C

OSTS of eviscerating chickens were obtained at eight plants. Records on eviscerating costs at one of these plants did not provide satisfactory information. For this reason they were not included. The analysis and comparison was therefore limited to seven plants which eviscerated 13,500,000 pounds, eviscerated weight basis, of chickens during the period of the study, May 1947 to May 1948.

These seven plants were given new code letters to disguise their identities and put into two groups, IV and V, for the purposes of this report. The four plants S, T, U, and Y, comprising group IV, were essentially broiler plants. The other three plants, V, W, and X were operated by associations whose chief function was handling farm supplies, miscellaneous farm products, or eggs. For the most part, group V plants were from the New York dressing group II but group IV plants were from New York dressing groups I, II, and III.

The eviscerating costs were calculated on the basis of the eviscerated weight, starting with New York dressed birds. At two plants, V and W, the poultry was eviscerated directly from the New York dressing line so no New York dressed weights were available at these plants before the evisceration operation. The cost of the New York dressed product in these instances was calculated from the farm prices paid, adjusted for New York dressing cost and shrinkages based on the averages found in this study.

In this study no practical way was found of separating costs of drawing, full eviscerating, and cutting up. Obviously, Obviously, if dressing yield were reduced in a plant by using a more careful trimming or more complete dressing style than that used in another, the style with least yield would have the highest cost per pound.

The average cost of New York dressed chickens to be put into eviscerated form was 39.56 cents per pound with a range from 36.71 to 41.12 cents per pound-a difference of 4.41 cents (table 27). This raw material cost was equal to an average of 69.63 percent of the eviscerated cost (table 28). A rather wide range existed between plants for this item. Plant U was lowest with 63.09 percent and plant Y, in the same group, was highest with 76.65 percent.

The cost of the eviscerating operation, that is the cost of the eviscerated product less the cost of the New York dressed chicken, averaged 17.2 cents at the 7 plants (figure 9). A difference of 12.28 cents per pound existed between plants Y and U, both in group IV.

Shrinkage Cost

Eviscerating shrinkage was the largest cost item other than the cost of the New York dressed product. It averaged 11 cents at the seven plants with the wide range of from 6.73 to 13.64 cents per pound (table 27). This shrinkage cost made up an average of 19.35 percent of the total eviscerated cost

Plant cost:

Direct:

Table 28.-Costs of eviscerated chickens in percentages of total cost at 7 plants, 1947-48

Total gross cost.

Less: Sales inedible viscera

.776

98. 277 .376

95. 266

.964

97.682 .718

97.295 .720

97. 171 . 226

94.316

1.014

99. 062 938

98.653 1.347

Total net cost..

100.000 . 293 99. 707

100.000 . 276 99. 724 100. 000 100. 000

96. 2309 3.770 100.000

98. 400 1. 600

98.015

97.397

1.985

2. 603

95. 330 4.670

99.859 100. 000 100. 000

100. 000 100. 000 100.000 100.000 100. 000 100.000 100. 000 . 141 205! .059 . 107 99. 795 99.941 941 | 99. 99.893

Table 29.-Costs of eviscerating chickens in percentages of total cost at 7 plants, 1947-48

and ranged from 13.34 to 21.98 percent (table 28). As a percentage of the eviscerating cost, it averaged 63.72 percent with a range from 54.19 to 85.28 percent (table 29).

Rate of Shrink: Much of the range in the eviscerating cost was appar

ently due to the rate of evisceration shrink. Accurate and comparable figures on the percentage of shrink from New York dressed to eviscerated were difficult to obtain. Some of the poultry included in the eviscerated volume was not fully

ready-to-cook. On the other hand, some included was cut-up poultry. It was not possible in some instances to include only poultry which was eviscerated in conformity with the accepted definition of eviscerated poultry. These differences were partly responsible for the variations in the evisceration shrinkage figures obtained.

Plant S did the most business in cut-up poultry and had the highest evisceration shrinkage with an average of 25.1 percent." Plant U, with a shrinkage of 23.1 percent, sold cut-up and whole eviscerated poultry. The other plants did very little business in cut-up poultry and had a range of 20.3 percent to 21.8 percent for the months they operated. Their total dollar sales were more largely comprised of fowl than were those of the plants with the higher evisceration shrinkage.

The percentages of poultry that were eviscerated while still warm from body heat varied greatly. Almost all the poultry drawn or eviscerated at plants T, W, and Y was eviscerated warm because the

work was done while the poultry

was

the New York dressing shackles. Plant S eviscerated warm 8.29 percent of its eviscerated turkeys and 10.03 percent of its eviscerated chickens. Almost all the poultry eviscerated at plants U and X was partially chilled or cold when eviscerated. First it was New York dressed, then selected for evisceration, and taken from chill

11 In order not to disclose plant identities, new code letters were assigned to the plants for (1) chicken evisceration and (2) turkey evisceration operations.

ing vats of ice water, ice-packed barrels, or ice-packed boxes.

The average loss in weight of chickens from New York dressed to eviscerated weight was 22.2 percent for five of the seven plants from which satisfactory evisceration data were obtained (table 30). On a monthly basis there was a range of shrinkage among the 5 plants from 14.3 to 28.4 percent. Both extremes were in plant X.

During one 5-month period, a plant, not included in the table, marketed drawn birds with head and feet left on and only inedible viscera removed. The shrinkage of those birds varied from 11.0 percent to 12.6 percent from New York dressed to drawn weight.

Evisceration shrinkage data were available for the full 12-month period at only plants S and T. An average of the monthly percentages of these two plants, which eviscerated 7,900,000 pounds of New York dressed poultry during the period, showed a small variation in shrinkage over the 12 months.

Some of the inter-plant seasonal variations were due to the varying mixtures, grades, and sizes of fowl

and broilers that were eviscerated during the different months. Mature and fat birds showed a lower evisceration shrink than young, light, and thin birds. The difference in shrinkage between plants S and T was due chiefly to (1) a larger percentage of the chicken dressed at plant S being of the lighter, less fat, broiler type, and (2) more of the birds eviscerated at plant T, in addition to being fatter and more mature, were drawn rather than completely eviscerated.