one of the initial processing steps when processing poultry the plug is most preferably inserted after stunning and bleeding but before the animals has been scalded it is a benefit of the method in accordance with the invention that fecal leakage and contamination can be substantially reduced or eliminated without having to vacuum or suction the rectum or tie the intestine the depth of insertion of the plug into the rectum of a particular animals is dependent on the animal to be processed and will be readily determinable by one skilled in the art with turkey for example the plug is preferably inserted so that the distal end is positioned from about 4 to 6 cm from the rectum vent upon insertion the intestinal fluids contact the plug causing it to swell typically increasing the diameter of the plug from about 0 3 cm to about 2 25 cm the swollen plug blocks the lumen of the distal colon thus preventing the escape of fecal matter typical dimensions are set forth in the following table ______________________________________animal diameter cm length cm ______________________________________chicken 25 1 5 1 3game hen 25 1 5 1 3duck 3 2 1 4turkey 3 2 25 1 5cow 10 15 13 20sheep 5 9 10 15pig 5 9 10 15______________________________________ a determination of whether an effective seal has been formed can be pre tested by manually squeezing the rectum of the animal being processed so that gasses or material contained therein press against the seal by varying the squeeze pressure one can qualitatively determine that the plug can withstand a considerable buildup of back pressure before becoming dislodged or before permitting leakage of fecal material from the vent once the plug is.