CHICKEN

The word ‘‘chicken’’ formerly meant ‘‘young fowl,’’? but usage has applied it to fowls of all ages killed for food, young birds being designated as ‘spring chickens,’’ ‘‘broilers,’’ ete. The fowl has been reared for food for so many centuries that its first conversion from its wild ancestors is lost in tradition. Poultry raising has been practiced in Europe from the earliest recorded times, and domestic fowl were plentiful in Great Britain long before the Roman invasion. The best known types of chickens especially suitable for raising for table purposes are the many varieties of the Brahma (very large birds), Cochin, Langshan, Dorking, Orpington, Plymouth Rock, Wyandotte, Rhode Island Red, and Houdan. Representative examples of all of these are shown on the page facing 101. To the general rules for selection given in the article on Pounrry (which see) may be added that thick seales on the legs, thin necks, and dark-colored thighs are signs of toughne in clnckens. <A good table bird should have a large, full breast and, at other points also, a large proportion of meat to the size of the bones—long, thin legs and wings are especially undesirable.. Chickens should he starved for at least twenty-four hours before killing. Those that have been killed with partially filled crops should be avoided, as the disintegration of the grain quickly discolors the flesh. In common with all other meat, they are more tender if held for two days or longer before cooking. Dry-picked chickens will keep longer than ‘‘sealded’’ birds—those immersed in hot water before plucking. The plucking shonld be performed immediately after killing. Capons (cocks castrated when young) are considered a little choicer—more tender and of Iigher flavor—than ordinary fowls. They can be distinguished by the; pale and shriveled appearance of the combs, the undeveloped condition of the spurs, and especially round, well-fleshed bodies. Poulards, or spayed hens, are in France considered particularly desirable also, but in this country they are not rated as much, if any, better than first-cla pullets. Milk-fed chickens are those fattened for market on grains, oatmeal, bread, ete., together with buttermilk or skim-milk. Properly regulated, the diet produces birds with very delicate flesh. Many large poultry raisers market no other kind. In England the fattening of chickens for market has Jong been a separate specialized industry, and in recent years a similar system has established itself here. The ‘‘milk-feeders,’’ or ‘‘fatters,’? buy the birds ready grown, and systematically feed them up to the highest po ible point with a plentiful grain and milk diet— first, and perhaps exclusively, by natural temptation of their appetites but finally in some cases by pumping a special mixture into their crops night and morning until the desired rotundity is obtained. A “‘squab chicken’’ should average three-quarters to 114 pounds in weight; a ‘*broiler’’ 114 to two; one to ‘‘sauter,’’ or for frying, about 214 pounds; for ‘‘roasting’’ three pounds or so; and for frica ee, four pounds. Numerous you sands of ““squab chickens’’ are White Leghorn cockerels marketed by ‘‘egg-farms’’ as soon as they are large enough to be worth eating. The meat of a well fattened chicken of young or medium age has about the same nutritive value as beef, but it is considered easier of digestion and therefore especially suitable for invalids and convalescents. American custom generally discards various parts of the bird which are considered of value in some other countries. The head of the chicken, for example, is in Kurope often left on the bird when it is cooked, as the brain is accounted a tit-bit; blanched cocks’ combs and wattles are rated by French cooks as a delicacy worthy of preparation as a separate dish and especially desirable for garnishing; and the feet, skinned and dre ed, are used for making broths.