Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-08-21

cially fed fowl, and the dry, taste
less poultry of the ordinary market.
1t never pays to market poultry in
this condition. The producer who sells
poor fowls loses in the lower market
price received for the entire carcass.
He loses the profit which he might
realize on the extra flesh that could be
added at a cost of one-third or less of
its market value. He loses indirectly
through the reduced consumption re-
sulting from lack of quality, which
makes it more difficult TO sell his
products in the future.
1t is a waste of money and a loss of
time to attempt to market range fed
fowls Their flesh is tough, coarse
grained, and lacking in flavor. 1t is
next to impossible to build up a regu-
lar trade in this class of poultry.
Table poultry produced by ordinary
fattening is much better than the or
dinary grades, although most of the
fattening is not of the highest order
BY this method the gains secured dur
ing the period of week or ten days
are so much more profitable than
those secured later that most of the
producers confine their efforts to this
method, although 1t is known that the
| highest finish cannot be secured with
out longer feeding. Fowls so fed may
| be called half-fatted fowls as dis
| tinguished from full-fattened fowls,
where three or more weeks are en-
| ployed in the process.
Special Fattening Most Profitable
The advantages gained by special
fattening are so great, and the meth
| DDS so easily practiced, that there is
no excuse for producers to market
any but these specially fattened fowls.
Fowls fed high in close confinement
| with specially selected foods will have
soft muscles and the fat will be de-
posted in the muscular tissues rather
than in flakes and chunks of solid fat
IN the abdomen. In special fattening,
the water in the flesh of the fowl is
replaced by fat and in cooking this is
blended with the flesh, further soft
ening the tissues and improving the
flavor.
Not only is the quality Of the flesh
improved. but the total weight is in
creased at a low cost. Under ordinary
conditions the gain secured in special
fattening will cost less than that Sc
cured in any other period of the fowls
growth. There is. therefore, a larger
profit on the gain secured while the
process increases the market value of
the entire fowl by several cents on
the pound.
The common methods of fattening
fowls are: Feeding on the range or in
the general flock, pen feeding and
crate feeding.
Range Fattening WaSteful
Any method of fattening is better
than none, but the gains secured in
feeding fowls on range are much
smaller and more expensive than those
secured by other methods, and the
quality is distinctly inferior. Fowls
that are at liberty will waste a large
amount of food given them in unnec-
essary exercise; they are not likely
to eat as well, and it is impossible to
fatten them or soften the muscular
tissues, as is done when the fowls are
fed in confinement. Fattening in open
range is expensive and unsa satisfactory.
Pen feeding is the most popular
method of fattening chickens on a
small scale, and while fowls so fed
cannot be as we'll finished as in crate
feeding, there are conditions under
which the use of this method is rec
commended. Fowls will generally make
somewhat smaller gains in pens than
in crates. The quality Of the flesh
produced in pen fattening is not as
good, however, because the fowls take