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POULTRY NOTES.
The cockerels should be separated from
?'the pullets as soon as they try to crow,
and as soon as they commence to spring
\heir combs. ? ?
One of the most important points to re
. member when dealing ivitb tbe feeding of
chickens is thnt. their food should be as
piiricd us possible.
--j.ui;ii inure money js mucus i.»y sending
^ the birds to market early in the year, in
stead of keeping them and letting them
jlnke their chance later on.
Mr. D. P. Laurie, Government poultry
expert, letf Adelaide on ? July 4 for Mel
bourne, where he will make enquiries into
waiters relating to his department.
Poultry-keepers will find that it will re
pay them if they rear tlieir chickens as
.jmickly as possible, so as to sell their sur
ifiluss chickens whilst they can still get a
lu'sh price for them.
There is a disadvantage iu putting
'rAiickcns of different sizes in one yard ; it is
jtliat the little ones arc trampled on by the
digger, and so the tiny ones cannot get
Jtheii'. fair share of the food.
The Orpington fowls from the Hon. G.
JJrookman'is Glenthorne estate secured iirit
ijnd second prizes for hens, first and third
(Tor roosters and cockerels, and eight com
Irneiidations in addition at the poultry show
\a Melbourne.
On a farm where a large number of
thickens are kept, usually one particular
held should be given to them; it will be
found, when feeding time comes, and the
.attendant appears, that the chickens will
pace up to him from all corners of the
field.
Care should be taken that all growing
Tftickens are provided with plenty of kib
Wed bone; fresh bone that has been puT
through a bone-mill will do admirably; as
}t contains both bone substance and meaty
^natter, it answers the purpose of both
frneat «nd bone.
?Jut'1?5 of ,foo(1 is most necessary and it
finilbe found an -excellent plan to allow the
?of^ka^e^^mm0/^V'wv-v:*^^^^^.^;'j
^feually cockerels grow and; idevelb)p: more
rapidly -than pullets; ? va farmer generally
prefers selling off his cockerels first instead
of markitinrthe pullerij for if he keeps bits
pullets a little ; longer 'period he can. gene
4-ally tell which of them it wiii pay hhn
best to,keep,for lading -piirpjbsea; .. .?;
Columbian Wyandottes : are^ compara.'
tivelynew to Australia; nevertheless,1 Since
their advent, they have become Very popu
lar, and are making friends fast, as a ^ood,
all-round, useful Fowl. They, 'are hand
some withal/ and a well-kept flock' of
Columbians make a charming rural picture.
-As regards the feeding of newly-hatched
chickens, they should be fed about once an
hour; when they are a week or two old
they will not require to be fed more than
four times a day; when they are a month
w two old they will not need more than
three meate a day— that is/ if they are on
a farm where they hare plenty of liberty.
Plymouth Rocks have 'been too long negr
lected. They came along very well for
some }-eare, and then got shunted, owing!
to the introduction. of newer, breeds. As;
a fanner's fowl the Plymouth Rock is hard I
to equal. ' Xhey are first-rate foragers,
layers of nide. brown eggs, and for the mar
ket they are undeniably capital table fowls.
The best method of keeping the cockerels
apart from the pullets is to put,' if possible,
the cockerels m a sniullVpaddock or or
chard, x so that, although they cannot leave
it, they are practically free. To divide the
sexes up thus will tend to make both. pul-
lets and cockerels grow more rapidly, and
this will allow of the latter being ready for
market much sooner than they. would be if
they were kept with the 'pullets.'
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