Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 207, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 September 1918 — FATTENING HENS BEFORE SELLING [ARTICLE]

FATTENING HENS BEFORE SELLING

Weight of Fowls and Quality of Flesh Can Be Greatly Improved Upon. GIVE CHICKENS FREE RANGE Waste Products and Grain Can Be Turned Into Valuable Meat—Skim or Buttermilk Are Most Economical Feeds. More attention should be given to the fattening of growing chickens, as most of them are marketed in a thin and unfinished condition, although bqth the weight of the chickens and the quality of. their flesh can be greatly improved by a.short period of fattening, according to poultry specialists of the United States department of agriculture. Hens which have been properly cared for are usually in good market condition, but if in poor flesh, they may be confined to pens and fattened for one or two weeks at a profit. The farmer has very good conditions for producing well-fleshed poultry, as he can utilize waste products from his farm in growing this stock by allowing the chickens free range and get them into the best condition for fat'tening. Both the farmer and backyard poultry keeper can thus turn waste products and grain into flesh while securing a large amount of valuable manure from the poultry. Skim or buttermilk, which are great aids io the most economical fattening, are available as by-products on many farms.

Pen Fattening. The farmer or back yard poultry keeper can fatten his chickens to best advantage by pen or crate fattening. In pen fattening 20 to 50 chickens are confined in a pen with a small yard and fed a fattening mash, such as one composed of two parts of cornmeal and one part middlings mixed with skim or buttermilk. If no milk is available, which would be the case in most back yard poultry flocks, make the mash of one part bran, one part middlings, three parts cornmeal and one-fourth part meat scrap. Feed twice daily, morning and afternoon, and in addition give a light feed of cracked corn late in the afternoon. Mix this mash to a crumbly consistency and keep water and grit before the chickens all of the time. Supply these chickens with a good quantity of green feed, such as sprouted oats, lawn clippings, etc., or waste vegetables, such as cabbages, beets or small potatoes. If skim or buttermilk Is fed, it Is not necessary to add the green feed. Crate Fattening.

Crate fattening is the method of feeding in which from six to ten chickens are confined together Jn each pen, arranged in tiers for convenience in feeding the chickens and cleaning the coops. The following ration and method is particularly adapted for crate fattening: 30 pounds cornmeal, 20 pounds ground oats and 10 pounds shorts mixed with skim or buttermilk, which is available on many farms. The feed is mixed with milk to the consistency of thick cream, or so that it will just drip from the tip of a wooden spoon. About three-fifths of the mixture should be milk, and it is advisable to use a larger per cent of milk in hot than in cold weather to keep the chickens from going off their feed. The birds should be fed lightly for the first few feeds, when they can be given all the feed they will eat, up in about thirty minutes, while any feed left at the end of that time should be taken away. Crate fattening is only advised where milk is available for mixing the ration. The chickens may be fed either two or three times dally, and can be fed heavier at night to good advantage than in the morning or noon. The greatest and cheapest gains are made on broilers, which are usually fed about fourteen days, while the length of the fattening period may be

shortened slightly for fryers and roasters. The greatest profit and the highest prices are secured from early chickens, whether they are broilers or roasters. It takes from four to seven pounds of grain to produce a pound of gain In fattening. ’ Crates and fattening pens should be kept clean and carefully disinfected. The droppings should be removed dally or every other day, and after a lot of chickens are killed the pen should be sprayed with whitewash containing 5 per cent of carbolic acid. It is not necessary to treat the chickens individually for lice if the coops are treated in able either to spray the trays of the crates lightly with a coal-tar disinfectant after cleaning, or to sprinkle them with air-slaked lime. The coops should be examined carefully once dally and sick and deaMdrds removed, This is especially essential ln»the fall months when the chickens are more apt to be sick.