The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1914-02-10
ENID LEADS As
POULTRY CENTER
GARFIELD COUNTY SEAT SUR
PASSES ALL OTHERS DURING
PRESENT SEASON.
1918 BUSINESS OVER s3,OOO.OOO
Eioht Thousand Five Hundred Chick
ems Handled Daily by Five Large
Buying Companies for
Shipment East.

The greatest poultry marketing
center west Of the Mississippi river
is the title claimed by Enid since the
close OF the Thanksgiving turkey sea
son In the few weeks previous 10 the
autumn holiday. hundreds OF thousands
OF pounds Of turkey and chicken.
shipped from the Garfield county seat,
demonstrated that Enid has surpassed
! Springfield, No. its former peer. in
volume OF business this year.
Before the year 1913 rs closed con
siderably more than $1,000. 600 will
have been paid out ty local buyers for
poultry and eggs. and the number Of
pounds Of poultry shipped will aggre-
gate more than six million. Two large
companies. Swift a Co. and Aaron &
Co. and three smaller firms. Clark &
White. Enid Poultry Company, and
Jacks & Co, handle the greater part
OF the business Swift a. Co. now is
erecting a new $4,000 four-story
structure which viii be completed
January l. on account OF increase OF
business. the Aaron a Co. will build a
similar structure next year
The plains of Oklahoma ana north
ern Texas have the climate which is
said 10 be the best in the United
States for poultry raising. The poul-
try is sold by the farmer TO the pro
duce man in the small town. who pays
him cash Every train which enters
Enid on the ten lines which radiate
from the city carries a large consign'
ment Of live poultry. throughout the
season from July ! TO January /. At
the height Of the season they come by
the carload, in large crates by express.
Lucky Birds Are Fed.
Once in Enid and delivered 10 one
of the big poultry houses. two courses
may be pursued AT the Aaron & Co.
house they may be killed and dressed
within a few days, usually Two 10 five,
as the Aaron people specialize on what
Is known as ranger stuff" II, how
ever. the poultry is consigned to Swift
& Co. It will be fed for from seven to
ten days before butchering. This
makes a fancy grade OF poultry which
is known as ''milk-fed."
The feeding station OF Swift at pres
ent is located in large brick building
140 by so feet, and the Aaron people
occupy a similar space. As the chick
ems are received here they are
weighed and placed in clean. newly
whitewashed crates. arranged in bat
teries. four high and twelve feet long.
These crates are divided into compart-
ments. each OF which holds from six
10 seven fowls Everything is sani-
tary The floors Of the cages are OF
wire netting so that the feet Of the
birds are always clean and dry and
the trays beneath this wire floor are
cleaned every day.
Along the side OF each compartment
runs a small wooden trough which is
filed with the balanced rations for the
requisite ten days This building has
a capacity Of $4,000 chickens and has
been filled ever since the first OF July
Seven men are always busy and 500
worth of feed is used each day. The
feed for this number of fowls each day
amounts 10 1900 pounds. and is an
even mixture OF water. steel cut oats,
soft oats. cornmeal. condensed butter
milk. and tallow, the tallow being add
ed both for its fattening properties
and to supply the oil required by the
fowls
The poultry is kept on these ra-
tions for ten days. at the end Of which
they are expected to have gained about
% per cent in weight For twenty-four
hours before killing the chickens re-
ceiye no food and are given sand and
gravel to eat They are then taken
to the picking sheds.
Eighty-fve hundred chickens are
picked every day in Enid from July
TO December l, and during the turkey
season about as many turkeys are
picked daily. About one hundred and
fifty chicken pickers are employed by
the two big poultry houses and the
Payroll averages $500 a week. In
picking chickens there are two meth
DDS, scalding and dry picking. The
dry picking is used almost exclusively
in Enid as it gives a much better prod
uct for the retail market. In dry
picking the pickers stand in a sort
of pit and the feathers are thrown
on the floor as they are stripped from
the chicken.
Eight thousand FIVE hundred chick
ems daily in Enid are placed IN the
cold storage rooms of the Arctic Ice
company. About two cars. or 10000
pounds Of poultry is shipped out each
day on orders. These cars are con
signed all over the United States and
glance at the orders in one office
for a recent week shows the following
points to which cars were sent. Nor
wich. Conn. New York City, Chicago.
Kansas City, Les Angeles. Hartford,
Conn, Camden, n. j.. Philadelphia.
San Francisco and Seattle. several
cities taking more than one car. Just
before Thanksgiving each house ships
out about three carloads Of turkeys a
day. The real turkey season, how
ever. does not begin until nearer
Christmas as the Thanksgiving mar.
ket is a much shorter one than before
the Christmas HOLIDAYS.