POULTRY. 



than tailings, as regards the flesh, or 

 tlie size and suNstaiitial tjoodness of 

 the eggs. Chickens may Ijc put up 

 for feeding as soon as the hvn lias 

 ceased to regard them, and before 

 they lose their first good condition. 

 When chickens are wanted for do- 

 mestic purposes, they are often left 

 at liberlv in the farm-yard ; and if 

 they have plenty of good food, they 

 will be in the most healtiiful state for 

 the table, and rich and juicy in fla- 

 vour. -Mr. Moul)ray ascertamed that 

 pullets hatched in March, if constant- 

 ly high fed, laid eggs abundantly in 

 the autumn ; and if killed m the Feb- 

 ruary or March following, were so ex- 

 cessively fat from the run of the yard 

 as to open more like Michaelmas 

 geese than chickens. Experienced 

 poulterers will fatten fowls in two or 

 three weeks with the aid of grease, 

 which gives a luscious, but, in our 

 judgment, a very disagreeable fla- 

 vour to the flesh, which, though not 

 actually diseased, is very inferior to 

 that of the fowl fed at large in the 

 common way at the barn-door. 



" The practice of cramming poul- 

 try by the hand is quite common. A 

 macliine for this purpose is used in 

 France, by which one man can cram 

 fifty birds in half an hour. It is some- 

 what on the principle of a forcing- 

 pump. The tliroats of the birds are 

 held open by the operator until they 

 are gorged through a pipe, which 

 conveys the food from a reservoir be- 

 low, placed on a stool. In fifteen 

 days fowls are said to attain the high- 

 est state of fatness and flavour by 

 this feeding. In addition to the or- 

 dinary paste of barley-meal, or meal 

 made into little balls with milk, the 

 dried seeds and leaves of nettles have 

 been recommended by the continent- 

 al poulterers, some of whom give a 

 little henbane seed to induce sleep, 

 while others put out the eyes of the 

 prisoners, as the most effectual way 

 of keeping them in a state of dark- 

 ness, which is considered essential 

 to their becoming rapidly fat ; and, 

 under the pretext of relieving them 

 from the irritation of vermin, they 

 pluck the feathers from their heads, 

 628 



bellies, and wings. While fowls are 

 thus preparing for the knife, though 

 their bodies are closely confined, their 

 hinder parts are free for evacualicm 

 and cleanliness, and their heads are at 

 liberty to take in fresh supplies of 

 nutriment. 



"The practice of making capons 

 (emasculating the males) is practised 

 a little in some of the English coun- 

 ties, and very much in France, where 

 the females are also rendered inca- 

 pable of breeding, and termed in their 

 unsexed condition poulardes, in order 

 to give them the tendency to fatten. 

 An incision is made near the parts, 

 and through this the finger is intro- 

 duced to take hold of and bring away 

 the genitals, but so carefully as not 

 to injure the intestines : the; wound is 

 then stitched up, and rubbed with oil 

 or grease ; and the comb (which ap- 

 pears to be an unnecessary and gratu- 

 itous pain and insult to the sufferer) is 

 often cut off. The females are treated 

 much in the same way, when they do 

 not promise well for laying, or when 

 they have ceased to be fertile ; they 

 are deprived of the ovarium. The 

 subsequent treatment is similar to 

 that in the former case. Care is ta- 

 ken to give them good food for three 

 or four days, and during that time to 

 keep them in a place of moderate 

 temperature, to avoid the danger of 

 gangrene, which, considering the 

 time of the year — midsummer, when 

 the operation is usually performed — 

 is a very probable consequence. Pul- 

 lets of the largest breed are selected 

 for the purpose, as they yield the 

 greatest weight to the poulterer ; and, 

 if employed in hatching, cover the 

 greatest number of eggs. 



" Cuvier states that the capon may 

 be taught to hatch eggs, and to act 

 the part of a good nurse, with a little 

 bell round his neck to supply the want 

 of a good voice. He asserts that the 

 natural courage and energy of this 

 bird are not abated by the alteration 

 of his condition, in which his audaci- 

 ty enables him to impose on the cocks 

 and hens, so that they allow him to 

 strut about with his former gait of 

 consequential importance, and to ful- 



