Chapter III: Part 3

According to data on Bronze turkeys, killing and picking after the birds had been starved overnight resulted in a loss of about 9 percent of weight for large birds and 10 percent for small birds. The turkeys were weighed both before and after they were killed and picked and again after they had cooled overnight. The larger birds had the lower percentages of loss in weight and therefore the higher dressing percentages. The weight loss of dressed turkeys while chilling overnight is very small, only about one-sixth of 1 percent. Therefore, practically all the loss in weight that occurs during picking and chilling results from the loss of blood and feathers. The weight loss of turkeys overnight just before slaughter when they received no feed was about 3 percent, on an average, making the total loss from their normal weight, due to withholding feed, picking, and chilling, about 13 percent. When dressed turkeys are drawn, with head and feet removed and giblets replaced, there is a further loss of about 15 percent of the dressed weight.

COOLING

Hanging the birds indoors by the legs for 24 hours or more, or laying them on their backs on a clean surface where the temperature of the air ranges from 30° to 36° F. will properly chill the carcasses. They should be thoroughly chilled but not frozen, since frozen birds sweat and, because of their rigid condition, cannot be packed without great waste of space. In mild weather it is often impossible to cool the carcasses properly without the use of refrigeration or ice water. Cooling in water spoils the appearance of dry-picked carcasses and should be done only as a last resort. A suitable thermometer is an indispensable part of the chilling equipment.

PACKING

Boxes and barrels are generally used for packing dressed turkeys. Packing in clean barrels, while easier and slightly cheaper, is not so satisfactory as box packing, although barrels are often more readily available.

Boxes are greatly preferred by the trade and by organized pools. In box packing, the single-layer pack of 6 to 14 birds, depending on their size, is preferred. The boxes are usually large enough to hold from 10 to 12 medium-sized birds (fig. 23).

When barrels are used, a large size is necessary for large toms. Smaller barrels are suitable for hens and small toms. Line the barrel with white wrapping paper or common white parchment paper. Lay the birds with their backs against the sides of the barrel, and if it is necessary to pack larger birds in the same barrel, place them in the center. When the barrel is full, turn down the paper, take off the top hoop, place a piece of clean burlap over the top, and replace and renail the hoop over the burlap.

Boxes, barrels, or any other containers used should be free from objectionable odor, as the turkey meat may absorb it.

There is considerable risk for the producer who does not have access to proper refrigerating facilities in shipping dressed turkeys during mild weather. If the birds are to be sold in mild weather, it is safest to market them alive or else sell them dressed to local purchasers as losses from improper cooling of dressed turkeys and from exposure to warm weather during transit are likely to occur. When turkeys are to be shipped only a short distance it may be feasible to chill the dressed birds in ice water and then to pack them in barrels with cracked ice between layers and at each end of the barrel. A top layer of ice placed between two layers of burlap tacked securely over the top of the barrel is desirable. The internal temperature of the turkeys should be reduced to 34° F. before they are shipped.

DRESSED-TURKEY GRADES

Grading systems for dressed turkeys differ somewhat in different markets but, in general, are similar. Greatest uniformity is provided where the United States grades are used. The United States grading system is more comprehensive than other systems and is intended to satisfy the demands of the consumers more fully and to promote more uniform grading.

The United States Government grading system was developed and is sponsored by the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, United States Department of Agriculture. Under this system as now used there are four grades: U. S. Special or U. S. grade AA; U. S. Prime or U. S. grade A; U. S. Choice or U. S. grade B; and U. S. Commercial or U. S. grade C. Each grade is subdivided into four classes according to the age and sex of the birds.

These classes are: Young hen, young tom, old hen, and old tom. The quality specifications for individual birds apply to each class with due allowance for fleshing condition characteristic of its sex and age. Detailed descriptions are provided for each grade. For the U. S. Special grade it is required that turkeys have broad, full-fleshed breasts and that the carcasses be fully covered with fat. The birds must also have been well bled, carefully dry-picked or semiscalded, and must be free from bruises, skin tears, and broken joints. The breastbone must be straight or only slightly dented (not more than one-fourth inch in depth). For the U. 3. Prime grade it is required that birds be well fleshed, well fattened, and well bled, but they may have slight imperfections such as scattered pinfeathers, slight flesh or skin abrasions, and one disjointed but not broken wing or leg. Slightly curved and slightly dented breastbones, not to exceed one-half inch in depth, are permitted. To grade U. S. Choice, turkeys must have fairly well-fleshed breasts and carcasses fairly well covered with fat. These birds need be only fairly well bled and dressed and may have slight flesh or skin bruises, small skin tears, or larger sewn-up tears, and one broken leg or wing. Turkeys not meeting these grade requirements, including birds poorly fleshed, poorly bled, or slightly deformed, but suitable for food, make up the lowest or U. S. Commercial grade.

Another system of grading in common use in buying dressed turkeys is to make only 2 or 3 grades, except that sometimes the birds within the top grades are divided into classes based on weight and sex. The no. 1 grade usually consists of young toms weighing 12 pounds or more and young and old hens weighing 8 pounds or more, dressed. For this grade the birds must be well finished and free from serious tears, bruises, and severely crooked breastbones. The crops must be empty and the carcasses reasonably free from pinfeathers and reasonably well bled. The no. 2 grade includes all old toms and such young toms, young hens, and old hens as are too light for the no. 1 grade. The no. 2 grade also includes turkeys with severely crooked breastbones, broken wings, bad blemishes, bad tears, bad abrasions, feed in crops, numerous pinfeathers, and birds that have been poorly bled or poorly fleshed. The no. 3 grade includes birds not good enough for the no. 2 grade but still fit for food. These are culls that never should have been marketed. The no. 3 grade is not always used, since turkeys of this kind are often rejected by the buyers. On some markets a medium grade of birds--between the no. 1 and the no. 2 grades--is used.

When graded and packed for market turkeys are further graded as to size, birds of similar weight being placed in the same container, which is labeled according to the grade.

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ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE WHEN THIS PUBLICATION WAS LAST PRINTED

_Secretary of Agriculture_ Henry A. Wallace.
_Undersecretary_ M. L. Wilson.
_Assistant Secretary_ Harry L. Brown.
Coordinator of Land Use Planning and M. S. Eisenhower.
Director of Information.
_Director of Extension Work_ C. W. Warburton.
_Director of Finance_ W. A. Jump.
_Director of Personnel_ Roy F. Hendrickson.
_Director of Research_ James T. Jardine.
_Solicitor_ Mastin G. White.
_Agricultural Adjustment H. R. Tolley, _Administrator_.
Administration_
_Bureau of Agricultural Economics_ A. G. Black, _Chief_.
_Bureau of Agricultural Engineering_ S. H. McCrory, _Chief_.
_Bureau of Animal Industry_ John R. Mohler, _Chief_.
_Bureau of Biological Survey_ Ira N. Gabrielson, _Chief_.
_Bureau of Chemistry and Soils_ Henry G. Knight, _Chief_.
_Commodity Exchange Administration_ J. W. T. Duvel, _Chief_.
_Bureau of Dairy Industry_ O. E. Reed, _Chief_.
_Bureau of Entomology and Plant Lee A. Strong, _Chief_.
Quarantine_
_Office of Experiment Stations_ James T. Jardine, _Chief_.
_Farm Security Administration_ W. W. Alexander, _Administrator_.
_Food and Drug Administration_ Walter G. Campbell, _Chief_.
_Forest Service_ Ferdinand A. Silcox, _Chief_.
_Bureau of Home Economics_ Louise Stanley, _Chief_.
_Library_ Claribel R. Barnett, _Librarian_.
_Bureau of Plant Industry_ E. C. Auchter, _Chief_.
_Bureau of Public Roads_ Thomas H. MacDonald, _Chief_.
_Soil Conservation Service_ H. H. Bennett, _Chief_.
_Weather Bureau_ Francis W. Reichelderfer, _Chief_.

U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1939

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C.

Price 5 cents

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Transcriber Note

Illustrations were moved to avoid splitting paragraphs. Display of numbers was standardized in the tables to show leading zeros.