THE) RURAE NEW-WftKER 
886 
THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN EGG-LAYING 
COMPETITION. 
Part I. 
Australian Conditions. —The official re¬ 
port of the egg-laying competition for 1911- 
12 held by the Department of Agriculture 
of South Australia at Itoseworthy, is at 
hand, and a summary of the results, with 
the comments of Mr. D. F. Laurie, the gov¬ 
ernment poultry expert and lecturer, will 
interest American poultrymen. America is 
given credit for being the source of the 
original importations of Leghorns into Aus¬ 
tralia, and is more frequently referred to 
in making comparisons than any other 
countrv. Among the Australian States, 
South Australia is mentioned as being, with 
one unimportant exception, the only ex¬ 
porter of eggs, the other States being her 
customers for this product. American farm¬ 
ers will be glad, and possibly somewhat 
envious also, to know that there is said to 
have been such a general wave of prosperity 
during recent years in Australia that their 
farmers have neglected poultry keeping as 
an industry unworthy of their attention. 
The view is also expressed that changes in 
entered. These pens contained 756 birds 
which laid a total of 133,096 eggs. The 
average market price per dozen of these 
eggs was 23.6 cents, and their to.al value 
$2,644.75. As the total cost of feeding 
these hens was $915.36, the profit over 
cost of feeding was $1,729.34. The average 
number of eggs laid per hen was 176.04, 
the average cost of feeding each hen was 
$1 19, and the average profit per hen, 
over cost of food, was $2.26. These fig¬ 
ures arc taken from the printed report, 
English money being changed to American, 
but no attempt being made to correct 
any discrepancies. At no time during any 
“official week” did any pen obtain a per¬ 
fect score of 42 eggs, though this number 
was laid by several pens in the seven 
consecutive days covering a part of two 
weeks. The highest official weekly score 
was 41 eggs. The performance of the win¬ 
ning pen from the Redfern farm is said 
to have established a new world’s record, 
and is considered by Mr. Laurie a proof 
of the importance of scientific breeding 
for egg production. The parents of the 
Redfern birds were bred by a Mr. Padmar, 
who, in the early history of his famous 
Grinding Grain for Cows. 
What is the value of grinding grains for 
milch cows, compared with feeding grains 
whole? Hogs run after them and feed on 
the waste. If there be a saving, would 
there be enough to pay for buying engine 
and grinding, outfit, fuel and labor, say 
for 20 cows? B - D - 
Sabula, Iowa. 
Feeding whole grain to milch cows is 
much less excusable than feeding steers 
whole grain. Cows are not so well adapted 
for eating and crushing whole grain as 
are the stronger steers, and the energy 
needed for crushing the grain should be 
available in the case of milch cows for 
milk production. Hogs, after any kind of 
cattle, even when getting ground feed, will 
be able to save much waste feed, but after 
dairy cattle the hogs are in so much dan¬ 
ger from tuberculosis that the plan is not 
desirable. With tested cows it is some¬ 
what different. Grinding grain saves eigh t 
per cent of the food value over the un¬ 
ground feed, according to some experiment 
September 21, 
Good-Bye 
to Hand Milking 
Put an end to the long hours of 
drudgery and the continual worrying over 
the hired help problem. Let the wonderful 
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in your dairy for less than Xc« You can make a 
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THE PRIZE-WINNING LEGHORNS AT THE AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION. Fig. 413. 
most egg producing countries are having 
a disorganizing effect upon the world’s 
markets, and that prices are rising, and 
supplies falling off, owing to increased home 
consumption. 
Conditions of Competition.— The com¬ 
petition opened on April 1, 1911, with 126 
pens, containing six pullets each entered. 
These pens were divided into two sections. 
Section 1 contained all the light breeds and 
was composed of 100 pens of White Leg¬ 
horns and one pen of Minoreas. Section ~ 
contained the heavy breeds which were 
represented by Black, White, and Buff Or¬ 
pingtons, Silver Wyandottes, and Lang- 
shans. The superintendent comments upon 
the general appearance of all the birds en¬ 
tered as being unfavorable at the start, and 
deprecates the fact that a better selection 
was not made, and pullets of a more even 
age placed In the pens. The prizes awarded 
at this competition were for the greatest 
number and the greatest weight of eggs 
laid within the year. The first prize for 
number was £10, or $48.50, and the second, 
half that amount. All pens whose eggs 
had not reached an average weight of 24 
ounces to the dozen by July 31 were con¬ 
sidered ineligible for a prize, it being con¬ 
sidered that pullets that were properly 
developed when entered would lay as 
eggs by that date as any that they would 
lay during their first year. 
Prize Winners. —The first prize In Sec¬ 
tion 1 was won by a pen of White Leg¬ 
horns from the Redfern Poultry Farm of 
Victoria, these pullets having 1,58J eggs to 
their credit. The second prize in this sec¬ 
tion was given to Mrs. P. A. Uren, whose 
pen had laid 1,319 eggs in the same time. 
The onlv other breed entered in this sec¬ 
tion was a pen of Black Minoreas which 
laid 1,001 eggs. It is interesting to note 
that the average weight of eggs per dozen 
from the winning pen was 25 ounces, while 
that of the Black Minoreas was 27 2-3 
ounces. The greater individual weight of 
the Minorca eggs could not overcome the 
difference in numbers, however, and the 
prize for the greatest weight of eggs was 
also given to the Redfern pen, the 1,589 
totalling 207 pounds. The average number 
of eggs per hen in the winning pen was 
264.83, while the average per hen in the 
one pen of Minoreas was 166.8. The total 
average per pen of six for the 100 pens 
of Leghorns entered was 1,084.7, while the 
Individual Leghorn hens averaged 180.7 
each. In Section 2, containing the heavy 
breeds, the pen of Black Orpingtons owned 
by Craig Bros, -won the first prize, with a 
total of 1,189 eggs. G. Toseland won the 
second prize in this class, his pen of Lang- 
shaus having produced 1,121 eggs. The 
average weight per dozen of the eggs laid 
by the winning pullets in Class 2 was 
23% ounces, while those of the winning 
Langshans weighed 24.2 ounces. Mr. 
Laurie regards the fact that so few fowls 
of other varieties were entered in the 
first section as a tribute to the invincible 
South Australian White Leghorn, hut he 
regrets, nevertheless, that laying strains of 
Minoreas, Brown Leghorns, and other light 
breeds are not better developed, as he con¬ 
siders them eminently suited to certain lo¬ 
calities. 
Breeds and Averages. —The following 
table of egg production is quoted for the 
genefit of those who wish to compare the 
work of the different breeds entered in this 
competition: 
No. of No. of Total Eggs Av’g. Av’g. 
Pons. Birds. Breeds. Laid. perPon. perHen 
100 600 White Leghorns.. 108,472 1,084-7 180-7 
1 6 Minoreas . 1,001 1,001'0 166.8 
15 90 Black Orpingtons 14,502 966-8 161-1 
2 12 Buff “ •• 1,71° 855,0 I 42 ' 5 
1 6 White “ .. 824 824 0 137-3 
4 24 SllverWyandottes 3,641 910-2 151-7 
3 18 Langshans. 2,943 981‘0 163’5 
Summarizing results, it is found that 
126 pens representing five breeds were 
strain, had recourse to American blood, 
but who has now established a type of 
White Leghorns readily recognizable as dis¬ 
tinctively his own. 
Feeding. —Any attempt at forced feeding 
of the competing pens is disclaimed and 
their methods of feeding are described as 
follows: At 7 a. m. a mash is given. 
This is composed of pollard, two parts, 
bran, one part, Lucerne (Alfalfa) Chaff, one 
part, these proportions being by bulk. To 
this was added meat meal in the propor¬ 
tion of from three-quarter to 1% pounds 
per hundred birds. During the cold weather 
the meat meal was boiled, making a soup, 
that was mixed with the mash, and the 
whole was then fed as hot as possible. 
The pollard mentioned as forming a large 
portion of the rations given the fowls is, 
I understand, a by-product from the mill¬ 
ing of wheat resembling our wheat mid¬ 
dlings but more coarsely ground. At mid¬ 
day chaffed green Lucerne and any other 
green food obtainable was given at the 
rate of two ounces per bird, and a handful 
was thrown into the litter of each pen to 
induce exercise. The evening feed, given 
at about 4.30 p. m., was of whole grain, 
chiefly wheat, thrown into the litter of 
the pen. The amount fed is not mentioned, 
but presumably was sufficient to send them 
to bed with full crops. Clean water was 
supplied twice daily, and a mixture of 
shells, grit, and charcoal was kept con¬ 
stantly before them in hoppers. Consider¬ 
able stress is laid upon the relative value of 
the different foods used and Mr. Laurie 
thinks that wheat is too much depended 
upon. He considers wheat deficient in fats and 
recommends that oats, which contain a 
larger proportion of this element, be fed 
freely, particularly to breeding stock. Ac¬ 
cording to his views, too much of the carbo¬ 
hydrate or starchy element in foods tends 
to abortion, and probably accounts for 
many of the troubles of the reproductive 
organs in fowls. He says that the food 
should be varied as much as possible, hut 
the official report does not reveal any 
great variation in the rations given the* 
fowls under test. Maize, or corn, oats, 
and peas, are, however, mentioned in one 
table as having formed a portion of the 
food given. m. b. d. 
station work, and in case of corn this 
means four to six cents per bushel, and 
■ much more for the small grains. If in¬ 
quirer should feed his 20 cows 1000 bushels 
of corn (.each year) it would cost him $50 
at least at a custom mill, but with his 
own grinding outfit the cost should not be 
over one or two cents per bushel, or $20 
per year. The labor item would he about 
the same, hut the teams would not he taken 
from the farm work. The grinding can be 
done at noon or evenings, which would 
save time, or on wet days. w. e. d. 
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Shrink in Milk. 
I have three cows that went nearly dry 
after turning them into wheatfiold after the 
crop was off. They were milking about 
four quarts apiece and after two or three 
days hardly give any. Is there anything 
I can give to bring milk hack : The cows 
have been milking about four months, eat¬ 
ing well and look all right. s. B. s. 
Pennsylvania. 
Keep the cows off the stubble and feed 
well on meal, grain and green succulent 
feed. Three times a day thoroughly mas¬ 
sage the udders and go through the mo¬ 
tions of milking. This may improve mat¬ 
ters, but such cases often do not respond 
to treatment and improvement in milk flow 
does not take place before a second calv¬ 
ing. A. S. A. 
Pigs Eating Chickens. 
What is the cause of young pigs eating 
chickens? I feed them well and give them 
lots of green stuff to eat, such as pigweed 
and clover, or anything they will eat in 
that line. They will eat every chicken 
they can get. Do they lack meat food, 
and if so, what kind? F. f. g. 
New York. 
Mixed rations tend to cause this de¬ 
praved appetite, but it would be well to 
feed the hogs where chickens cannot get 
at the food. The trouble occurs at feed¬ 
ing time. Also try feeding pork cracklings. 
We know of no sure way of preventing the 
habit. Perhaps some reader can suggest 
practical method of prevention. A. s. a. 
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