292 Agricultural Gazette of N.S.W. [April 3, IQ20^ 



in the competitions, individual pens will, of course, put up higher tallies. 

 Probiibly the June avei'age foi- biids penned for breeding purposes would be 

 nearer eight and three respectively. However, the fact remains that the 

 average poultry farmer finds it difficult to secure sufficient eggs from his 

 breeding pens in June to enable him to set all that are desirable, and he has- 

 generally fco be content with what he can get. This is all the more reason 

 why he should set all the suitable eggs available, whether from heavy or 

 light breeds, because whatever may be said against early hatching of light 

 breeds one thing is certain, as many ai'e now being brought to realise,., 

 namely — early hatching is preferable to late hatching in any breed. 



Another Mistake. 



Another error that is creeping into the poultry industry is the idea of 

 attempting to hatch all the chickens in the space of a month or six weeks. 

 Such notions have followed the introduction of mammoth incubators and 

 certain classes of brooders, and while mammoth machines have their 

 legitimate place in the industry, in the case of the smaller farmer big 

 facilities for hatching often prove his undoing. It appears tempting to the 

 beginner, and, I fear, to many others whose experience should have taught 

 them differently, to hatch out practically all the chickens in one or two lots 

 in wl)at they consider the best month, put them through, and have done with 

 the rearing season, instead of spreading it over double the time. The great 

 drawbacks to this idea are, firstly, that to secure efficient working it involves 

 a great expenditure on brooder equipment, which is the most expensive item 

 in equipping a poultry farm ; and, secondly, that the attendant himself, as 

 well as well as the equipment, is usually unable to cope with the number of 

 chickens to be handled in so limited a time. Nor does the trouble stop here.. 

 The whole rearing equipment for the later stages becomes congested, too 

 many growing stock have to be put together, with the attendant con- 

 sequences — poor development, sickness and often enormous losses, followed,,, 

 finally, by the breakdown of the farm. 



On the other hand, it the hatching is started as soon as eggs are obtainable 

 in June, the eggs being set as they become available, and one incubator- 

 after another filled in consecutive order until the whole capacity is occupied,, 

 the chickens will, of course, be hatching in the same order, be easier to 

 handle, and can be given better condition^ during the six weeks in the 

 brooders and right through all the rearing stages than would bo possible if 

 too large a number were brought out at once. 



A poultry farmer desiring to rear l/)0(> chiekeiw between, the 1st June 

 and the middle of Hepten)ber should be able to obtain these by the use of 

 two 120 to 140-eggs and one 240 or 360-egg.s capacity incubators, and eight 

 brooder units of lOO-chicks capacity (day olds), thiiuiiug the number in each 

 brooder down first to seventy-five, and then to fifty, as they progress in age 

 and size, as previously advocated in these notes. On the other hand, if a large- 

 number of eggs are U) be put down at one time i-t usually means waiting until 

 well on in July before they become available, and if good hatches are .secured 

 the number of V)rooder units mentioned is inadequate to. allow of thinning. 



