208 PROFITS IN POULTRY. 
low figures in the cities. As it increases so much in bulk 
in cooking, it is not an expensive food for young chicks, 
even at the regular retail price, though it would not or- 
dinarily pay to feed it to full-grown fowls very liberally 
or very frequently. In the absence of worms, bugs, etc., 
during early spring, cheap parts of fresh beef can be well 
boiled and shredded up for the little chicks;- but care 
must be taken not to feed more frequently than once in 
two days, and only then in moderation. This feeding 
‘on meat shreds is very beneficial to young turkeys and 
guinea chicks when they are “ shooting” their first quill 
feathers, as then they require extra nourishment to re- 
pair the drain on immature and weakly bodies. 
4 
LOSS OF WEIGHT IN DRESSING TURKEYS. 
Farmers frequently have occasion to sell turkeys by 
live weight, and wish to know what is the fair relative 
price between live aud dead weight. In turkeys dressed 
for the New York market, where the blood and feathers 
only are removed, the loss is very small. For the East- 
ern markets the head is cut off and the entrails are 
taken out. This makes a loss of nearly one tenth in 
the weight. A large gobbler was recently killed weigh- 
ing alive 314 lbs. After bleeding and picking he 
weighed 294 lbs., a loss of 2 Ibs., or about one-fifteenth. 
When ready for the spit he weighed 284 1bs.—a loss of 
34 lbs., which is very nearly one-tenth of the weight. 
Where the market requires the New York style of dress- 
ing, and the price is 15 cents a pound, a farmer could 
afford to sell at 14 cents live weight, or less, if he 
counted the labor of dressing anything. In the other 
style of dressing, if the price were 20 cents, he could sell 
for 18 cents, or less, live weight, without loss. Farmers 
