7. INFLUENCE OF FEEDING AND CARE ON QUALITY.--To some extent, the breed
affects the quality of poultry as food; still this is a far less
important matter than a number of things that the purchaser is better
able to judge. Among the factors that greatly influence the quality are
the feeding and care that the birds receive up to the time of slaughter.
These affect not only the flavor and the tenderness of the tissue, as
well as the quantity of tissue in proportion to bone, but also the
healthfulness of the birds themselves. To keep the birds in good health
and to build up sufficient flesh to make them plump, with as much meat
as possible on the bones and a fair amount of fat as well, the food they
get must be clean and of the right kind. Likewise, the housing
conditions must be such that the birds are kept dry and sufficiently
warm. The living space, also, must be adequate for the number that are
raised. Domestic fowls are not discriminating as to their food, and when
they are forced to live in dirt and filth they will eat more or less of
it and thus injure the quality of their flesh. Poultry that comes into
the market looking drawn and thin, with blue-looking flesh and no fat,
shows evidence of having had poor living conditions and inadequate
feeding. Such poultry will be found to have a less satisfactory flavor
than that which has received proper care.
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