32 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
re 
the above-named causes; but, on the other 
hand, it may be a symptom of far more 
serious and deadly diseases, such as 
tuberculous liver or cholera. Hence the 
need for care and vigilance, as instead of 
harmless the discharge from the bird may 
be a source of infection and a menace to 
the health of the entire flock. 
In a well-managed poultry yard simple 
diarrhce will rarely be found, except in 
occasional isolated cases; its presence is 
more frequently observed in yards where 
the feeding is irregular, and where the 
birds have to a great extent to look after 
themselves. The owners of such birds 
need not look for much profit, and will 
usually be found asking ‘does poultry- 
keeping pay,’ 
—Dysentery.— 
Dysentery isa more aggravated form 
Of diarrhoea, and the odds are usually 
against the bird. 
The risky dose of 10 drops of chloro- 
dyne has, however, been reputed . the 
means of saving some lives. 
How to Increase Egg 
Production. 
The following paper was read by Mr. 
T. B. Brooks, of the Agricultural Bureau 
(Clarendon Branch), and for which we 
are indebted to the ‘ Journal of Agricul- 
ture of S.A.’ :— 
Seven years ago pure-bred poultry was 
found on very few farms in South Aus- 
tralia, but since the inaugeration of egg 
laying competitions a large number of 
farmers have taken on the pure-bred in 
preference to the common barndoor fowl. 
During the year 1907 over £106,000 worth 
of eggs were exported from this state, and 
this is not half the amount that would be 
‘available if a few of the following 
- suggestions were put into practice:—Get 
your boys and girls to take an interest in 
poultry. Secure stock or eggs from a 
reliable breeder with the best laying strain 
procurable, and allow them to have fer 
pocket-money the eggs sold, It is 
surprising how the children will take care 
of poultry when they have the profit, 
Don’t allow the youngsters to keep more 
than six (6) till they can «show a good 
profit per bird over cost of food. The 
profit from a good laying strain should 
be 7s. 6d. per hen, made up as follows: 
165 doz, eggs at an average price of 11d° 
per doz,, 15s. 2d.; cost of food for twelve 
months, 5s. 4d,; rearing to laying-age, 2s. 
4d. These results can only be secured by 
having birds properly yarded with warm, 
comfortable houses, not roosting out on 
the farm implements or in trees, Some 
people insist that this is natural ; so it is, 
but it isn’t natural fora hen to lay 250 
eggs-in the year, and the hen that roosts 
in a tree will never do it. 
Yards for laying birds require shelter 
from hot and cold winds; we use straw 
mats 2 ft.6 in. high, and find these 
answer well. Birds in confinement re_ 
quire plenty of litter, such as straw or 
cocky-chaff, into which all grain should be 
thrown. This gives plenty of exercise— 
the more they have the better. A good 
scratcher is usually a good layer. The 
most important item is green feed. You 
can overfeed poultry with mash or grain» 
but not with green stuff; give them all 
they eat, especially in summer. Mix tho 
same amount (by measure) of chopped 
greenstuff as of bran and pollard in the 
morning-mash with a little meatscraps, 
meatmeal or cut greenbone added. The 
Government will soon have on the market 
a splendid line of meatmeal at a reason- 
able price, which will be a great boon to 
the poultry-farmer. Feeding ponltry for 
‘ heavy egg-production requires experience. 
Heavy feeding of the dairy cow results in 
a large flow of milk. Not so with the 
fowl; to feed all they will eat will fatten 
and reduce the egg-yield. 
To be successful mate so as to secure 
more pullets than cockerels. I find that 
second-year hens mated to vigorous ten» 
months’-old cockerels give best results, 
From this mating recently I secured 35 
pullets to 22 cockerels, and with ten- 
months’-old pullets mated same age 
cockerels result was just the reverse. The 
average farmer cannot spare time to trap- 
nest or single-pen his breeders, so I 
would advise to notice the first pullet in 
each clutch of chicks to lay an egg, or the 
first two. These should be marked by a 
December 1 1908 
leg-ring for the breeding-pen. Anot e 
good plan is to watch your hens at 
moulting time; the bird that continues - 
laying and carries her feathers longer 
than others of the same age is worth a 
place in the breeding-pen. This is the 
bird that lays when eggs are scarce and 
dear, The young stock may be reared by 
hens or the incubator! and brooder. I 
prefer the latter. Women on the farm 
are usually good hands at rearing and 
caring for young chicks, and are usually 
very successful. Incubator chicks get a 
start, and are free from vermin. When 
reared with the hen she does the scratch- 
ing, and the chick has to run round, and. 
often through wet grass, and large num- 
bers are lost annually this way. In the 
brooder the little chick scratches till it 
has eaten sufficient, then goes into the 
warm compartment for rest and sleep: 
Mash is not good for chicks under three. 
weeks old, as it causes bowl troubles. 
Feed plenty of grain and all the fine 
chopped greenstuff the chicks can eat. [ 
feed greenstuff the third day out of the . 
shell. : 
For egy-production White Leghorns 
have proved themselves to be far superior 
to all others. This breed holds ‘the . 
‘world’s record” and secures bulk of 
prizes at all egg-laying competions: being © 
none sitters, they may be expected to 
keep on laying right through the year, . 
and this is the class of fowl which, if pro- 
perly treated, will greatly increase the - 
egg-production of South Australia. 
Poultry Brevities. 
Keep one cock for ten to fifteen hens. 
Hens lay best at the age of one to two. 
years, 
. 
Let the fowls fast a few hours before - 
killing. 
The chick once stunted never fully 
recovers. 
If hens do not eat with a relish some- - 
thing is wrong. 
A lazy man makes a poor poultryman.. 
So does the man who has failed at every-- 
thing else, and takes up poultry-keeping 
* because it is easy.’ 
