2,519. Punctures in the Trachea

Hilchos Shechita 3:22

The esophagus can only be checked from the inside, not the outside. One must therefore turn it inside out to check it. If a drop of blood is found on it, we conclude that it had been punctured.

Hilchos Shechita 3:23

If most of a trachea’s opening was severed in the area designated for shechita, the animal is a neveila; this is also the case if it has a hole the size of an issar (a small denomination of coin). Let’s say that an animal’s trachea was perforated with small holes that don’t diminish the volume of flesh. If they cumulatively make up the greater part of the trachea, then the animal is invalid. If they do diminish the flesh, then they invalidate the animal if they are cumulatively the size of an issar. Similarly, a strand removed from a trachea invalidates an animal in the size of an issar. When it comes to a bird, if the strand or if the holes that diminish the flesh are so large that, if folded and placed over the opening of the trachea it would cover the greater part, the animal is a neveila. If such isn’t the case, it’s valid.