due to the bacterial action which is caused by the food souring. Although the body 

 of a fowl should never be placed in contact with water, the housewife is justified 

 in washing the carcass of a bird that has not been starved, with soda-water, in order 

 to sweeten the meat. 



It is policy to starve all fowls for twenty-four hours before killing them. At 

 about the twelfth hour of fasting, one should give them a drink of water, to wash 

 out the digestive system. 



KILLING AND PLUCKING. 



If poultry is to be used soon after killing, there will not be much danger of 

 disintegration set up by the blood which lodges at the base of the brain from dis- 

 locating the neck. Some believe that the bird does 

 not bleed properly unless it has quite a long neck, 

 on account of the fact that all the flowing blood 

 has only this small crevice to run into. 



If the stock is to be held for a certain length of 

 time before marketing, it is advisable to use a 

 method of killing which will rid the body of the 

 blood as it is in circulation when death occurs. 

 To meet this demand, the following method, with 

 diagrams, is given after the experimental work 

 conducted by the United States Department of 

 Agriculture * as to the best methods with best 

 results obtainable. This method is endorsed by 

 commercial poultrymen, colleges, experimental 

 stations, and many experts. When killing, the bird 

 should be suspended from the ceiling or rafters by 

 a stout cord attached to its legs, to the height of 

 the picker's chest, as shown in cut. A blood-cup 

 is usually hooked through the nostril of the bird, 

 in order to catch the blood. By this practice the 

 blood is kept from the feathers, which may be used 

 as a by-product. Almost any kind of a knife will 

 work well, but it is better to have a knife which is about 2 inches long and a *4 inch 

 wide, with a thin, flat, but strong handle, and a blade which may be sharpened on both 



Bleeding. Note the way knife 

 is held in right hand and blood- 

 cup attached by hook through 

 nostril. 



A good killing-knife. Exactly half-si/.c. 



sides, with a very sharp point. Having it sharpened on both sides, one does not 

 need to turn the knife when braining the bird after it is bled. The fowl's head is 

 held lengthwise in the killer's hand, in an inverted^ position, and the knife is run in 

 just beyond the bony surface of the head, then the jugular vein is cut on the left 

 side when the bird's head is upside down in the hand, as shown in the illustration. 

 If the cut is made properly, the bird bleeds profusely. After this the knife is centred 

 in the groove located in the centre of the roof of the mouth. The knife is placed 

 downward in tht groove, and then pushed backward into the bony structure of the 

 head to the distance that might be explained as between the eye and the ear of the 



* Circular No. Gl, United States Department of Agriculture. 



16 



