108 CHICKS 



neck are plucked scarcely more tenderly. All this is done 

 in less time than it takes to tell it. The feathers of the 

 fluff and thighs are literally torn out, the aim of the picker 

 seeming to be to get as many feathers as possible in his 

 hand at once. 



Then comes a wing and there is seemingly more care used. 

 The left hand grasps the shoulder while the right plucks all 

 the secondaries and primaries by one sliding, slipping motion, 

 beginning next to the body of the bird and ending with the 

 outside primary. This is an action in which the thumb 

 scarcely plays a part except to guide the feathers 

 into the hand. On the wings the shoulders are most likely 

 to tear, especially in young stock. The breast feathers are 

 the most difficult to pull without tearing the skin and often, 

 in young stock, broilers for example, the picker must com- 

 mence at the throat and remove but a few feathers at a 

 time, plucking somewhat in the direction that the feathers 

 grow. 



The short feathers yet in the quill are pulled out by the 

 aid of a dull knife, the picker catching these between his 

 thumb and the blade of the knife. 



The picking finished, the bird is tossed into a tank of 

 cold water and remains there two or three hours. When 

 cool the chicks are taken out and allowed to drain and dry. 

 They are then straightened ouj; and pulled into shape, 

 the wings folded and the finished carcasses hung up. 



The Earnings of Pickers. 



Pickers average about eight to ten chicks an hour. An 

 expert will do much better; an average of 150 per day is 

 reached by the pickers employed by one wholesale firm. 

 They can pick more if called upon to do so, but, of course, 

 work longer hours. One picker has a record of having 

 earned over eighty-eight dollars in one week. Twenty-eight 

 to thirty dollars is this .man's usual pay for one week's 

 work and thirty-five dollars is not an uncommon week's 

 wages for him. This may seem like big pay for tliis kind 

 of work, but it must be remembered that picking chickens 

 as these men do it requires an alert mind as well as active, 

 skillful muscles. 



