Charlevoix county herald., 1913-12-20
FOON
| Depa|
| ERNES
campau Bids
| GRAND RAPID
HOW TO KILL AND
DRESS

The most common way OF ,lilling
turkeys is to hang them up by their
legs and stick them with knife in
the mouth, making one or two cuts
diagonally across the roof of the
mouth, while moving the point of the
knife forward from the edge of the
skull.
After sticking, the birds are
Drained by running the point of the
knife under the eye or into the roof
Of the mouth in such a way as to
strike the inside of the skull directly
between the eyes. The knife may be
slightly twisted when the point reach
es the brain, the bird giving a charac-
teristic culver when properly Drained,
after which the feathers pick easily.
The feathers are usually picked in
the following order: Flights, main
tail, back, sides, breast, legs, and
thighs. Turkeys are usually dry
picked and shipped undrawn to mar
ket. The long wing feathers bring a
good price on the market The meth
DDS Of killing and dressing turkeys
and chickens are practically the same
Market poultry is divided into sew
eral classes, which vary in different
markets. In general there is a class
called Chickens" which covers all
chickens up to the age when the
ROSTERS get tough or Shaggy" which
is told by the growth of their spurs,
which, first appear as buttons, and
the lack of flexibiljty of the end of
their treastbone or keel. After this
age cockerels are usually classed as
stays or old cocks. Pullets may be
classed on the market as fowls after
they begin to lay, but are frequently
classed as chickens until they are 1
year old.
Chickens are usually divided into
broilers, weighing under 21s pounds;
springs, weighing from 21a to 31a
pounds; and roasters, 31a pounds and
over. Capons are unsexed males,
which are not usually sold until they
are over 6 months of age. In picking
capons the feathers are usually left
on the upper part of the neck and the
last two joints of the wing, including
the long wing feathers (fights), tail
feathers, and 21s to inches from the
tail on the back and a few feathers
around the hook joint Of the legs. The
breast and lower part of the body are
picked clean. The comb is small and |
undeveloped in capon. In dressing |
ducks, geese, and turkeys all the fea- |
theirs are removed, except in the lat |
ter two the wing feathers are some
times allowed to remain.
Selecting Live Poultry.
The bird should be healthy as
shown especially by its head points,
such as a bright red comb and wattles
and a clear, bright eye. A dark-col-
ored comb and wattles, dull, luster-
less eye, and any mucous discharge
from or swelling about the eyes or
mouth show disease or poor condition.
Poultry which are covered with pin
feathers, especially if dark colored,
are hard to dress neatly. In addi-
ion to health and condition, the bird
should be well fleshed, which is best
old by the amount of flesh on the
Jack, the breast, and pelvic bones of
he fowl. The flexibility of the rear
md of the breastbone is the best in
lication of age in the fowl. This
should be very soft and pliable in a
young bird, and slightly sitter and
.asily bent in a rooster or pullet, after
which age this bone hardens and be-
omes large and blunt, according to
he age of the fowl. The legs Of young
'irds are smooth and become rougher
md scalier as the bird grows older.
Selecting Dressed Poultry.
The points used in selecting live
'oultry apply to dressed poultry, such
s health and well-feshed condition.
he appearance of the head is a good
vay to Judge the health, age and sex
4 chicken. A matured fowls comb
5 heavier and thicker than that Of