360 POULTRY MANAGEMENT. 



The birds should be fed lightly for the first week three times 

 a day. After that they may be given all they will take twice 

 a day. Keep them well supplied with grit. .Pure, fresh water 

 should be given them twice a day to drink. Clean the troughs 

 one-half hour after feeding. Four to five birds, according to 

 size, may be placed in each compartment. 



Birds take on flesh much faster and more economically 

 when fed in crates than when allowed to run at large or even 

 in pens. 



A good fattening ration may be composed of two parts 

 ground corn, two parts ground buckwheat, and one part 

 ground oats made into a mush with sour milk or buttermilk; 

 or two parts ground barley, two parts ground corn, and one 

 part ground oats, mixed with milk; or ground oats without the 

 hulls, mixed with milk. When milk cannot be had, add animal 

 or blood meal about 1 to 16 grain, and mix with water. Add 

 a half ounce of salt to 150 chicks twice a week. 



During the last week's feeding a little tallow may be added 

 to the ration, one pound for seventy to eighty birds. Too 

 much corn in the ration colors the flesh yellow. 



Whsn the fattening period is over, which should be at the 

 end of three and one-half to four weeks, starve the birds from 

 thirty to thirty-six hours before killing, in order to allow time 

 for all food in crop and intestines to be removed. If the food 

 is left in the bird it decomposes and taints the flesh. 



Killing is dene in two ways. The plan most in favor is to 

 dislocate the neck. This is done by holding the legs of the 

 bird firmly in the left hand just over the operator's hip, with 

 the back of the bird toward you. Seize the head of the bird 

 with the right hand, the forefinger back of the neck, the 

 crown of the bird in the palm of the hand, and the other three 

 fingers in front under the head. Draw the head down over 

 the right knee, stretch the neck and bend the head backwards, 

 dislocating the neck. Draw an inch and a half from the neck, 

 hold the head down so as to allow the blood to collect in the 

 neck. This method of killing gives a juicier, better flavored 

 product than does that of letting the blood out by cutting 

 deeply with a sharp pointed knife into the roof of the chicken's 

 mouth just below the eyes (from the inside course). 

 s Plucking should begin immediately after the neck is broken. 

 Pull the quill feathers of the tail and wings, strip the back, 

 wings and breast. Never allow the chicken to cool before 

 plucking, as the flesh is sure to tear if plucked cold. Leave 



