FIRST LESSONS IN POULTRY KEEPING. 151 



them up close and feed heavily at this period and they grow weedily and often become ill 

 formed. In many other breeds, and especially in those having Asiatic blood in their malie up, 

 the same condition obtains with regard to many stocks, and sometimes Is conspicuous in a part 

 of a flouii, and as notably absent in the remainder. 



In fattening poultry, therefore, we have to consider first the chickens, fowls, or other 

 poultry to be fattened, whether they fatten readily or with difficulty. 



Next we must consider the season, the time of year and the prevailing conditions. Just as 

 all hens tend to lay In the spring, nature tends to make all fowls lay up a supply of fat in antici- 

 pation of cold weather with Its sometimes heavy drains on the capacity of the digestive organs 

 to meet all physical requirements. Often fowls which could not be fattened at any other time 

 will fatten then. 



But, as those who will closely follow current comments on market conditions will discover 

 within a very short cycle of years, the weather in fall has much to do with the fattening of the 

 poultry crop of the country. If the general mean temperature is high poultry does not fatten 

 so readily. If the weather is seasonable, with crisp, cool nights the fowls of all kinds eat more 

 heartily of the heating, fattening foods given them and take on fat much more rapidly. The 

 general crop Is, to be sure, fattened by somewhat primitive methods, but the conditions affect- 

 ing it also have their influence ou the work of those who try more direct and efficient methods, 

 at this and at all' seasons. In a very hot summer it is frequently Impossible for growers to get 

 chickens as fat as they want them and as Is usual. ~ 



The conditions under which poultry is kept while fattening are of at least as much importance 

 as the food. To facilitate fattening their activities must be kept as low as possible. They must 

 be confined in small yards, in pens indoors, or in fattening coops, according to the system used. 



The food used is generally a food containing starches and fats in larger proportion than Is 

 advisable when the question of maintaining condition with a view to future usefulness has to be 

 considered. In fattening the digestive organs by heavy feeding and lack of general exercise 

 for the fowl are weakened. It rests with the judgment of the operator to see that they are not 

 weakened to the danger point before the fattening process is finished, for in that event he may 

 lose all the profit on the operation, even if he saves the stock. 



The Simplest Method of Fattening. 



The soft roaster growers of what is known as the "South Shore" section in Massachusetts, 

 who produce the finest poultry brought to the Boston market, continue the same system of 

 feeding from the time their chickens leave the brooders until they are sold to be dressed and 

 marketed immediately. Their bill of fare Is of the simplest, and the principle upon which their 

 system is based of the soundest. 



Cracked corn, beef scrap and water are always before their chickens. Green food is supplied 

 as convenient. Cabbages are used quite freely when grown at home, but I do not think are 

 purchased very extensively. Green rye, sown in the fall on the land about the houses is avail- 

 able whenever the ground is bare, and with many growers this is the main reliance for green 

 food. Their chickens are grown on this diet, and fatten on it as they reach the fattening period 

 of their lives. As they are especially wanted for early summer there is rarely occasion to 

 hasten fattening. Indeed, these chickens are quite as likely to come on a little faster than the 

 grower wants them to, and so be ready for market rather in advance of the period of best 

 prices. While they may be held for a short time after they are well fatted, this is rarely done, 

 for the overfat chicken is not desired, and after the chicken is once well fatted the risk of dis- 

 ease in fat fowls, Intensified by the fact that all through life the roasting chicken has been 

 handled with i view to the quality of the meat rather than to strength and vigor, makes It 

 Inadvisable to hold it long. 



The principle upon which these South Shore soft roaster growers work is this: 



To make the best growth and remain soft meated the chicken must be quiet and 

 contented, not disposed to forage or roam about much, hut still inclined to take 



