160 FIRST LESSONS IN POULTRY KEEPING. 



How to Scald a Fowl. 



For the novice, scalding is the easier tnethotl, anj it he has a proper equipment, anil uses 

 fair judgment in scalding, he need not spoil the looks of his poultry in the scalding. 



If the fowl is to be sold with head on, kill as described above, or make the cut in the neck, 

 severing the head just back of the ear from the bodv, without cutting the skin more than is 

 necessary to insert the knife. 



To scald, have a kettle or other vessel of water just below the boiling point. Have the 

 vessel large enough and enough water In it, to maintain an even temperature and to give roont 

 to souse the fowl well and quickly. I used to scald in the set kettle in which we cooked our 

 mash. This was a fifty gallon kettle set in brick work. We would put six or eight pails of 

 water in it, put enough fire under to bring it almost to the boiling point, and cover the kettle 

 until the water was ready. Usually what coals were under the kettle at that time would keep 

 the water hot while we scalded what fowls were to be killed — about thirty to forty at a time. 

 In any case a few pieces of small wood added would keep the water right. 



We cut heads off, so had only to take a fowl liy the feet, plunge under water and swash 

 about and up and down once or twice, and lake out. With a well feathered fowl the water 

 scarcely touched the skin, but the feathers were well wet and steamed up, and were very easily 

 removed. 



If a fowl or chicken was poorly feathered or had bare spots we plunged it into the water 

 quickly and took right out. This gave a poor " scald,"' but avoided damaging the skin. 



The common tioulile with scalded poultry is that the water is either too hot or too cold, or 

 the scalding done in so small a vessel that the feathers cannot be wet without the skin being 

 scalded. 



When the head is to be left on, the fowl must be taken by both head and feet and the 

 feathers wet without the hot water scalding the head, otherwise the head would present a most 

 unattractive appearance. 



Cleaning and Cooling. 



Whatever method of killing and plucking is used, the carcass should be clean, well plucked, 

 and made as attractive as possible. Slipshod and slovenly dressing will make good poultry 

 grade low. There are several things which detract from the appearance and selling value of 

 poultry as it reaches the consumer. 



The first of these is the fitting of poultry for killing. It should be kejt without food for at 

 least twentj'-four hours before killing, that the crop and intestines may be empty. If the crop 

 contains food the carcass looks bad, and the food souring in it may taint the meat. If the 

 intestines are not empty their contents may affect the meat of the ijaits near them. For looks, 

 quality, and keeping properties, the starving before killing is necessary. 



Many fowls well killed and well plucked, are not made clean before being sent to market. 

 Blood is left on the head and mouth, and often manure on the feet, and bloody smears on the 

 skin. The carcass should be clean, the parts to be cut oft' as well as what is to be eaten. 



A great deal of dressed poultry begins to spoil before it reaches consumers, or spoils quickly 

 In their hands, because it has not been properly cooled. This Is the trouble, too, with much of 

 the poultry the grower thinks is first class, while dealers and liuyers rate it lower. Poultry 

 that has not beeu properly cooled spoils quickly, and is apt to be flabby and insipid. 



Place the carcasses as soon as dressed clean in cold water. Running water is best, but still 

 water changed a few times will do. In hot weather it is best to use ice. Thorough cooling 

 requires several hours. It will do no harm to keep the carcasses in the cold water all day, or 

 over night, and that may be advisable if the weather is warm. If the weather is cool enough it 

 Is better to take the carcasses out of the water when cool, and hang In a cool place until ready 

 to pack them. 



The object of cooling is to get the animal heat out of the body as quickly as possible. If this 

 Is not done decomposUion sets In almost at once, and advances rapidly, and the poultry which 

 leaves the producer's hands apparently In fine condition reaches its market In bad shape, the 

 shipper gets returns for a lower grade of stuff than he shipped, and often concludes that the 

 parties he shipped to were dishonest, when the fault was all bis own. 



