FATTENING 



405 



junctions, in order that stock for fattening can be secured from 

 a large surrounding territory. 



Two types of crates are used, the stationary and the portable. 

 These crates are usually constructed so that a number of them form 

 a unit, each unit being called a battery. The stationary batteries 

 are rapidly falling into disuse, and portable ones are taking their 

 place, much less labor being required to operate the portable 

 ones. They can be arranged so as to fit any room or building. An 

 excellent feeding battery is shown in figure 185. It is constructed 

 as follows: This battery is divided into eight coops, four tiers of 

 two coops each, and holds eighty spring chickens or sixty-four 

 hens. It is 2 feet 7K inches wide, and 5 feet 9 inches high. The 

 slats in front are 1 % inches 

 apart. Each set of slats is 

 8M inches wide, and is fastened 

 by buttons, so that it can be 

 easily removed and a set of 

 slats closer together or farther 

 apart quickly inserted. As the 

 chickens' heads vary consider- 

 ably in size during the season, 

 this adjustable front is neces- 

 sary. The dropping pans are 

 1/4 inches below the floors, 

 which are made of heavy, 

 square-mesh wire, roosting 

 poles are 2 inches wide, M of an 

 inch thick, and 2 feet 6 inches 

 long. The first floor is 6 inches 

 from the ground, and it is 15 inches from the wire floor to the 

 top of each coop; thus each tier, including the dropping pans, is 

 16% inches deep. The battery rolls on four wheels, two double- 

 pivot wheels in front, and -two wheels connected by a bar in the 

 rear. The sliding doors on the sides are fitted with hooks which 

 fasten into eyes on the battery. The whole battery is made of 

 furring, 1% by % inches, covered with 2-inch-mesh wire and 

 laths. The feeding troughs are 3^ inches across the top, inside 

 measurement, and 3 inches from top to bottom, outside measure- 

 ment. These troughs are held in place by flexible bent wires 

 which yield if the troughs hit any obstacle, thus preventing break- 

 age. A wire partition divides the battery into two equal parts. 



FIG. 185. A portable battery of feeding 

 coops, used in commercial crate fattening. The 

 weighing, feeding, and moving of the birds can 

 be done without taking them from the coops. 

 (Photo by U. S. Bureau of Chemistry.) 



