THE RESULTS OF SLAUGHTERING.
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.
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. | |
| Nitrogenous. | Carbonaceous. | Nitrogenous. | Carbonaceous. | |
| lb. | lb. | lb. | lb. | |
| Live weight | 21.31 | 22.0 | 17.89 | 12.63 |
| Dressed weight. | 14.86 | 15.09 | 12.01 | 8.89 |
| Dressed weight, per cent. | 69.7 | 68.6 | 67.1 | 70.5 |
| Weight of blood. | 0.75 | 0.66 | 0.55 | 0.34 |
| Weight of feathers. | 1.41 | 1.25 | 1.28 | 0.66 |
| Weight of intestinal fat. | 0.59 | 1.98 | 0.34 | 0.66 |
| Weight of offal. | 3.70 | 3.02 | 3.62 | 2.08 |
| Weight of bones. | 3.47 | 3.63 | 3.18 | 2.69 |
| Weight of 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 |
| Average 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: