The Arvada enterprise., 1917-03-01
TYPICAL cAPoN, A BUFF wYANDoTTE.

ed but it is the surest way of having
it properly thawed. In warm weather
it should be put in the refrigerator
to thaw, but In cold weather mOder
ately cool room will do rs well. II 1t
is impossible to do the thnwing nt
home, the marketman should not be
allowed to do ii until short time be-
fore delivery.
"AlthOugh frozen poultry is hardly
to be chosen when fresh birds are in
the market 1t undoubtedly has the ad
vantage of furnishing chickens, tur
keys. and other birds when the natural
supply Is lacking and thus increasing
the variety of the meat list"
Good Table Poultry.
The following statement Of the meth
DDS by which good table poultry can
be recognized by the purchaser is
made In the bulletin:
"In freshly killed bird the feet
feel moist, soft, and timber, and II 1t
was dressed with the head on. the eyes
look bright and full. AS 1t becomes
stale the eyes shrink and the feet dry
and harden; when too stale, |. c., when
decomposition Is well under way, the
body turns dark and greenish or be-
comes Shiny. The flesh should be
neither fiabby nor stiff, but should give
evenly and gentle when pressed by the
finger. 1t Is very difficult to distn-
guish between good cold-storage and
freshly-killed poultry.
"One OF the cOmmOnest ways of test
/ ing the age OF dressed poultry Is to
take the end OF the breastbone farth-
est from the head between thumb and
finger and attempt to bend it to one
side. In very young bird, say a
broilcr' chicken or green goose, II
will be easily bent, like the cartilage
in the human ear: In bird n ycar or
so old 1t will be brittle, and in an old
bird, tough and hard TO bend or break.
Unfortunately there are sometimes
tricky dealers who break the end OF
the breastbonc before showing the bird.
and thus render the test worthless. II
the feet are left on the carcass, they
furnish n mark Of age. In II young
|
ing hard and rough us the bird grows
older. The claws nre short and sharp
In n young bird, growing longer and
bluntcr with ngc and use. Spurs gen
orally occur on male chickens. On
male broilcrs and tender roasting
chickens they are small on older, high
crnavorcd ones they are prominent
but flexible: on cocks they are long
and attached to the bones Of the legs |.
on cnpons they seldom develop until
the second year OF ngc.
Turkeys mp to II ycnr old nrc snld
to have black feet. which grow pink
up to three years old and then gradual.
ly turn gray and dull.
"Thc age OF pigeons can sometimes
be told by the color OF the breast.
which becomes more and more purpllSh
ms the bird grows older. Red feet
are also said TO be II sign OF asc In n
pigeon.
''1n ducks md geese the ncxbIlI,y
OF the wlndplpc Is n mark Of youth
II can be easily squeezed md moved
when the bird is young. but ln,cr
grows rigid md fixed. II the tips Of
the quilts nj the end OF the wing nrc
sharply pointed the bird Is probably
young; the bun,cr they nrc, the older
the bird.
"Wh"n cnponIzlng hns been properly
done. the hond is small for the size Of
the body and comb md wnttlcs nrc
pale and wI,h"rcd, the body pumpcr,
roundcr, md lnrgcr than In nm ordinary
fowl, md th" spur nbortlyc. II the
operation wns incomplete, the hcnd
VIII bo like that Of mn ordinary bird
aud the body less rounded. Such birds,
known technically hs slip cnpons,' urc
much Inferior 10 true cnpons."