The Dollar Hen Part 15

As is a general rule in meat production, young animals give much better returns for food consumed than do mature individuals. With the young chicken the weight is added as flesh, while the hen has a tendency, which increases with age, to turn the same food into useless fat. For this reason the general practice is to fatten only the best of the young chickens. The head feeder at a large and successful poultry plant gave the following information on the selection of birds for the fattening-crates:

"The younger the stock the more profitable the gain. All specimens showing the slightest indication of disease are discarded. The Plymouth Rock is the favorite breed, and the Wyandotte is second.

Leghorns are comparatively fat when received, and, while they do well under feed and 'yellow up' nicely, they do not gain as much as the American breeds. Black chickens are not fed at all. Brahmas and Cochins are not considered good feeders at the age when they are commonly sold. Chickens in fair flesh at the start make better gains than those that are extremely lean or very fat. But, contrary to what the amateur might a.s.sume, the moderately fat chicken will continue to make fair gains, while the very lean chicken seldom returns a profit."

The idea has been somewhat prevalent that there is some guarded secret about the rations used in crate-fattening. This is a mistaken notion. The rations used contain no new or wonderful const.i.tuent, and although individual feeders may have their own formulas, the general composition of the feed is common knowledge. The feed most commonly used consists of finely ground grain, mixed to a batter with b.u.t.termilk or sour skim-milk. The favorite grain for the purpose is oats finely ground and the hulls removed. Oats may be used as the sole grain, and is the only grain recommended as suitable to be fed alone. Corn is used, but not by itself. Shorts, ground barley or ground buckwheat are sometimes used. Beans, peas, linseed and gluten meals may be used in small quant.i.ties. When milk products are obtainable they are a great aid to successful fattening. Tallow is often used in small quant.i.ties toward the finish of the feeding period. The a.s.sumption is that it causes the deposit of fat-globules throughout the muscular tissues, thus adding to the quality of the meat. The following simple rations show that there is nothing complex about the crate-fed chicken's bill of fare:

No. 1.--Ground oats, 2 parts; ground barley, 1 part; ground corn, 1 part; mixed with skim-milk.

No. 2.--Ground corn, 4 parts; ground peas, 1 part; ground oats, 1 part; meat-meal, 1 part; mixed with water.

A ration used by some fatters with great success is composed of simply oatmeal and b.u.t.termilk.

The feed is given as a soft batter and is left in the troughs for about thirty minutes, when the residue is removed. Chickens are generally fed three times per day. Water may or may not be given, according to the weather and the amount of liquid used in the food.

The chicken that has been crate-fattened has practically the same amount of skeleton and offal as the unfattened specimen, but carries one or two pounds more of edible meat upon its carca.s.s. Not only is the weight of the chicken and amount of edible meat increased, but the quality of the meat is greatly improved, consisting of juicy, tender flesh. For this reason the crate-feeding process is often spoken of as fleshing rather than as fattening.

The enforced idleness causes the muscular tissue to become tender and filled with stored nutriment. The fatness of a young chicken, crate-fed on b.u.t.termilk and oatmeal, is a radically different thing from the fatness of an old hen that has been ranging around the corn-crib.

The crate-fattening industry while deserving credit for great improvement in the quality of chicken flesh in the regions where it has been introduced, cannot on the whole be considered a great success. It is commonly reported that some of the firms instrumental in its introduction lost money on the deal. The crate-fattening plant has come to stay in the communities where careful methods of poultry raising are practiced, and where the stock is of the best, but when a plant is located in a newly settled region where the poultry stock is small and feed scarce, the venture is pretty apt to prove a fiasco.

While poultryman at the Kansas Experiment Station, the writer made a large number of individual weighings of fowls in the crates of one of the large fattening plants of the state.

These weighings pointed out very clearly why the expected profits had not been realized. The birds selected for weighing were all fine, uniform looking Barred Rock c.o.c.kerels. At the end of the first week they were found to still appear much the same, but when handled a difference was easily noticed. By the end of the second week a few birds had died and many others were in a bad way. The individual changes of weight ran from 2-1/2 pounds gain to 3/4 pound loss, and many of the lighter birds were of very poor appearance. It is simply a matter of forced feeding being a process that makes trouble with the health of the chicken if all is not just right.

It is probable that in the future more fattening will be done on the farm, or by the farmer operating in a small way among his neighbors.

The reason for this is that the saving of labor in the large plant is hardly as great as the added loss from the shrinkage of the birds due to the excitement of shipping and crowding, and the introduction of disease by the mingling of chickens from so many different sources.

The Canadians especially have encouraged fattening on the farm. The following is a hand-bill gotten out by an enterprising Canadian dealer for distribution among the farmers of his locality:

HOW TO FATTEN CHICKENS FOR THE EXPORT TRADE.

To fatten birds for the export trade, it is necessary to have proper coops to put them in. These should be two feet long, twenty inches high and twenty inches deep, the top, bottom and front made of slats. This size will hold four birds, but the cheapest plan is to build the coops ten feet long and divide them into five sections.

What to feed.

Oats chopped fine, the coa.r.s.e hulls sifted out, two parts; ground buckwheat, one part; mix with skim-milk to a good soft batter, and feed three times a day.

Or, black barley and oats, two parts oats to one part barley. Give clean drinking water twice a day, grit twice a week, and charcoal once a week. During the first week the birds are in the coops they should be fed sparingly--only about one-half of what they will eat. After that gradually increase the amount until you find out just how much they will eat up clean each time. Never leave any food in the troughs, as it will sour and cause trouble. Mix the food always one feed ahead. Birds fed in this way will be ready for the export trade in from four to five weeks.

Chickens make the best gain put in the coop weighing three to four pounds.

We Supply the Coops.

We have on hand a number of coops for fattening chicks, which we will loan to any person, "free of charge", who will sign an agreement to bring all chicks fattened in them to us. Every farmer should have at least one of these coops, as this is the only way to fatten chicks properly. In this way you can get the highest market price. We can handle any quant.i.ty of chicks properly fatted.

ARMSTRONG BROS.

The farmer who does not think it worth while to construct fattening-crates for his own crop of chickens, may get very fair results by simply enclosing the chickens in some vacant shed. To these may feed a ration of two-thirds corn meal and one-third shorts, or some of the more complicated rations used at the fattening plants may be fed.

In the East, poultry fattening on the general farm is not dissimilar from the practices in the Central West, but we find a larger use of cramming machines, caponizing, and the growing of chickens for meat as an industry independent of keeping hens for egg production.

The cramming machine is a device by means of which food in a semi-liquid state is pumped into the bird's crop, through a tube inserted in the mouth. This means of feeding is much more used in Europe than in this country. It requires good stock and careful workmen. The method will probably slowly gain ground in this country. The feed used in cramming is similar to that used in ordinary crate feeding, except that it is mixed as a thin batter.

Caponizing.

Caponizing is the castration of male chickens. Capons hold the same place in the poultry market as do steers in the beef market.

Caponizing is practiced to quite an extent in France, and to a less degree in England and the United States.

Much the larger part of the industry is confined to that portion of the United States east of Philadelphia, though increasing numbers of capons are being raised in the North Central States. During the winter months capon is regularly quoted in the markets of the larger eastern cities. Ma.s.sachusetts and New Jersey are the great centers for the growing of capons, while Boston, New York, and Philadelphia are the great markets. In many eastern markets the prices paid for dressed capons range from 20 to 30 cents a pound. The highest prices usually prevail from January to May, and the larger the birds the more they bring a pound.

The purpose of caponizing is not, as is sometimes stated, to increase the size of the chicken, but to improve the quality of the meat. The capon fattens more readily and economically than other birds. As they do not interfere with or worry one another, large flocks may be kept together.

The breeds suitable for caponizing are the Asiatics and Americans.

Brahmas will produce, with proper care and sufficient time, the largest and finest capons. On the ordinary farm, where capons would be allowed to run loose, Plymouth Rocks would prove more profitable.

Plymouth Rocks, Brahmas, Langshans, Wyandottes, Indian Games, may all be used for capons. Leghorns are not to be considered for this purpose.

Capons should be operated upon when they are about ten weeks or three months old and weigh about two pounds.

The operation of caponizing is performed by cutting in between the last two ribs. Both t.e.s.t.i.c.l.es may be removed from one side or both sides may be opened. The c.o.c.kerel should be starved for twenty-four hours in order to empty the intestines. Asiatics are more difficult to operate on than Americans, the t.e.s.t.i.c.l.es being larger and less firm. There is always some danger of causing death by tearing blood vessels, but the per cent. of loss with an experienced operator is very small. Loss by inflammation is still more rare. The t.e.s.t.i.c.l.e of a bird is not as highly developed as in a mammal, and if the organ is broken and a small fragment remains attached it will produce birds known as slips. Some growers advise looking over the capons and puncturing the wind puffs that gather beneath the skin. This, however, is not necessary.

A good set of tools is indispensable and can be purchased for from $2 to $3. As a complete set of instructions is furnished with each set it is unnecessary to go into details here. The beginner should, however, operate on several dead c.o.c.kerels before attempting to operate on a live one.

After caponizing the bird should be given plenty of soft feed and water. The capon begins to eat almost immediately after the operation is performed, and no one would suppose that a radical change had taken place in his nature.

The feeding of capons differs little from the feeding of other growing chickens. Corn, wheat, barley and Kaffir-corn would be suitable grain, while beef-sc.r.a.p would be necessary to produce the best growth.

About three weeks before marketing place the capons in small yards and feed them three or four times a day, giving plenty of corn and other feed, or fatten them in one of the ways indicated in the section on fattening poultry. Corn meal and ground oats, equal parts by weight, moistened with water or milk, make a good mash for fattening capons.

In dressing capons leave the head and hackle feathers, the feathers on the wings to the second joint, the tail feathers, including those a little way up the back, and the feathers on the legs halfway up to the thigh. These feathers serve to distinguish capons from other fowls in the market. Do not cut the head off, for this is also a distinguishing feature of the capon, on account of the undeveloped comb and wattles.

The price received for capons is greater than any other kind of poultry meat except early broilers. There may be trouble in some localities in getting dealers to recognize capons as such and pay an advanced price.

On several farms in Ma.s.sachusetts, 500 to 1,000 capons are raised annually, and on one farm 5,000 c.o.c.kerels are held for caponizing.

The industry is growing rapidly year by year and the supply does not equal the demand.

It is to be expected that the amount of caponizing done in the West will gradually increase. Those wishing to try the growing of capons will do well to secure an experienced operator. Good men at this work receive five cents per bird. Poor operators are dear at any price, as they produce a large number of worthless slips.

CHAPTER X

MARKETING POULTRY CARCa.s.sES