1905.] THOROUGHBRED POULTRY VERSUS MONGRELS. I49 



get is fine chick grit, and a clean fountain of pure water. We 

 then feed a cake composed of bran, rolled oats, enough mid- 

 dlings to stick it, fine grit, fine shell, and well mixed with milk. 

 No rising timber of any kind is used. This mixture we put in 

 large flat pans, and bake in a slow oven for four or five hours. 

 When cool, we crumble up, and feed twice a day. The other 

 three feeds we give a mixture of cracked grains, seeds, and 

 grit, very similar to the leading commercial brands of chick 

 feed. The fine grain is thrown in cut clover litter for the first 

 few days, but we soon graduate them to planer shavings. We 

 try and feed exactly enough to keep their appetites on edge, 

 and have them watching eagerly for attendant as he comes 

 along with next meal two hours later. The working chick is a 

 healthy animal, and conversely, the healthy chick is a worker. 



When we are forcing chicks for broilers we put a box of 

 beef scrap in their pen when they are two weeks old, and let 

 them eat what they wish. They will soon become accustomed 

 to it, and will not gorge. It is a big factor in producing quick 

 growth. Perfect cleanliness is absolutely necessary to suc- 

 cessfully raise broiler chickens. 



The production of roasters is getting to be more and more 

 a profitable and prominent branch of the poultry industry. 

 My personal experience with this branch has been very limited. 

 We market each fall several hundred off-colored specimens 

 from our thoroughbred flocks, but have never forced growth 

 from shell to roaster age. If I were to do so, would start in 

 the same as with broiler chicks, but not feed the beef scrap 

 until about 3 weeks old. Beginning with the fourth or fifth 

 week, would make one feed a day of a good concentrated mash 

 food, and gradually increase number of mash feeds until we 

 were feeding it three times a day with mixed grains in be- 

 tween. This method would help grow larger frames, and not 

 force plumpness too quickly. 



The cockerels in a flock of chickens" you are raising to the 

 roaster age should be caponized for best results. It not only 

 increases their eating qualities, and consequently their market 

 value, but it makes them docile, and does away with scrap- 

 ping proclivities. This will enable them to convert all food 

 into growth and not waste any energy in recovering from bat- 

 tles with others in the flock. 



The modern cramming machine promises to revolutionize 



