4h Poultry Judging - Class c - Ready to cook carcasses

>>This is 4-H Poultry Judging : Class C - Ready to Cook Carcasses. The first carcass we will look at is a Grade A carcass. The rules say that this carcass should have no cuts or tears on the skin greater than 1/4-inch in length on the *** or legs and should have no evidence of broken bones or more than one disjoint. The student should rotate the chicken in the shackle and carefully examine it for defects. While the student is not allowed to touch the carcass during the contest, they should thoroughly inspect the wings for any evidence of a defect. Also, it’s important to carefully examine the saddle of the carcass at the hips to ensure that no cuts in the skin are present. A Grade A carcass may have the wing tips or flippers removed and the tail may be removed, even with the body of the carcass. This is an evisceration cut and is perfectly acceptable on a Grade A carcass. This is an example of a broken and exposed or protruding bone on the leg of the carcass. Because leg bones on chickens are large this defect is usually very easy to see. This is a broken and exposed or protruding bone on the wing of the carcass. Because the wing bones on chickens are very small this defect can be easily overlooked by students, so they should be careful to examine the inside of the wings for broken, exposed bones. This is an example of cut or torn skin on the breast of the carcass. This cut is larger than 1/4-inch in length so the carcass is downgraded to a B Grade carcass. This is an example of a cut or torn skin on the leg of a carcass. This cut is larger than 1/4-inch in length so the carcass is downgraded to a B Grade carcass. This is an example of cut or torn skin on the leg of the carcass that is larger than 1/3 of the part, so this makes the carcass a C Grade. This is an example of cut or torn skin on the breast of the carcass that is larger than 1/3 of the part, so this makes the carcass a C Grade. The bottom cut is an example of cut or torn skin on a body part other than the breast or legs. The rules say that if the cut is less than 1 1/2-inches in length the carcass is still an A. The top cut on the back of this carcass is greater than 1 1/2-inches as shown by the ruler on the right. My thumb is marking the 1 1/2-inch mark. This defect makes the carcass a B Grade. In the next section, we will look at a carcass with a broken, unexposed or non-protruding bone in the leg. It is important for students to realize that during a contest if chickens hang for long periods of time the skin will dry out and become transparent making it appear as though the bone is protruding. It is important to examine the area carefully to determine if the skin is covering the broken bone. Next we look at a broken, unexposed or non-protruding bone in the wing of a carcass. The way that a student can tell if the wing bones are broken is that the wing will appear to be curved instead of flat. Comparing the broken, curved wing to an un-broken, flat wing on the other side of the carcass is an excellent way to tell whether or not a wing has been broken and can help the student to easily distinguish between the two. On this carcass, we will look at disjoints. The rules say that a carcass may have one disjoint and still remain a Grade A carcass. Just as with broken, non-protruding bones it is important for students to carefully examine the area around the disjoint to see whether there is skin covering the disjointed bone. As the contest wears on this skin may become transparent and appear as though the bone is protruding out of the skin. In order for the chicken to be downgraded to a B Grade carcass two disjoints must be present. Usually, in a contest, a carcass with a disjointed leg will be hung by one hock so that the leg that is disjointed can be seen at a perpendicular angle to the carcass. Also, the way the wing hangs in comparison to the other wing is an easy way to tell that the wing is disjointed. This is a Grade B carcass. What if the carcass has one disjoint and one broken, non-protruding bone? It is downgraded to a Grade B carcass as shown here. When evaluating a carcass for tail cuts, students should become familiar with where the leg bone attaches to the back bone of the carcass. This is called the hip joint and can be felt by probing the back of the carcass. This is the reference point to use when determining grade on carcasses with back cuts. My thumb is marking the location of the hip joint in this instance. For a Grade B carcass the hip joint is located and the half-way point between the hip joint and the base of the tail. Keep in mind, I said the base of the tail is located. A tail cut that is less than half-way to the hip joint, as shown here, is a Grade B carcass. Again, a tail cut that is less than half-way to the hip joint is a Grade B carcass. Now for a Grade C carcass, the tail cut must extend between half-way to the hip joint and beyond. The cut that I make here on this carcass extends all the way to the hip joint. This is a Grade C carcass. The next carcass defect we want to look at is missing parts. For wings, if half of the wing is removed, this part is also known as the wing flat, then the carcass is downgraded to a B Grade carcass. If the entire wing is removed then the carcass is downgraded to a C Grade carcass, as shown here. The last defect we want to look at is trim. If some of the flesh on the breast or leg has been trimmed to a thickness of less than 1/8-inch or about the thickness of a nickel then the carcass is downgraded to a B. If the flesh of the breast or leg has been trimmed to a thickness of more than 1/8-inch or the thickness of a nickel then the carcass is a C Grade. © 2012 University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences