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The requirements for a dressed chicken that will bring the "top of the
market" are practically the same on all markets - American, Canadian,
and English. The color of the flesh should be white or pale yellow and
the grain or texture fine, indicating that the bird has been crate fed.
The breast should be long and broad, so that when the chicken is
dressed it will have a plump, meated appearance. Breast meat is the
best part of the chicken and there should be plenty of it. On the other
hand, the legs should form as small a portion of the bird as possible,
for the reason that the meat of the leg is largely composed of sinew.
Smallness of bone is another requirement. It is essential the
intestines be void of all food. The minimum of bone and of offal are
two important factors in the best grade of marketable chickens.
In regard to weight, the most popular for dressed chickens varies with
the seasons. In the early summer, the demand is for squab broilers, weighing from a pound to a pound and a half. These are taken mostly by the hotels, and restaurants, and other places, catering to the traveling public. In the fall, heavier broilers are in demand, and, as the colder weather comes on, the market wants light roasters. Heavy roasters are more in demand when winter sets in. After the Christmas season, there is a call by the hotels in the large cities for heavy capons. These latter demands have never been adequately met.
Where the farmer or poultry man is near some great centre of
population, it pays him handsomely to cater to the particular
requirements of that market.
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