THE CHICK BOOK 



71 



cloyed. Not only does a careless feeder waste the food, but 

 he puts the chicks out of condition and checks their growth 

 by cloying them, by taking away their appetite. If food is 

 left before them all the time they will actually eat less, and 

 make a slower growth than if fed judiciously and kept a lit- 

 tle bit hungry. 



Another writer, describing the methods of a New Jer- 

 sey broiler raiser, says: "At first the chicks are fed the in- 

 fertile eggs, cooked, mixed with bread crumbs and rolled 

 oats; then gradually corn meal and bran are added to the 

 ration. 



"Fattening these small birds is a difficult problem. The 

 natural tendency is to make growti instead of laying on 

 fat. For the last ten days before killing the ration consists 

 of two parts corn meal, one part bran, about ten per cent 

 cottonseed meal and from twenty-flve to thirty per cent 

 beef scraps. This seems like a heavy feeding of meat, and 

 of course would not do for chicks that are to be raised to 

 maturity. The proper weight for killing, twelve ounces, 

 is reached at about six weeks; however, some 

 reach that weight sooner than others." 



This writer gives six weeks as the time of 

 raising these twelve-ounce squab broilers by 

 that feeding method. The White Wyandotte 

 chicks told about in the Reliable Poultry Jour- 

 nal, and whose weighits are given above, grew to 

 the same weight in exactly four weeks ; a saving 

 of thirty-three and a third per cent of time, 

 brooder house room and labor. That saving 

 would! fully double the profits, and that saVirug 

 is made by the improved method of feeding, 

 by feeding a ready mixed ration of seeds and 

 grains. 



Marketing the Broilers. 



Most broiler chickens are marketed "dry 

 picked." This is partly due to the fact that 

 the people educated up to appreciating fine 

 broilers are critical, and 'the bfSfcter appearance 

 of the dry pickefd chicken both enhances its 

 value and increases the consumptive demand. 

 Most of the picking is done by professionals, 

 who are paid so much apiece, and who go from 

 one broiler plant to another as work is offered. The usual 

 price paid for picking broilers is three to four cents 

 apiece, and the picker engaged to pick them not infrequently 

 employs "pinners" to assist him. He does the killing and 

 "rough-picking," and passes the chicks on to the pinners 

 to finish; the pin feathering and cleaning up requiring 

 patience and nimble fingers. 



Several excellent articles on "How to Kill and Dry 

 Pick," 'by competent authorities have appeared in leading 

 poultry journals, in which the process is most carefully de- 

 scribed and the illus'trations, sh'o'w'ing the different move- 

 ments, greatly aid to a clear understanding of the operation. 

 We recommend a close study of these anticleB to those inter- 

 ested in dry picking. 



Nice Work Important. 



It is of great importance that the work be nicely (care- 

 fully) done, as a torn and marred chick is less attractive 

 and fetches a lower prices. The successful broiler raiser 

 quoted above pays five cents per chick for killing and pick- 

 ing, and when we commented upon the rather higher price 

 than is generally paid he said: "I would rather pay that 

 price and have the chicks carefully picked, the man picking 

 fifty to sixty chickens a day, than to have a man earn the 

 same amount of money by hurriedly picking one hundred a 

 day. It is quite easy for a picker to 'skimp' his work, and 



the broilers would be a cheaper looking lot in consequence, 

 shrinking the price perhaps four or five cents a pound." In 

 other words, quality pays in broilers as well as in other 

 things, and the fact that this man's broilers frequently bring 

 him five cents a pound above the highest market quotations, 

 approves the policy of paying the picker a good enough 

 price to insure having the chicks carefully picked. 



A good many farmers and small poultry growers ship 

 their chickens alive to a commission dealer, who, in turn, 

 sells them to a picker, who kills, dresses and markets them. 

 Almost always these chicks shipped in alive, are not really 

 good broilers; they are usually "lean" and thin, not plump 

 and round, not well-fattened. A good business is done in 

 buying up these "range" chickens, feeding them a fattening 

 ration for two to three weeks, and then dressing them for 

 market; which is somewhat similar to the fattening done 

 in Kngland and France, the birds there being almost always 

 bought from farmers and small growers, brought to the fat- 

 tening station and fattened for market. There is a substan- 



Welt Crown Light Brahma Youngsters. 



tial loss to the grower who does not fatten his own chick- 

 ens; selling them in the "lean" condition means that they 

 are very poor in quality and sell at a low price if marketed 

 at once, if bought by a fattener and put in good, marketable 

 condition the fattener gets the bulk of the profits; he gets 

 pay for the increase in quantity of flesh and the premium 

 paid for the better quality. 



In an article published in the Reliable Poultry Journal 

 a few years ago, a writer said: "In dressing chickens 

 for market, they are killed by cutting the vein and penetrat- 

 ing the brain at a point well back in the roof of the mouth. 

 A deep cut at just the right point will so' paralyze the nerves 

 of the bird that the feathers will pick very easily, and much 

 of the trouble in tearing the skin will be avoided. The 

 chickens are dry picked. All the feathers are taken from 

 the carcass with the exception of the tips of the wings, and 

 from these all the quill feathers are picked. If the birds 

 have feathered legs these are also picked. The heads are 

 left on, and the entrails are not drawn. After picking and 

 carefully pin-feathering, they are dropped into huge tanks 

 of water and left a suitable time to cool. In hot weather 

 this water is iced in order to more quickly remove the ani- 

 mal heat. They are then rinsed and the blood cleaned 

 from their heads, and are laid on a bench for the water to, 

 drain off. After draining those that are nearest alike are 

 paired together, the legs being tied with twine, and they 



