Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1889-05-30
NO. 26.
sTuEEINo LIVE HENS.



The curious and envious --pctitors
OF Massachusetts, avenue produces
dealer may now turn In and advertise
that they have the fattest and most de-
licious poultry that the American mar
kct affords. They have discovered the
secret which has heretofore enabled
their competitor To monopolize these
claims And so has the reporter who
has often remarked the fat and over
/ grown appearance of the fowls which
lazily strut In the dealers side yard or
adorn the frontispiecs OF his place OF
/ business.
Twice daily the fowls are driven into
shed on the premises From this
they always emerge stuffed until their
hides will hardly hold them Now. n
hen is much like a monkey. in that II
has false and true stomach. A mon
key will eat vOraciously for hours. fll-
/ ing up a paunch in his neck. At his
leisure he draws from this sack and
masticatcs his food. A hen will al her
eraw. and when that Is reasonably we'll
done she Is satisfied. Monkeys never
get enough 90 eat. but a chicken will
often leave portion OF its food un-
/ touched. The secret Of fattening
chickens Il 10 induce them to eat more
than they want This Is not done by
Offering extra inducements in the way
OF superior viands. II Is done scicn-
;iically by force.
In the shed in question Is a coutriv-
ance that might bc taken for an in
fernal machine. a patent ballot-boX or
an automatic corn-sheller. But IL is
none Of these. II Is a chicken feeder.
An unsuspecting fowl Is driven on a
/ trap-dOor. The level floor folds up
and inclOses her. except at the top. A
device not unlike baseball mask
swoops down and completes her inn
/ prisonment An operator then comes
forward. puts the hen in n strait
jacket that stretches the gallinaceous
neck and holds the head erect. mouth
open. beak pointed toward the ceiling.
Then . spring Of automatic action Is
touched IL sets in motion light me
taiic arm acting as lever. Starting
from box overhead. it desccnds 10
the open beak Of the fowl. drops in =
small quantity Of prepared food and
forces il down into the throat This
operation i repeated until the hen is
''chock full" An apparatus may also
be- attached by which liquid food may
b. put into the bird. Stufiing stupe-
fics bird. but il does not Interfere
with the workings Of its digestive APP
paratu-.
Birds fattcned by the stuf'iug proc
es-. said the manager Of this afs-
paratus. ''mav actually bc made to
order. We can vary the food 80 as To
produce the desired flavor. The foods
are prepared to suit the demands of
our patrons BY fattening a bird in
ten days or less It Is made very tender.
as all the new flesh is the product of
rich. clean food. and is not toughened
by age or exercise
..Do you mean to say that you can
control the question of the quality of
the birds flesh
Certainly. that is the glory OF this
method. We can impart dainty pork
flavor. mingle the extract of bustard
with the delicious dream OF quail on
toast. throw n touch of mint or celery
into the meat. or initiate the delica-
cies of reed-birds, canvas-bacl ducks
or frog-hams. Besides. we can make
the meat black or white according as
we want To represent delicate white
flesh or the dark meats Of Wild fowl.
OF course prepared chicken like this
Is worth more in the pea-green market
than the ordinary barn-yard chanti-
cleer. We can also feed turkeys aud
ducks to good advantage, but we have
had the best results with chickens. -
indianapolis News