Abstract: When birds are placed upright on the interior surface of an open-ended, non-vertical rotating drum, the birds turn, regardless of their initial orientation, so as to face "uphill" in the drum. The birds leaving the drum are all found to have the same orientation, and thus can be more easily hung on shackles.An apparatus for performing the method comprises a frame, bearings connected to the frame, an open-ended drum supported for rotation about its longitudinal axis by the bearings, means for rotating the drum about its axis, means for depositing a series of birds on the interior surface of the drum, at a first end of the drum as it rotates, and means for receiving birds exiting from a second end of the drum. The drum preferably declines from the first end toward the second at a depression angle of about 15.degree..