POULTRY NOTES

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10660, 15 June 1912, Page 3

POULTRY NOTES

4 J (By Utilitarian.) \ j The Utility Egg Circle 'hr.s alrrosl f . doubled iite output of eggs this last ■ •■■week or two, and is now, in tlia middle of winter, d'cspatcbirg week I y I ! nearly as many as in the height ■<:' I the laying season last year. This '<•: [ doubtless duo to a great increase of f uiiembers isince the inception of tbe I Circle, and also partly caused by I some ,bf the members h'a'ving increasj ed their flocks. New members con j | itinaio to enrol nearly every week | now. j It sometimes happens that Fr.ee i Trade and Protection reign together. ' J The Free Trado policy aillows prcduc- ' J ers. to deal as they wish, but if each I individual in any one industry is licensed, be ako is (living under Protection. Protection which saves bini from being undercut by 'his fcl low workers; protection which permit" ui: specters to ovcdinul his pre.mi,~os and these -of 'h:« fellow men, co that each will nbt go iin ife-ar that disease may step into h : is buisiniess and ruin •him. IF poultryraon were liicensrd, ,say, at fivo ebiSings peir annum, cr i so much per head on ';: : 11 the stock . •kept, enough funds would be raised to establish the industry en an 'n- [ finitely sounder commercial feotirg. J Cleanliness would .reign in yards j where "tilth .now predominates, dis- i tia.s?s would be materially checked, j instruction in poultry culture would j be more available, a paper or organ could be run for and by pbnltrym*n | and probably other advantages wou'ci, froin tin:' 3to time,, iarcirue. ■■ Qwne-s ' hi ontly one <or Stivo cows are license- ' if t'bsy .sell milk, and rightly so. The. 'milkman, is subjected to certain ligl'.' rules, ft'nd the public have the guarantee c£ a purer and cleaner article. Egg farms should be run on similar lines. Ini the writer's opinion too muv.h istiress is laid cm. the. value of feed for producing eggs I .' By this Ido not < (mean to infer, for one moment, ttn* we should not pay attention to whit .1 (we give tbe birds; far from it. Gi '•> the best procurable every time, baring regard to cost and accessibility of \ t'he feed, but it is only necessary to (divide tbe birds into different pens judiciously selecting tihem into different grade's, good, bad, and .indiffer- i erit, .and take .note of the immenir l variation in the number of eggs, laid pn the different pens,, to .realise that it- is tbe individual birds themselves j who are the imoist responsible for thp J 'results achieved. Feed every pen of birds exactly tbe .same, and \it 1 - 'their performances ; ;vro anything but - equal-. Ibe Laying Competition • pi'ove this fact every time. All th - feed in the world mil not produce oggs from a barren hen, and all tfeod can only produce a certain number from the best. Again, inasmuch 'as we have the two extremes, the barren .and the biglily prolific -specimens,, there will be those'in between, ■some Haying a few eggs, not suSicienlb to pay tbe cost of their feed, some just manage to cover expenses, and th© lot which leave small, and i 1 some cases, suhstanifcM margins u ( profit. . 'To own ths profit-makers only means fine detail work, >and clear .discrimination of -types,: and this is not picked lip in a nor always in two of three yealris. Visitors to a poultry ifarm aJutllo&t invariably ask questions concerning tbe nature of the feed supplied, and -\vddl, at times, •laiunch into lengthy arguments anent the respective qrjalities cf, say, o'ats, wheat, bran and pollard, and seldom ■seek to ascertain which type of bird lis the most prolific. Much time will be spent .in discussing the various iforms of houses, of little avail if the ■tenants are unworthy df the care bestowed on tbrm. The first lesson to ibe learnt is "How to pick tbe layer. '