The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-12-28
POULTRY For MARKET.
How to Fatten and How to Dress the
Birds For Best Results.

How to Fatten and How to Dfess Che
Birds For Best Results.
Ten days or two weeks before mar
keting fowls confine them in small yards
where they will be quiet, contented and
out of sight of other poultry. Seeing
other fowls at large will make them
fret and lose flesh instead OF gaming.
Keep the yards sorupulously clean. Feed
three times day all that will be eaten
at each meal. Give the first meal early
and the last one late in the day. Pro-
vide plenty of sharp grit and fresh water.
Corn is best for finishing off poultry, as
it gives firmer flesh and yellower col
or than buckwheat or other grains Full
lets can be fattened best just before CON-
mencing to lay and cockerels when the
tails begin to turn. Tt is mistake TO
keep males until fully matured. AS
soon as fit for broilers they should be
marketed. Cockerels always meet a
ready sale and command high prices.
There is much TO be learned about
dressing poultry. 1t is useless to send
fowls to market unless fat and neatly
dressed Attractiveness is an important
feature in selling. and great loss fire..
uuently occurs from lack of it, In SELL
ing to local dealers use the same care In
dressing that would be taken it shipping
to distant commission merchant is the
advice of writer in The American Ag-
riculturist, who says: Fowls look best
when dry picked. especially if fat and
plump. If they are not in fine condition,
it is best to scald them before picking.
When dry picked, the natural firmness
of the flesh remains, and poultry for
general markets should be SO prepared
if possible. Let the fowls go without
food for 10 to "a hours before killing.
so that nothing will remain in the crop
to sour. Kill by severing the veins OF
the neck or inside the mouth. This can
be quickly and painlessly done with a
sharp knife. Hang the fowls by the feet
to bleed and pick while the bodies are
warm, using great care not to tear the
skin. Leave the head and feet on and
do not remove the crop or intestines.
Wash in cold water, wipe dry and hang
up by the feet in cool place. For scald-
ing, heat the water about to the boiling
point. Holding the fowl by the head
and feet, dip the body into the water
three or four times. If the head touches
the water, it will give the eyes a
shrunken appearance. Buyers are nat
urally suspicious, and if the eyes are
sunken they think the fowl has been
sick. When the feathers and pinfeathers
have been removed, immerse the fowl
in scalding water for four or five sec,
onds and then dip Immediately into ice
cold water to give it plump appear
ance. If the head is cut off, turn the
skin back trif1e. cut off the bone, and
drawing the skin forward tie it neatly.
Ducks and geese should go through
the same process of dressing as chickens.
For these fowls it requires more time
for the scalding water to penetrate and
loosen the feathers After scalding wrap
them in thick cloth for two minutes,
and the feathers and down will come
off easily. Turkeys should always be
dry picked. Before packing for shipping
be sure the meat is dry and cold. Pack
snugly in clean boxes or barrels after
placing layer Of clean hay or straw in
the bottom. Boxes or barrels holding
100 to $50 pounds are conveniently
baBdled