Methods of Processing and Marketing Table Birds

October 14, 2023 Agric4Profits

Table birds are broilers, old hens, cockerels and cocks. They can be marketed live or dressed and ready to cook. Live birds are commonly sold in the markets.

The following are the different methods of processing and marketing table birds;

Processing of Table Birds

It involves the following stages:

Killing and bleeding.
Scalding
Plucking or picking
Dressing and evisceration.

1. Killing

Birds are killed by any of the following methods.

By hatching off the head from the live chicken.

By cutting the head off with a knife.

By cutting the jugular vein.

After killing, the chicken is allowed to bleed.

2. Scalding

Scalding is the used of hot water (50-55oC) to soften the skin and facilitate the removal of the feathers.

3. Picking or plucking

The scalded bird is then de feathered by hand picking. However, in commercial processing units, mechanical pluckers consisting of rotating drums with several stickers usually of rubber or plastics are used.

Dry plucking

Chickens can also be de feathered by plucking of the feathers by plucking of feathers without scalding. Though laborious the method preserves a good colour of the skin and keeps longer than scalded carcass.

The birds can also be de feathered by means of fire or Wax plucking.

4. Dressing and Evisceration

Dressing entails the removal of the head, neck, feet, gizzard, lungs, liver, intestine, crop, legs and other intestinal tissues.

The internal evisceration is done by slitting between the end of the keel bone and the rectum and then plunging the hand to remove the contents of the body cavity. The dressed chicken is sold whole or in parts.

5. Chilling

Dressed chickens are usually chilled to prevent bacterial growth and enzymatic activities. This is achieved by placing the carcass in a cold chamber with temperature of 1-5oC.

6. Storage

The temperature depends on the length of time that the carcass are to be stored. For a day or two temperature of 2oC is ideal. If for a long period of time, they should be frozen to -5oC to -18oC.

In most countries, the prices of poultry products is determine by the forces of demand and supply.

In under developed economy, the scheme represented above does not operate. Consequently there are no accurate trends on production, supply and demand; price changes are violent and difficult to control.

Couple with this, the poor cold storage facilities makes the handling of poultry products precarious and the prices unstable.

In conclusion, in developing countries, where there is shortage of animal protein, marketing of broilers depend on their market price.

For farmers near a town or a city, setting the market price at a level which the consumer will be prepared to pay, will be met with people eager to buy and disposal of products will not be a problem.

For farmers from rural areas that are away from the main market, the cost of transporting his product to the market may make his product more expensive with no profit.

It is therefore of no value to produce poultry commodities (egg and Meat) without serious effort to secure a market for them.

Egg shelf life deteriorates over time causing gross changes in weight, flavour and odour changes, relative changes in size and form also inter conversion of minerals and organic contents.

Methods of prolonging edible life of an egg are prevention of contamination with faeces and dirt, chilling at -0.5˚C and -2˚C and relative humidity of 88%, sealing the hell pores with vegetable oil or vaseline, heat treatment etc.

Exterior qualities used for egg grading are soundness of shell, cleanliness, size, shape and texture while interior qualities include conditions of yolk, shell and air cell. Table birds can be marketed live or dressed and they are processed by killing, bleeding, scalding, plucking, dressing and evisceration