The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-08-03
COURIER

They advance from stall to stal
 through these pens day to day unti
 they are 90 days of age, when they art
 driven into the coops and sent to mar
 ket. The squad that leaves the ma
 chimes to-day are supposed to keeI
 each other company from the incubator
 to the frying pan, barring those thai
 are puny, and have to be put back
 few days, or those that are particular
 ly hrady and can stand to be moved uI
 9 pen or two, consequently there must
 be thousands of birds on hand con-
 stantly to enable the proprietor to fill his daily orders.
 The sale of eggs for the table is an-
 other large source of revenue. Two
 thousand hens will lay from 1000 to
 1900 eggs per day These are gathered,
 the date stamped upon them, wrapped
 nicely in tissue papper, packed in
 boxes holding a dozen each, and in
 from six to 24 hours all are on the
 cooks table in the different eastern
 cities.
 The killing house, wher ethe poultry
 is dressed for the market, is deserving
 of especial mention. In the height Of
 the season the men go to work al 5
 0 clock in the morning. A little tram
 way traverses the entire plant, and the
 live birds are brought to the killing
 house in cars. It has long picking
 benches, which extend the entire
 length of one side of the building. Each
 operator has a window to afford him plenty of light. There are scalding- | vats, feather-bins, cooling -troughs, i dripping packing benches, feath-
 re presses, billing desks, ice breakers,
 platform and hang scales, and numer- ous other contrivances, so that thou sands of birds can be turned out with speed that seems incredible.
 Everything about the place is con- ducted on a large scale. There Is a roof and vegetable store house, where thousands of bushels of beets, carrots. turnips cabbage, etc, are stored away every fall for winter use. This house Is built below the level of the ground, to protect it's contents from frost.
 In one of the buildings ther is an immense food cooker, which will hold thousand gallons It occupies two stor- les, being loaded from above and emp tied from below. Several barrels of fresh meat and bone are dumped in here at once, the door is bolted down, and 0 pressure of 70 pounds of steam is turned into it for 30 minutes, at the end of which time the entire substance, meat bone, and all, is reduced to soup. Mule meat is used almost exclusively in making this broth. The soup made from the flesh of he mules is used to of ba fowls Water Is never mixed with their food. They are given plenty to drink Great quantities of bread are fed to the growing fowls. They consume from 600 to 1000 loaves daily. Shell Is pur- chased by the car load, 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 1t must in some places, 1t Is built on tres ties, so as not to injure or disturb the young fowls.
 There are many curious facts in con-, nection with the business. Little ducks do not get along as well as little chick ems. They are the greatest towards in the world. When g. stranger enters their pen they rush pell-mell to the op- posite side and pile upon each other seyral feet deep. As @ result of such a scare there will always be several dead ducks and 8 number of crippled ones. It is estimated that a duck loses in weight every time he is frightened. so 1t is a matter of good business to keep strangers away from the duck pens, and few visitors are allowed to go there One of the best ways to get a | flock of young ducks to venture and | forage for themselves is to put young | chicken among them. They are great | to follow a leader, and when young Mister Chicken, who is not as cowardly | eads off the ducks are right after him. But they are a timid folk; light has 70 be kept burning in their pens all light. If they are left alone in the lark it Is not long until the vivid im- ,gination of one of them will conjure ID something to get scared at. He will sound the alarm, and the panic hat follows is something terrible. The teepers go through at regular inter- ,als during the night. The ducks be- ome very fond of the men who feed hem and care for them, but any other things frighten them. The machine made fowls, that are raised so systematically, lack a good many of he characteristics of the ordinary irds, and have some ways not com- non to the others
 The keepers have a peculiar call, ,hioh never fails to attract the fowls rom all portions of the place. They lso have another sound, which Is in ended to initiate the whirling noise of
 hawks wings. In event of storm oming up suddenly they can clear the en yards quicker than it takes to sll it by sounding this alarm.--Corre- nondence Kansas City Star.