DRESS POULTRY IMMEDIATELY AFTER KILLING HOW TO DRESS POULTRY. (Copyrighted; Reprint Forbidden.)

The Butcher who will make a specialty of dressed poultry will make a hit with his customers and good profit on sales if he will be careful to get his Chickens dressed decently, and to educate his customers to pay prices that will be commensurate with the quality of the meat offered. Very often it is almost an impossibility for the consumer to secure sweet, untainted Poultry Meat. Much of this trouble is owing to the fact that large shippers kill the Chickens, dry pick them or scald them, and the food that remains in the intestines ferments and taints the meat, with the result that the Chicken, when cooked, has an abominable taste.

When a Butcher is so situated that he can dress his own Chickens, and he would be fully justified in making all preparations in that direction, he ought to open, draw and wash out thoroughly every chicken as fast as it is killed, just as he would wash out Hogs, Calves or Sheep. Chickens that have been nicely drawn and washed immediately upon killing are always sweet in flavor, and the Butcher who will take the pains to offer such goods and to acquaint his customers of their quality can not only establish a large trade and a great reputation, but he can offer the public an article that is pure and sweet, and difficult to obtain. No doubt he could command the Chicken trade of any neighborhood by this means, down all competition, and obtain good prices for his Meat, as people would be willing to pay for the original weight of the chicken before drawing, and at the same time would be much better satisfied with what they get. If desired, the Butcher could weigh the chickens after they are dressed, tag and draw them, and then could say to his customers: “This Chicken weighed so much before it was drawn, but in order to retain the sweetness of the meat, we draw it as it ought to be drawn, wash it out, and sell it to you for just what it is worth.” A Butcher’s statement upon these points would not be doubted. Furthermore, the Butcher would not lose anything by this method, as Chickens shrink after they are dressed and kept two or three days before sold. The loss from this shrinkage is considerable. Therefore, the trouble and expense of drawing Chickens and handling them in the manner described would be fully repaid.