The Poultry Yard

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 792, 12 October 1929, Page 32

The Poultry Yard

( By

GEO. H. AMBLER.)

CHOOSING A BREED

li is quite generally assumed that the .question of choosing* I a breed and variety of fowls is of particular interest only to beginners, or to those who have been keeping poultry of no particular breed or Lucking* the standard qualities of the Treed it represents. M,y impression, however, from a good many years’ contact and correspondence with poultrykeepers is that at any time fully half of the subscribers to a poultry paper are interested in this question, for everyone whose poultry is not giving the profit or the satisfaction expected is more or lesis disposed to consider the possible advantage of a change of breed, while a good many poultrykeepers like to change just to have something different for a time, and not a few permanently interested in one variety like to try something else as well.

The tendency of beginners is to choose the breed, and variety that is most popular, or that appears from what they can learn, to be most popular. A generation ago the ’ average beginner started with at least two diffrent breeds, and most oi those who had room to do so began with more. The idea was that in this way one could test the breeds for himself to see which he liked best. It. was the custom then to keep an egg-breed and a general-purpose or a table breed in order that the egg-supply might be more uniform throughout the year and that a greater number of grades and some higher quality in tablo poultry might be secured, than if everything was subordinated to the highest possible egg yield from a single variety. The varieties of the breeds generally were then not as highly finished as they have since become. Neither the amateur nor the commercial breeder was yet convinced of the necessity of concentration on one variet?r, if progress were to be made in breeding for standard quality. Now the beginner or the poultrykeeper wishing to make a change in breed, is much more incline,! to learn all he can about the different breeds and their varieties, and to w eigh their advantages and disadvantag es for his purpose and location very carefully before buying stock. Ha generally prefers to put all the money he has to invest in breeding stot k of high j quality as he can afford to buy of the variety he chooses. This attitude has become more and more nearly 1 I universal as people have come to ' understand the differences in strains of the same breed. Beginners now | are advised that it is be’iter policy to ' select the breed and va rfety that in : their judgment will be tiest for them, and then try the different well-known strains of it until they and which of these meets the requirements best, i than to experiment in a random j fashion with stock of different breeds, i There are. of course, many cases j where two or more varieties are kept. | but as a rule, beginners <lo not under- [ take more than one variety. SELECT POPULAR VARIETY In selecting a breed an d variety for commercial purposes, it. often makes a great difference whetln r one expects j to sell breeding stock r>?i its standard : j merits, as well as n*a rket poultry j

i products. However, if one is to i cater only for the market trade it i makes little difference whether the ■ variety he uses is popular or not. Yet, i as a rule, it is wiser to take a popular i variety, because if it should come , about that the poultry-keeper can sell pure-bred stock profitably he has ! something that is in demand and that , will sell readily. . | The highly popular breeds are all 1 I found in the dual-purpose and laying , types, because these are the types that . | suit the greatest number of poultryi | keepers and the most varied conditions I of soil and climate. Some of the ; | table breeds are fairly popular, but . | none of this class is as extensively 1 | kept, in New Zealand, as the popular 1 breeds of the other classes. ; | None of the breeds classed as ! ornamental is widely popular. White is the most popular colour. It is generally preferred unless some ' particular condition makes white objectionable. A flock of white or nearly white fowls is more showy and attractive, more ornamental, as the birds are seen at a little distance than -1 a flock of any other colour. The individual white bird, too, when j living where it can keep clean, has i | the beauty that everyone- can appre- ' j ciate. It is quite probable that if i j there were no soot in cities and ' | towns, and no hawks in the country, ! every poultrykeeper who had not a ■ | decided preference for, some other | colour would keep w’hite fowls. Even | with these drawbacks the general i preference for white is so pronounced \ that, as a rule, the white variety of a popular breed is the most soughtI for variety of that breed. I Iu selecting a coloured fowl for | the farm two things are kept in view-. It is desirable that the fowls and chickens shall not be very conspicuous as they forage over the land, and that when dressed they shall be free from dark pin feathers. To get this combination most farmers take a medium-coloured fowl. In early days the Dominique or hawk-coloured fowl was a great favourite with farmers ■ in England. When the Barred Plymouth Rock appeared, with the same colour markings, it quickly became most popular on the farm homestead. THE REAL FANCIER The colours that have been so far i named practically make up the list jof popular colours. In fact, the in-

elusion of black in a popular list strains the definite little. These are the colours that are commonly considered serviceable. They are chosen by people who have no colour preference, and who simply want something that looks v/ell and gives little trouble, either in care to keep the birds looking clean, or in breeding to retain the colour quality that : the flock had to start with. Probably 75 per cent, of the trans- ! actions in purebred fowls and eggs |in New Zealand are in m varieties of these colours. That being the case, the odds are three to one that the beginner who chooses one of them is making the best possible choice for his purpose. The one great reason for passing them all by and taking something else is a personal preference for that something else. Or, if it is put in another way, we will say that the reason for not taking one of the most serviceable colours lis that the person is a fancier. Now ] in these days, outside of a limited j circle of what I would call professing factors—seme of whom have not owned a fowl for years—there seems to be more or less antipathy to the word fancier, and practical poultrymen are not opposite or mutually exclusive. It is entirely possible for one and the same person to be both. To have a particular fancy for fowls of a certain colour, and to indulge that fancy and utility fowls of that colour, whether they are the most profitable and economical fowls for one to keep, does not mark one as being impractical unless ho permits the following of his taste to lead him to make financial sacrifices he cannot afford. What is and what is not practical in this matter all depends upon the extent of one’s plan for the developi ment of one’s poultry business.

GENERAL NOTES The following are the results of the Taranaki egg-laying test to and including the 26th week* The birds have now started on the second half of the competition, and the majority are laying well. In the White Leghorn section M. Scanlon s hen is still leading, her score now being 166, followed by Gibbons Brothers’s No. 1 bird, w’hich laid eight eggs for the week and has now 152 eggs to her credit. In the Rhode Island Red section A. J. Lacey’s No. 2 hen leads with 133 eggs, followed by the same breeder’s No. 4 bird with 121 eggs. Gibbons Brothers’s birds head the Golden Wyandottes -with 134 and 131 eggs. D. M. Waddell’s No. 1 Black iOrpington leads her breed and is also the the leader of the whole competition, i fowls and ducks. White Wyandottes are headed by i Gibbons Brothers’s No. 1 bird with j 119 eggs. H. Kirkwood’s hen leads the Light j Sussex section. Langshans and ’White Rocks are I laying v.-cl! now, but lost a good deal ! of time at the commencement of the competition. j In the Fawn and White Runner ■ ducks V. L. Gane’s bird leads with 149 J eggs, followed by J. Magill’s duck with 134 eggs. j White Runners have not done so j well and the leading bird, belonging

to D. M. Waddell lias only 103 eggs to her credit. J. W. Carrick’s Khaki Campbell is well ahead of her competitors in the A.O.V. section. Her score is now j 165, which is higher than ally other duck in the competition. In the three-bird team test (light breeds), R. Cameron’s team is well ahead, its score being 430, and that of its nearest competitors 374. In the three-bird team test (heavy, breeds), Gibbons Brothers’s team of Golden Wyandottes is leading with 359 eggs to its credit. During the week a meeting of poultry fanciers was held at Palmerston North, to discuss methods whereby the Manawatu Poultry Show could be improved. Mr. W. Grey, who presided, said their show was gradually going back, entries having decreased something like 600 during the past feiv years, whereas entries at Stratford had increased considerably with the result Stratford looked iike taking the place of Palmerston North as the premier show of the North Island. Farmers were not supporting the shows as they ought and probably the fact of the show being held on the Saturday instead of closing on the Friday had some effect. Mr. R. D. White suggested more novice classes whereas Mr. Rushton suggested a special class be put on for farmers. Mr. T. Bruce criticised the management and office-bearers of the show, judges, also the way in which visiting fanciers were received compared v-ith that of other sliow-s. In his opinion | the arrangements with the A. and P. j Association needed revising. Messrs. J. H. Kissling, A. Richards, | Hancock, W. Young, W. T. Penny, ; secretary of the A. and P. Association, I and others, also took part in the dis- j mission, several motions being carried, j the most important being: That a j special committee go into the question \ of the relations between the Mana- j watu Poultry Association and the! Manawatu A. and P. Association, to j consider means of fostering enthus- j iasm: classes for cats and rabbits be I provided for; the show to conclude on j Friday; a show superintendent and assistant-superintendent be appointed: j scale of expenses for judges be drawn up.

| Judging from the resolutions carried |at the meeting, together with the | i enthusiasm which I understand was ; | evinced, it would seem as though ; Palmerston North show would regain its former popularity. I must, how- : ! ever, differ from Mr. Bruce in his j | criticism regarding both office-bearers I j and judges. Having missed visiting j j only one show at Palmerston North i during the past twelve years, either j as exhibitor, visitor or judge, I must \ say my experience has been quite : contrary to Mr. Bruce's statements. Mr. Bruce may be quite capable of ; criticising the management but his j knowledge of judging is confined to j Utility White Leghorns and Black Orpi ingtons, whereas my experience of Palmerston North show is that the | association has usually been happy in the selection of its judges. Mr. Bruce has certainly not had sufficient experience to criticise such I judges as Messrs. W. Hall, (Lepper- ! ton) ; W. Scott, (New Plymouth) ; D. Stewart, (Normanby) ; J. Nixon, W. A. Hanson. J. Thomson. (Auckland) : Bell, (Korere) ; R. W. Hawke. (Christj church); the writer, and others, who

have judged at Palmerston North during the past five years. In New Zealand many fanciers consider a three days’ show too long for birds to he on exhibition. I wonder how they would like to be in the Argentine, where the recent show at Palermo Island lasted for 16 days. All exhibits at the Palermo Show are sold by auction, the auctioneer taking six days to sell the exhibits. Mr. Powell Owen, the well-known English judge, made the awards, had also to examine every exhibit for health and breed defects before the birds were admitted to the show. Fowls do not perspire; they breathe several times faster than perspiring animals when heated. They are, therefore. obliged to throw off much of the waste of the body through the lungs. It is consequently clear that to keep in good health fowls require a great amount of fresh air. Plates and photographs of the different breeds were discussed and, iu most cases, the weights were raised about Jib and the different standard points "and defects were adjusted. The scale of points drawn up by the Government experts and those of the North and South Island Poultry Associations varied on three points, which were, however, satisfactorily adjusted. I understand much time was spent in discussing the question of crooked breast-bone and white in face in Minorcas, but so far have not heard the result. The question of both defects is a very debatable one, particularly in Minorca cockerels, a breed where one scarcely ever finds an exhibit with a straight breast-bone. Khaki Campbell ducks were added to the duck standard. The members of the Standard Committee, consisting as. they do of practical breeders, one can rest assured of their' efforts being a success. One of the latest adherents to poultry-keeping in England is Mr. Lloyd George, the Liberal Leader, who has commenced a poultry farm in Surrey where he is breeding White Leghorns, White Wyandottes, and Rhode Island Reds. At the end of the ninth month the ex-Prime Minister’s team of Rhode Island Reds is leading in the Surrey Egg Laying Competitions.