POULTRYKEEPING.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 March 1922, Page 6

POULTRYKEEPING.

AN INSTRUCTIVE LECTURE. A lecture dealing with poultry-keep-ing generally was given by Mr. L. Cocker (Government instructor) at the Soldiers’ Club, New Plymouth, last night. Mr. W. Scott, chairman of the Taranaki Egg Circle, presided.

In the course of his remarks Mr. Cocker said that houses should be warm and comfortable, with good ventilation. He favored concrete floors with plenty of litter, giving the birds scope for scratching. Mr. Cocker told his hearers that a laying bird should be given plenty of food, and she could not be overfed, as the fowl naturally regulated this. Meat had to be given for winter laying, but this should be started very gradually. In the selection of foods generally great care should be exercised, as the cheapest was not always the best, and lie believed that recently cheap foods had been the cause of mortality. From a practical point of view the cheapest food the fourtryman could get was wheatmeal, homecrushed.

The selection of layers was next dealt with by Mr. Cocker, who said the points to look for were a bird showing wedge shape, deep through thet abdomen, also strong through the breast. Constitution was denoted by a bngnt eye, tne carriage of the bird, and the appearance of the shanks; the bones should be flat. It was a fact that constitution did not necessarily mean a good layer. A bird of this kind would be tight feathered, and the texture of the skin, comb and face should be taken into consideration. Mr. Cocker went on to deal with the selection of breeding stock, a subject which was handled in detail. He was of opinion that from a commercial point of view the White Leghorn was the only bird for the poultryman to keep. To the farmer, however, who had more room, one of the heavier breeds, such as the White Rock, would probably be more suitable; in fact the White Rock conformed more to the laying type than other breeds. In reproduction, the securing of hatchable eggs was most important, and to achieve success in this direction they should make a point of feeding breeders on grain food, and make them scratch ■ for it. Not more than a couple of mashes per week should be given. He did not believe in breeding from pullets. Characteristics to note in eliminating the unfit were mentioned by Mr. Cocker, and in doing so he emphasised that it was essential to have constitutional vigor. The bird with the crow head, long shanks, or overhanging eyebrows should be culled. The breeding male should be deep chested in frame and not the one which matured too early. If possible a pedigree record should be secured with the male bird, and for this purpose a trap nest was useful. Mr. Cocker concluded with a few “dont’s” for poultrymen. They should not expect breeders to lay before eggs were required for the incubator; soft foods should not be fed. and a look out should be kept for parasites; eggs under two ounces could not be expected to maintain quality in tne stock; special attention should be paid to the male bird, and clean water and plenty of green food and grit should be given to the birds. In response to a question, Mr. Cocker said a line-bred male was very valuable for egg-production. However, he would not recommend line breeding as a course to be adopted by the average individual, as it was a business on its own.

At the conclusion of the lecture a vote of thanks to the lecturer, proposed by the chairman, was carried by acclamation.