98 POULTRY FEEDINO AXD FATTENING 



is usually fed raw in a V-sliaped wooden trough placed 

 in front of each. coop. The chicks are fed a small 

 amount of this three times a day at iirst. They are 

 kept hungry for the first week and after this are fed 

 twice a day as much as they will eat. During the last 

 ten days a small quantity of tallow is added to the 

 mixture. This is melted and mixed with a small 

 portion of meal, when it will mix readily with the bulk 

 of the feed. A pound of tallow to seventy chicks is 

 given at the beginning of the ten days' feeding and 

 gradually increased to one pound to fifty chicks. 



Summary of English Methods — The following 

 rules have been drafted by one of the most successful 

 south-country f atters : 



In fattening fowls, the actual amount of food 

 supplied goes only a little way in the production of 

 flesh as compared with the conditions under which the 

 birds are kept. 



There is a difference in the readiness in which 

 fowls fatten, even of the same variety. Large framed 

 birds, well grown, produce the finest specimens. 



Where first quality birds are to be turned out, 

 those selected should be placed in a large outside run, 

 and for the first three or four weeks fed on no more than 

 one meal a day. They are then removed to the pens, 

 and the food gradually increased in qiiantity until they 

 have as much as they can eat, when they are finally 

 finished off by cramming, as already described, this 

 last stage occupying three weeks. The object of the 

 treatment is to gradually build up the flesh upon the 

 frame. It is not suitable for young chickens, which are 

 fed right off, and is not usual for ordinary fowls. 



When cramming commences, each bird should be 

 placed in a separate pen, or two to six together in 

 larger compartments, if of the same age and sex, in a 

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



