90 rOULTKY rEKUlXG AND I'ATTENING 



fill it for about every third bird. When I had finished 

 the lot, some were heavier than when originally put 

 in, and some were not. For the third lot, I bought 

 bolted corn meal where previously I had used common 

 coarse meal, and to the mixture of one-third bran and 

 two-thirds meal, I added a little charcoal. To my 

 surprise, the birds did much better than before. In 

 fact, they all gained, though some of them precious 

 little. Of the twenty-one birds, I lost seven. I was 

 so anxious to give them a square meal that I not only 

 filled the crop, but the windpipe also. 



I made more coops and kept at it, for the market- 

 men gave me great encouragement in the way of prices 

 for those I fattened, and I saw the good dollar ahead 

 if once I could cut out the loss. I kept losing birds, 

 but at length I awoke to the fact that I was feeding 

 each bird the same amount of food. So I changed 

 about, and gauged the amount of feed by feeling of 

 the crop. The percentage of loss decreased perceptibly, 

 and by constant patience and untiring energy I grad- 

 ually lessened that loss so that to-day it is about 

 nothing; in fact, with most lots, none at all, and in 

 cases where they do die it is a bird that was sickly at 

 time of cooping up. I now make better than $30 on 

 each 100 birds fattening three weeks. I have had lots 

 of birds gain three pounds or more, and the greater 

 number t^vo pounds, the first two weeks. The birds 

 never look more healthy than when they are ready for 

 market. Their feathers are sleek, their combs red, their 

 o}-cs bright, and they are well filled out. They gen- 

 pi-ally bring six cents per poimd more than other 

 cliickens. 



With rcuiird to the coo)is. it took but one lot to 

 convinr-o mc tliat tliore sliould 1)0 a ]iart of the bottom 

 loft off at the back for the droppings to go tlirough, 

 otli(>rwise it in.ido an unsif^htly mess. I have the coops 



