404 FATTENING, KILLING, AND DRESSING 
require much finishing, as it is natural for them to take on fat 
and to be plump and of good weight. With cockerels the custom is 
to confine them in small yards, usually in large numbers, the 
total number of cockerels in one pen running from ten up to one 
hundred. Their exercise is restricted by limiting the range, and 
they are fed often, corn constituting the bulk of the ration. In 
some instances wet mashes are given. In the majority of cases, 
cracked corn and wheat supplement a dry-mash which contains a 
large amount of corn meal and at least thirty per cent of meat. 
The rations fed under farm conditions vary greatly in different 
communities, according to the number of birds to be marketed. 
This method of pen or flock fattening is often applied to the 
finishing of broilers. As a rule, young broiler chickens are not 
finished, owing to their rapid growth and, consequently, their 
fine flesh. It is often profitable to vary the ration during the 
last week or two before killing, feeding skim milk and corn meal 
mashes plentifully with a larger allowance of meat; if they have 
been on range, comparatively close confinement during the last 
weeks is desirable. Usually, however, broilers grown in season 
are closely confined during the entire growing period, as out-of- 
door conditions do not allow them range. 
Crate Fattening—This mode of fattening is used by large 
plants having a heavy output of poultry for meat, but its develop- 
ment is greatest in the large and special poultry-fattening and 
slaughter houses in the centra] and south-central sections of the 
country. These firms buy poorly nourished live poultry from the 
South and West, which is shipped to them by carloads. Then 
it is sorted and put through a special course of finishing, after 
which it is sold at a profit. When the improvement and profits 
resulting from crate fattening are clearly understood, this will 
doubtless be more generally practised among poultry producers, 
with the result that a higher quality of dressed poultry will be 
displayed at our larger markets. The methods here described 
are the ones in use in extensive fattening establishments. 
These fattening stations consist of buildings used exclusively 
for the fattening of chickens, and are usually operated in con- 
nection with large poultry and egg-packing houses. Such stations 
are generally found in poultry-producing centres, where the farmer 
sells his poultry in comparatively poor condition, provided there 
are facilities for shipping and marketing or for holding it in cold 
storage. These stations are usually located at or near railroad 
