70 



TJie Count} y Gentleman^ s Magazine 



FATTING FOWLS BY .AIACHINERY. 



The food employed by M. Martin consists 

 of fine maize and barley-meal, mixed in about 

 equal quantities ; to this is added a portion 

 of lard, and the whole is then mixed smoothly 

 with milk, so thin as to be almost liquid. 

 The feeding-house is a large airy building on 

 the summit of a hill, and is furnished with 

 three revolving octagonal stands, which, as 

 they turn on their upright axis, present each 

 side in succession to the operator, precisely 

 in the same manner as the revolving show- 

 stands so often seen in shop-windows. Each 

 side of the stand contains five perches for the 

 fowls ; and as each perch roosts five birds, 

 the stand accommodates 200 fattening birds. 

 The perches are arranged over each other, 

 and under each perch is a board sloping 

 backwards, which throws all the droppings 

 into the centre of the machine, and effectually 

 prevents them falling on the birds below. 

 Every morning a little straw chaff is thrown 

 upon them, and the whole taken away in a 

 barrow running under, by which means 

 the fowls are kept perfectly clean. The 

 most peculiar thing about M. Martin's 

 management, however, is the singular 

 fact that the fowls are tied upon their perches 

 by thongs of raw hide, which are passed round 

 their feet, but leaving them otherwise at per- 

 fect liberty. Partitions or uprignc slabs fixed 

 to the perches divide them from each other, 

 and keep them practically in separate com- 

 partments, with the great advantage of a free 

 circulation of air. The whole apparatus is 

 frequently disinfected with sulphate of iron, 

 which keeps the birds perfectly free from 

 vermin. The feeding is done by a machine 

 which contains the food in a reservoir. The 

 operator, who has a seat, which he can vary 

 in height, takes the head of a fowl in one 

 hand, and with the other places down the 

 gullet of the bird a nozzle fixed on the end 

 of a flexible tube which reaches to the ma- 



chine ; by then pressing down a treddle, a 

 piston forces the proper quantities into the 

 fowl's crop. A graduated dial regulates the 

 quantity given, according to the age, size, and 

 stage of fattening of each bird. A slight 

 push with the hand causes the frame to re- 

 volve so as to bring the next bird opposite the 

 feeder, and the feeding is thus performed 

 with such rapidity that one hour is sufficient 

 for the entire 200 birds. 



PREPARATION OF FOWLS FOR CONSUMPTION. 



Poultry should be plucked or picked whilst 

 still warm, when the feathers will be removed 

 with much less difficulty. Fowls are generally 

 picked quite clean, but it looks better in 

 the case of chickens to leave a few feathers 

 about the tail. They will eat best if no- 

 thing further is done to them; but it im- 

 proves the appearance greatly for market 

 to plunge the carcase, immediately after 

 plucking, into a vessel of boiling water for 

 a few moments, which will " plump " it a 

 great deal, and make the skin look bright 

 and clean. After scalding, turkeys and 

 fowls should be hung by the legs, and 

 waterfowl by the neck. For sending to 

 market wholesale they should not be drawn, 

 as they will keep much better without, and 

 this is the proper business of the retailer ; 

 but in selling for consumption the birds 

 should be properly prepared for table. It 

 may not be out of place to remark that if, 

 after drawing, the cavity be filled with char- 

 coal broken in small pieces, the fowl may 

 be kept sweet a considerable time. Aged 

 birds should, if possible, be hung for ten 

 days or a fortnight before cooking, which 

 may generally be done with the help of the 

 charcoal just mentioned. If they are then 

 half boiled, and the cooking finished by the 

 fire, they will be found much more tender 

 than if the roasting process alone be em- 

 ployed. — From Wrighfs ''■ Illustrated Book of 

 Poultry " for June. 



