78 



Poultry Fattening. 



[may, 



The mode of operation should be as follows : — Lift the bird 

 carefully from the cage, then place it under one arm, and 

 hold it firmly but gently against the body. This obviates all 

 struggling on the part of the bird. Then take the head of the 

 bird in the hand of the same arm, so that the comb of the bird 

 lies in the palm, and proceed to open the mouth with one 

 finger, holding the tongue down. Now insert the tube. 

 Immediately this is done, pass the head over to the other hand 

 and, stretching the neck out, draw it towards the machine, until 

 the tube has passed down into the crop. Then depress the lever, 

 and the food passes into the bird's crop. One hand is, 

 during this operation, holding the crop, where the end of the 

 tube can be felt, and gauging carefully the amount of food 

 received and required, which varies according to the size of the 

 crop. When sufficient has been forced in, the foot is removed 

 from the lever, and the bird then released. Care should be taken 

 to remove the foot before releasing the bird. 



The consistency of the food should be that of thick cream. 

 Care should be taken to hold the tongue well down when 

 passing the tube into the bird's throat, and to straighten the 

 neck well, or accidents may occur. 



The Funnel Method of Crmmning. — The next method is by 

 means of a funnel. The spout of this funnel is usually about 

 6 in. long, and \ in. in diameter. The spout of the funnel 

 must be very smooth to avoid injury to the bird's gullet, 

 and the outlet should be on the slant. The operation is as 

 follows : — Insert the funnel so that it passes down into the 

 bird's crop, and then with a ladle pour the food into the mouth 

 of the funnel until the crop is felt to be full. 



The consistency of food for funnel-feeding should be about 

 that of thin cream. This is a much quicker system than that of 

 hand-cramming. 



Cramming by Hand. — The hand method consists of making 

 boluses of food and then forcing them down the bird's throat. 

 In this operation the bird is held between the knees. The 

 head is held in the left hand, while the mouth of the bird is 

 opened by the right, a finger of which is placed between the 

 mandibles, care being taken to keep the bird's tongue down. 

 The bolus is then dipped into a bowl of milk, and pressed by 



