CHAPTER VI. 



Fattening, Caponizing, and Marketing Poultry. 



By the time the cMokens are four months old they will be large enough for 

 the table, and in the condition of fatness which most persons will prefer. If, 

 however, it be desired to market a portion of the surplus, they will sell to better 

 advantage to be made still fatter, which may be done by confining them in pens 

 such as those shown in Fig. 28, which represents a long coop, two feet high 

 and two feet broad, and divided into compartments nine inches wide. These 

 divisions should be tight, so that the fowls may not see each other, and should 

 project a few inches beyond the front of the coop. The bottom of the coop should 

 be made of triangular slats running lengthwise of the coop, with the angle up- 

 ward, so that the droppings may fall through, anda sliallow pan filled with dry 



FlQ. 28. 



earth should be placed under each compartment to catch these droppings. A 

 ledge four inches wide should project beyond the bottom of .the coop, to hold 

 the vessels of food and water, and a small curtain (not shown in the cut) should 

 be tacked in front of each compartment, in such manner that the compartment 

 may be darkened for a couple of hours after the fowl has fed, as the darkness 

 and quiet will render digestion more perfect. The curtain should be lifted an 

 hour or two before the next feeding time, however, that the chicken may come 

 to his meal with an appetite. 



A young fowl placed in one of these compartments and properly fed, may be 

 made to lay on a couple of pounds of fat in two or three weeks. The best food 

 for fattening is buckwheat meal, or corn meal and barley meal mixed, and if it 

 be scalded and mixed with milk it will be all the better. Remember that water 

 constitutes a large proportion of fat, and that it must be given either in the food 

 or separately. Give no more soft food than will be eaten up clean each time, 

 but a little whole grain may be kept constantly within reach, and a regular sup^ 

 ply of it wai be necessary to the thrift of the fowl. The feeding should be done 



