Grade. 

 Date. . 



EXERCISE 28 



PREPARING DRESSED POULTRY FOR MARKET 



Beheading, Bleeding, and Scalding 



Object. — To become familiar with the detailed technic incidental to the 

 killing and plucking of poultry by the method of beheading and bleeding and 

 the removal of the feathers by scalding. 



Equipment. — Have a sufficient number of fowls or roastmg chickens 

 properly finished and prepared for slaughter, which includes being properly 

 fattened and starved. A sharp cleaver or hatchet, a beheading block and 

 different kinds of killing knives should be at hand. A supply of boiling water 

 either in a caldron or heated in pails on stove should be available for scalding. 



Procedure. — Step 1. — Weigh individual birds before beheading or bleed- 

 ing, and again after plucking to get loss in weight due to dressing. 



Stej) 2. — Behead one or more specimens carefully, following the instruc- 

 tion given on page 413 in "Productive Poultry Husbandry." 



Step 3. — After killing an individual bird, it should be allowed to bleed 

 thoroughly. It should then be immediately scalded by carefully following 

 the instructions on page 414 in "Productive Poultry Husbandry." 



Step 4. — Pick and clean the carcasses; then they should be plumped by 

 immersion in cold water as described on page 417 in Productive Poultry 

 Husbandry. 



Leading Questions. — 1. What breed or breeds were used in the exercise? 



2. What was the average per cent of loss in weight due to killing and 

 picking? 



3. How was the bird handled to prevent fluttering during and after 

 beheading? 



4. When should beheading, as a method of killing, be employed? 



5. What was the temperature of the water when used for scalding? 



6. How can one avoid disfiguring the bird when scalding? 



7. How does scalding affect the keeping qualities and sale of birds so 

 treated? 



8. What do you consider the relative merits and usage of beheadmg and 

 bleeding when killing poultry for market? 



