Plans and Operations of Farm and Small Commercial Poultry Dressing Plants

Excerpts from the report: The purposes of this study were to obtain first-hand information on poultry dressing at a number of the better small plants operated by poultry producers and by small poultry dressers and to suggest plant and equipment layouts. Little helpful information has been available relative to the facilities and operations of poultry dressing plants, particularly of the farm and small commercial plants. Poultry producers, local cooperatives, cold storage locker plant operators, and others are interested in or concerned with dressing small volumes of poultry. They want information which will be helpful to them in starting dressing operations or in improving present operations. In response to this specific need, the Farm Credit Administration, in cooperation with the Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils and Engineering, made this study with funds provided under the Research and Marketing Act of 1946. The chief objectives of this study of small poultry dressing plants were (1) to afford descriptions of the operations, layouts, and facilities of small plants, (2) to determine the feasibility of small poultry dressing operations in relation to egg-handling, cold storage locker plants, and other country point enterprises, (3) to develop plans for efficient small plant operation, and (4) to determine methods of increasing the efficiency of small poultry processing plan.