V. Changes Required to Enable Plants to Prodnce 

 Eviscerated Poultry Under Inspection 



Recent trends indicate that evisceration at country plants is increasing 

 rapidly in New England. The Poultry Products Inspection Act will abet 

 this trend. Many plants face the prospects of converting from production 

 of dressed to eviscerated birds and of making improvements in plants and 

 operations to comply with Federal Inspection standards or with more 

 stringent State or local regulations. -- 



Model plants developed in Part III of this report were designed to dress 

 and eviscerate chickens under conditions which would meet Federal In- 

 spection requirements. In a previous report, a more limited number of 

 model plants were designed for New York Dressing. Conditions in these 

 plants approximated those in some of the more efficient plants observed, 

 but it was recognized that changes would be required before the model 

 plants could meet Inspection requirements.-^ 



Comparison of these two sets of model plants should provide a basis 

 for reference in: 



(1) Estimating costs of conversion from a dressed to an eviscer- 

 ated product; 



(2) Estimating costs of conversion from non-inspected to inspected 

 status ; 



(3) Determining the magnitude of the additional resources required 

 to expand plant capacity where feasible; 



(4) Measuring impacts on the industry, including probable effects 

 on the competitive position of plants of various capacities. 



Space Requirements and Building Costs 



Most New England poultry processing plants now have excess bird hold- 

 ing capacity. Plants built some years ago generally held birds on feed for 

 about 24 hours prior to slaughter. Thus, the New York Dressing model 

 plants included substantial holding areas (Table 14). Recently, the prac- 

 tice of feeding has declined and most plants now slaughter out of crates. 

 Birds are held in batteries infrequently. In appraising the alternatives of 

 established plants, existing resource levels (in terms of space) play an im- 

 portant part. These areas can be made suitable for other uses by minor 

 renovations. Additional money must also be spent to enable plants to meet 

 Inspection requirements. These changes are most likely to involve walls, 

 partitions, ceilings, and additional plumbing, sewage, lighting, and venti- 

 lating facilities. 



Plants with capacities of 2,400 and 5,000 broilers per hour built for 

 New York Dressing, and including sufficient holding capacity for a day's 



22 For additional information see: Brasfield, K. H., and R. D. Wenger, Remodelline; 

 Small Poultry Plants to Meet Inspection Requirements, AMS-256. Mktg. Res. Div. 

 Agr'l. Mktng. Service, U. S. Dept. Agric, June 1958. 



23 Univ. of N. H., Agric. Expt. Sta., Agric. Econ. Res. Mimeo. No. 20, op. cit., p. l-."^. 



44 



