PROGRESSIVE POULTRY CULTURE 181 



DEES SING. 



Fowls are dressed according to the demands of the 

 market in which they are to be sold. 



The largest city markets take the birds with heads 

 and feet on and undrawn. Some markets require the 

 removal of the heads, in which case the skin of the neck 

 should be drawn forward and neatly tied over the neck 

 bones. 



Some markets demand that the fowls be dry-picked, 

 while others expect the fowls to be scalded before pick- 

 ing. The American and French markets require that 

 the fowls be bled. The English custom is to dislocate the 

 neck where it joins the head, the blood collecting mostly 

 at the place of dislocation. 



If the skin of the fowl should be torn in picking it 

 may be neatly sewed together with white thread to save 

 the appearance of the carcass. Any blood clotted in the 

 mouth should be wiped out. 



SHAPING. 



In preparing dressed fowl for the European markets 

 the bodies are usually shaped or pressed into compact 

 form by means of shaping frames and weights. 



If the breast bone projects beyond the muscles it 

 may be beaten down by the use of a smooth wooden 

 paddle. The breast meat may be worked forward by the 

 thumbs and a plumper appearance given to a carcass 

 which lacks roundness. If further shaping is deemed 

 desirable the bird is placed on a V shaped trough. The 

 back-board of the trough is about six inches wide and 

 set vertically. The front-board is nailed at an angle a 

 little less than a right angle to the lower edge of the 

 backboard. The carcasses to be shaped are taken before 

 they cool off and placed side by side, breast down, on the 

 front-board, the rear end of the body of each fowl press- 

 ing against the back-board, the head and neck hanging 

 over the edge of the front-board. 



A smooth board four inches in width and of the 

 same length as the trough-boards, is placed on top of the 



