The Savannah morning news., 1901-07-31
A GREAT POULTRY FARM.
Kettles That Cook Thousand Gall
lOns-The Timidity of DuckIinEs.
Dallas (PennN Corasnnndenca of the

ANoAiASd0 WY ONdts
This little village has what is proba-
bly, the largest poultry farm in the
world. The Meadow Brook Farm, sit
uated a short half mile from the rail-
way station, covers eighty-two acres
of ground. The building and yards of
this immense plant cover over thirty
five acres and the amount of floor
space under roof amounts to a little
more than 10000 square feet. 1t is
lighted by electricity, heated by steam
and watered by a system of pipes,
which are fed by an immense living
we'll on the premises.
The business of the plant consists of
supplying young ducks and chickens to
summer hotels, clubs, restaurants.
steamship lines and market dealers
who cater to the best trade of the big
cities. Eggs are also furnished in large
quantities for the table and for hatch
ing purposes. The plan of conducting
such an immense business Is an inter-
eSting one.
The incubator building contains fifty
large incubators, each holding 400 eggs.
The total capacity of the incubators in
use is 10000 eggs. 1t takes twenty one
days for chicken to hatch in these
machines and twenty-eight days for a
duckling to come through. If all the
machines discharged their chicks and
ducklings at the same time they could
not be handled to advantage, so to
overcome the difficulty some of the ma
chimes are loaded with eggs each day,
so that some of them discharge their
young broods daily. BY this system
the age of the stock is graduated, so
That the number required for market
natures daily and is cooped and ship
ped without being kept on the premises
an hour longer than is necessary
When the little chicks come from the
lncubators they are herded into pens
1hey advance from stall to stall
through these pens from day to day
until they are ninety days of age, when
they are driven into the coops and sent
to market. The squad that leaves the
machines to-day are supposed to keen
each other company from the incubator
to the frying pan, barring those that
are puny and have to be put back
few days, or those that are particularly
hardy and can stand to be moved I'D a
pen or two, consequently there must be
thousands of birds on hand constantly
to enable the proprietor to fill his daily
orders. ''
The sale of eggs for the table is an
otner large source of revenue Two
- io''0ehhu mems VIII lay from 1000 to l.
2OO eggs a day These are gathered
the date stamped upon them. wrapped
nicely in tissue paper. packed in box
es holding a dozen each. and in from
SIX TO twenty-four hours all are on the
COOKS table, in the different Eastern
cities.
The killing house, where the poultry
is dressed for the market, is deserving
OF especial mention. In the height of
the season the men go to work at
O'Clock in the morning A little tram
way. traverses the entire plant, and the
live birds are brought to the killing
house in cars. 1t has long picking
benches which extend the entire length
of one side of the building. Each on
orator has a window to afford him
plenty of light. There are scalding
vats. feather binds. cooling troughs,
dripping racks. packing benches, feath-
err presses, billing desks, ice breakers,
platform and hanging scales, and
numerous other contrivances, so that
thousands of birds can be turned out
with speed that seems incredible.
Everything about the place is con-
Quoted on large scale. There is a
root and vegetable storehouse, where
thousands of bushels of beets, carrots,
turnips, cabbages ETC., are stored away
every fall for winter use. This house
lis built below the level of the ground
to protect it's contents from frost.
In one of the buildings there is an
immense food cooker, which will hold a
thousand gallons. 1t couples two
stories, being loaded from above and
emptied from below. Several barrels
of fresh meat and bone are dumped in
here at once, the door is bolted down
and a pressure of seventy pounds of
steam is turned into it for thirty min
utes, at the end of which time the en-
tire substance, meat, bone and all, is
reduced to soup. Mule meat is used al
most exclusively in making this broth.
The soup made from the flesh of the
mules is used to mix with the food of
the young fowls. Water is never mixed
with their food. They are given plen-
ty to drink. Great quantities of bread
are fed to the growing, fowls. They
consume from 500 to 1000 loaves daily.
Shell is purchased by the carload and
ground by steam machinery on the
premises. The food is carted about the
place on the cars of the little tramway
When the track runs through the yards,
as it must in some places, it is built
on trestles, so as not to injure or dis
turb the young fowls.
There are many CURIOUS facts In con-
nection with the business. Little
ducks do not get along as well as lit
tie chickens. They are the greatest
towards in the world. When a strang-
err enters their pen they rush pellmell
10 the opposite side and pile upon each
other several feet deep. AS a result
OF such a scare there will always be
several dead ducks and a number of
crippled ones. 1t is estimated that a
duck loses in weight every time he is
frightened, so IL Is a matter OF good
business TO keep strangers away from
the duck pens, and few visitors are al
lowed to go there. One of the best
ways to get flock of young ducks TO
venture and forage for themselves is
10 put a young chicken among them.
They are great to follow a leader. and
when young Mister Chicken, who is
rot so cowardly. leads off the ducks
arc right after him. But they are a
timid folk: a light has 10 be kept burn
ing in their pens all night. II they
are left alone In the dark II is not
long until the vivid Imagination OF one
OF them will conjure up something TO
get scared at. He viii sound the
alarm, and the panic that follows is
something terrible. The keepers go
through at regular intervals during
the night. The ducks become very fond
OF the men who feed them and care
for them. but any other breathing
things Brighten them. The machine
made fowls, that are raised 80 sys-
temnticaily. lack a good many OF tho
characteristics OF the ordinary birds,
and have some ways not common 20
a. al