TURKEY RAISING 



the stick is made a blood can, weighted with lead or some 

 other heavy material, is fastened by means of a wire hook 

 into the lower jaw of the bird to keep the bird's head 

 down and to receive the drip of blood. 



Turkeys are frequently killed by bleeding only, that is 

 to say, without following the bleeding by sticking. This 

 manner of killing usually results in a better bled bird but 

 does not make picking as easy. In some states the law 

 requires that if a bird is killed by bleeding only it must 

 first be stunned by hitting it on the back of the head with 

 a club. Good bleeding is necessary in order to secure a 

 carcass which looks well and which keeps well. 



The picker first removes the main tail feathers with one 

 motion and next the main wing feathers. These large 

 feathers are put in a separate bin from the body feathers. 

 The next operation is to pick off the body feathers which 

 is accomplished very rapidly by expert pickers. In the 

 special turkey-dressing establishments it is common prac- 

 tice to have the shackle, by means of which the bird is 

 hung, mounted on a track. After the bird is stuck the 

 shackle is wheeled over a barrel or bin in which the main 

 tail and wing feathers are allowed to fall. It is then 

 moved over another bin into which the body feathers are 

 allowed to fall. This makes the separation of the two 

 classes of feathers easy. As soon as the body feathers are 

 removed the picker then goes over the bird carefully to 

 remove the pin feathers. Pickers become very expert and 

 can entirely finish a bird in a few minutes. In Texas a 

 good many negroes and Mexicans are employed for this 



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