Live Stock. 



40 



jJtTLY, 1910. 



Breeds and Averages. 

 The following table will show the positions of the various breeds at the 

 end of the test, also the average of each breed competing :— 



Number, 

 of Birds. 



390 

 114 

 24 

 12 

 30 

 24 

 18 

 12 

 12 

 12 

 6 

 6 



Breeds. 



White Leghorn 

 Biack Orpington 

 Buff Orpington 

 White Orpington 

 Silver Wyandotte 

 White Wyandotte 

 S. C. Brown Leghorn 

 R. 0. Brown Leghorn 

 Minorcas 

 Langshan 

 Black Leghorn 

 Buff Leghorn 

 Ancona ... 

 Audalusian 

 Plymouth Rock 



Totals. 



77,523 

 20,045 

 3,940 

 1,582 

 5,500 

 3,777 

 3,012 

 1,987 

 1,915 

 2,106 

 964 

 738 

 1,000 

 961 

 1,069 



Average* 

 per Pen. 



1,192-67 

 1,055-2 



985-2 



791 

 1,100 



944-25 

 1,004 



993 -J 



957-E 

 1,053 



964 



738 

 1,000 



961 

 1,069 



I have had the following report prepared, in which are embodied various 

 tables and general details of management, 



The Government Poultry Station 

 At Roseworthy Agricultural College, 



March 31st, 1910. 

 SIR,— I have the honor to submit my 

 report in connection with the egg-laying 

 competition for the year ending March 

 31st, 1910. The present is the sixth held 

 in the State, and the fifth held under 

 Government supervision at Roseworthy. 



The improvement noticed in connection 

 with the previous test, when the average 

 of 1,139 per pen was obtained, has been 

 maintained, as the general average ob- 

 tained this year will show. Although not 

 quite so high as last year, it will compare 

 favourably owing to the increased num- 

 ber of pens, viz., from 56 to 113. In the 

 last test the number of pens was equally 

 divided between the two sections ; on 

 this occasion we have the greater number 

 in the No. I., or White Leghorn, 

 section, where this breed is represented 

 by 65 pens. Last year the average per 

 hen obtained by the White Leghorns 

 whs 205, and for the heavier breeds 174, 

 a general average of 1, 139-6 per pen, and 

 190 per hen, as against a pen average 

 of 1,079'4 and per hen average of 179-5 

 obtained during the previous test, which 

 also gave us the South Australian 

 record of 1,531. This year the results 

 show the average of 1,116 per pen, and 

 186 per hen, which is slightly lower than 

 that for the last test, but can be looked 

 upon as satisfactory, a^s with such an 

 increase in numbers of birds competing, 

 the averages are sure to suffer to some 

 extent. In addition the most unusual 



weather conditions which prevailed 

 during a part of the period will be 

 sufficient reason for die shortage noted. 

 The test was duly started on April 1st, 

 1909, with the record number of entries, 

 viz., 113, made up as follows :— Section 

 I., 65 pens White Leghorns ; section II., 

 19 pens Black Orpingtons, 4 Buff Orping- 

 tons, 2 White Orpingtons, 5 Silver 

 Wyandottes, 4 White Wyandottes, 3 

 S.C. Brown Leghorns, 2 R.C. Brown 

 Leghorns, 2 Minorca, 2 Langshan, 1 

 Black Leghorn, 1 Buff Leghorn, 1 An- 

 cona, 1 Andalusian, and 1 Plymouth 

 Rock- 48, 65—113, a grand total of 

 678 birds. As might be expected, this 

 number includes birds iu various stages 

 of development, from almost chickens to 

 hens. The recognised breedei'S gener- 

 ally succeed in getting their birds well 

 on the mark for competition purposes ; 

 but, as a rule, there are a number of 

 triers who make the mistake of having 

 their birds too forward or too late, 

 which can be brought about by any of 

 the following reasons— early or late 

 hatching, insufficient numbers to select 

 from, loss of stock through unforeseen 

 circumstances, or poor development of 

 pullets through lack of necessary atten- 

 tion. It has become quite a common 

 expression of late among a large number 

 of competitors and others that they 

 have a nice lot of pullets, but they have 

 been laying for some time, and are too 

 early for competition work- This, of 

 course, is a trouble that all have to 

 contend with unless great care is exer- 

 cised, such as paying closer attention to 



