POULTRY FLESH AND FATTENING 
Brahmas and Cochins are among the very poorest fowls that 
can be used for farm production of poultry meat. At the 
age spoken of these breeds are lanky and unsightly and not 
wanted by poultry packers. 
Consecutively with and perhaps responsible for change of 
sentiment that demands that broilers be allowed to grow into 
four pound chickens, we find the development of the crate 
fattening industry. 
Crate-Fattening. 
The introduction of crate-fattening into the Central West 
occurred about 1900. The credit of this introduction belongs 
to the large meat packing firms. At the present time the 
business is not confined to the meat packers, but is shared by 
independent plants throughout the country. 
The plants of the West range from a few hundred to as high 
as 20,000 capacity. They are constructed for convenience and 
a saving of labor, and in this respect are decidedly in advance 
of the European establishments where fattening has been long 
practiced. 
The room used for fattening is well built and sanitary. A 
good system of ventilation is essential, as murky, damp air 
breeds colds and roup. The coops are built back to back, and 
two or more coops in height. Each coop is high and wide 
enough to comfortably accommodate the chickens, and long 
enough to contain from five to twelve chickens. The chickens 
stand on slats, beneath which are dropping-boards that may be 
drawn out for cleaning. The dropping-boards and feeding- 
troughs are often made of metal. Strict cleanliness is enforc- 
ed. No droppings or feed are allowed to accumulate and de- 
compose. 
As is a general rule in meat production, young animals give 
-mouch better returns for food consumed than do mature indi- 
viduals. With the young chicken the weight is added as flesh, 
while the hen has a tendency, which increases with age, to 
turn the same food into useless fat. For this reason the gen- 
eral practice is to fatten only the best of the young chickens. 
The head feeder at a large and successful poultry plant gave 
the following information on the selection of birds for the 
fattening-crates:, 
“The younger the stock the more profitable the gain. All 
specimens showing the slightest indication of disease are dis- 
carded. The Plymouth Rock is the favorite breed, and the 
Wyandotte is second. Leghorns are comparatively fat when 
received, and, while they do well under feed and ‘yellow up’ 
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