UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
Ajl| BULLETIN No. 1052 Jijffe 
Contribution from the Bureau of Chemistry 
■SZ&^'^SU W. G. CAMPBELL, Acting Chief 
Washington, D. C. ▼ March 13, 1922 
RATIONS FOR FEEDING POULTRY IN THE PACK- 
ING HOUSE. 
[From the Food Research Laboratory. 1 ] 
CONTENTS. 
Page. | Page. 
Purpose of "investigation 1 j Discussion of results 17 
Methods of procedure 2 Compounding rations 22 
Results of investigation 3 | 
PURPOSE OF INVESTIGATION. 
Poultry fleshing or finishing is rapidly becoming a very important 
specialized phase of the poultry industry of the United States. It 
does not seem to be feasible to fatten poultry extensively on the farm 
for the reason that dressed poultry, being highly perishable, requires 
chilling and holding, the facilities for which the farmer ordinarily 
lacks. Moreover, the shrinkage in weight which occurs when the 
fattened birds are shipped alive from the farm to the packing house 
usually offsets the gain obtained during the fleshing period. As 
practiced in the modern poultry-packing plant, fleshing may be con- 
sidered a manufacturing process whereby the range birds received 
by the packer are put in condition for the market. This is accom- 
plished by intensive feeding for a period of from 7 to 14 days, fol- 
lowed by dressing, chilling, grading, and packing. 
The twofold object of fleshing poultry is to add a substantial amount 
of flesh to the fowls and to improve the quality of the edible portion. 
The finishing process adds weight to the edible parts more rapidly 
than to the inedible parts, thus increasing the value of such poultry 
to the consumer. The producer's gain lies in the fact that the 
1 This bulletin was compiled by J. S. Hepburn, junior chemist, and R. C Holder, assistant chemist, 
under the direction of H. A. McAleer, chief, and M. E. Pennington, formerly chief, Food Research Lab- 
oratory. The chemical part of the investigation, which covered a period of four years, was done by A. W. 
Broomell, A. D. Greenlee, J. S. Hepburn, R. C Holder, E. F. Kohman, H. A. Shonle, and G. C Swan. 
The feeding work was done by H. C Bowman, J. M. Borders, R. L. Cochran, L. E. Harker, A. C. Kling- 
man, P. L. Sanford, H. L. Shrader, C. E. Sidler, R. L. Skinner, and P. S. White. D. C. Kennard assisted 
in the compilation of the data here reported. 
80750— 22— Bull. 1052 1 
