg drops—on the bare boards. Being a tall bird, there is a lengthy drop, and the shell Is broken. To ascertain these details you must make a hole in the side of the roost and watch the performance, but, as I have already carried out these observations, you need not attempt boring that “peephole” with a red-hot poker. You can overcome this drawback by placing on : the bottom of each nest-box a two-inch ! depth of sawdust or earth, and over - this put the real nesting material, j Then, should a fidgety hen scratch out the material from the centre of the | nest, she will be in contact with the soft sawdust and not hard boards. CAUSES OF EGG-EATING Finally, we must deal with eggeating, which robs the nest-box very heavily in most flocks, although unbeknown to the owners. Egg-eating may start —and usually does —from a broken egg, the yolk being tasted by one of the hens and the habit spreading until nearly all the birds in the flock are eating the eggs. We must, at all costs, therefore, prevent an egg from becoming broken. If It falls on a hard surface, like the bottom of \ the nest-box, the egg will run the risk i of being broken. If we do not keep shell always before the birds, we shall obtain thin-shelled eggs that w'ill easily break, as we shall if the perches are too high or if too forcing a diet is fed —again, if the birds are allotved to get over fat. One should ever be on the look-out for soft-shelled eggs and odd eggs dropped in the litter. all of which should be collected immediately they are noticed. This will go far to remove the temptation of egg-eating. IDEAL NEST-BOX I am rather particular about the type of nest-box used, and I am

Egg production depends, of course, on housing and feeding, once one has procured “quality” birds. One must not, however, finish there. Your egg supply depends, for number, after all, on what you collect from the nestboxes. I was recently perusing a reader's egg records, and there was one item I could not follow. Against each daily total there was a certain “minus.” For Monday, the total read, 13 minus 6. Naturally, I raised the question as to what they represented, imagining the poultry-keeper to say that of 13 eggs laid, six went into the house for domestic use. Back came the reply that the smaller number stood for breakages, thin-shelled eggs, and suchlike unmarketable produce. CAUSES OF BROKEN LEGS 1 wish therefore, to point the moral of preventing egg wastage. Then each poultry-keeper will be on the way to obtaining maximum yield. Lack of nesting material will always bring in its train broken or cracked eggs, and particularly will you notice non-sitting breeds like Leghorns, troublesome in this direction. However, you must know what is meant by an insufficient supply of nesting material. To line the nest well with ; straw is not enough, as the majority of layers are fidgety when laying. Watch a Leghorn hen when she enters

against open fronts. Again, lam not in favour low nests. My objections are that the hen can see her egg when laid, and other birds walking to and fro on the floor can see their sisters in the boxes. The result is that they are attracted when an egg drops, a scramble follows, and egg-eating may j then commence. All nests should be f boarded up in front, except for a cir- ; cular entrance hole. Procure a piece | of thin wood the size of the front, and | cut a lOin circular hole therein. Fasten j hinges at one end and, on the box itself, fix a wooden button. Then we | have a front that can be easily opened for cleaning purposes, and the completed nesting sections fit ia with my ideal. POSITION OF NESTS In the first place, the nests should be fixed in a dark corner of the house ! and they should be off the ground. If ! the inside pattern is favoured, they can be fixed on. legs. I prefer to have the boxes two feet off the top of the litter, and then birds passing to and fro cannot see what is going on within. A few inches below the bottom of the aperture or entrance a perch or flyup board should be arranged, so that the layers can alight thereon before entering the nesting sections. The perch should fit loosely into sockets, so that it is removable. The nests standing on legs, the ground space will not be wasted, as the birds can scratch in the litter below the nests. ; It is a mistake to have too few nests j —better to have too many. For six to 1 twelve birds I should prefer one nest- ; box to every two layers, and for larger j flocks one nesting section to every ; three or four birds might be provided. | The fly-up perch at the base of the nest-boxes should be only three inches or so away from the front—just a step for the hen entering. INTERIOR OF HOUSE Poultry-keepers make the greatest | mistake in having internal fitments : for roosts placed too high. I have ■ frequently seen drop-boards four feet off the ground. A 2Jft fly-up perch is ■ quite enough fer pullets, and 2ft for ! adult hens. The excitement brought , about by hens flying up to high perches and often, as darkness sets in, ; ; missing their objective, is harmful. ' j Likewise it is harmful for birds to j have a high drop, especially on to a , - hard floor, when leaving the perches in the morning. If a movable dropboard is adopted, whereby it can be " lowered for birds in the second season, " so much the better. The fitting-up of : the perch and drop-board should be ' carefully carried out. First of all the I drop-board should slide into grooves, 1 and not be a fixture. The sockets to - carry the perches should be screwed 1 to the drop-board, while the perches ; I themselves, several inches above, f should be movable.

GENERAL NOTES Since the introduction of the Compulsory Marking of Eggs Act in England quite a number of novel types of graders and markers have made their appearance on the market. The latest one, which has been invented by a Belfast man and known as the “Hamilton Shesgreen” Egg Grader, carries out every test necessary, both stamping and grading eggs up to 30 cases a day-. I, hear that Auckland egg producers have, this season, guaranteed only 750 cases of eggs for export. During the past 12 or IS months yve have heard quite a lot regarding co-operation in Auckland; it, however, does not seem to bring us any nearer our objective, with the result, Auckland, as usual, lags behind. There will be no question of the quality- of the eggs leaving Auckland as grading is in the capable hands of Mr. E. C. Jarrett. The Mount Albert lay-ing test has now practically run half its course. With the exception of the duck section and Mr. McLean’s team of Black Orpingtons, the birds' have not quite reached the high level of last y-ear. The leading team in the light breeds section has laid 464 eggs in the 24 weeks. Mr. McLean's team of Black Orpingtons hay-ing laid 507 eggs, is 43 eggs ahead of the birds in the light breeds section. It is interesting to note that one of Mrs. Dimant’s Light Sussex has laid 122 eggs and another 118, the latter occupying second place in the single pen championship. Khaki Campbells, which have previously- put up such good records at Mount Albert, are again laying very consistently, Mr. Leech’s (Australia.) team doing remarkably well. Mr. Dowthwaite’s team of Fawn and White Runners, is, unfortunately, being let donw by- one duck which did not begin laying for some time after the competition commenced. The remaining three ducks are, however, doing their best to maintain this breeder’s reputation. Mr. Dowthw-aite cannot, however, expect his ducks to break his last y-ear’s -world’s record. One must congratulate Mr. B. R. Arnott on the performance of his team of White Runners, w-hich has laid 586 eggs. Although Mr. Arnott is practically only a recent beginner, it is quite evident he has developed the art of handling with a measure of success. Broody hens have been particularly scarce this year, and it would seem as if there were an opening for a broody strain. I know of one well-knov.-n Auckland fancier who, this week, paid 15s each for two broodies in order to | incubate a couple of dozen eggs from | a special pen of exhibition birds. Sevi eral other fanciers have also been : pay-ing up to 12s 6d each for broodies. I Anconas, which were at one time

very popular in the Auckland district, seem to have lost much of their popularity, as entries were practically, nil at the recent shows, and none is competing in the Mount Albert test. Although we have no enthusiasts in Auckland such as Messrs. Pearce, McNickle and Webb, Messrs. Martin and Minter have always been interested in the breed, and it needs only more push on their part to regain one of our most profitable breeds its popularity. The following are the results of the Taranaki egg-laying competition to and including the 24th week: In the White Leghorn section M. Scanlon’s bird is leading with 154 eggs to her credit, Gibbons Bros.’ bird being second with 137 eggs, followed by R. Cannon’s and J. A. Mackay’s, which tie for third place, both birds having laid 135 eggs each. A. C. Lacey’s No. 1 bird is six eggs ahead of her nearest competitor in the Rhode Island Red section. _ Gibbons Bros.’ birds occupy first place in Golden Wyandottes, White Wyandottes and Langshans. H. Kirkwood’s hen is still leading the Light Sussex section, as does F. W. Walker’s No. 2 bird in the Black Leghorn section. D. M. Waddell’s No. 1 Black Orpington again laid seven eggs for the week, her total now being 170. In the Fawn and White Runner ducks, V. L. Gane’s duck has now overtaken and passed D. Riley’s. White Runners, which had a late start, are now doing well. In the A.O.V. ducks, J. W. Carrick’s Khaki Campbell is leading and also is ahead of all ducks in the competition. In the three-bird light team test, R. Cannon’s White Leghorn laid 20 eggs for the week, their total being 393. In the heavy breed team test, Gib-! bons Bros.’ Golden Wyandottes are first with 35S eggs to their credit. A packet of Epsom salts to 20 grown birds is a good thing to give in the warmer weather as an internal cleanser and blood cooler. Dissolve in warm water and add to the mash. Do it once a week. PERSONAL NOTES Fanciers in both the North and South Island will regret to hear that Mr. Arthur Palmer, Auckland, and formerly of Timaru, the well-known poultry judge, whose health broke down a couple of years ago, is still far from being well, and has had to give up business. Mr. Adams, Marton, who holds a . strong hand in Brown Leghorns, has a grand lot of chickens running about, some of which are already showing signs of promise. The majority of the chickens are bred from a cock purchased from Mr. Fred. Dacre, Christchurch, mated to several- of Mr. Adams’s winners at last season's shows.