OUR FEATHERED FRIENDS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 223, 14 January 1911, Page 3

OUR FEATHERED FRIENDS.

ABOUT POULTRY. (By "Cpck-o'-the-North"). Poultry fanning in Taranaki is an industry which has yet to be developed. .Most persons, um.,mc of the prinicpal towns, of course, own fowls in small or large numbers, but how many of these persons iknow for eirtain what these fowls are doing in the way of returns for the amount of ground occupied, money spent in (housing, food and labor? I think .( would be fairly safe in saying not one in SUU. If a record were kept, and the fowls treated asiyiway decuitly, both in food, housing and cleanliness, and also tare taken that the birds were bred from healthy, vigorous stock of a reasonably good laying strain, the farmer, or his better half, would get a greater shock than he had received for many a long day if the results obtained were compared with those obtained from cows, sheep or any other form of agriculture, and the time, labor and expense of initiating same were computed and paid for. Eel us take the case of a Hock of 30 laying hens as an example. If these hens are such as described above they should yield under proper tare and treatment fully 1,3 dozen eggs each, or 3iM) doxm for the 30 birds". Now, if these birds were only moderately good winter layers, the average price for these eggs for the year would easily be Is 3d per dozen, or a gross return for the birds of £24 7s Od, in addition to which, each bird should easily, earn another shilling by manure produced, thus making ,thc total £25 17s (id, out of which (is should be deducted for food for each bird, leaving a credit over food of £M) 1,7s (id. We will estimate the land the fowls, occupy at £IOO per acre. The amount occupied, viz., 14ft by 12ft, would cost 8s 4<l at the above price. The 'house necessary for the birds would not cost at the most more than £4. Allow another £3 for rearing the chicks to a laying age, and we have a total expenditure of £7 Ss 4d, besides cost of food, leaving a net profit of ill) lis -2d for the 30 birds. Each of these birds, if sold at the end of the first year's laying, would easily realise 2s each, making the total net profit £l2 i)s 2d. Thus at the year end 30 such birds as above would pay for their food, for the material of their house, the land on which it stands at £IOO per acre, and the cost of their upbringing from chiokenhood to the nest, and leave a profit of £l2 l)s 2d. How many farmers in Taranaki clear this much out of two acres of ground annually? Yet fowls can do (and have done here in New Zealand) this on less than the 25!) th part of an acre, and the owner buy the land as well. Now, if a cow were called upon to pay for the land .she occupies at £.IOO per acre and pay 'her share of the cost of tails, milk cans, fencing, and other necessary adjuncts to dairying, I am afraid the farmer would whistle for profits for many years to come, ami yet people say that poultry farming does not pay —and, what is worse still, they are usually right; at least so far as the persons they .allude to are concerned. If, then, the figures 1 have given are correct (and they are capable of considerable increase), how is it •that these persons tell the truth? It] is very simple. Results such as I have I stated can be obtained, and in Hawke.'s Bay have been obtained, but only under I this condition, viz., when the right man is in the right place; and in any other case the profits are usually nil, while the liabilities grow with astonishing rapidity. j ' How these results can be brought I about it will be the duty of this column to show as space permits, but anyone having fowls in large or small numbers and who is desirous of asking one or more questions, or desires information, can obtain the same, free of charge, by applying to "Cock-o'-the-Noi'th," '"Daily News" office. AH enquiries must be signed with the name of the enquirer, as a guarantee of good faith, and if a reply is desired by past, stamped addressed envelope must be enclosed. One of the chief causes of failure in this most fascinating and lucrative occupation is that most people who go in for it have heard from someone of what can be done in this line, and rush blindly into it without any knowledge of the business or asking themselves whether they are mentally fit to undertake the task or not, the usual result being that tho enormous profits which the novice anticipates and looks to, gradually become less and less, until they finally disappear and are replaced with the ominous word, ''loss."

JOTTINGS. Remember thai the chicks you are rearing now constitute (or it' hatched at the right time) your next winter's layers. Therefore push them on by wi?c, judicious feeding, anil if of good strain they will repay you a hundredfold. Search your poultry-houses for red mite, and'if they are" found, spray well ■with a forty per cent, solution of some, good non-poisonous sheep-dip and water. Remember this: you eamiot raise red mite and produce eggs except at a ruinous loss. Do not keep your cockerels any longer than Hi weeks and your ducks more than H> weeks, if' intended for table, as after this time, you begin losing on them. Never try to fatten any fowl more than six months old, as every pound gained in weight will cost far move Ulan you will realise for it on the market. Treat your fowls wisely, and they will pay you 'handsomely. Neglect, and they will strike at once, as they are under no award 1 of any arbitration court.