Читать книгу The Taste of Britain - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall - Страница 360

A few specialist breeders still keep Sussex fowl. The poultry farms of the past, using caponizing and cramming, have died out and are unlikely to be ever reintroduced; and the casual system in which poultry ranged freely under the care of the farmer’s wife, who collected the eggs and dressed table poultry for the market, is on the verge of extinction. The concern of those who now keep Sussex strains is as much to preserve bloodlines and genetic diversity as to produce eggs and meat. Because of this and because of the costs involved in rearing the fowl, they are usually kept under close supervision and a system of fold units, or coops with runs on grass enclosed by wire mesh, is followed. Each unit, containing one cockerel and several hens, is moved daily to allow access to fresh grass. Supplementary feed of protein pellets and grain is given daily. The chickens, hatched in spring, are marked to identify the genetic strain, particularly important in flocks which are kept closed—at least one has been in existence since the 1930s.

All poultry breeders who wish to market their birds as meat now have to observe strictly enforced regulations of hygiene and slaughter, requiring the use of an accredited abattoir. There are relatively few of these. The slaughter-houses are obliged to concentrate on one species of meat animal on any given day, and generally prefer to operate with large throughputs. These factors, added to high transport costs, have had an adverse effect on small poultry breeders.