Fattening Poultry. 67 



long as they eat it with a good appetite, and do not tread 

 any about, or otherwise leave it to waste. 



Young poultry cannot thrive if overcrowded. They 

 should not be allowed to roost on the branches of trees or 

 shrubs, or otherwise out of doors, even in the warmest 

 weather, or they will acquire the habit of sleeping out, 

 which cannot be easily overcome ; not that they would suffer 

 much from even severe weather, when once accustomed to 

 roosting out of doors, but from want of warmth the supply 

 of eggs would decrease, and it would, in many places, 

 be unsafe and, in most, inconvenient. 



The sooner chickens can be fattened, of course the 

 greater must be the profit. They should be put up for 

 fattening as soon as they have quitted the hen, for they are 

 then generally in good condition, but begin to lose flesh as 

 their bones develop and become stronger, particularly 

 those fowls which stand high on the leg. 



Fowls are in perfection for eating just before they are 

 fully developed. By keeping young fowls, especially the 

 cockerels, too long before fattening them for market 

 or home consumption, they eat up all the profit that would 

 be made by disposing of them when the pullets have 

 ceased laying just before their first adult moult, and the 

 cockerels before their appetites have become large. Fowls 

 intended to be fattened should be well and abundantly fed 

 from their birth ; for if they are badly fed during their 

 growth they become stunted, the bones do not attain their 

 full size, and no amount of feeding will afterwards supply 

 these defects and transform them into fine, large birds. 

 Poultry that have been constantly fed well from their birth 

 will not only be always ready for the table, with very little 

 extra attention and feeding, but their flesh will be superior 

 in juiciness and rich flavour to those which are fattened 

 up from a poor state. In choosing full-grown fowls for 

 fattening, the short-legged and early-hatched should be 

 preferred. 



In fattening poultry, " the well-known common 

 methods," Mowbray observes, " are, first, to give fowls the 

 run of the farmyard, where they thrive upon the offals of 



