Mountain Home maverick. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1906-1911, 1911-01-19

III bOOu OIutI- ASllt from the DdN
appearance of incompletely .bled
chickens, their keeping properties
are very inferior The flesh is not so
good; the odor or stale flesh and f.
nally of putrefaction comes sooner;
amid in every way the product is more
perishable
A very careful study is now being
made in this laboratory of the com
parative periods of time that well
and badly bled chickens will keep.
This is being determined for every
phase of their arketing-their con-
dition after chilling in the packing
house; when they reach the end of
their railroad haul; and when they
have passed through the various
channels of large city to the con-
sumner. The time required for such
study makes it impossible to give
results of the work in detail at pres
ent. Certain salient points, however,
stand out with such sharpness that
it seems advisable to report them IN
summarized form that those who
are engaged in the dressing and
handling of poultry may be able to
profit by them at once.
An anatomical study of the blood
vessels of the head and neck of the
chicken has been included in the in
vestigation of the handling and mar
keting of dressed poultry in order to
determine the best methods of bleed
ing and the reasons for the incomplete
bleeding which is so prevalent. Here
tofore there has been no description
available of the number and loca-
ton of the large veins in the neck of
a chicken This lack of knowledge
has resulted in much indiscriminate
hacking and gashing of the chickens
mouth, all of which is frequently
done to no purpose, because in spite
of the many cuts the large veins
which carry the blood often are not
touched.
When the feathers are removed by
scalding, the bird is killed by bleed
ing alone, hence the cuts to sever the
veins are the only ones attempted,
and if the attempt fails bad bleeding
will surely result. If, on the other
hand, dry picking is to be practiced
the birds are cut to bleed and are
also stuck through the brain to par
alyze the feather muscles The lat
ter operation is sometimes perform
ed by running the knife under the
eye at such an angle that its point
will touch the skull midway between
the eyes and a little behind them;
or the Draining is accomplished by
placing the knife about half way
down the groove in the roof of the
chickens mouth and then thrusting
it up until the knife reaches the top
of the skull. The knife. as in brain
ing under the eye, should touch that
pdlt of the inside of the skull which
lies about midway between the eyes.
The point of the knife should then
be :; owed backward and forward a
little. so that enough brain tissue
may be destroyed to paralpze the
bird. yet not kill it instantly. If the
outside stick" method is practiced
practically no blood escapes. If the
Draining inside of the mouth is adopt
ed, the blood vessels in the brain
whic hare cut find an outlet for their
contents through the knife hole
Bleeding from these vessels is. un-
der any circumstances, of assistance
in obtaining the best results. and
where the neck vessels are missed the
condition of the chicken is otter
greatly improved by the bleeding
from the brain.
Two large veins run the whole
length of the neck, one on each side.
and unite by a bridge-vein, which is
just below and behind the ear. This
vein, which connects the two others
does not run straight across but at
an angle. so that it is farther front
on the right than on the left side.
If the feathers on the neck Of
chicken are pulled aside, or better
still, if moulting chicken with but
a few feathers is observed, these
veins can be seen while the bird is
alive, especially if a little pressure
is used at the lower part of the neck
so that the blood collects and dis
tends them. It is important that the
position of these veins be exactly To-
Gated on the neck of the live bird,
pend very largely the guiding Of the
knife to the blood vessel
since upon this information will de-