CHAPTER VIII. 
KILLING AND COOLING. 
Kull the Squabs in the Morning when their Crops are Empty 
— Not Necessary to Use a Knife, their Necks may be 
Tweaked — Drive the Animal Heat out of their Bodies by 
Hanging them from Nails — The Ideal Squab when 
Shipped has an Empty Crop, its Feet have been Washed 
Clean, and No Blood Shows — Sorting Squabs so as to Get 
the Highest Price from the Dealer. 
The time to kill the squabs is in the morning, when the 
crops are empty. In killing them it is not necessary to use 
a knife. Hold each squab in the manner shown in the 
illustration and break the neck with a sudden pull and push. 
Do not pull too hard or you will sever the neck from the body. 
Some of our customers have hard work to get this knack of 
tweaking the necks and prefer to wring the necks, or to use a 
knife. To wring the neck, hold the squab by the head in 
the right hand and throw the body around in a complete 
circle, this act twisting and breaking the neck. 
After the squabs are killed they must be cooled. In other 
words the animal heat must be driven out of their bodies. 
Provide a piece of board or studding eight or ten feet long and 
every four inches along this studding drive a couple of nine 
penny wire finish nails close together, but not so close that 
you cannot squeeze in the legs of the squabs. A finish wire 
nail has no large head like an ordinary wire nail. Suspend 
the studding from the ceiling by means of wire adjusted at 
both ends of the studding. This method of hanging it up is 
to prevent rats and cats from climbing up onto the studding, 
walking along it and eating the squabs. Place the feet 
of the squabs between the wire nails and let them hang down- 
wards over night. In the morning the heat will be all out of 
their bodies and you can pack and ship them. If you are 
delivering plucked squabs to market, you do not need such 
an arrangement, but will throw the bodies into a tub of ice 
water (or cold spring water) after you have plucked them. 
When plucking the feathers from the killed squabs, the 
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