THE POULTRY AND EGG INDUSTRY IN EUROPE 23 
Care seems to be taken that the oats shall be thoroughly dry and 
ground between sharp stones, so that the resultant meal will be free 
from long, needlelike fibers. As a conditioner to keep the blood cool 
in the summer boiled chopped nettles and flowers of sulphur are 
sometimes added to the ration once or twice a week. Grit is given 
twice a week. 
Care is taken to see that the birds are not overfed at the start 
of the feeding period. They are given just what they will readily 
clean up in about 15 minutes. The troughs are then taken away from 
the crates until the next feeding period. By this means the birds are 
always kept hungry for each meal, and by carefully increasing the 
quantities of feed at the end of the fourth day they are cleaning up 
a full trough of feed twice a day. The feed is usually mixed for 
one feeding and allowed to stand until the next feeding period, 
during which time a slight fermentation usually takes place. 
CRAMMING 
Beyond the 14-day period of feeding in the crates the quantity 
of food consumed by the chickens tends to decrease, with a conse- 
quent slower deposition of fat on the body, unless the bird is forcibly 
fed. To increase the consumption of food per bird, with a conse- 
quent gain in fat after the 12 or 14 days period, the birds are 
crammed by machine for such length of time as the operator thinks 
they are gaining in flesh. The experiences in England confirm those 
in this country that a feeding period of 3 weeks without cram- 
ming results in a very much softer flesh than for a 2 week's feed- 
ing, even though the rate of increase in weight is not maintained. 
Gain obtained during the third week by ordinary trough feeding is 
not, however, considered to be commensurate with the cost of the 
feed and the effort. The length of the cramming period may vary 
from 1 to 2 weeks, or in some instances may be even longer. 
The cramming machine generally used consists of a reservoir for 
the food, a rubber-covered tube or flexible rubber tube which enters 
the bird's mouth, and a foot-controlled plunger which forces the food 
from the reservoir through the tube into the crop. The feed used in 
cramming is the same as used in crate feeding, except that it contains 
8 little more milk and flows about as rapidly as thick cream. Some- 
times mutton fat is added to the cramming feed at the rate of about 
2 pounds to 100 head of poultry, then increased each day until ap- 
proximately the fifth day, when 4 pounds of fat per 100 head is fed. 
The method of cramming is, in brief, as follows : 
The feeder takes the bird from the crate, holds it under his left 
arm with its head in his left hand. The neck is extended, the mouth 
opened, and the tongue held down by the thumb of the left hand. 
The mouth of the bird is then placed on the tube of the machine until 
it extends into the neck- for a distance of 3 to 5 inches. The exten- 
sion of the neck allows the tube to enter without scratching the 
interior of the throat. Thus, with the right hand on the crop, feed 
is forced into the crop by pressure of the left foot on the treadle 
of the machine. Then, releasing the treadle slightly to prevent the 
feed from running out of the spout, the bird is withdrawn from the 
feeding tube and replaced in its crate. The secret of cramming de- 
pends upon the judgment used by the operator in giving just the right 
