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Show J FATTENING CRATES TO FINISH CHICKENS I The best way to finish chickens is by crate fattening. Only strong, vigorous vig-orous chickens that have obtained their growth should bo put in the crates. Birds weighing from four to six pounds are best. The object of crate fattening is to plump out the breast and body so that the bird will have an attractive appearance when dressed. Cockerels should be crate fed from two to three weeks. As soon as they lose their keen appetites they should be taken out and killed. Good cockerels cocker-els that weigh four pounds when put in the crates should gain one pound per bird in two weeks' feeding. Construction of Crates. Fattening crates are usually made 7 feet 6 inches long, 20 inches high and 18 inches wide. The crate is divided into three compartments, each holding from four to five birds, according to the size of the chickens. The crate is made of slats, except the ends and r . . " ground, with the hulls sifted out,, should form the greater part of any fattening ration. All the grain fed should be finely ground, as whole grain requires too much energy to di-. gest and the chickens are likely to get sick when placed in close confinement on whole grain. Some grit and charcoal char-coal should be fed to the chickens at least once a week. A very good combination com-bination is as follows: Two parts finely-ground oats. Two parts finely ground buckwheat. Two parts finely ground oats. Add sufficient sour skim milk to make a batter, just so it will pour. Mix food 12 to 24 hours before feeding. feed-ing. Feed night and morning. Barley Bar-ley meal may be substituted for the corn. These grains produce a firm, white flesh of superior quality. How to Feed. The success of crate fattening depends de-pends very much on the way in which . 1 ijLj SPACE IN COMPARTMENTS FOR FIVE FOWLS. partitions between the compartments which are solid wood ; those on the top, bottom and back running lengthwise of the coop, while those of the front run up and down. The slats are usually usual-ly iy2 inches wide, and . inches thick. Those in front are placed 3 inches apart to allow the chickens to put their heads through for feeding. The slats on the bottom are placed l1 inches apart, so as to admit of the droppings passing through to the ground. There is a small V-shaped trough arranged ar-ranged in front of the coop for feeding feed-ing and watering the chickens. This trough is from 3 to 4 inches deep and is generally made of -inch lumber. Rations for Fattening. It is difficult to give a ration for fattening fat-tening chickens that meets the requirement require-ment of every individual., Oats, finely the feeding is done. Regular and judicious ju-dicious feeding must be followed throughout the whole fattening period. Starve the birds the first 24 hours. Then feed sparingly, never all the birds will eat, the first week. Feed twice a day, 12 hours apart. The chickens eat as well by lantern light as in the day. The second week feed all the birds will eat up clean. Food should never be left before the birds longer than ten minutes. This is very important. Ke-ruove Ke-ruove all food not eaten up readily, or the chickens will go off their feed. The crates should be in a secluded spot, away from other chickens. The birds must be dusted with sulphur or insect powder when put in the crates to keep the lice in check. If the sulphur is used too freely it produces a scaly appearance on the birds when dressed. |