476 



Poul'iry Management on a Farm, 



given to seventy hens in pens on one day during the last 



winter : — 



d. 



i lb. Pea Meal - I 



3 lb. Biscuit Meal - i\ 



1 lb. Maize, cracked - - - - - - \ 



2 lb. Swedes -------- J 



i lb. Potatoes \ 



I lb. Meat \ 



Total 5 



" In the afternoon they receive ten pounds of wheat (costing 

 about eightpence), which is distributed on the grass, but dur- 

 ing hard frosts or snow it is scattered on their straw and in 

 any available suitable manure, the purpose of which is to 

 warm the birds in their endeavour to find food. 



" Our method of cooking is to put, first of all, the 

 vegetables — i.e., the potatoes and swedes — into the 

 cooker ; the potatoes are put in whole, but the swedes 

 are cut into slices. When these are partly cooked the joints 

 of meat are added, and the whole is left to cook from u a.m. 

 to 3 p.m. the day before it is required for use. At 3 p.m. the 

 maize, which is found to answer best when cracked, is then 

 added. We find that if the maize is placed in the cooker at 

 the same time as the vegetables, it adheres to them, and pre- 

 vents their becoming sufficiently cooked. The supply of 

 meat is obtained from a horse knacker, but care is taken to 

 see that no meat from a diseased animal of any kind is brought 

 on to the premises. 



"The price paid per carcase, which is delivered in joints, 

 varies from ten shillings to one pound, and works out at 

 about one halfpenny per pound. The bones can be parted 

 from the meat when cooked, and the hard bones are placed in 

 the fire for the purpose of charring, and are then broken by an 

 iron bar, and when cold are given to the hens, who rapidly 

 devour them. Softer bones ground into small pieces are fed to 

 the younger birds. The pea- and biscuit-meal is mixed with the 

 other cooked food just before feeding, which brings the mix- 

 ture into a somewhat dry, crumbly condition. Warm food and 

 ■a supply of meat are considered most essential, in order to 



