CHAPTER VIII.

FEEDING FOR MEAT PRODUCTION

The primary object in feeding birds for the market is to get them well covered with flesh, so that they will be plump all over. It is the difference in the weight of the bony skeleton and the weight of the well filled out carcass that determines the amount of edible meat on the bird. Hence our object in this process is to put on as much surplus flesh as we can.

Usually there are three classes of birds that are put on the market for meat purposes. They are roasters, broilers, and old hens. Roasting chickens are very common on the market, and the object is large size with a tender carcass. These can be either pullets or cockerels, or capons. They are often put on the market during the late fall or early winter, and bring the highest prices at that time.

Broilers are birds about three or four months old, forced along to a rapid growth, but still possessing tender flesh. This offers an excellent way of disposing of the male birds, since usually the sex of the young birds can be distinguished at about two months of age.

Old hens constitute the third division of the meat classes placed upon the market, and are generally composed of those birds that are through laying, or the ones that have been found to be unprofitable. Their meat is usually much tougher than the first two mentioned classes, and consequently used in city restaurants for meat pies, etc.

In fattening birds for the market, a somewhat different procedure is followed than in feeding for egg production. We found that in feeding for egg production we encouraged the birds in every way possible to take all the exercise that they could get. We do just the opposite in putting flesh on the birds. We restrict their exercise as much as possible, and pen them up in small quarters so that their feed largely goes to nothing but putting flesh on their bodies. It can easily be seen that when birds are roaming around, exercising more or less all day long, that there is little chance for them to get very fat.

Now as to the nature of the feed for fattening these birds. We will still need some protein feeds, but not as much as in the case of feeding for eggs. However, we will need feeds which are quite rich in carbohydrates and fat. These are easily obtained and are relatively cheap. Corn is an excellent ration for this purpose.

Since the birds are confined to small pens, and exercise restricted, it becomes evident that digestion becomes an important factor here. Therefore, it is advisable to have plenty of grit before the birds at all times, so that their food will be properly ground.

We must not get the idea, just because we are feeding for flesh, that the birds should be stuffed to their limit with feed. To do so, would be to have a lot of the birds off feed, and consequently we would be worse off than not to feed them enough. It is best to plan to feed them about three times a day, and to feed them all that they will cleanup in a certain length of time, as from twenty minutes to half an hour. Some are successful in feeding only twice a day, instead of three times a day.

Corn is usually the basis of fattening rations and should always have a prominent place in the ration. Here again, milk in some form is excellent to supply some of the protein that is needed. Corn must be supplemented by other grains, such as oats, barley or middlings, provided they are in a finely ground condition. Some feeders follow the plan of feeding part of these grains in the form of a wet mash, using the skim milk to moisten the mash, but when this is done, care must be exercised in seeing that the mash is cleaned up at every feeding, otherwise the trough will become mouldy, with bad results to the birds.

There has come into use within recent years a method of fattening birds by what is known as crate fattening. This is practiced considerably by some of the big packing companies. The birds are bought up from the surrounding territory and brought into the central fattening station. They are then placed in small pens, or batteries, as they are called, and fed a ration composed largely of skim milk and corn meal, with a few other feeds added, such as red dog flour, bran, etc. This is mixed into a thin, pasty feed, and fed the birds from a trough running along in front of the pens. They are fed this way for a period of two weeks or more, and are then taken out, dressed, and sold to the big city markets as milk fed chickens, and always bring several cents a pound more on the market than other poultry, because of the tenderness of the flesh. In this process, even greater care must be exercised in watching the feeding of the birds, and only feed that they will cleanup in about fifteen or twenty minutes.

Crate feeding has appealed to many town lot poultry men, who have bought up culls of the neighboring territory, put them in small crates or pens, and fed them this milk feed for a few weeks and then marketed them, securing the top prices on the market.

We have now discussed the most important items connected with the feeding of the birds for various purposes. Let us now examine the living quarters of the birds, and see if we can improve the housing conditions in which the birds live during the winter months.