POULTRY NOTES

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10588, 20 March 1912, Page 3

POULTRY NOTES

(By Utilitarian.)

.It is not perhaps Aery generally km>vrn vol that the proprietor of the Utility .Poultry Farm, oh .South Uoad, is always open to receive old and deciTpid horses. There they ar3 speedily converted into eggs, a fur being well boiled down. A certain amount of meat is a necessity on a poultry plant, and this is a handy and inexpensive method for carriers and others to dispoKciof their animals when their workin;" days are over. Fggs have imkoii this last week, Wellington quotations being im to is (id for fresh and up to Is "2d tor preserved. You rip; pullets, or medium <|iia!ity, have been realising high pricon; 'in C'hristchurch this seannu. wh'eh appears as if many were expecting eggs to be in extra demand this coming winter. ill' a cockerel to ho used for brooding purposes is i:ot worth 7s od and upward:- he is not hi: to be Ui}i-u u>v propagating his so'eics. You cannot expect to get much of a specimen, either for show or utility purposes, for half a crown or even live ghii.'.i-igs. : Half a guinea spent on a- good oe.de J bird is a better investment thai; two ; or three scrubbers for a shilling or j two. 1

Old liens make better breeders than pullets. A farmer almost always has a higher percentage of lambs from, his full'mouth ewes than from h j; • twotooths. But use a yearling coekeivl to mate with the hens.

A local poultryman has raised something over forty chickens within the last fortnight to sample tne tnb'c trade in mid-winter.

July, August and September are always good months for the top prices for' table poultry in Wellington, ai d some breeders even cross their Indian Runner ducks with some heavy breed, such as the Pekin; in the autumn, for the same purpose. However, to raise table.poultry through the win:er necessitates ample covered-in accommodation, otherwise the probable high percentages of deaths caused by wet At ill take the gilt off the profits.

i That foAvls make-- some impression on the eodlin moth seems vevv evident, judging by the appeari.ues of the apple trees in a local mvner's pens. In former years his tree-- v. ere badly infected Avith the pest, but this season where the pullets are lumnng the fruit is considerably clearer in every respect, but, on the other hand, in the duck pens this is not the ca&e, i the apples being much as asual. True a certain amount of frm is spoilt ly I the bird::, but not sufficient to cause any annoyance. I Farmers Avho have any belief in the poultry industry, living in the country, should arrange amongst themselves to join the Utility Egg Circle, by communicating with Mr H. J. O'Leary, Alasterton, and no doubt that gentleman 'would undertake to send some one out to give an address and supply all particulars. I The Arbitration Court is a dead 1 letter as far as the hens are concernj ed, 'when they get into the moult and ! jib on laying eggs. j The folknving -method of preparing or renovating a -floor of a foAvl-house-is worth trying:—Fill almost up to the 1 evcl of the bottom Avail plates Avith fresh *soil, or, if already there and been used, dig it over. Then cover the Ayhole of the ground soil >vith about an inch or so of -river sand, and finally cover this with a good sprinkling of ashes. jN T o other dust bath will bo needed, if the house has a sound roof, and the front, facing the morning sun, is open. If the foAvls are kept confined, either partially or altogether, straAV or some other scratching material should bo added. Once | a month this -finer can be raked over lightly, fresh straw added, and every three months or so another sprinkling of-ashes.

Hens that are still laying, provided they started laying in good time last season, will be the ones to select the (breeders from for next spring, and they will probably -bo amongst the first to re-commence of the old ones.

'Turn over a few spadefuls under the fruit trees occasionally. This will I .make an admirable place for the birds to roll in, and will benefit the trees. Ducks, especially in the wet weather, should have plenty of straw or hay down in their night pens. It is comfortable for thcra .and saves the manure, which if raked together every few weeks and heaped up will make a £ood bed for pumpkins and marrows. All the manure scraped off the dropping hoards, which should he done daily, or almost every day, ought to be. kept dry and in a short time it will pulverise into a nice consistency for garden use. ~