POULTRY NOTES

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10687, 6 August 1912, Page 3

POULTRY NOTES

(By "Utilitarian.")

Xmv tlio hatching is ocn-.n-.eneitig in roal earnest, beginners wiil lit; sacking the best food for their chickens. Wo can with confidence recommend Hulled oats as being the best .staple food, after the first week or t.vo during which time oatmeal should form the chief constituent. Hulled oats can bo procured locally, and though, at, first, may appear outrageously dear, are not really so, compared with present prices for ordinary fowl Teed. These oats are prepared with a special stono which removes the luisk, leaving the bare kernel, so that the purchaser is not paying for anything hut the very essence of the grain. When so

treated very small chickens can cas.il v

swallow each giuia and thrive well on it. ' Fresh green food, such n : ; prv.vthistle, should l:e within reach of the youngsters daily, and it. is only neeesry to deprive them of it for a very few days, to see the avidity with which they will tackle it when the on portunity is given thorn. ClmriT.al. shell, grit, and river sand should aNe

be in evidence all the time, and nl--though is not generally advocated r.n often, wc believe in meat for the chicks at four or fire cl iys i:i each week. Where worms are easily procured they are, of course, the bc?':t of all meat. Dry mash is more preferable fen' voting ohnekeii.s thni> re o:\st, and we consider coarsely ground wheatrnea! is as good a form as it can Ho given in. Keep the dry mash, Whatever it n:.iy ho eomuosed of, in hopperr. alwavs

in the chick-en houses. giving the hulled oats, a few at a time, either once or twice a day. If depredations from rats or mnee are feared, there is no need tn put more than will snlnee dailv at a time in the homieis. or, if preferred, lids to cover the hoppers can he put on at night time.

When breeders keen more than one pe<n of birds mated, it is as well to place distinctive marks on the e<rgß saved therefrom for hatchinp'. so that anv weakness. s"o'> o«: ; K-. mav

n-.oiT easily detected, (hiring incubation. A spare cockerel or t'.vo should also ho available, in case of there being necessity at any time to replace a bird in the breeding pens. The ideal hatching season is so short that one cannot afford to lose a day if it can 'be helped, and every precaution needs to bo taken to ensure a plentiful supply of eggs for setting. On the 31st of last month the Utility Circle held a very enjoyable meeting of members. A satisfactory scheme was adopted for reducing cost of poultry feed Mr James Hunter, an honorary member, generously donated nn eg££ crate to the circle, and various other business was effected during the evening. The meeting was highly encouraging to those present, and the general tons and esprit do coips, characteristic of all this circle s meetings, was a marked contrast to some meetings that have been hold amongst egg producers. The projirmfcui* of tho utility pnutrv farm states that since iie tu. > i...

ill the Waiinrapa Age his birds have been selling like hot cakes. Motor cars, postal. corre«poi?cl , .\'.i.';' !, ) telephonic til? lsi - and lrnnv visitors have. Vtiveen them, been responsible for the removal of a goodly number of stock. Evidently the early buyers recognise the laying season is- fast coming into full swing and are making ready. A good laying strain, sound houses, and systematic feeding are what von require to ensure success in poultry keeping.