CHAPTER VIII. 



KILLING AND COOLING. 



Kill the Squabs in the Morning when their Crops are Empty 

 — Drive the Animal Heat out of their Bodies by Hanging 

 them jrom Nails — The Ideal Squab when Shipped hds an 

 Empty Crop, its Feet have been Washed Clean, and No 

 Blood Shows — Sorting Squabs so as to Get th^- Highest 

 Price Jrom the Dealer. ' 



The time to kill the squabs is in thg morning, when the crops 

 are empty. Gather them in a hand basket and take to the kill- 

 ing room. Hold the squab under left arm, open mouth with 

 fingers of kft hand and with the killing knife which'we sell 

 make one cut inside at back of throat, top side. The squab 

 immediately begins bleeding copiously. Hang it head down- 

 wards at once from nails as noted below and let the blood drip 

 put thoroughly onto sanded floor, meantime taking the next 

 squab. If the cutting is properly done, the squab bleedsbut 

 wholly while dying. A white squab is the result. Without 

 bleeding the blood shows through the skin and the squab looks 

 dark, a poor condition. 



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 caimot 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 

 deli-\rering plucked squabs to market, you do not need such 

 an arrangement, but will throw the Ijodies 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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