TABLE POULTRY 139 
so that it can eat comfortably without getting any exercise. Asa 
rule, “fatters”’ put their birds in coops to hold from half-a-dozen 
each and arrange them in rows in the middle of sheds where they 
get plenty of air without being exposed to rain and sunshine. The 
pens are about 18 inches high, 24 inches deep and 36 inches long. 
In order to give the birds an appetite for the new treatment they 
are given no food for twelve hours. They are then fed three times 
daily at regular intervals. For fatting purposes the wet mash is 
necessary. As a rule it consists of maize meal, pea meal, barley 
meal or ground oats. The Sussex ground oat is the staple food of 
the great fatting districts of Heathfield, Sussex. This is mixed 
with skimmed milk and the whole is fed in wooden troughs fixed 
along the front of the pens. Needless to say, the birds get as much 
as they can eat. At the end of seven days the chickens are then 
“crammed ”—that is to say, they are subjected to a process by 
which the fowls have the specially prepared food crammed down 
their throats by means of an instrument made for the purpose. The 
food is composed of Sussex ground oats with skim milk and beef or 
mutton fat added. No water is required. The process is carried 
on from two to three weeks and the chickens are then ready for 
the market. The diet must not be continued more than three 
weeks or the chickens will go off their feed and fall ill. Flint grit 
is supplied to aid digestion, and all food is made fresh for each meal. 
The majority of poultry-farmers do not trouble to go in for the 
cramming process, and for such the best method is to put the birds 
in coops and feed them on Sussex ground oats for a week or ten 
days. If Sussex oats are not available, middlings and milk make 
a fair substitute, and, of course, the addition of beef or mutton fat 
will assist in getting the necessary weight. 
Regarding fatting as a profession I would point out that it is one 
of the most difficult of all industries and not only requires special 
training over a long period but there are tricks of the trade that 
remain a close secret with a few favoured craftsmen, mostly in 
the Weald of Sussex. No one would dream of taking up chicken 
fattening as a business without a most thorough training, and that, 
I may say, is almost impossible to obtain. 
