THE POULTRY YARD

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12615, 27 November 1926, Page 19

THE POULTRY YARD

SOME UTILITY NOTES PREPARING TABLE POULTRY SOME HINTS FOR NOVICES (By Geo. Ambler.) Tlie chief aim of most small poultrykeepers is the production of eggs£ but since the best method of producing the laying birds is to raise them from the egg one’s self, there is always a certain proportion of cockerels which, if rearing is to be made profitable, must bo marketed at a paying price, and it is a common experience of the small producer that sending small lots to market alive result? in a poor net return, because the cost of transit and market commission are relatively higher than with large lots of birds. The small producer therefore turns, very naturally, to a consumer who pays a better price and really gets a more satisfactory article than can be purchased at shops. At the same time, the consumer requires that the birds should he killed, plucked, and dressed, especially as this results in a little saving in carriage, owing to the useless parts having been removed. Now, this is whore, to put it plain ly, many people make a mess of ir. It is, of the most unpleasant part of the business, since few people enjoy killing things and dressing them. If this method is to be followed, however—and there is no doubt that it a paying one—the unpleasantness has to bn faced. Like many other things, it can be made much less unpleasant if certain little dodges are practised, and the object of this article is to try and simplify tho matter for the novice. In the first place, a fowl should never be taken direct from the chic-ken-house and killed. If a lot of food is left in the digestive organs it commences to ferment, and a disagreeable odour pervades the carcase nil through subsequent operations. A fowl which is to be killed should be shut up in a clean coop away from all food for 24 hours, during which time the food will be completely digested and the organs emptied. In hot. weather plain water may be placed in the coop in case the bird is thirsty, and the coop should be dark, so that it may not be unduly agitated by being shut up. KILLING AND FLECKING. Killing and plucking are practically one operation, for the feathers come out much easier while the bird is still warm. In order v that the feathers may not be wasted, procure a good grain sack and nail three laths together into a triangle about a foot in diameter. This should be put in the month of the sack to keep it open, and one corner should rest on the table and be kept down by a weight or small clamp. Take the fowl by the legs with the left hand, grasping it round the thighs, and put the tail and the tip of the wings into the same hand. Hold all together quite firmly. Take the head in the right hand, placing the thumb and finger behind the bones at the back and, holding it lightly, place it so that the neck rests upon your vr. right thigh. Bend the head back at right angles. Up to this rioiiit the bird is not injured or hurt in any way. Now holding the legs and wings quite securely, give the head a firm and determined

pull, stopping only when a sudden jerk shows that the joints have parted. It takes much longer to describe than to perforin the operation, which takes a second. Do not he alarmed if the fowl flaps about for some time afterwards — it could do the same if its head were quite off—but start plucking the legs, holding the bird head downwards to allow the blood to flow into the head and leave the flesh clean and white. When the legs have been plucked, put the bird on the table, as a novice will need both hands to pluck the wing? and breast, one to hold the skin down, ; the other to pull out the feathers. If care is taken not to pull too many at a time and always to pull in the direction- in which they grow there is no fear of tearing the skin, but a begin- ; ner must proceed carefully, as nothing spoils the appearance more than a torn breast. Tho feathers will be put into tho bag as plucked, except the long pinions of the wings and tail, which should be kept separate. They are the least valuable, hut a certain number may be used for various purposes—pipecleaning, for example, 'the others may be used at home for stuffing pillows and cushions, or if sufficient are collected to make them worth selling, thev fetch quite a good price. The feathers should be baked in a not too hot oven before being used in pillows When every bit of quill has been picked out, the bird should, be singed to remove the hair, a flashy fire of straw or a taper being the best for the purpose. Next cut off the feet at the knees. Then sever the head at the place where the joints are broken, and separate the gullet and windpipe from their attachments. Cut a slit down the side at the rear of the bird, as small as possible, consistent with being able to introduce one hand. Carefully detach all tho entrails from the body by passing the hand all over inside, and it will bo found that the whole of the interior can be removed in one mass. Tf neatly done, there should be no blood inside or out, but' if 1 there is it should be sponged off. The heart, liver, gizzard, etc., are carefully detached from Aho vest, the gall bladder being cut out of the liver and the gizzard opened and washed clean. These choice parts are then put back in tho body, together with tnc neck, which should be cut off close, leaving sufficient skin to cover the opening. A piece of thin twino should be tied to the end of the legs, both of which are doubled forward and pressed against tho sides, the twine being then passed round to keep the legs and wings close against the body. A better finish is given if the bird is placed in a shallow trough with a weight on the breast-hone, and allowed to remain till cold and stiff. i For dispatching nothing is suitable than a handbag lined with straw, wrapping the bird in a sheet of grease-proof paper before placing in the bag. HOW EGGS BECOME STALE The effect of age upon an egg is to dry its contents and reduce them to a small compass If eggs are not occasionally turned the yolk and white are liable to adhere together. That is why with eggs in an incubator turning is essential. An egg that is exposed to the weather, but protected from the sun, rain and frost, will lose more than half its original weight in twelve months. In other words, kept under similar conditions, twenty-seven eggs at the end of six months will weigh loss than twenty-two newly-laid ones. Tinder these adverse conditions it has been found that an egg will lose dailv on a yearly average, from 0.05 to 0.08 of a gramme. During cold and damp days evaporation falls to 0.03 of a gramme, and in dry and warm weather it rises to 0.12 of a gramme. Evaporn- |

tion is half the annual dailv average in winter, and double the annual daily average in summer. That means a itily loss four times greater in hot weather than in cold. It is, therefore, safest when storing eggs for hatching purposes to keep them in a temperature of from 50 degrees to 55 degrees. The shell of an egg is porous, the air can permeate it, and there is constant evaporation going on from the time the egg is laid.