Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1905-01-09

always XIII out a WelL-COIOICO
carcass. The Mediterranean
breeds of f,wls-Leghorns, etc
are very unsatisfactory from a
feeding standpoint, as they make
poor gains, and do not kill out
as plump, well-colored carcasses.
About 10 per cent of the chickens
received are Plymouth Rocks or
their grades.
The actual feeding is done IN
small troughs about one and one
half inches deep and two inches
wide; in1othese the feed ispoured.
The birds are reluctant to- take
the feed at first. but usually start
fairly we'll on the second or third
day. The ann IS to glvethem all
they will clean up. and when on
full teed they will consume APP
proximately the amount pre-
vious mentioned - fifty FIVE
poundr per day for 100 birds.
Birds ranging from three and
one-half to four and one-half
pounds are usually selected for
force feeding, though at times
the lighter birds are used. In
force feeding, they are fed in the
ordinary manner for the first five
days; for the next nine days they
are force fed. This is very inter
esting. The apparatus used con
sists, briefly, of a reservoir on
whee! stand, a force pump, oper-
ated by foot power, connected
with the reservoir, and a dis
charge pipe-a. half-inch rubber
hose, ten inches long. The oper-
ator fills the reservoir with regu-
lar feed. then wheels the feeding
apparatus TO the coops. He then
grasps the nearest bird. tucks it
firmly under his left arm, grasps
the back of the chickens head
with his right hand, Cat the same
time pulling the birds tongue
down on the floor of the mouth)
and then leaning forward, i'm
pales the bird on the rubber tube
actually pushing from eight to
nine inches OF tube down the
birds throat. He then makes a
stroke with the foot, and the
chicken is full of feed. The trag-
ic expression assumed by the
rooster the first time this opera
ton is performed, would lead the
uni:itiated to believe tlat death
was resulting-but rot SO. The
bird is withdrawn. and tossed
into an adjacent coop; and sthe
operation is repeated with the
next. -, ,.Sts
Anexpelt operator can handle
$50 birds per hour. Beginners
do well to feed / 80 per hour, and
they are certain, to cause more
or less loss unit! they become ac-
customed to the work, as the
amount of feed a bird can take
is wholly within the Judgment Of
the operrtor, and the result is
that 1T IS not an uncommon oc-
curence to pump in too large a
feed, thereby bursting the birds
crop. If this is noticed at the
time, the chicken is slaughtered
and dressed; if not noticed until
the next feed, it is lost, Tor. the
flesh turns black. The particu-
la advantages gained by this
method of feeding are: greater
gains in the same length of time.
and plumper, choicer carcasscs
than can be secured by ordinary
feeding.
The peculiar conditions neces-
STATED in chicken feeding name
ly. that the birds cannot comfor-
tably be shipped after fattening
will probably conhne these
great feeding establishments to
slaughtering centers. Similar
plants are to be found in Red
Oak, Charlton, and many other
Iowa and Illinois points.
In conclusion, it should be men
toned that the methods outlined
above have been in vogue in Eng
land for nearly half a century,
and their introduction into this
country was due to their success
in the old country English feed
ers were imported to start the
business, but the greater number
of men now engaged in the feed