1^6 POULTBY FATTENING. 



where they find a sufficient quantity of grain. "When 

 they are in a good condition it is necessary to confine 

 them, that is to say, to place them in a dark shed, 

 quiet and healthy, and above all deprive them of all 

 diversion. 



" If one sells the geese dead, the best plan is to 

 pluck them under the stomach before putting up to 

 fatten, because they dirty their feathers in sleeping on 

 the ground ; but if they are to be sold alive, they must 

 not be plucked, as they would be disfigured and reduce 

 their price ; in this case double care should be taken 

 to give them a clean litter. 



' ' During the first week of fattening they should 

 have only oats to eat, and have water whitened with 

 flour to drink. This food is supplied in little wooden 

 troughs, narrow, and a hollow, long enough for the 

 goose to reach from one side to another without 

 difficulty. These troughs are inexpensive, and prefer- 

 able to the round dishes in which one generally gives 

 food to geese, and around which they scramble, some- 

 times fighting so as to reach the food before their com- 

 rades, which greatly hinders the process of fattening. 

 Feeding over, the troughs are removed, so that the 

 'geese may sleep and digest their food. 



" Fattening may be completed entirely in this way, 

 and 20 litres of oats per head is sufficient ; but it is 

 long, and although it appears less expensive, it is as 

 much so as fattening done with more nutritious food ; 

 besides geese fed only with oats, and 20 litres at a time, 

 do not reach that perfect state of fattening which makes 

 them very plump — one might say, almost incapable of 

 standing upright. After six or seven days' feeding on 



