POULTRY KEEPING

Wairarapa Times-Age, 23 January 1941, Page 9

POULTRY KEEPING

IMPORTANT DETAILS. SOME USEFUL HINTS. To be successful in poultry keeping there are several things that have to be carefully carried out, even though they might appear simple. When the bird is developed into good laying condition, it must be appreciated that she knows as well as the breeder how much and what to eat. For that reason her behaviour at the mash trough should be studied. She should be given only wholesome mashes, and given sufficient to clean up in a few minutes. If a bird leaves any mash in the trough it is wise to clean it away quickly, especially*!:! the warm months, and especially if it contains any animal matter, as it surely will at this time of the year.

It is just as well to appreciate, now that the summer is here, that, while it is essential that sunshine should be provided, there are times when too much sunshine will cause trouble. The hens, and more particularly the layers and the growing pullets, must have good shade if they are to get on, and if they are given the run of the yard. When the birds are running outside the pens, it is necessary to see that the soil is good, sweet and clean. The tainted soil will cause just as much trouble and reduce the egg yield just as quickly as the feeding of tainted food. Guard against this at all costs. A good treatment with lime will do much to sweeten and purify the soil. During the long hot days another important item is an abundant supply of greenstuff, which should be fresh and succulent. The birds should also have a plentiful supply of cool drinking water. This fresh, clean, cool water >s just as necessary in egg production as the feeding of good grain and wholesome mashes. There is no breed or variety that is supreme in egg production, although on account of the care and attention that some have paid to the particular breed of their fancy they have done well. This concentration on one breed has meant that it has stood out above others, not to say that the others were not good breeds, and that they would not have dune well also if the same brains had been put into them. The indication is that there is more depending on breeding than there is on breed or variety, and that any careful student of poultry can take any variety which he likes best, and by proper breeding can produce high egg producers. There are several ways of making poultry profitable, and the most important arc the providing of decent* houses that are clean and roomy; the getting rid of lice and mites; the feeding for good egg production by seeing that the hens do not get rubbish; the marketing of only good-sized and care-i fully-graded eggs; the producing of only infertile eggs in the summer; the breeding of only the best, and taking care of the growing stock, seeing that the poor birds arc being continually culled.