The Rural Voice, 1981-07, Page 29mal
ADVICE ON FARMING
Reverse cages best: poultryprof drink, it'shright there. We not plentyd of
9 them (the wefarists). We have of
good evidence to show these birds are
comfortable." -Adrian Vos
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Much discussion is going on in the
poultry industry on the merits of reverse
or shallow cages, versus deep or
convential cages.
At the recent poultry conference at the
Western Fairgrounds in London, Dr.
Charles Ostrander of Cornell University
at Ithaca. N.Y., said that research at
Cornell has shown reverse cages to be
more efficient.
However, he cautioned that with top
management the same result could be
attained with the lower cost deep cages.
The main difference between reverse
and deep cages lies in the method of
manure disposal. The reverse cages have
a plastic sheet at the back of the cage
where the manure is directed away so it
can't accumulate. It falls directly into a
pit. and the result is a much less humid
atmosphere in the hen house.
Ostrander said 80 per cent of all cages
sold in New York state are of the reverse
configuration, but that Ontario egg men
are not convinced. Some private tests
have shown no difference in financial
returns, he had been told.
Density is one of the most important
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519-348-9753 or 348-8043
factors, Ostrander claimed, and light
density ' hould not be overlooked.
This density, both in population and in
light, has profound effect on social
behaviour of the birds and hence on
cannibalism.
Ostrander advised a bird space of no
less than 60 square inches a bird; no more
than four birds a cage; and a light density
of '/2 foot-candle at the lowest feeder
level.
Given equal management, as at
Cornell, the most effective cage is the
reverse cage, the professor maintained.
Referring briefly to animal welfarists,
Ostrander spoke about the colony type
houses of yesteryear. which some animal
welfarists would like to see back. He said:
"Our birds never had it as good as today,
In the colony houses they used to freeze
their combs, to freeze their feet, they
often had to wait for water until the
farmer had thawed it in the morning. long
after they were awake. We now keep
these birds at 65 to 70 degrees
Fahrenheit, through their own body -heat.
by putting more birds in a house. Now,
when they want to eat; when they want to
Don't grind too fine
Garnet Norrish, Swine Specialist and
Jim Sweeden, P. Eng. recently surveyed
19 swine farms to evaluate the perfor-
mance of their stationary electric blender -
grinder. They found that many of the
producers were grinding their feed too
fine. This increased power consumption.
created a dusty feed and increased the
incidence of stomach ulcers in the hogs.
Another rather surprising finding was
that only 29% of the rations were
balanced for protein, calcium and phos-
phorus. This wasn't the mills' fault, it
was the farmers' fault. Either they had
neglected to calibrate the mill or they had
never formulated the ration in the first
place. It is recommended producers
regularly take a feed sample from their
mill and have us test it for the proper
balance. Most of the unbalanced rations
in the survey were either deficient or
surplus in calcium.
Colin Reesor
Associate Agr. Rep.
MAILBOX OF THE MONTH
This mailbox belongs to Mr. and Mrs.
Joe Shea, R.R. 1, Dublin in Huron County
THE RURAL VOICE/JULY 1981 PG. 27