AMEIUCAN PATTEXINU Mi;TI10Da 



105 



The chickens are put in small open lattice coops 

 and fed on ground grain, chiefly oats mixed with 

 skimmilk. During the last part of the process they 

 receive an allowance of tallow. Four to twelve chickens 

 r.re kept in each coop. The grain is ground fine and 

 mixed with skimmilk, sweet or sour, sour being 

 preferred. The mixture resembles cream or thin por- 

 ridge. At first, food is given three times a day for the 

 first ten days, then twice a day. At the end of the 

 second ten days the cramming machine is used.- Tallow 



Fig. 19 TWEL\E PLYMOUTH ROCK CHICKENS IN A 



CANADIAN FATTENING CKATE 



fed during the last ten days is melted, thickened with 

 meal and then mixed with the porridge. It is the rule 

 not to feed at all until the crop is empty from the last 

 meal. The cost of food in some recent experiments 

 was 6.43 cents per pound of live weight gained. 



For twenty-four hours before killing, the birds are 

 not fed. They are bled tlirough the mouth, plucked, 

 but not drawn. A ring of feathers about two inches 

 long is left at the head of each bird. They are shaped 

 on a shaping board, cooled, wrapped in a piece of clean 



