NEED FOR FATTENING 



349 



to be satisfied with a very poor quality. The average quality 

 of chicken seen in the retail store and on hotel tables in this 

 country is far below that found abroad — in France, England, 

 Belgium, Denmark and so on. This is largely due to the great 

 consumption of broilers, which, however good they may be 

 in some respects, lack the tenderness and abundance of flesh 

 found on fowls that have been properly fattened before killing. 



(^Courtesy Wisconsin Experiment Station) 



Fig. 226. — Home-made fattening crate located in the lee of a building. These 

 crates can be utilized for broody hens as well. 



In fact, as a general practice the fattening or finishing of poultry 

 by special processes is virtually an unknown industry in this 

 country. 



The common plan has been to let the fowls eat all the corn they 

 will consume for a couple of weeks before marketing, but this 

 method does not produce prime table poultry in a strict sense of 

 the term. Corn has a distinct tendency to put on weight — this 

 is unquestionable; but this weight consists mainly of a heavy 



