Nov. 2, 1920.] Agricultural Gazette of N.S.W. 827 



Poultry Notes. 



November. 



JAMES HADLINGTON, Poultry Expert. 



We are now approaching the months when the skill and vigilance of the 

 poultry-farmer in picking out and marketing old stock to the best advantage 

 will often mean the difference between profit and loss from flocks of layers. 

 On too many farms there is a good deal of laxity in the matter of marking 

 different ages of hens, and this becomes a. very great drawback to the proper 

 identification of hens that should be marketed as soon as they go off laying, 

 the result being that large numbers are carried for many months beyond 

 their profitable age. 



It is during the coming months that loss is most likely to result in this 

 way. For instance, many hens in their third year of laying will now be 

 going off after the flush laying period. A large number of these birds will 

 not again become profitable — hence the more than ordinary necessity in 

 these times of high cost of feeding to cull out all such hens. 



It is not a difficult matter to distinguish the hen that is laying from the 

 one that is not. A person having only a little experience will know that 

 freshness in colour of comb and wattles indicates that the birds showing up 

 well in thdt respect are invariably in laying condition, while the reverse 

 indicates that they are either off laying or are going off. There are, of 

 course, exceptions where hens remain more or less fresh in comb and 

 wattles after ceasing to lay ; but if such hens are examined the pelvic bones 

 will be found to be closed, except in very rare instances. For general 

 purposes these indications will be some guide to correct culling. A 

 systematic examination of hens at frequent intervals will enable the farmer 

 to market the non-layers as they go off. 



As far as hens in their second year are concerned, a good deal of 

 discrimination is necessary in culling them so early as this in the season, 

 because the cessation of laying might be only of a temporary nature, and 

 particularly with hens that have been "broody." Again, hens that fall 

 into moult before the end of February are not likely to prove profitable as 

 layers, but hens finishing their third year of laying should be marketed as 

 soon as they go off laying and not be carried over for months (as is often 

 done) with the hope that they will come on to lay again. 



The povdtry-farmer needs both experience and discretion to cull to the 

 best advantage. If hens are marketed that would lay eggs to a value that 

 would exceed their keep, then there is loss on that account, while non- 

 laying hens become a burden to the profit and loss account of the flock. 

 When the cost of feeding hens is 3d. to S^d. per week, as at present, it 

 becomes a serious matter to carry a number of non-producers. Every fifty 

 hens so carried represent a loss of 12s. 6d. to 14s. 7d. per week. Experience 



