Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1874-06-20
Fattening Chickens by Machinery.


1t seems to be generally admitted by
gOurmandS that no chickens of mechan-
ical fattening have such exquisite flavor
as those submitted to the process. In
the Gardens of Acclimatation at Paris,
this is very scientifically practiced
under the direction of M. Odile Mar
tin. "Its advantages" say the authori-
ties, do not consist in the rapidity of
the process alone, but above all in the
special quality of the meat thus pro-
duced. 1t is solid, very tender, exceed
ingly fine-grained, not overfat (Which
would not be an advantage), very white
in color, and of flavor quite excep-
tionally excellent.
If this is SO, of course there is no help
for the chickens. They must perforce
enter their epi,aetteS, and be mathemati
cally crammed. Behold here the in
genious contrivance of the Gardens of
Acclimatation for manufacturing this
exceptionally excellent flavor
1t is huge cylinder with fourteen
faces, each in five stories of three COM
partments each. 1t holds, therefore,
210 fowls. The cylinder is hollow and
empty, except for the axis on which it
turns. This hollow construction rem
ders it easily ventilated and kept clean.
Before it is q box for the operator.
This box, or carriage, moves up and
down by pulleys. The gaveur-that
sounds less offensive than crammer-
operates thus: Commencing at the
bottom of one of these fourteen faces,
he seizes with the left hand the neck of
the chicken and pressing on each side
of the beak, the bird is forced to open
its mouth, as any lady knows who has
doctored sick chicken or canary. The
gaveor then introduces the metallic
end of the rubber tube into the throat
of the chicken, and by pressure of the
foot on pedal the food rises, and at
the same time the amount passing
through the tube is indicated on dial
in front of the operator.
1t is therefore skillful operation !;
for the QoveaGr, whatever other motions
are necessary, must pay strict attention
to the needle on the dial, or he will
give his chicken too much or too little.
The three chickens duly fed, he turns
the cylinder on it's axis little, and the
next face of it is before him. When
he has completed the round he turns
the crank, and the carriage rises to the
next story and SO he goes on to the
top. Having completed the upper cir
cult, every chicken in that e0inette is
duly fed. Then he turns the crank in
the other direction, and the carriage
descends to the floor, where it rests on
a railroad. 1t is then moved along be-
fore the next epinette, and the whole
operation on 210 more chickens is re-
peated. A skillful operator will gaze,
or cram, 400 chickens in an hour That
is less than nine seconds to each one !;
for the time to move the cylinder, to
move the carriage up, down, and to the
next epjnette, must be counted out.
Under this epinette regime, it re-
quires an average of fifteen days to fat
ten duck, eighteen for chicken,
twenty for a goose, and twenty-five for
turkey. The feed used for chickens
is barley and corn meal mixed with milk
into dough so thin that no other liquid
is necessary. The ordinary quantity
given is from ten to twenty centiliters,
or from -tenths to one and four
tenths of gill each time but this
quantity is reached gradually. When
the maximum that any chicken can as
simulate is found, the number indicat-
ing this quantity is placed before it's
compartment, and the gaveur must
measure it exactly on the dial.
Truly this is an age of wonders.
What a labor-saving invention this
epinette must be to the chickens! May
be it is not wise to give these details.
What if some enterprising American
should be thereby tempted to invest his
whole fortune in grand improved au-
tamaton steam power epinette, warrant
ed to feed ten thousand chickens
minute