Behavior and Ethology Commons^™

Poultry Behaviour As It Affects Management, R H. Morris

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

UNDER natural conditions animals have considerable control over their movements and over their proximity to each other.

Today, however, there is a trend in animal husbandry towards greater intensificaton, and this is most evident in the poultry industry.

Individual Sow Feeders, P Mcnamara

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

FOOD is the major cost in any pig enterprise and it is particularly easy for waste to occur in the breeding herd.

Individual feeders enable the pigman to feed each sow according to her need, and enable the sows to eat their feed slowly or quickly as they choose.

Vermin Control This Month, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

THE effects of the very wet winter are no longer being felt in vermin control activities in most of Western Australia and they have returned to normal.

The Fox : Status And Control, C D. Gooding

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

NOBODY knows for certain and it is possible that the damage done by foxes is sometimes over-rated, but the fact remains that foxes are reputed to be a real problem to some farmers at lambing time.

Weaning Lambs Under Pastoral Conditions, H Suijdendorp, L. Parsons

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

IN the summer rainfall region of the pastoral areas lambs are too often born too late to ensure their survival.

In good seasons with a fair measure of winter rain more late lambs will survive, but losses are still serious. The only solution to this problem is to make sure lambs drop in May-June.

But the presence of late and often unmarked lambs at mating time is a disturbing influence, which makes it hard to advance the established mating pattern.

Attack The Rabbit At Home : Destroy Warrens And Harbourage, J S. Crawford

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Effective rabbit destruction often calls for a carefully worked out control programme consisting of poisoning, fumigating and warren and harbourage destruction.

Possibly the most effective means of not only controlling rabbits but ultimately eradicating them from holdings is the destruction of warrens and harbourage.

The Sparrow, John L. Long

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

SCATTERED widely throughout the world, sparrows are a nuisance wherever they have become established.

Two species have been introduced to Australia—the House sparrow (Passer domesticus) and the Tree sparrow (Passer montanus.)

Poison Plant Problems, T E H Aplin

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

A POISON plant may be defined as a plant which, when eaten by humans or animals, exerts harmful effects or causes death by virtue of its toxic substances.

Dingo Control : Organised Ground Baiting Drives At Mating Time, C D. Gooding, J. J. Freeth

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

DINGOES in Western Australia, like all "creatures of nature", have a well defined seasonal pattern of behaviour.

This is influenced somewhat by weather variations, but even in remote areas where violent fluctuations in rainfall occur from year to year, the dingo still breeds at roughly the same time.

The numbers of pups born and the numbers which survive each year varies a lot, but life goes on at roughly the same tempo under most seasonal conditions.

One Shot Baiting, C D. Gooding, L. A. Harrison

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

THE Agriculture Protection Board introduced the first of its contract poisoning schemes in 1955 in the lower South-West when three units undertook the first "1080" poisoning for farmers in Western Australia.

The originators of one-shot baiting describe this new technique and explain how it should be used for best results on the farm.

Wallaby Control In The Kimberleys, C D. Gooding

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

EXPERIMENTS aimed at controlling sandy wallabies along the Fitzroy River frontage were started in 1952 by officers of the Agriculture Protection Board.

This work was undertaken in response to requests for assistance from some of the station owners and managers between Derby and Fitzroy Crossing.

The Webworm. 3. Ecology : A Report On Some Of The Factors Which Regulate Webworm Numbers In The Field, J A. Button

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

IN this section the webworm will be examined in its environment, and particular attention will be given to the more important factors which govern numbers and distribution of the insects.

Milking Routine, G R. Olney

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

IT is well known that the condition of the milking machine is important for efficient and hygienic milking, but even with a machine in good condition good management during the milking process plays a leading part.

Ant Pests In Western Australia, Clee Francis Howard Jenkins

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

THERE are many different species of native ants in Western Australia, but few of these are of major economic importance.

Several introduced species however, have spread extensively and have proved troublesome both as agricultural and household pests.

Webworm And The Weather, J A. Button

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

FOR many years farmers have remarked on the cyclic occurrence of webworm outbreaks in their cereal crops.

Webworm, the State's most serious pest of cereals, has frequently assumed a role of major importance for one or two seasons, and then not been troublesome for a number of years.

A research programme being carried out by the Entomology Branch aims to give a better understanding of the effects of weather conditions on the seasonal incidence of webworm, and should lead to more effective control of this pest.

Bird Problems And Control In Western Australia, John L. Long

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

ALTHOUGH wild birds are mostly beneficial in Western Australia, there are certain species which are damaging to agriculture and the home gardener.

Vermin Control Research In Western Australia 1952-1962, C D. Gooding

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Ten years ago this month the Agriculture Protection Board of Western Australia began setting up a section within its Vermin Control Branch to tackle some of the scientific aspects of vertebrate pest control.

C. D. Gooding, B.Sc. (Agric), reviews the first 10 years of vermin control research work in Western Australia.

Food For Thought In Rabbit Poisoning, J W. Leighton

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

SINCE the introduction of the "1080" Poisoning Unit Scheme in 1955 by the Agriculture Protection Board reasonable control of rabbit numbers has been obtained.

Besides this many important side effects have resulted.

The House Fly (Musca Domestica), Clee Francis Howard Jenkins

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

MANY insects are so commonly associated with man and his dwellings that they may almost be called domesticated.

In olden days the presence of these insects was accepted as a matter of course, but present knowledge shows that many of them can be important disease carriers while others may cause damage to food and clothing.

Dwarf Fruit Trees, Frank Melville

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

IN this country where most fruits and particularly apples and pears are grown without irrigation, heavy crops and summer stress restrict tree size.

The aim of most growers therefore, has been to grow larger trees and little interest has been shown in trees with dwarfing tendencies.

However, in countries with ideal conditions for growth, trees tend to grow too big and become uneconomic in terms of labour costs.

Control Of The Emu, C D. Gooding, J. L. Long

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Vermin research officers C. D. GOODING and J. L LONG give the latest recommendations for control of the emu, based on a series of observations and poisoning experiments in the northern wheatbelt.

Vermin Symposium Report : Wanted : A New Approach To Rabbit Control, A R. Tomlinson

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

THE main reason why rabbits have not increased as rapidly as their amazing capabilities might have led people to expect has been a series of years not suitable for full breeding.

This has been more important than myxomatosis and "1080". This was one of the thoughts taken away by those who attended the rabbit control symposium held in Perth recently.

Wild Dog Control In The North-West, R J. Fraser

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

BECAUSE of its sparsely-settled condition, the North-West of Western Australia is almost an ideal breeding-ground and hunting-ground for wild dogs.

Even the best of the pastoral country is but thinly populated and there are large areas of rugged country which is seldom traversed by white men.

Termites Or White Ants, Clee Francis Howard Jenkins

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

TERMITES are commonly but erroneously called "white ants."

Actually they are more nearly related to cockroaches than to ants, but their general appearance and subterranean habits have given strong support to the popular designation.

They may be divided into two major groups from an economic point of view, viz., wood-dwelling and earth-dwelling termites.

A Successful Campaign Against The Euro, E H M Ealey, T. M. Richardson

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

RESULTS from a five-year research programme carried out by the C.S.I.R.O. on the Abydos-Woodstock Pastoral Research Station indicated that euros could be controlled in a practical and economic way by the traditional method of water poisoning,

if it was continued for an extended period and carried out over a large area. Smallscale trials supported this claim, but no opportunity had occurred to assess the practicability of a large-scale poisoning operation.

Rabbit Control In 1960, C Marshall

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

IN the year 1859, an enthusiastic sportsman in Victoria took delivery from the clipper "Lightning" of a small consignment of wild European rabbits which he joyfully released on his estate at Barwon Park, near Geelong, in order to assure himself of some rough shooting.

He was not the only rabbit importer on record—tame rabbits were brought into Australia before and after 1895 and doubtless there were other importations of the wild rabbit—but he is generally credited—or discredited—with having triggered off the rabbit plague.

Grasshoppers And Locusts In Western Australia, Clee Francis Howard Jenkins

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

GRASSHOPPERS and locusts are among the most ancient enemies of the farmer, for they figured prominently in Biblical times, and periodically throughout the ages have devastated crops in all parts of the world.