142 POULTRY FEEDING AND FATTENING 



on it the feathers on the wings, tail, head and neck. 

 The legs are left on and the birds are not drawn. 



The process of dry picking is considered the 

 simpler of the two methods, and one who is accustomed 

 to the work can dress three dozen birds in a day. The 

 picker's outfit consists of a chair, a box for the feathers 

 and a couple of knives, one knife being dull, the other 

 sharp-pointed and double-edged, for bleeding. The 

 bird is taken between the knees, the bill held open with 

 the left hand, and a cut made across the roof of the 

 mouth just below the eyes. The bird is then stunned 

 by striking its head against a post or some hard sub- 

 stance. The picker seats himself in the chair with 

 the bird in his lap (see Figure 32), its head held 

 firmly between one knee and the box. The feathers 

 are carefully sorted while picking; the pins are thrown 

 away and the body feathers with the down are thrown 

 into the box. Care should be taken about this, as the 

 feathers from each bird will weigh about two ounces, 

 and will quite pay for the picking. 



The dull knife and the thumb are used to remove 

 the long pinfeathers, and this should be done without 

 tearing the skin. The down can usually be rubbed off 

 by slightly moistening the hand and holding the skin 

 tight. Often some of the pins cannot be taken out 

 without tearing and disfiguring the skin; when such is 

 the case they should be shaved off. Seven or eight 

 minutes is all the time necessary to dress a bird. After 

 the birds are picked they should be carefully washed ; 

 and plumped by placing in a tank or barrel of ice 

 water. They are hardened in this ice water and given 

 a rounded and full appearance. They are then packed 

 in barrels or boxes and shipped to market. The first 

 or bottom layer is packed with hacks down ; a layer of 

 ice is then placed over thorn, and all other layers are 

 packed with the breasts down, a layer of ice being 



