The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-05-03
Chicken Feeding Machine
Ry W. Frank Mcclure.

W-NATTENING fowls for the
= market by means Of ma
IMl X l chinery, on first thought
M lMl to most people seems rid
@=@ iculous, hardly more so,
however, than the hatch
ing of chickens by means of an incu-
bator a few years ago. The incubator
has come to stay, and the chicken feed
er. although an innovation, has found
a place in some of the largest poultry
yards. Modern genius in recent years
has affected the poultry farm just as
decidedly as it has the apiary or the
stock farm, and its problems have Of
fered a wide field for scientific study.
1t is claimed that chickens fattened
by machinery comprise sweeter and
tenderer meat than those fattened in
the ordinary way. Fowls are fed IN
this manner for two or three weeks
prior to killing, and in that time in
crease in weight from two to three
pounds. The chickens are not allowed
exercise in this time, and are allowed
no other food than that which is re-
ceived from the machine. The feed
ing is done twice a day, and n man
can feed 800 chickens in a day. 1t Is
a patent liquid food that it is fed in
this manner, the ingredients of which,
of course. are known only to the maker.
The feeding machine is nicely illus
trated in the accompanying photo
graph. The food is forced through a
tube by means Of a suction pump.
which in turn is operated by a foot
pedal. The tube, which is about ten
inches in length, reaches through the
chickens mouth into its crop. In the
photograph this tube is shown on the
outside of the fowls neck, reaching
to about the same point as when in
serted in the mouth. When the crop
is full the flow of liquid food stops in
stantly, and the chicken is not injured
in the least. This -eeding by ma
chinery is done chiefly in the prepara-
ton of roasterS for the market and
for finishing the fattening Of broilers.
Notable progress has also been made
among poultry raisers in the increased
production of eggs. 1t is claimed to-day
that it is within the power Of the poul-
try owner to make his hens lay on an
average three years crop in two years,
and that ever moulting is controlled
at the will of the owner. This is ali i'm
portant discovery in this day, when
the demand for eggs is so enormous
and the price so high. IN the last an
nual report of the Secretary Of Agri-
culture, a statement is made which
gives an idea of the size of the annual
consumption Of eggs in this country.
This report states that the hens of the
United States lay 1,G66, 100000 dozens
of eggs a year, the value Of which in
n month is enough to pay the inter-
est of the entire national debt for one
year. There is little question that the
scientific study that has been given
the subject Of poultry laising in re-
cent years has added materially to
this annual egg production ove what
it otherwise would have been. Proper
housing, for example, has come to be
recognized as an absolute essential.
Also, as pure air is required for the
healthy human being, so also the we'll
bred fowl to-day is given plenty Of
fresh air, while at the same time
drafts are avoided.
It is not unusual nowadays to sec
numerous small chicken houses scat
tered over a large field where the
poultry business is carried IN upon
an extensive scale. This arrangement,
of course, admits Of the various focks
being. housed separately. Artificial
heat is seldom resorted to in heating
these houses, except in extreme cold
weather. With all surroundings con-
ducive, /: is not unusual for one hen
to lay sixteen dozen eggs in one year,
and even better records than this are
often made. Few poultrymen, how
ever, attain such records with their
focks unless they have made a study
of the numerous scientific methods of
caring for them.-Scientifc American.