94 POULTltY I'KEUING AND FATTENING 



gullet until the orifice enters the crop, which can be 

 felt by the finger, and the food is spooned therein until 

 the crop is full, when the funnel is withdrawn. In 

 operation the process requires a much shorter time than 

 it takes to describe, but care must be taken, or there i^ 

 danger of choking the fowl. These funnels, Figure l-i, 

 can be purchased at a reasonable price, and splendid 

 quality of flesh is produced in this manner. 



Craw,ming by machines is found to be most 

 expeditious, and the first cost is speedily saved in the 

 labor bill. An expert operator can feed as many as 

 850 birds an hour, so that the duration of the insertion 

 is very short. Many have the idea that this system is 

 a cruel one, but it is not. A careless or inexpert 

 operator can hurt the subject, but it does not pay him 

 to do so, as any injury to the throat or mouth would 

 cause inflammation to set in and the bird would die. 

 The tube which is passed down the throat is of India 

 rubber, flexible, and as the cartilaginous rings of the 

 neck are flexible, it enters quite easily. The way in 

 which the fowls anticipate the feeding time, after the 

 first two or three days, shows how they regard the 

 operation. The machine largely used, shown in Figure 

 12, has a horizontal cylinder, and is operated by a 

 foot lever. A is the reservoir for the food; B, the 

 pump cylinder; E, the piston rod; G, the spring foot 

 pedal and piston back again; Kj nozzle and food tube; 

 M, stop for regulating quantity of food; Oj lever and 

 treadle. For use in these machines the food is made 

 semi-liquid, about the consistency of very thick cream, 

 which is placed in the reservoir. The operator moistens 

 the tube with milk to make it pass easily, takes the 

 tube in his right hand, the bird's head in the left, the 

 bird itself being held firmly under the left arm. Then 

 with the assistance of the finger and thumb of the right 

 hand he opens the bird's mouth, and slips the fore- 



