Dressing Shrinkages of Bronze Turkeys

DRESSING percentages of food animals are of considerable economic importance to the producers, distributors, and consumers of them. This paper is a compilation of original data relating to the determination of weight losses sustained by turkeys during their preparation for cooking. The data were obtained from more than twelve hundred birds of the Bronze variety. The birds were raised and prepared for market on the U. S. Range Livestock Experiment Station at Miles City, Montana, during the years of 1929, 1930, 1931 and 1932. The turkeys used in this study were reared on limited range with access to feed at all times from hatching to marketing. The young birds were slaughtered, in the great majority of cases, between the ages of 26 and 32 weeks, during November and December. A few were slaughtered at 22 to 26 weeks of age, during November and December. A few were held as long . . .