PETITS POUSSINS OR MILK CHICKENS. 



'27 



that they have plenty of air and are not too 

 strictly confined, will be quite happy and con- 

 tented under these circumstances. Above all, 

 there must not be that check to growth which 

 is the result of conditions such as have been 

 already mentioned. Further, we must bear in 

 mind that as the birds are to be forced to some 

 extent they will not be able to stand severe 

 weather as would those raised under more natural 

 conditions. 



" So far as food is concerned, this varies 

 considerably. For the first fortnight they are 

 fed in the usual way upon good nutritious food, 

 and in this respect there is nothing more valu- 

 able than oatmeal, which contains the elements 

 required for the building up of a framework 

 upon which the flesh will afterwards be laid. 

 At the end of two weeks they should be fed 

 upon ground oats mixed with milk, and if 

 this milk is heated, but not boiled, before it is 

 added to the ground oats, that will materially 

 assist the digestion. A small quantity of fat is 

 added to the food daily. In all branches of 

 poultry raising the wisest plan is to give as 

 much food as the birds will eat readily and not 

 allow it to stand before them, for by so doing 

 there is also a tendency towards sickness. 

 Very fine grit or coarse sand is of service 

 in assisting the process of assimilation, and if 

 the birds are supplied with anything to drink, 

 this should be in the form of sweet milk. In 

 France barley-meal mixed with milk is chiefly 

 employed, and in Belgium also. The following 

 quotation is taken from one of the Belgian 

 papers {Journal des Cainpagnes), which gives a 

 recipe for breeding milk chickens, and according 

 to the results indicated this is a very remu- 

 nerative industry. ' Milk forms in this process 

 the basis of the food given to the chickens. 

 The diet is exclusively composed of barley-meal, 

 cooked in skim milk, and in such a way as to 

 form a sufficiently smooth paste. One thus 

 obtains specimens with very fine and delicate 

 flesh before being sold for consumption at about 

 the age of two months. According to M. Roul- 

 lier, the well known specialist breeder, the milk 

 chicken will advantageously replace the partridge. 

 There is one condition which is absolutely 

 necessary in order to obtain the best results : 

 it is necessary that the chickens shall be con- 

 stantly and exclusively fed with this milk diet. 

 At the end of six weeks they are plump and 

 heavy ; they should then weigh about 14 ozs., 

 and at two months about lA lbs. These chickens 

 can be sold at high prices, and their production 

 would be advantageous where the breeder 

 possesses a market for them.' It \n\\ be seen 

 from this statement that, as already mentioned, 



the size of birds in Belgium is rather greater 

 than preferred in Paris and London, but they 

 can be killed when sufficiently large. 



" Whatever the time selected for killing, the 

 birds should be starved for a few hours, carefully 

 plucked, tied up with a piece of fine string 

 or tape, so as to throw up the breasts, and 

 packed by the dozen in boxes. When sent to 

 market they are not drawn, this work being left 

 to the poulterer. It is most important that all 

 the birds put into one box shall be about the 

 same size, and as near alike in appearance as 

 possible. This considerably enhances the returns, 

 because customers purchasing prefer to have the 

 birds as near alike as they possibly can. The 

 boxes employed should be shallow, so as just to 

 hold one tier, and the French system of having 

 these boxes lined with lace paper adds greatly 

 to their appearance. 



" In Belgium a large trade is done in birds 

 which go by the name of poulets de grains. 

 These are the birds referred to previously as 

 about two months old and weighing about 

 li lbs. each. I have found a difference of 

 opinion as to whether the non- 

 Poulets sitters or the table varieties are 



de Grains. better for this purpose, but the 

 evidence appears to be in favour 

 of the table breeds. At a recent Smithfield 

 Table Poultry Show the first and second prize 

 birds in the class of poulets de grains were Cou- 

 cou de Malines, whilst the third were Braeckel; 

 and some of the Belgian breeders say that for 

 the more advanced specimens the Coucou de 

 Malines is decidedly superior. This seems to 

 be in accordance with what might be expected, 

 because the flesh of the slower growing 

 varieties at eight weeks would be superior to 

 that found upon the lighter bodied chickens, 

 the latter having developed more in bone. In 

 America what is known as the ' broiler' trade is 

 a very extensive one, and in the State of New 

 Jersey great quantities are produced every year; 

 but in England there is only a certain amount 

 of demand for this class of bird used for broiling, 

 or what is frequently known as ' spatch-cock ' — 

 that is the bird, after being drawn, is split down 

 the back and laid open, without being actually 

 divided. It is cooked upon a grill, and certainly 

 there is no more delicious form of preparing 

 birds for eating. At the present time, however, 

 this trade is a comparatively small one." 



In the above article Mr. Brown has dealt 

 with the chief practical details of producing 

 and marketing poultry for the table, and we 

 have only to add notes upon certain points 

 from personal investigation, and some remarks 



