XMAS POULTRY HINTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18275, 16 December 1922, Page 4 (Supplement)

XMAS POULTRY HINTS.

Hero are a few hinta which it ■would pay to bear in mind when you are selecting the Christmas poultry. The best and turkeys are those with pink skins. Other indications of age are to be found in the legs. In the case of an old, tough bird these will bo of a reddish colour and they will hove a scaly appearance. Young turkeys have black legs that feel smooth.

It is possible to determine the age of a goose Very largely by the colour of its beak and feet. _ In young birds these should be of a bright yellow colour, while, when the bird is old, the tint inclines towards red. Very much the same kind of thing is to be observed in the case of ducks.

It is quite a common practice to fatten up old fowls at Christmas and try to palm them off on the public as capons or chickens. It is always easy to detect a fraud if the following points are borne in mind. Old fowls have rough and untidy legs, quite unlike the smooth, clean ones of the youngsters. As well, too, a close examination of the breast <of the bird will give useful indications. In an old fowl there are a number of long black hairs that remain after an ordinary plucking. These would never he picsent in the case of a young bird. Even where these hairs have been singed away the black spots, showing where "the roots are, can be plainly seen. Such a bud is MurUtoJ; "aq chicken, 1 *