Does an empty crop mean that the bird has been cruelly purged (starved) before process?
Not at all. Our birds are deliberately removed from the feed source in the evening, and then processed first thing in the morning. This way, the birds don’t go hungry and you don’t have to cope with the mess of a crop full of feed. Unfortunately sometimes you may find that the crop still has feed in it, so it’s a good idea, before removing the head, to cut a shallow slit in the skin just above the hollow at the base of the neck, put your finger in, hook it around the gullet and carefully ease the crop out.