REPORT OF THE POULTRY MANAGER. 267 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



Morning — Two-fifths ground corn ; two-fifths wheat bran ; one-fifth wheat 

 middlings. Fed 3 mornings. Other mornings ground oil cake was mixed into mash. 

 Noon — Boiled potatoes and stale bread. Afternoon — Immediately after noon ration. 

 was eaten, the troughs were cleaned and filled with whole corn and wheat. This was 

 allowed to remain before the birds for the rest of the day. 



The birds were placed in slatted coops 16 x 20, and in each compartment 3 to 4 were 

 put. Feeding lasted for nineteen days. Average gain, 1^ pounds each. During last 

 week very little soft food was given. Water and grit were regularly supplied. No 

 milk was used. 



As showing the good results from careful attention to and proper feeding of the 

 chicks from time of hatching until they were able to eat a mash of ground grains, 

 a lady states that she had four Barred P. Rock cockerels weigh at end of three months 

 respectively, -1 pounds ; 4 pounds ; 4i pounds. Their soft food was composed of 

 shorts, cornmeal, with the waste of the table and kitchen. No more than 5 pounds of 

 hard grain were given. 



THE FORCING METHOD. 



Mr. Ernest Cobb, an English writer on poultry subjects, gives the following rules 

 as observed in the large fattening establishments in England : — 



When the purchased birds arrived they are placed by themselves in coops, 

 separate from those being forced. They are called ' feeders,' 



After being cooped the feeders are allowed no food for twenty-four hours. 



After this short fast they are fed from V-shaped troughs— which are suspended 

 in front of their coops — three times per day, all they can eat, of a thin mash, composed 

 of finely ground oats, mixed with half water and half milk. 



During the second week the water is gradually replaced by milk. 



At end of second week a little fat is melted in the hot milk and mixed in the food. 



At end of second week, perhaps a short time before, the birds do not eat as readily 

 as they did and the ' crammer ' or forcing machine is called into requisition. 



The ration, as used in the ' crammer,' is ground oats and skim milk, sweet or 

 sour, the latter preferred, t6 which is added fat (tallow in most cases) in proportion 

 of a tablespoonful to each bird. 



The mixture as used in the ' crammer ' is of the consistency of gruel or thin 

 porridge. 



The same authority also says that the * feeders ' should be kept going (by hand- 

 feeding) as long as they continue to put on weight. A bird should never be placed 

 on the * crammer ' so long as it eats heartily. Experience has shown that after ten 

 days or a fortnight most birds will not take enough food voluntarily to make weight. 

 I,t is then that the forcing machine is brought in requisition. 



English fatteners prefer finely-ground oats to any other kind of ground grain. 

 Ground barley has been found loo heating. Cornmeal puts on yellow fat and tends to 

 give a tinge of that colour to the skin, which is very objectionable to the English 

 buyer. In the United States a yellow skin is rather preferred , while it seems a 

 matter of indifference to Canadian purchasers. 



The birds are not allowed any food for twenty-four hours before being killed ; 

 the object is to have no food in the crop to decompose. 



MANNER OF KILLING. 



Birds intended for shipment to the English market should be killed by having 

 their necks dislocated. When the bird is properly killed in this way the end of the 

 nock should be two inches away from the head. After killing and during plucking 

 the bird should be so held that its head will hang downwards, thus affording oppor- 

 tunity for the blood to drain towards and coagulate in the neck. 



