NORTHERN NEW YORK POULTRY FANCIERS
JUNE 2003 SECOND QUARTER NEWSLETTER

News: September Poultry Show will be at the Waddington Arena on Sunday, September 14, 2003. Anyone wanting to put a Special in for our Fall Show or for information on Specials and the Show call Gary Wells at 315-322-8993 or Floyd Rood at 315-379-9498. Show book: If you did not show last year and are interested in showing in our Fall Show call Gary Wells at 315-322-8993 or Floyd Rood at 315-379-9498 and a Show book will be sent to you. Volunteers Needed: Anyone who can donate some time for Set Up and Tear Down for our Fall Poultry Show please contact Tonya Rood at 315-379-9498 or email at frood@twcny.rr.com to be put on the list. A small amount of time helps out in a big way. Unsold Poultry Show Raffle Tickets: If anyone has raffle tickets that have not been sold, return them to Lee Bowhall by early August. Send them to: Lee Bowhall, 550 Smith Road, Gouverneur, NY 13642. People are asking for tickets to sell. Please return unsold tickets to Lee Bowhall. Because of an amendment made in November 2001 to our Constitution and By-Laws regarding meetings, the July meeting will be held Saturday July 12th. Anyone who has plans of showing or selling birds needs to have them blood tested. This service is free. ) Who To Contact To Test Your Birds: John M. Martin New York State Dept of Agriculture & Markets 518-457-3458 John.martin@agmkt.state.ny.us Swap Meet News Treasurer's Report: $ 70.00 Due $ 90.00 Hats, T-Shirts & Sweatshirts $130.00 Tailgate $200.15 Food Concession $379.00 Raffle Table $869.15 Income from Swap Meet President's Corner - Melvina Reid SUMMERTIME QUESTIONS: Q. How can I keep the fly population down? A. It's hard to spray without getting spray in the feed or water, or in the chicken's eyes. But spray where you can, including muddy spots in the ground around the pens. If you can do so without entangling the birds, use fly stickers or traps. Keep your coops extra clean. Wet spots stink and draw flies. Use apple cider vinegar in the drinking water. I do not know how baby chicks or growing birds would react to the method, so I only give this to adult birds. I use one tablespoon vinegar to one gallon of water. Some fanciers use up to four tablespoons of vinegar to a gallon of water. I think this is too sour and may prohibit the birds from drinking as much as they should. The vinegar neutralizes the odor in the dropping. . Q. Last summer I lost some birds on hot days. What can I do to prevent this from happening this year? A. For healthy appetites feed cooling foods. Greens from the garden or weeds are good. Not too much - just what they will go for at the moment. I know lots of birds won't eat oats. If you have just a few try a little oatmeal. Also, a little bit of bread moistened with milk or water might be liked. Go easy on com, wheat and sunflower seeds. These are fattening foods and are good used in the winter. Keep on with the mash. Keep coops as cool as you can. For large coops or barns use fans. For small coops get them out of sun if you can. Spray the exterior of the coop with cold water now and then. Hang towels or old sheets on the fences to provide shade. It's best not to use tarps. They draw the sun and block off any breezes that might be. Check the water twice a -day, at mid-morning and at about four o'clock. If it feels warm when you put your finger in it - change the water. In an emergency, if a bird is overcome, put it on the grass in the shade and spray mist cold water on it. Show time flashes: After you wash the birds, do not put them out in the sun with a cage over them. They'll dry out, but they might die. Set them where they can move to the shade or attach a towel over the top of the cage. Another one: If you are stopping on the way home, and it's the hot part of the late afternoon, and your birds are in a capped truck or in the back seat of the car, park in the shade. Make sure windows are open. If you have crammed them in the trunk of a car - use bungee cords to keep the trunk partly open, and again park in the shade. Remember chickens have a temperature of 104 degrees. If you are hot, they are hotter. Q. Why are my hens eating their eggs? A. Usually an egg becomes broken in the nest - they taste it - they like it and begin breaking them open themselves. Remove eggs from the nest as soon as they are laid. I know this is not possible when you are away all day. But, as soon as you can. If you are using a low protein mash try a higher one. Even though Mashes contain calcium in it, add oyster shells. When hens are laying heavily they may not get enough calcium, because they can not eat enough mash to meet their needs. In rare cases, lack of water may cause the hens to take in moisture by eating eggs. You might put wooden or plastic eggs in the nest, if you can find some. A smooth egg sized stone might suit the purpose. Hopefully they will peck at these, get frustrated and forget the whole thing. I have not been able to break my Blue Cochin hen of eating her eggs. She'll be on the nest. I'll be near by. She sings. I hobble. When I get there only the shell remains. I think she eats it and then sings. Apparently she doesn't want any kids. Bird Selection by Joe A. Seavey Is selecting a bird or birds as simple and easy as going to a swap meet or sale and parting with your money or ordering chicks from a catalog? Absolutely not. It is a long and complicated process if you are serious about breeding and/or showing birds. It starts with you. Why do you want birds to start with? If you want them for pets or to look at because they are pretty then the above approach might work. If you just want eggs, then decide what color eggs you want and buy accordingly. You need to decide whether you want bantams or standards. Bantams are small and take less room and feed. Standards are large and take more room and feed. They also lay larger eggs and have more salvage value. How much building space do you have? When you look at the guidelines for floor space, follow them. Overcrowded birds will not do well. Do you have close neighbors? Or are there zoning restrictions? Do your neighbors have dogs? If so, do they confine them or do they let them run loose? ~f so, this can be a big potential problem. Read the Standards. The Club has an American Standard of Perfection that can be signed out. Study the hatching catalogs. Even though the pictures in the catalogs are mostly oil paintings, there is a lot of useful information in them. Visit other breeders talk to them. Look at their birds. Look at their facilities. Compare them to yours. Now it's time for the big decision. What breed do you want? I stress breed. If you have never had birds before, stick with one or two breeds. You can make as many mistakes with one or two breeds as you can with ten or twelve breeds. Next big decision - chicks or mature birds. I would recommend starting with 25 straight run chicks. Selection starts with day one. Get rid of any chicks with crossed beaks or deformed feet and legs. As the birds feather out, look for feather patterns. Look at tail, carriage and set. Look at leg and beak color. As they mature look at combs. When they molt their chick feathers, color, pattern, lacing, etc. become ever more important. Cull Hard. Quality is always preferable to quantity. Out of25 chicks hopefully at maturity you will have 2 or 3 good cockerels and 5 or 6 good pullets. When the pullets start to lay, if one consistently lays weak shelled or deformed eggs. Get rid of her. Always take time to watch your birds for a few minutes every day. This will let you spot health problems right away. Let the birds out. Sit in a lawn chair and watch them. Select birds that really catch your eye. They will have that proud "cock of the walk" carriage ~d demeanor. They will have good bright eyes, combs and legs. Their feathers will have a good sheen to them. Compare them to the specifications in the Standard - item by item. Now it's time to decide again. Are you happy with this set of birds now that they are mature? Do they suit you? Have they accomplished what you wanted them to do? If they didn't why not? Review your records. Remember you won't go from novice to master breeder in one season. Learn as you go. Learn from your mistakes. Always place quality over quantity. Above all, use some common sense and enjoy your birds as well as the companionship of your fellow breeders/enthusiasts. If you can't enjoy your birds, you really ought to try a different hobby. From the Vice President - Floyd Rood Hope everyone had a good hatching season. Mine is done for now. With warm weather here don't forget even the small birds need plenty of fresh air, just keep them away from drafts. Plenty of fresh water is the order of the day. I have found it very handy to keep a bottle of Sulmet on hand and hope you never need it. An outbreak of coccidiosis on a weekend or a holiday, when every store is closed, can wipe out a lot of birds on you. Better to be safe than sorry. Finger Lakes Feather Club Show. Syracuse NY Lee Bowhall, Gary Wells and myself made the trek to Syracuse for the Finger Lakes Feather Club Show. Raymo's Roost didn't make it as Derek has been battling kidney stones. Hope he feels better soon. Members of our Club did very well at the Show. Lou Smith had Best Modem Game Bantam. Lee Bowhall had Reserve Modem Game Bantam. Floyd Rood had Best Old English Game Bantam. Gary Wells had Reserve Old English Game Bantam. Evy Avery had Best Duck and Best Bantam Duck and Sue Meyers had Best and Reserve Asiatic Large Fowl. Good Job Everyone! Spoke to John Pierce. He has secured the APA National which will replace the Yankee Fall Classic for 2004. This will be a chance for members of our Club to show in a large Show and show some of the big name breeders what us North Country folks can raise. A lot of us may never get a chance like this again. We all owe it to ourselves to try and help out, if we can, and make this show a big success. John is going to try and attend our August meeting and explain everything a little better. Please try and attend. FOR SALE: PIGEONS FOR SALE: 4 pairs of short face Antwerps for sale $25.00 a pair. One pair of Genuine Homers, cock is almond, hen is blue bar. $50.00 for the pair Barrachina Blood. One trio of Giant Crests $25.00. Two pairs of flying tipplers $10.00 per pair. Two pairs of Flying Fights $10.00 a pair. Call Tom Tucker at 315-232-4863 or email at tknctuck@westelcom.com. OLD ENGLISH Breeders, $20.00 per pair. Call Floyd Rood at 315-379-9498 or email at frood@twcny.rr.com. PAIRS of this years hatch in Blacks, Blues and Silver Wheaten. Call Gary Wells at 315-322-8993 or email gwells@localnet.com. DRAKE CALL DUCKS Snowy and Gray Call Ducks. Call Randy Merrick at 315-386-4125. Membership If anyone would like a copy of the Club's Membership List, which includes the address and phone numbers of our members, contact Tonya Rood, 379-9498 or email at fmgg@twcny.rr.com and a copy will be sent to you. Reminder: Check your address label to see if your dues have expired. Please renew your dues. Membership: $6.00 Individual, $8.00 Family, and $3.00 Junior Membership. Send dues to Tammy Cook, Treasurer, 578 Fulton Road, Lisbon, NY 13658

Created on ... Dec 29, 2003