1S8 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



CHAPTER IX. 



FATTENING POULTRY. 



IN this branch of the business, the fattening 

 of fowls for market, the author must confess 

 his ignorance, as he has had no experience far- 

 ther than the general run of the yard, and plen- 

 ty of the best food kept constantly within their 

 reach. The markets of Philadelphia are noted 

 for large and fat fowls, and we have endeavored 

 to obtain from some of the feeders in that vi- 

 cinity information on the subject, but without 

 success. We will, however, give the experi- 

 ence of some who have paid attention to it, 

 and avail ourselves of such information as we 

 can glean from books and the agricultural jour- 

 nals. 



The well-known common methods are to give 

 fowls the run of the farm-yard, where they 

 thrive upon the offals of the stable and other 

 refuse, with perhaps small regular daily feeds ; 

 but at threshing time they become fat thence 

 called barn-door fowls, probably the most deli- 

 cate and high-flavored of all others, both from 

 their full allowance of the best corn, and the 

 constant health in which they are kept by liv- 

 ing in the more natural state, and having the 

 full enjoyment of air and exercise. Economy 

 and market interest may, perhaps, be best an- 

 swered by confining them in a dark place, but 

 a feeder for his own table, of delicate and re- 

 fined taste, and ambitious of furnishing his ta- 

 ble with the choicest and most salubrious vi- 

 ands, will declare for the more natural mode 

 of feeding; and in that view, a feeding-yard 

 turfed with grass, and a room open all day for 

 the fowls to retire at pleasure, will have a de- 

 cided preference as the nearest approach to the 

 barn-yard system. 



It is a common practice with some to coop 

 their fowls for a week or two, under the notion 



of improving them for the table and increas- 

 ing their fat ; a practice which, however, seldom 

 succeeds, since the fowls generally pine for the 

 loss of their liberty, and, slighting their food, 

 lose instead of gaining additional flesh. Such 

 a period, in fact, seems too short for them to 

 become accustomed to confinement. 



To feed poultry requires both judgment and 

 constant attention: and since these are far 

 from being general attainments in the class of 

 persons selected for this office, hence the un- 

 satisfactory state, both for themselves and their 

 owners, from what has been so inappropriate- 

 ly named the fattening coop. Without these 

 requisites, the bird be it of whatever race it 

 may is far more likely to lose than to gain 

 flesh. A well - ventilated out-house, with a 

 moderate but even temperature, is most suita- 

 ble ; and a cloth hung up in front of the coop, 

 during intervals of feeding, induces beneficial 

 repose. 



So much has been said by different writers 

 about the kind of food, that it is hardly neces- 

 sary to repeat. Most families that keep no 

 other animals will get together scraps enough 

 to give four or six fowls one meal a day ; if, in 

 addition, they have one feed of boiled potatoes 

 and one of corn, they will do very well as far 

 as it goes. 



The manner of fattening poultry would seem 

 to be extremely plain. One might think that 

 it was sufficient to feed them at regular hours 

 with wholesome and abundant food, capable of 

 satisfying them. This mode would, indeed, be 

 very healthful for them ; it would increase 

 their size and strength ; it would procure them 

 an uncommon share of good health ; but to ac- 

 complish the desired end, it is wished to give 



