DOMESTIC FOWL 71 



later to be used for breeding purposes. Chicks 

 reared especially for the market should be kept 

 in close confinement in order that all food con- 

 sumed may go toward the production of flesh. 

 They never are allowed to leave the small run- 

 way outside the brooder-house. 



The earliest age for marketing chicks is when 

 they are about six weeks old. At the present 

 day these young "squab-broilers," weighing about 

 three quarters of a pound, have considerable 

 vogue in America, where they have successfully 

 taken the place of small game. They are equally 

 sought for in Europe, where they are employed 

 for the same purpose. 



When the chicks are eight to twelve weeks old 

 they become full-fledged "broilers." These are 

 purely an American creation, the business of pro- 

 ducing them on a large scale having been initiated 

 at Hammonton, New Jersey, between 1880 and 

 1885, when a number of large plants were opened. 

 Since that date the "broiler" business has de- 

 veloped into one of the most lucrative phases of 

 poultry husbandry. 



Probably the most ancient of all "special" 

 classes of fowl is the capon. It was well known 

 to the early Romans and as highly relished then 

 as now. The caponizing operation is performed 

 on the young cockerels of heavy breeds when 

 they are two or three months old, and thereafter 

 the growth of the bird is very rapid. Fowl thus 



