Poultry
Fine feathers make fine birds - Francine Raymond looks at ways to help your chickens throught their moult
A DESPERATE email from a Henkeepers' Association member in Morocco on the subject of ingrowing feathers on the wing joints of a very elderly, but much loved cockerel, sent me scurrying to my library of equally elderly poultry reference books. Further investigation offered nothing on the subject to give consolation to the Moroccan ex-pat (any suggestions?) but got me thinking about plumage, especially as I look out of my window onto a garden full of pretty, discarded feathers. |
Call Duck colour explosion - Chris Ashton charts the rise in popularity of a bird once considered to be of no value
THE early half of the twentieth century was
ground-breaking for ducks in the UK. Ducks
were really popular in the early decades, with
Indian Runners fetching astronomical prices
compared with average earnings. Even annual
membership of the Utility Duck Club in 1915
cost five shillings - perhaps a quarter of a
working man's weekly wage. £1 = 20
shillings
People wrangled over the Runners more
than anything else, and it was these birds that
were used to produce the other light breeds:
Campbells, Magpies, Orpingtons, Abacot
Rangers and later on, the Welsh Harlequin. All
made their mark as egg layers. These breeds
from the Runner were all compared,
measured, trap nested, recorded - and then
the obsession with duck eggs suddenly
disappeared. Luckily for the duck, the hen
took her place in that invention, the battery
cage.Reader comments (3) |
Seeing the turkey year through - Janice Houghton-Wallace concludes with advice on looking after the adult birds
IT will only take a week or two for young
poults to acclimatise to being outside,
especially if the weather is kind. The sun on
their backs does them a power of good - as
well as being a source of Vitamin D and
helping to promote smooth feathering - and
they will revel in running around and playing in
the grass. Always have them housed though
before the evening starts to cool. With a
broody turkey hen, if it does get cool during
the day, she will soon order them under her
and brood them to keep warm. However, to
be fair to her usher them back into the
housing in good time so that she does not
start to get too concerned. I had a Bourbon
Red broody hen once that always started to
call me when she thought it was time to take
them indoors.Reader comment (1) |
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