Bleeding and Dressing Poultry
When only a few chickens are to be dressed, the simplest way of bleeding is to chop off the head with an ax or cleaver. They should be scalded at once and picked. Scalding causes the muscles at the base of the feathers to relax, so the feathers come out easily. After picking, the skin can be made firm by plunging the bird in cold water. The crop and intestines should be removed as soon as the skin is cooled.
If the bird is to be dry picked, it should be bled by cutting the blood vessels in the head and puncturing the brain. For this purpose, a scalpel or a small knife, is used. The instrument must be pointed and very sharp. The bird is grasped by the head with the left hand, and with the right hand the scalpel is thrust upward inside the mouth at the back of the throat. If done properly, the bird will bleed almost as fast as when the entire head is removed.The knife should be thrust clear through to the brain so the bird will be stunned. Stunning the bird in this way has the same effect as scalding, in that it causes the muscles at the base of the feathers to relax so that the feathers can be easily plucked out. If the bird is not stunned, the feathers will not pull out so readily. The bird should be hung up by the feet and picked immediately, before the body gets cold and the feathers set. A few at a time should be grasped between the thumb and first finger, and the pull should be upward and backward, in the direction which the feathers naturally lie.
Turkeys, geese and ducks are usually bled and dry picked. Immediately after bleeding they should be suspended from a hook and picked, in the same way that a fowl is dry picked.
Owing to the thickness of the feathers on ducks and geese, dry picking with them is usually a slower process than with other birds. After bleeding, a cloth should be wrapped around the head to catch the blood, so that the feathers will not become bloody. The goose or duck should then be laid on a board on the top of an open barrel or jar, and the feathers dropped into the vessel as they are picked. The coarse wing feathers should be kept separate from the softer feathers. When the feathers have been removed the short down may removed by singeing with a gasoline or alcohol flame. A hot flame should not be used, as it will give an oily appearance to the skin.
When it is not desired to save the feathers, quicker work may be done by scalding the birds and wrapping them for a few minutes in a sack or blanket to steam. Since there is danger of their being steamed too much, they should be closely watched, and, as soon as the feathers come out readily, they are ready to be picked, singed, and then cooled by plunging into cold water. The sudden cooling hardens the skin.