476 JOUKNAL OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AG&iCtJLTURE. — NoV., 1922. 



THE POULTRY YARD MONTH BY MONTH. 



November. 



Ily .J. ,1. JoiMi.AA.N, J'oultry Instriictoi-, ScIkm)! oI A^ncull inc. 

 (iliMi. ()raii";e Free State. 



Ihci'ding Fens. — Chicks hatched dining Lite Jiionths ot iSovember to March 

 ai-e useless, puny, poor-doers, and non-protit producers, and tor that reason it 

 is advantageous to break up tlie breeeding pens at once it not already done. 

 The removal also of the birds to aiiothei- run will prove beneficial to them 

 and a.ssist in keeping up their egg output. To ensure early eggs for hatching 

 next season (April, May, and June) a sweet, fresh run, with plenty of 

 vegetable growth and scratching material (natural), and protection from winds 

 and cold should be provided. Immediately the birds are removed from the 

 run have it irrigated, and then slightly sprinkled with lime (digging this well 

 in), leaving it for a week or ten days, and then sow it with a mixture of 

 mealies, sunflowers, rape, or barley. Keep the crop growing by regular' irriga- 

 tion. The plants will give a good green food and freshen vip the soil; the 

 fresh soil will be a tonic to the birds and result in a good egg supply. 



Thr Male Birds. — Male i)irds that iiave given profit-producing pullets are worth 

 looking after; until December or January they are best kept ct)nfined in a 

 movable coop and given intlividual attention. If put together at once they 

 are apt to fight and do themselves damage : when tiie breeding season is past 

 and they are somewhat down in condition this may be done with less risk 

 of injury. Being confined, green food should be given in abundance, as they 

 have not the exercise as when at liberty, the feeding of grain and mash l)eing 

 cut down in accordance with the increase in the green food given, about 1^ 

 ounces of each grain and mash being sufficient per bird. Cutting down the 

 rations will also assist in getting the birds fit for mating in the winter, when 

 it is usually found that although the hens are laying, the cocks, not })eing 

 fully through the moult, are not as fertile as they might be. 



The Females. — Remove tliese as far as possible from the male birds; they 

 are not so likely to fight and become discontented, with better egg-protlucing 

 results. They may also be run in larger flocks than was the case during the 

 breeding season. Towards the end of the month a number of them will stop 

 laying. Do not think an extra feed will improve this; it is nature calling 

 upon the egg-organs to rest, and any extra feed above that previously given 

 will be converted into fat, not eggs. If it is intended to keep the birds for 

 the following year's breeding this will be detrimental. When they stop laying 

 separate those it is intended to keep, and cut down all their rations 25 per 

 cent., except the green food. Those that have passed their best days as 

 breeders are put in another flock and fattened for market; for this purpose 

 they are ready responders. Place tliem in a small run to prevent undue 

 exercise, and feed as follows: — Mornings, early, moist mash consisting of 

 1 part barley meal, 1 part mealie-meal porridge, and 4 parts bran wheaten ; 2 

 pounds of fat to each 100 birds or proportionally, and about 2 oz. dry weight 

 for each bird. Noon, green food ad lib. 2 p.ni.. grain alternatively, broken 

 mealies, kaffir corn, barley. 5 p.m., 2 oz. of above mash, moist, for each bird. 

 After the first or second week of this treatment tiiey should be fit for killing 

 and be prime. 



Young cockerels not fit to be stock birds next season should also be put 

 aside by themselves (not with hens) and got into condition for killing, getting 

 the same feed as the hens, but in about 25 per cent, larger quantities per l)ird. 



Fgys. — These are still plentiful and cheap this month. If not a member 

 of an egg-circle (which every producer should be), or distant from market, or 

 the local and natural market is very much glutted, store the eggs by preserva- 

 tion in water-glass or lime solution. Keep the early hatched pullets back 

 from laying as much as i)ossible by fre(|uent changes to different runs; to this 

 end the rations must be on the low side and of a fattening nature, for foods 

 rich in jjroteins will hurry on egg production, with batl results later. 



