Preserving Poultry and Rabbit Products

1Eggs

An egg has natural protection: a shell with a thin outer coat called the cuticle (bloom), which blocks the thousands of tiny pores in the shell. Once the cuticle is damaged, bacteria such as Salmonella can enter. Inside the blunt end is an air cell, which grows as the egg ages and loses water.

Keeping eggs fresh

• Collect eggs often, at least twice a day, so they are not soiled, broken or warmed by broody hens.
• Clean dirty eggs dry, by gently scraping or rubbing. Washing removes the cuticle; a washed egg must be kept in a fridge.
• Store eggs in trays with the pointed end down, so the air cell stays at the top and the yolk stays centred.
• Keep them in a cool, shaded, well-aired place, or in a fridge, away from strong smells, which eggs absorb.
• Coat the shells with a thin layer of clean vegetable oil or wax to seal the pores, so less water is lost and fewer bacteria enter.
• Other methods: salting (in brine or a salt paste), pickling hard-boiled eggs in vinegar, and drying into egg powder.
• Never sell cracked eggs as fresh; use them at home quickly and cook them fully.

Checking freshness

• Candling: hold the egg in front of a bright light in a dark room. You can see the size of the air cell, cracks, blood spots, and whether an embryo is developing. A small air cell means a fresh egg.
• Water test: put the egg in water. A fresh egg sinks and lies flat; an older egg, with a bigger air cell, stands on its end; a stale egg floats and should be thrown away.

Worked example: counting losses

A school poultry club collects 1,200 eggs in a month. Eggs are sold in trays of 30. Because of poor storage, 5% are lost.

1. Trays collected = 1,200 ÷ 30 = 40 trays.
2. Eggs lost = 5% × 1,200 = 0.05 × 1,200 = 60 eggs, which is 60 ÷ 30 = 2 trays.
3. At 3,500 Frw per tray, the loss is 2 × 3,500 = 7,000 Frw a month, money that good storage would have saved.

2Poultry meat

1. Starve the bird of feed (not water) for several hours before slaughter so the gut is nearly empty.
2. Slaughter and bleed it well; well-bled meat keeps better.
3. Dip it briefly in hot water (scalding) to loosen the feathers, then pluck.
4. Remove the internal organs (evisceration) without breaking the gut, and wash the carcass in clean water.
5. Chill the carcass at once, then keep it cold for a few days or freeze it at −18 °C for months. Chicken can also be smoked or canned.

By-products: feathers (pillows, feather meal for animal feed), and poultry manure, one of the richest farm manures, which should be composted before use on crops.

3Rabbit products

• Rabbit meat is lean, high in protein and low in fat. It is preserved in the same way as chicken: chilling, freezing, smoking or drying. A rabbit's carcass is roughly half its live weight.
• Rabbit skins (pelts) are used for fur and leather. After skinning, scrape off fat and flesh, stretch the pelt on a wire or wooden frame with the flesh side out, and dry it in the shade with good air flow. Salt can be rubbed on the flesh side first. Store dry pelts away from rats and insects.
• Manure and urine: rabbit droppings are an excellent fertiliser that can be used without long composting, and some farmers collect the urine as a liquid fertiliser.

Practice