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There are two methods of removing the feathers from the bodies of the
birds, namely , scalding, and dry picking.
Using the former method, the dead bird is submerged and moved about in
water, heated to near the boiling point, until the quills of the
feathers are loosened, when they may be pulled out in handfuls. This
method is somewhat the more rapid of the two, but it gives the picked carcass a much poorer appearance than dry picking when exposed for sale.
Dry picking is, therefore, the method we recommend. And since the
feathers pull harder as the body cools and the muscles set, the picking
must be done quickly. First, the courser feathers on the breast,
shoulders, thighs and neck should be removed, then the fluff, and
finally the tail and wings. Some packers require all the feathers off
the bird, while others prefer to have the small feathers left on the
neck.
The pin feathers are best removed be grasping them between the thumb
and a knife-edge. The knack of grasping feathers and removing them
rapidly requires considerable skill, acquired only by practise, and
the professional picker soon learns to grab just tight enough so that
his hands will slip before tearing skin.
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