CLEAN FEATHERS SELL BEST 



455 



who handle poultry can usually dispose of feathers to an advan- 

 tage, or they will be glad to put you in touch with firms who 

 make a specialty of this business. 



Feathers should be thoroughly dried before they are packed, 

 or they mat together, turn musty and maybe spoil. Only a few 

 precautions are necessary to save feathers properly. In the first 

 place, the poultry must be dry-picked, but then, dry-picked 

 poultry always brings a better price than scalded poultry, conse- 

 quently it is to the grower's advantage to follow this method 

 regardless of the feathers. 



Provide barrels or boxes, have them arranged beside the 

 picker, and as the pluck- 

 ing is done drop the body 

 feathers in one receptacle 

 and tail feathers in an- 

 other, and so on. This 

 also helps to keep the 

 feathers clean, for if they 

 are allowed to fall at the 

 picker's feet, it is quite 

 likely they will be satu- 

 rated or spattered with 

 blood. Before the feathers 

 are stored away, spread 

 the different kinds in trays 

 or on the floor of a dry, 



well-ventilated room, to a depth of four to six inches, and every 

 day for a week, or until they appear to be thoroughly dry, stir them 

 with a stick. They are then ready to be packed or shipped. If 

 they are packed green, the animal heat will make them damp 

 and moldy, and greatly reduce their value. 



Cleaning. — Most of the feathers shipped to the dealers are 

 just as they come from the fowls, and quite naturally they must 

 be cleaned. Clean feathers, of course, bring higher prices than 

 soiled ones, but whether it will pay the poultryman to go to 

 this extra work is a question that each person must find out 



Fig. 290.- 



(Courtesy U. S. Dep'l Agriculture) 



-Holding birds on the lap to re- 

 move small feathers. 



