POULrHY FATTENING IN ENGLAND. 71 



the frame. This method is not suitable for young 

 chickens, which are fed right off, and is Jiot usual 

 with ordinary fowls, but for large fowls to be killed 

 about Christmas. 



Fourth. "When cramming commences each bird 

 should be placed in a separate pen, or half a dozen of 

 the same age and sex may be together, in a quiet, 

 sweet, and, if possible, rather dark room or shed, and 

 for the first few days be fed from- a trough, finishing 

 off by the crammer. The food should consist of either 

 fine barley-meal or fine Kentish ground oats, mixed 

 with a little fat, and made with milk into a paste for 

 feeding from the trough, and like very thick cream 

 when used with the crammer. The fat should be 

 small in quantity at first, but may be gradually in- 

 creased during the process. 



Fifth. Before a bird is crammed the crop should 

 be felt, and if there remains any food in it from the 

 previous meal no food is given until the next time 

 of feeding. Observations should be made as to the 

 quantity assimilated, so as to give a fowl each time 

 as near as possible just about as much as it can 

 digest. Should a bird show any signs of sickness 

 during the process it should be placed in an open 

 run for twenty-four hours without food. To aid 

 digestion grit may be given in a dish before each 

 pen, and boiled nettles mixed with the food twice 

 or thrice a week as an aid in keeping the blood cool. 

 Young chickens may be fed thrice a day, but for older 

 birds twice a day is much to be preferred. 



Sixth. After the birds are killed, to prepare for 

 which they should be kept without food for thirty-six 



