DRESSING AND PACKING SQUABS
Squabs are usually ready to send to the market when four weeks old. Some well-fed ones, or those bred from the best parents, will come to market condition a few days earlier and some a few days later. As a rule, it will be about four weeks from the time they are hatched until they are ready to send to market.
They should be dressed just about the time they are ready to leave the nest, for they are heavier and fatter at that time than they ever will be again.
They should be dressed at the time all the pin feathers are out. They then have a solid feeling about the abdomen and the breast is plump and full. It is very easy to learn the exact time that squabs should be sent to market, and anyone can learn it at once.
Go over the nests in the evening and select the squabs which are to be dressed the next day. These should be put in a coop by themselves, where they can not get anything to eat, so their crops will be empty when they are dressed. If they are sent to market with full crops, the contents of the crop will sour and ferment and spoil the squabs for food purposes in a short time. When dressed with the crops empty and properly iced in warm weather, they will remain fresh until they can be sold in the market.
A "killing rack" should be made before dressing begins. This consists of a frame not quite shoulder high, a 2x4 scantling making a good cross-piece for the top. In the side of this cross-piece drive ten-penny nails about six inches apart, leaving half the length of the nail protruding.
Fig. 11. Showing the Arrangement of a Small Plant on a Back Lot.
Make a loop of stout cord, looping it over both feet of the squab, and by this string hang it on one of the nails. Then cross the wings over the back in such a way that they are locked. This prevents fluttering and is painless. To lock the wings, turn the pigeon with the back to you and cross the hands. Then take a wing in each hand and pass one under the other in such a position that the "elbows" lock together.
With the small blade of a pen-knife in the right hand take the head of the squab in the left hand in such a way that the thumb and forefinger may be used to hold the mouth open. If held in the right way, the shoulders of the birds will be in the palm of the hand.
Run the blade of the knife up through the top of the mouth into the brain and immediately pass to another squab, letting the one just killed bleed, as it is necessary for the bird to be free from blood to prevent red spots from appearing along its back after it has been killed a few hours. These red spots are called "blisters" and injure the selling qualities of a squab which shows them.
After the birds are thoroughly bled, carefully pick the feathers from them, being careful not to tear the skin in any place, as this also lowers the value in the market.
The English method of killing is rapidly gaining in favor in this country and is superior in many ways to the use of the knife. By this method the operator grasps the bird firmly in the left hand with the thumb and fingers about the neck and the breast and wing, butts held securely in the hand. The bird's head is caught in the right hand with the thumb over and at the back of the head and the first and second fingers at the throat. Then with a firm pull, the neck is dislocated and the jugular vein is ruptured so the bird is killed instantly and thoroughly bled, all of the blood however remaining inside the skin of the neck.
A little practice will enable anyone to learn this method and it is much faster, neater and cleaner than the old method.
When a squab is plucked clean, throw it into a tub of water from a spring or well from thirty minutes to an hour. Then it should be thrown into a tub of ice-cold water to further cool and solidify the flesh, for all the animal heat must be chilled out before a squab is packed or it will not keep well, arriving in the market soft and unattractive in appearance.
Be very careful to have the second chilling water almost cold enough to freeze the birds. In cold weather they soon cool out in water which has been exposed to the air, but at any time in the year first cool them in well or spring water of normal temperature.
After the squabs are picked and cooled, pack them in ice in barrels or boxes. We prefer rather small boxes, say about the size of soap-boxes, but many thousand pairs are sent to market in clean barrels. Empty apple barrels or cracker barrels may be used.
In the bottom of the packet put a good layer of cracked ice. A good many times the ice is not cracked as small as it should be. It should be broken into pieces about the size of a hickory nut, so the pieces will work down through the space between the birds. After the bottom is covered with ice, put in a layer of squabs, pack down and so the carcasses are closely packed but not squeezed together. Over these put another layer of ice and again a layer of birds until within two or three inches of the top. Fill the remaining space with cracked ice and fasten the package.
Be liberal about using ice, for it is necessary that the birds should be kept cool and the express companies make allowance for the weight of the ice in weighing squabs packed this way.
If any grain has been found in the crop of a squab as it is being dressed, it should be removed. Cut a very small slit in the breast over the crop and wash out the grain. A small hose with light pressure from a tank or water system is very handy for this purpose.
Before packing the birds, carefully wash all the blood from them and wash the feet and legs until they are bright and red.
If there is a shade of difference in the quality of squabs, select the best for the top of the package and take pains that the top layer is very carefully laid in so that it will look nice when the package is opened.
If there happens to be a number of dark-fleshed or rather light-weight squabs in a killing, these should be packed by themselves and sent on in anticipation of receiving a low price for them. Nothing is gained by putting some poor squabs among a number of good ones, for they will reduce the price of the whole package. If fine ones are put by themselves and marked "Firsts" and the poorer ones sent without any particular mark the prices obtained for the whole shipment will be larger than it would have been if good and poor had been packed together.
It is best to kill on a certain day in the week, the day depending on the distance to market. In South Jersey they kill on Monday or Tuesday and send the squabs to New York and usually get a check for them by Saturday. Some kill Thursday in order to catch the Saturday markets, but as a rule it is best to reach the market Friday morning, so as to give the commission merchant two days in which to sell the birds. Often an early shipment gets the best price.
At the same time the squabs are sent to market, mail a letter to the commission man, advising him of the number of birds you sent to him and by what express company or freight line. Give him any particulars which may help him to make a good sale, if you think of anything that might interest him.
In the eastern market squabs are graded by weight and quality. They are called 10-pound, 9-pound, 8-pound, 7-pound and 6½-pound, and the prices range accordingly. When 10-pound squabs are worth $6.00 a dozen, those weighing 6½ pounds will sell for from $1.50 to $2.75 a dozen, according to the state of the market, the high-priced ones always selling first, unless a buyer has a special reason for securing a lot of light-weights.
When breeding straight Homers, one can reasonably expect 80 or 90 per cent which will run 8 pounds or over to the dozen. About two-thirds of the remainder will run close to 8 pounds to the dozen and one-third will be classed among the lowest quality.
When 10-pound squabs are selling for $6 a dozen, a lot weighing more than 10 pounds to the dozen will bring a premium of from 50 cents a dozen up; but as a rule the most profitable squabs are the 8- and 10-pounders.
In picking squabs, some leave them hanging where they are killed, while others take them in the hand. The weight of practice is in favor of holding them in the hand.