igo6.] 



Poultry FatteniiNG. 



77 



2 oz. Therefore, it is not advisable to prolong the process 

 beyond a period of three weeks. The average gain in weight 

 over the whole period varies from lb. to 2| lb. 



Feeding. — The best plan, and the one most frequently adopted, 

 is to feed the birds from the troughs for ten days, after which 

 they are crammed with the cramming machine for the re- 

 mainder of the period of three weeks. Some fatteners cram the 

 birds for a week or ten days only. A good deal depends on the 

 bird. 



Ninnber of Meals. — When being fed from the troughs the 

 birds should have two meals a day, the food being left until 

 the birds have thoroughly satisfied themselves, after which it 

 should be cleared right away and the birds left to digest their 

 meal and drowse until the next. 



Consistency of Food. — The consistency of the food during the 

 trough-feeding period should be that of stifhsh paste. A test 

 of correct consistency is to take a handful and squeeze it- It 

 should then pass through the fist in a thickish stream that 

 will support its own weight to the height of about an inch 

 before falling over. A further guide is that the bird when eat- 

 ing it should be unable to drag lumps of it into the cage. If 

 this is possible, it is a sign that it is made too thick, and if it is 

 too thin the bird will be unable to lift and swallow it properly. 



There are three methods of cramming — by machine, by funnel, 

 and by hand. 



TJie Crannning MacJiine. — The method of cramming by 

 machine is the one almost invariably adopted by English 

 fatteners. 



The cramming machines in general use have a round re- 

 ceptacle at the top which contains enough food for loo to 150 

 birds. This is connected with a pump cylinder, the piston-rod 

 of which is operated by a lever worked by the foot of the person 

 using the machine. There is a nozzle, to which is attached a 

 rubber tubing, and through this the food passes into the bird's 

 crop when the lever is pressed down by the foot. Immediately 

 the lever is released, the piston is forced by a spring to return to 

 its original position in the cylinder, during which operation 

 sufficient food passes down from the food receptacle into the 

 cylinder, in readiness for the rext feed. 



