Rooster culling advice - first time

I had a seabright do the same to me then my wife I did not hesitate to dispatch it not with a .22 but with a 12 gauge wasn't worried about saving the meat but I hunt all the time for squirrels the .22 will not harm anyone consuming the meat usually will pass through the bird with no residue. Meat on a bird might be damaged but not excessive just try to shoot at upper body to avoid organ contamination

lilwildrabbit said:

I had a seabright do the same to me then my wife I did not hesitate to dispatch it not with a .22 but with a 12 gauge wasn't worried about saving the meat but I hunt all the time for squirrels the .22 will not harm anyone consuming the meat usually will pass through the bird with no residue. Meat on a bird might be damaged but not excessive just try to shoot at upper body to avoid organ contamination

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Years ago, my Honey did that to an Ee rooster that attacked our son, who was about 2 at the time. Grabbed the shotgun and dispatched the rooster right then and there. We didn't even try to salvage meat, there was shot everywhere.

But that darn rooster never touched my kid again

I shoot quite a bit and hitting a chicken head just right to cause immediate death is a daunting idea (at least to me)... just a smidge off and you could seriously harm the chicken without killing it (envision the beak being blown off, the back of the head being blown off but not dying, etc- at which point you should just run and get the tree loppers or axe and do the deed quickly)...

But I did read an interesting idea the other day from a woman who had trouble dispatching her large ducks: She puts the duck in a pant leg or something similar that wraps the body up tight and leaves the head out. Then she lays the bird down on the ground so that it cant move (I think she steps on the sides of the pant leg or something) and stands straight over it. She lowers the barrel of the .22 down to the head and shoots- the bullet goes through the head and straight into the ground. Personally, I would make sure I had a bit of an angle (not having the barrel perpendicular to the ground) just in case there is a large rock or something underground that the bullet might hit. Most .22 bullets are lead and will smash up when it hits something hard as opposed to steel which will fragment and bounce more.

Anyway, if you can't slit the jugular or chop the head off this might be a way to do it.

Good luck!

PS- Yes to the crock-pot or yes to pressure canning at this age! Great thing about pressure canning is you dont have to let it rest in the fridge for a few days. You can pressure can it right away or throw it in the freezer and pressure can after thawing.

I have always felt that any rooster should be treated like a loaded gun. Safe when handled properly, but warranting due caution at all times. Especially around children. We butcher all mean birds plus another 100 or so a year. I like to do them about 12 at a time, as to not become completely repulsed by it all. This in a few weeks or so, do another dozen or so... I normally isolate the birds I intend to butcher in one pen. Usually a empty run, while the rest are locked inside their coop. Then I use a 22 rifle I have used for years, to carefully shoot them in the head. I shoot 4, dress that 4, repeat till Im done. Im not in town. I have shot a rifle and hunted nearly 50 years. I dont use a single shot so in the rare case a second shot is needed, its very quick. I leave them lay a minute or two till the bird is still. While its not something I enjoy. It is not extremely stressful for myself or the birds.

Lots of good discussion here! So glad your daughter is OK.

My 17 year old daughter and I process our cockerels. We use a homemade cone from a bleach jug. Once we place the chicken in, they calm down. And I get myself psyched up enough, clearing the feathers away from the throat and making the motion with the back of the knife before turning it around and making a firm deep plunging cut like taking a steak off the end of a roast. Chicken skin is much tough than I anticipated. And my first attempt netted a slow bleed out. Turns out making a shallow cut with the bird facing away from you like in the movies does NOT make arterial blood spray everywhere... or get the job done. After they are done bleeding out (only 3-5 minutes), my daughter removes the head and skins the chicken and cleans the insides. We do not mess with boiling water and the nasty smell associated. Though in the future we will probably want some of our birds to still have their skin. Here is a safe video if you wish to see... skinning, not killing. We collect them in the morning before they leave roost and keep them in a kennel. They haven't eaten overnight which helps the intestines to be clear.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/158398/homemade-killing-cone/20

We have messed up and popped a bile sack and cut an intestine. It's a learning process. We don't enjoy it at all! But we do know where our food comes from and also that their life and death was still better than any in the factories.

Good luck!

Worse comes to worse... even if you don't end up processing and eating, your family will be safer! As stated... you gotta do what you gotta do.

lilwildrabbit said:

I had a seabright do the same to me then my wife I did not hesitate to dispatch it not with a .22 but with a 12 gauge wasn't worried about saving the meat but I hunt all the time for squirrels the .22 will not harm anyone consuming the meat usually will pass through the bird with no residue. Meat on a bird might be damaged but not excessive just try to shoot at upper body to avoid organ contamination

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shooting where exactly if it is a body part ? one of my rhode islands took a little flight , came back home btw BUT with a bulletwound in its thigh so I REALLY like to express here that 1. shooting it is not a good option considering the fact you might penetrate any other than that what you aimed for as it moves rapid and sudden ,
secondly this is a first time so I got to admit you might feel dizzyness or a turning stomach first time , believe most of all people here ,
third one missed shot and it's really going to be a sport instead of killing it for eating , not that I want to say you enjoy that ofcourse ! please do not get me wrong over that . it is just less humane , it might fail and it can still run of ( last thing proven by a hen ! ) , even IF you re good shooter it does not say this time goes as smooth as usual , certainly given the reason / emotions ,
and last : first time , first time ; removing a bullet too ??? if that would be my own 1st one I'd loose it and leave it due too much work and it already is lots of work and ' messy ' .
I fainted first time in the kitchen

strangeanimal said:

shooting where exactly if it is a body part ? one of my rhode islands took a little flight , came back home btw BUT with a bulletwound in its thigh so I REALLY like to express here that 1. shooting it is not a good option considering the fact you might penetrate any other than that what you aimed for as it moves rapid and sudden ,
secondly this is a first time so I got to admit you might feel dizzyness or a turning stomach first time , believe most of all people here ,
third one missed shot and it's really going to be a sport instead of killing it for eating , not that I want to say you enjoy that ofcourse ! please do not get me wrong over that . it is just less humane , it might fail and it can still run of ( last thing proven by a hen ! ) , even IF you re good shooter it does not say this time goes as smooth as usual , certainly given the reason / emotions ,
and last : first time , first time ; removing a bullet too ??? if that would be my own 1st one I'd loose it and leave it due too much work and it already is lots of work and ' messy ' .

I fainted first time in the kitchen

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I have hunted birds before and usually try for heart but in front of wings catching a lung or heart no contamination of meat by intestines now I don't usually hunt with a .22 I use a 12 gauge with steel shot! Size 7 normally for birds but so dang small that you cannot find them all I hunt squirrels with a .22 because of the shot factor. And yes I have had them run off while injured but to shoot a chicken one thing I don't kill anyone else's birds period! And as for mine if I shoot them it's because they are aggresive and not enough meat to dress I have only shot two in my lifetime one because it attacked my wife and the second because it attacked my 2 year old nephew who required 14 stitches above the eye!! It was a Turkey and I blew its head off !

There are a lot of reasons why an animal may have to be put down. If you can't do it, you have no business keeping livestock. Once you do it, you will be surprised how good you feel about it. it is a sense of accomplishment, because it is an important step towards being a legit poultryman/person. Killing cones make it easy. Or, you can sit in a chair, hold bird between your legs, straighten its neck with one hand and cut the throat with the other. Hold the bird still as it bleeds out and say goodbye.There is a good you tube video on this, sort of a mid wife of death kinda thing. At this point you need to kill it any way you can because it is a safety risk. Good luck.