OCR Text |
Show FORCING FOWLS FOR MARKET Good Judgment and Proper Management Manage-ment Essential in Fattening Poultry Keep Pena Dark. To fatten poultry quickly and profitably prof-itably requires good judgment and proper maniigement in the care of the fowls and proper feeding. Tb best foods are bits of fat meat, mashes of meal or fine grits made from yellow corn, with sklra milk; boiled potatoes, rice and oatmeal and milk. If anything, oatmeal Is preferable prefer-able because of Its greater heating qualities and its effect on color or fat. The inuln point to keep in view Is to fatten your fowls in the shortest time possible. To do this they should be In a coop or pen, where they cannot can-not take much exercise, for by exercise exer-cise they work off llesh and keep down fat. A good way Is to confine them to small, light coops made of lath or wire netting. These may sit out In the back yard or barnyard, on well-drained ground. In case of rain or damp weather cover them with oilcloth. Keep the ren dark during the daytime, except when the fowls are eating, by throwing a thick covering cov-ering over the coops, such as old carpets, blankets or quilts. This will prevent the fowls from stirring about between meals. In the morning give them boiled potatoes, mashed while hot and thickened with corn meal, with a little suit and pepper for sea sonlng. They should be fed three times a day. and their bill of fare varied a9 much as possible, but with a largo proportion of starchy hent and fat producing articles. Very little green stuff should be given them, though pumpkin or squash may take the place of boiled potatoes occasionally. Fresh bedding should be supplied frequently, and the coop and spot It occupies should be kept clean. The coop should rest on cinders, or on gravelly or sandy soil, with a r;.lUng of hay or straw. The coop being light. It will bo easy to move It to a new place occasionally by a man getting at each end and lifting It an Inch or so off the ground, gently pushing push-ing the chickens along Inside the coop as It Is moved, having prepared the bed of hay on the uew place beforehand. Unless a hen is a very valuable breeding fowl It does not pay to keep her after she Is two years old. They should be marketed Just before their second moulting. |