a scalder is a hot water bath that providing bird cleaning ......p.o. box 26 kuhl road ·...
TRANSCRIPT
NAGA News March/April 201514
O ne area of customer care in the hunt club industry is providing cleaning services
for birds harvested. Currently most gamebird processing facilities are not included under state agricultural meat inspections. Don’t invite the inspection microscope by contacting the health department for advice, but meet or supersede the code to prevent any unpleasant surprises should an inspector suddenly decide to tour the facilities.
No one is under any false assump-tion of pristine conditions. Some clubs exchange birds for ones already processed, while some process the actual birds harvested by the re-ceiving hunters. These ARE game-birds, usually harvested with a shot through the guts. However, since the birds cleaned will be someone’s
food eventually, design your cleaning room traffic pattern to avoid addi-tional contamination.
Building materials matter. Stain-less steel is an easily cleaned and disinfected material that lasts a long time, versus plywood or counter top which invites contamination! Properly drained, sealed and easily cleaned cement floors that shed bloody water will smell better than a wooden or cracked cement floor with numerous bacterial hiding places.
Safety of the workers must be
also considered. Waterproof aprons, protective surgical gloves to prevent infection, a first aid kit, and lotion or bag balm for hands should be provided.
After transporting the birds from the field, offer a photo op outside at a company sign strategically situ-ated for publicity. You want to help them remember where this great place was, right? Additionally, reduce human traffic into this area by taking the birds at this point, and then de-livering the processed birds to your clients, rather than allowing pickup at the cleaning room.
Prior to the hunt, discover what the customer wants. We have had folks getting birds plucked, paying big bucks to ship them home to another state, and then thawing and fillet-ing them! Save time, money and their shipping costs by offering a variety of options up front. Some clubs have an additional feather market, so if the hunter does not want the tail feath-
ers, these can be removed for resale. A scalder is a hot water bath that
helps with feather removal, the first stop in processing if the bird is being plucked. Other cleaning options are breasting (separating white meat on the bone), and filleting (white meat
removal off the bone). Breast and thigh meat can also be removed from the bone and packaged together. Prices for these services should vary on the amount of time required.
A gutting table with pass-through garbage holes to a garbage can or barrel below allows for disposal of en-trails, feathers, and unused carcasses. Disposal of waste material via dump-
ster if it is sealed well eventually ends up in a landfill. Other options are disposal via incinerator, compost-
Customer Care in the Cleaning Room by Peg Ballou
Providing Bird Cleaning Services
www.admani.com.
For more information, please call Leo Windschitl at 218-820-0658.
Performance Proven Game Bird FeedsResearch proven • field proven • nutritional, technical, and general management support
Introducing!
15NAGA NewsMarch/April 2015
ing or burial in a pit. Legalities differ depending on region and nearness of neighbors. Discretely check with local ordinances.
Birds should be cleaned of feath-ers, remaining shot and broken bones as much as possible, and then may be soaked in a salt water bath to remove additional blood. Cleaned birds need to be cooled for shipment, and to remain at a cool temperature for transport. Cold running water or placing the birds on ice before packaging aids this. Providing ice for the hunter’s cooler is another nice touch. Ice makers can be purchased at restaurant supply stores fairly inexpensively.
If the hunters desire to donate food for the hungry, it can be a win-win situation. Develop outlets for birds donated, so your hunters are more likely to hunt more. A deadline to pick up or donate birds not taken immediately after the hunt may be required since there is a shelf life to any poultry. H
April 17, 2015 Southeastern Game Breeders & Hunting Preserve Assn.(SEBG&HPA) 2015 Short Course. Contact Gary Davis [email protected] 1st week of August 2015Kansas Sport Hunting Association. Contact Steve Bittel at [email protected] August 16-17, 2015 Wisconsin Gamebreeders at J&H Game Farm in Shiocton, WI. Contact Tim Zindl at [email protected]
January 11-13, 2016 NAGA Educational Seminar and Convention at the Holiday Inn, Buena Vista, FL. Contact Rob Sexton at [email protected]
February 23-25, 2016 PA Gamebreeders Association, State College, PA. Contact Bernadette Gilliland at [email protected]
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P.O. Box 26 Kuhl Road · Flemington, NJ 08822 USA (908) 782-5696 · (908) 782-2751 [email protected] · kuhlcorp.com