POULTRY NOTES.

Digger (Invercargill RSA), Issue 11, 28 May 1920, Page 10

POULTRY NOTES.

BREEDING FOR CONSTITTJTION The all-important question then rcsolvej itself into how far we can go in the direc. tion of increasing fecundity without absolute disaster. Breeding for staminaia the matter which will now have to t* considered far more closely than in th# past. The fact that some of competitioj pens have run through a three-years' test without the replacement of a bird, anf ot-hers have had t-hree, four, and deatlis in ihe first year, ougitfc to set breeders thinking. And there is no doubt , that, now the facts are stotod A SHC-a unroistakable terms, the enteiphse -()u] close attention to the salient points of breeding which have charaeterised th# poult-ry raisers up to the present dll y sult in a solution of eyen this most dilficult and elusive problem. THE SIZE OF EGGS. (Extracts from report of Hawkesbury Egg Laying Competitiou.) In t-he early days of the competitd there were great complaints in the matotj rjegarding the Iarge proportion of undfrsiz.ed eggs. The commereial standa.j A manded an cgg of a minimum weight of 2 oz. Even though eggs were sold by number and not by weight, the idea cf many that an egg was an egg no matter what its weight, was fallacious. Buyers discriminate in the price they give, and good-sized eggs, cvenly graded, a.'ways have realised commensurate prices, srl | always will. The man who had a strain yielding undersized eggs was losing all Ino t'.rrie. The theory that you cannot get number and size combined has been oi plcded ; provided, of course, you do ■vt go to extremes. Many of the best records have been put up by pens ■ ivug ' eggs gomg 26 to 27 oz. to the dozen, a competitiou- has rtever been "-'on 4 Hawkesbury Collc-ge by a pcn j-rodu U'lf eggs under tbe commereial stan lard. 'Jiii layers of undersized eggs are a (hau on the poultrv-farmer, and the e.iomk-tM sOuii realised that this was a question l''4 had to be faced in tlre interests of 'lie industrv, The layers of small eggs had to be discouraged, and as far as ;.r>snls eiirninated. Ample notice was given tbt ititon-ding competitors must breed pulb'J, the eggs of which would conform to th# commereial standard, and that no would be eligible for prize-money d l''j eggs d:d uiot reach tlie' standard b:'* 1 t-he expiration of t-he first four months w 1 the competition. Breeders were [ that to achivc this it was essenv-ial card the layers of small eggs, and G 0 seiect for hatching those which ex- ced | 2 oz Prospective competitors and • farmers in general were quick to to- j tlie sit-uation and its portents, and to aJ ^ Here was a matter which very mateinJj affected the producei's' success in tiie ket. but it might easily have been bn lJ as far as the competitions were con^ri- ij as, it- has been in connection with >(n ^ competitions elsewliere. But no, tbe 1 ^ mittee ha-d to keep the edncationato" ^ the work cver in the forefront. j jeet was not to get laying reco'.ds » ^ ! less of commereial considerationfT I fjjg II was in itself a simple move,-o- ^ ^ fiuence it exercised efrected a u * raform. In tlie competitions tlu was seen in the fact that in t a ^ annual test 22 per cent of the cgg-s under ihe standard. N.est >ef ^ 4 \ llf1 was a drop to 16 per cent., ^ ( stii 12 per cent., the next to 3 per ^ in tlie seventh competition no ^ ^ failed to qualiiy. There haf®n t.he ca^ casional lapses syice, but on y p;rJs of new-comers and in0;:t -v , ^ jl3,nds which ha-d not been long iu p0ycvef the competitor. Tlie ten en^' " has been to bring the a\ era,-, within a safe mai'gin of commereial requireineut.