POULTRY NOTES.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 29 July 1913, Page 3

POULTRY NOTES.

(By Utilitarian.)

Ducks' troughs, whether for feed or water, should be raised up a few inches off the ground, by placing underneath a mould of stones, and, if a liberal quantity, say, about a barrow load, is distributed round about the troughs, little or no mud will be found, even in the dirtiest weather. Rock oyster shells are said to make superior grit to the ordinary®' thinshelled variety, as they contain more lime, and are harder: The proprietor of the Utility Poultry Farm, who does a considerable trade in supplying oyster shell ground up, has mixed a good sprinkling of the harder sort with the other, and poultry-keepers are recommended to try a bag or two.

On first hand authority we can, confidently state there is almost sure to be a new and much superoir egg crate on the market very soon. It is particularly adaptable,for testing eggs, saving considerable time, and minimises breakages. Of the present crates now in use, they all have defects; though, cf course, they are much superior to the old-fashioned method of packing eggs in chaff. The new crate is said to avoid the marking of the eggs, as often occurs with ordinary wire pockets. Some extraordinary results are said to have occurred in a' local yard. White Leghorns, purebred, have thrown what appear to be pile-leg-horns, and also onfe, more like a Minorca, than any other breed. Not having yet seen these peculiar specimens, further details are at present unavailable. A ring on the telephone brought the news, with inquiries; as to the probable cause or etjjpjfej Though prenatal influences can harcP ly be said to often leave marked effects, when they do, they are sometimes very puzzling to* trace. At some'critical period in one or 'more of the 3d hens' lives, either misconuection, or desire, or fright, has probably been the reason of above. If not, then atavism or reversion, to some ne aror remote ancestry, may explain the problem.. Mating is a science as yet but littls understood, and the best most of us can do, is to keep our eyes wide open, treat the birds in the gentlest manner, feed judiciously, and keen them generally healthy. Though a slight tinge of yellow or .straw colour in White Leghorns is 4)ot to be condemned 1 , the extreme should bo avoided; that is, a birdshowing yellow right up to the neck or head is not a desirable one to breed from. v

The Carterton Poultry Society is to be congratulated on, the largo increase in entries this year. * When purchasing settingg, and bad results ensue, be sure, before jumping down the vendor's throat, that the fault is his and not yours. Badly running incubators, perverse hens, irregular treatment of the eggs during incubation, are often the causes of losses. After all, it is, we believe, only reasonable to blame the vendor, when many eggs are infertile. Customers are wont to complain of rotten eggs—well, they could not go .rotten if they were not. fertile. _ Day-old chicks are more likely, to give satisfaction, and are just as cheap in proportion. With these, due care .must- be exercised, and, again, don't be over hasty in blaming the vendor \of these fluffy creatures, if your experience in rearing chickens is limited, and you find them dying too freely. We have all to leafn our? trade; whether carpentering, smith? ing, or chicken-raismg, and the least is not poultry-keeping. ' Faith, Hope, and Charity may be prescribed as cardinal virtues, even 'in poultry-raising—faith, in your'seuf, hope, for your success, and exercising charity to , fellow' poultry men whose views do not always coincide with your own. It it not always the or intelligent poul-', tryman who can or whoWvillfreely idspense his mental wares/ and gleams of knokledge can, often be discerned amongst the beginners. .