Rural Sciiocjl Leaflet 



1165 



The fowls should bo thoroughly dusted with lice powder, because fowls 

 infested with lice d<> not. fatten well. They sliould not l)e powdered 

 during the last five (la>s of fattening, for some powders taint the flesh. 

 Only health}', vigorous fowls should be selected, for it is almost impossible 

 to fatten fowls or chickens of low vitality. 



Poultry should not be fed for from twenty-four to thirty-six hours before 

 feeding the fattening ration, which should be fed sparingly at first. After- 

 wards the fowls should be fed only as much as they will clean up in from 

 ten to twenty minutes. If they have more than they can digest for a meal 

 or two, they lose their appetites, fail to grow well, and may lose weight. 

 Fowls or mature young stock should be fed three times daily for about two 

 weeks, which is as long as they will do well under such heavy feeding. 



A good fattening ration consists of 3 pounds corn meal, 3 pounds buck- 

 wheat middlings or ground 



with 



hulls 



buckwheat witn nuiis re 

 moved, 3 pounds red -dog 

 flour or white wheat mid- 

 dlings, I pound beef scrap, 

 and a little charcoal. This 

 mixture should be moistened 

 with sour skimmed milk or 

 buttermilk (the latter pre- 

 ferred) to the consistency of 

 batter, which is then allowed 

 to stand and sour twelve 

 hours before feeding. Ten 

 pounds of the dry mixture 

 usually require from seven to 



Poultry may he fattened in coops or small pens 

 arranged in the shade. Wet inash may be fed 

 three times a day in. troughs 



nine quarts of milk. 



It is usually best in fattening broilers to give this ration at morning 

 and night only, and to give at noon a light meal of cracked com and wheat. 



While the fowls will not use very much grit or water, yet it is best to 

 keep them where they can help themselves at any time. 



When poultry fattened in this way is shipped to market, the packages 

 should always be marked " milk-fed," for this brand of poultry brings an 

 extra price. 



Ordinarily in selling poultry from the farm it is marketed direct from 

 the range without fattening, and, because the birds are not in good con- 

 dition, they do not bring a high price. Two weeks of fattening should 

 increase not only the number of pounds, but the quality of the flesh as 

 well. A bird with firm, heavy drumsticks, a plump full breast, and a 

 well-fleshed keel will always bring a higher price and more than repay 

 the extra expense and labor of fattening. 



