Cramming 



199 



in the coops, they are fed twice a day soft food 

 from little troughs suspended within easy reach. 

 After they have eaten all they will, the troughs 

 are removed and no food is offered until the next 

 meal. The food consists largely of ground oats, 

 with the hulls re- 

 moved, and ground 

 barley. To this is 

 added a little tallow 

 so that each fowl 

 may receive about 

 a teaspoonful a day. 

 The fowls are fed 

 in this manner for 

 about ten days, at 

 the end of which 

 time they will not 

 eat so much on 

 account of loss of 

 appetite. They are 

 then fattened by the 

 cramming process, 

 the food being forced into the crop by means of 

 a machine. Fig. 64 illustrates a cramming machine 

 similar to those used in the great poultry districts of 

 England. The food is mixed with milk or water to 

 the consistency of thick porridge; that is, just 

 about as thick as it will pour well. This is placed 

 in a receptacle or hopper in the machine and is 



FIG. 64. An English cramming machine. 



