On November 27 the fowls were slaughtered. Each fowl was weighed,
wrapped in a bag to prevent floundering, and killed by severing an
artery in the roof of the mouth. The blood was caught in a glass jar.
The fowls were then picked and the feathers weighed, after which the
body was laid open longitudinally by cutting alongside the sternum and
through the back bone. When all had been thus prepared, they were hung
up in groups to be photographed, but the photographs were quite
unsatisfactory so far as showing the relative proportions of fat and
lean. The accompanying drawing made from the photograph shows the
relative development of an average pair of chickens. Attention is
particularly called to the thighs.
[Illustration]
One-half of each fowl was tested by cooking for flavor, succulence,
and tenderness. The other half was carefully prepared for chemical
analysis by separating the meat from the bones. The flesh was
thoroughly mixed and run through a sausage cutter, mixed again, and
the process repeated three times. From different parts of this mixture
a large sample was taken, from which the chemist took his samples for
analysis. The right tibia of each fowl was tested for strength by
placing it across two parallel bars and suspending a wire on its
center, on which were placed small weights until the bone gave way.
DRESSED WEIGHT, INTERNAL ORGANS, ETC.
____________________________________________________________________
| |
| Hens. | Chickens.
|___________________|____________________
| | | |
| Lot I. | Lot II. | Lot I. | Lot II.
| Nitro- | Carbon- | Nitro- | Carbon-
| genous. | aceous. | genous. | aceous.
|_________|_________|_________|__________
| lb. | lb. | lb. | lb.
Live weight. | 21.31 | 22.0 | 17.89 | 12.63
Dressed weight. | 14.86 | 15.09 | 12.01 | 8.89
" " per cent. | 69.7 | 68.6 | 67.1 | 70.5
Weight of blood. | 0.75 | 0.66 | 0.55 | 0.34
" " feathers. | 1.41 | 1.25 | 1.28 | 0.66
" " intestinal fat. | 0.59 | 1.98 | 0.34 | 0.66
" " offal. | 3.70 | 3.02 | 3.62 | 2.08
" " bones. | 3.47 | 3.63 | 3.18 | 2.69
" " flesh. | 11.39 | 11.47 | 8.93 | 6.20
___________________________|_________________________________________
The breaking strain of the right tibia was as follows for the hens and
chickens of the various lots:
Average hens, nitrogenous. 48.16
" " carbonaceous. 51.74
" chickens, nitrogenous. 46.64
" " carbonaceous. 31.18
There was little difference in the strength of the bones of the hens,
undoubtedly because the bones were mature before the feeding began,
and were little affected by the feeding. We find, however, that the
bones of the chickens fed on nitrogenous food were almost fifty per
cent. (49.6) stronger than those fed carbonaceous food.
The difference in the composition of the flesh, as shown by the
analysis of Mr. W.P. Cutter, is given below:
__________________________________________________________________
| |
| Hens. | Chickens.
|___________________|____________________
| | | |
| Lot I. | Lot II. | Lot I. | Lot II.
| Nitro- | Carbon- | Nitro- | Carbon-
| genous. | aceous. | genous. | aceous.
|_________|_________|_________|__________
Albuminoids. | 43.81 | 25.13 | 52.00 | 30.06
Fat. | 12.59 | 20.76 | 5.54 | 11.34
_________________________________________________________________
The flesh of each group was submitted to a number of persons for a
cooking test, and the almost unanimous verdict was that the flesh of
the fowls fed a nitrogenous ration was darker colored, more succulent,
more tender, and better flavored, though on this last there was some
difference of opinion.