POULTRY NOTES

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21554, 17 January 1940, Page 3

POULTRY NOTES

POINTS IN SELECTING TABLE BIRDS METHODS OF FATTENING The flesh of any class of table poultry should be firm and thick and solid, that which is flabby and bluish indicates staleness. The younger the bird, the more tender the flesh, but there is no difference in quality between a male and a female up to five months old. After twelve months the flesh becomes tough, especially in the male. Small-boned and short-legged specimens are generally the more delicate and appetising and have finer quality flesh. The long, coarselegged chicken contains much waste in the shape of a proportionately big skeleton and coarse skin. The crop should be meaty and sunken, the skin, which should leave the flesh easily, should be fine, soft, white and smooth, and the flesh firm, evenly distributed over the body, so that a finger pressure leaves no permanent mark. These points app’y to any class of poultry. To test freshness in fowls, the eyes should be clear and not sunken and shrivelled, and the feet limp and pliable. Dry, stiff feet are sure signs of staleness. To test age a young chicken will have smooth. finely scaled legs and short spurs. The older a bird is, the harder become the bones. The best place to test this is the end of the breast-bone and the beak. In a young bird the end of the breast-bone is soft and pliable and the peak can be pressed in at each side. The comb is fine and soft. Old fowls have coarse, roughened legs, long spurs, stiff horney-looking feet, hairy thighs and stiff beaks and bones. Though white-fleshed birds are preferred, they are not of necessity better tasting than the yellow fleshed.

Young turkeys have black, smooth legs with short spurs, while age ii indicated by pale or reddish or rough legs and long, definite spurs. If freshly killed the eyes are bright and full. The flesh should be white, the breast full, soft and rounded, and the neck long. Moderately big birds <lO to 121 b.) will be found the most tasty. The “ beard” to be found in males against the crop should be small. One three inches long indicates the possessor to be an old stag which will probably be coarse and tough unless well cooked. Geese and ducks should be examined on the webbing between the toes, which, in a young bird, will be soft and pliable, as opposed to rough, coarse and tough. The feet of those freshly killed are moist, but become dry and stiff if the birds have been killed some time. If they are of yellow-legged breeds then the colour should be brilliant and clear, as it becomes darker as age progresses.

Fattening of poultry for marketing offers a profitable outlet for the poul-try-keeper, but in many cases birds consigned to market reach the retailer in poor condition. Cockerels segregated from the pullets could be remuneratively raised and fattened for the table. Killing them because of their sex is wasteful. Generous feeding is necessary if the birds are to commend themselves to buyers, and it is essential that the birds should not be overcrowded in the crates used for transport.

The best method to fatten poultry is to provide coops in which the birds can be confined for 10 or 15 days. It is uneconomical to feed the birds heavily and then allow them to run off condition, as they do if the fattening process is carried on too long.

The coops should be in sheltered positions, because it is important to keep the birds warm and to some extent in the dark. Fattening will be facilitated by the absence of excitement and noise.

The birds should be fed on soft food. Mashes of ground oats, ground wheat, and if possible bran mixed with milk, all improves the quality and colour of the flesh. The process of fattening may be assisted by the fermentation of the food, which may be achieved by early mixing and allowing it to stand for some hours before feeding time. When first placed in the coops the birds should not be fed for 12 hours, and then they should be fed regularly every 12 hours. At first they should be allowed as much as they will eat in 10 minutes, and the surplus should be removed. Later they should be fed with as much as they can eat in 20 minutes. Birds which show signs of going off their food should be released from the coops for a few’ days and fed on grain.