THE DOMESTIC FOWL. 125 



FATTENING-, 



LET it now be assumed that the fowls have got their 

 full growth, or nearly so, as the cocks at least increase 

 somewhat in size till their third year. The breeder, at 

 this period, will have to determine which birds he retains 

 for stock, and which are to enjoy a less extended exist- 

 ence. On the process of fatting fowls, little that is new 

 can be offered, and tastes differ so exceedingly, that 

 almost every family has its own particular mode. 

 Some think a young fowl killed by dislocation of the 

 neck, not by bleeding, and without any fatting, hung up 

 in the feathers a few days in the larder, like game, the 

 greatest luxury; others like them to be brought by con- 

 finement and select diet, to the greatest point of delicacy 

 and insipidity. For this purpose, rice may often be ob- 

 tained at a cheap rate. It should be boiled, not enough 

 to lose its granular form, in milk ; meat broth used in- 

 stead of milk is nourishing and fattening, but diminishes 

 the whiteness of the flesh and the delicacy of the flavor. 

 If fowls were brought to eat uncooked rice, it might 

 prove unwholesome by swelling in the craw. Cram- 

 ming is quite unnecessary; cleanliness in all cases, most 

 expedient. If any coarse or rank food is used, such as 

 tainted meat, greaves, rancid fat, or fish scraps, it will be 

 apt to impart a corresponding taint to the flesh. The 

 purer the diet, the more delicate will be the flavor. Rice, 

 boiled as above directed, barley meal and milk, or boiled 

 potatoes mashed with Indian meal, are all excellent arti- 

 cles for the purpose, and easily obtained. The locality 

 and the cost price must often determine the matters 

 employed, care being only taken to avoid all that is 

 likely to prove hereafter offensive to the palate. For 

 it is an old notion, confirmed by modern experience, that 

 even laying hens should not be allowed to eat unsavory 

 nor strong-tasted substances, lest their eggs become 

 tainted with the flavor. 



" Let bitter herbs be avoided, particularly wormwood ; 

 for hens that have eaten it lay extremely bitter eggs. 

 Some aver that the eggs from hens that have eaten im- 



