Just slaughtered my first 3 roosters

[Tori1133]

Hey guys, I’m super new to all of this - was actually vegan for most of my life lol so as you can imagine this is all a big shift for me

Anyway I had a few questions, a) I’m having a hard time emotionally about having to kill my roosters and was wondering if anyone had any tips/advice on that!

But also, my more technical question is: how do you package the meat right after slaughter? We killed them last night and read everywhere to rest them especially if older for about 2 days (2 of them were about 9mos old and one was 2yrs) so they are all three in our fridge resting right now.

But I wasn’t really sure what to wrap them in? I’m super scared of them getting spoiled cause I already feel sad about killing them, I would hate for the meat to be wasted. Is wrapping them in plastic okay while resting? Or what do you all do during that stage?

I was going to freeze two of them after and make soup immediately with the other. What do you put them in to freeze?

 

[Greta A]

i cut the meat off and put them in zip lock bags..... or you can just place the whole bird in a zip lock if you have one large enough...... there are many videos on utube showing how to process the bird if you do not know how

 

[Cinnamon Roll]

Congratulations and condolences on your meat harvest. I always have mixed emotions too.

I was vegetarian for years before I started raising my own meat so I know how you feel. I think it’s good to have feelings about taking a life. I’ve killed a lot of chickens and the sadness is always there for me. It drives me to make sure that I do everything I can to make their life great and give them as calm and pain free end as I can. Unfortunately chickens don’t mate 1-1 like geese so there will always be extra males, even if they lived like jungle fowl the boys would probably be driven off and eaten by predators. And a predator wouldn’t care if the chicken’s death was easy. I’m sure you did right by your roosters.

I put my chicken carcasses in a big ziplock bag, then into a small tub to catch any leaks, then into the fridge. If you can find Jumbo or 2-Gallon ziplocks, those hold a lot. You can also dry age them, keep them in the fridge without covering, but I’ve found it leads to drier meat and I didn’t like it.

I usually use my Food Saver to store them in the freezer but a ziplock freezer bag works too, but be aware the meat might get freezer burned if you don’t use it quickly. If it gets freezer burned you can still use it in a soup or stew.

 

[Molpet]

Emotional it's hard. I focus on the fact that they had a better life than a grocery store chicken and one bad day.

I store in ziplock bags in refrigerator . I drain the liquid off before I freeze, personal preference.... Long term, over a couple months, freezing I vacuum seal. Some people store in vacuum sealed bags in refrigerator and freeze after a couple days.

 

[Ridgerunner]

a) I’m having a hard time emotionally about having to kill my roosters and was wondering if anyone had any tips/advice on that!

That is a common topic on this meat bird forum. My take on it is that they had a really good life until they had one bad moment. I raise them for the meat so mine would not have been alive to start with if they were not going to be eaten. I try to use as much of the carcass as I can, don't waste much. I never feel good about killing one but accept it as the circle of life.

how do you package the meat right after slaughter? We killed them last night and read everywhere to rest them especially if older for about 2 days (2 of them were about 9mos old and one was 2yrs) so they are all three in our fridge resting right now.

But I wasn’t really sure what to wrap them in?

You need to age them until rigor mortis has passed. I don't go by a set time, though two days is usually enough. When the joints move freely or the meat is really flexible instead of stiff they are ready.

To age them some people keep them on ice or in ice water in something like an ice chest with no wrapping. Sometimes they make a brine to age them in by adding salt to the water. Some keep them in the refrigerator. Some might keep them in a zip loc type bag while aging them. Some use a heat shrink bag or vacuum bag, either before or after aging. There are no rules as to whether you age them before or after wrapping or if you age them wet or dry. They just need to stay cold so bacteria can't grow while you age them. If you use a zip loc bag I would not keep the meat for longer than a month after freezing as the meat can get freezer burn.

 

[aart]

I part them out, bag, rest n the ridge for a few days, then put in the freezer.

 

[Tori1133]

Congratulations and condolences on your meat harvest. I always have mixed emotions too.

I was vegetarian for years before I started raising my own meat so I know how you feel. I think it’s good to have feelings about taking a life. I’ve killed a lot of chickens and the sadness is always there for me. It drives me to make sure that I do everything I can to make their life great and give them as calm and pain free end as I can. Unfortunately chickens don’t mate 1-1 like geese so there will always be extra males, even if they lived like jungle fowl the boys would probably be driven off and eaten by predators. And a predator wouldn’t care if the chicken’s death was easy. I’m sure you did right by your roosters.

I put my chicken carcasses in a big ziplock bag, then into a small tub to catch any leaks, then into the fridge. If you can find Jumbo or 2-Gallon ziplocks, those hold a lot. You can also dry age them, keep them in the fridge without covering, but I’ve found it leads to drier meat and I didn’t like it.

I usually use my Food Saver to store them in the freezer but a ziplock freezer bag works too, but be aware the meat might get freezer burned if you don’t use it quickly. If it gets freezer burned you can still use it in a soup or stew.

Thank you so much! Congratulations and condolences feels very appropriate to this event for me. And those are all really helpful points about the moral/emotional side of things. I’ve thought of basically the same stuff myself, because I’ve really thought this decision through for a while, but it feels good to hear it from others too when I feel like I’m second guessing myself and my reasoning.

Also thank you ok! I will look for those big freezer bags! We don’t usually have any because I freeze all my other food in containers but they just aren’t big enough for a chicken lol.

 

[Tori1133]

That is a common topic on this meat bird forum. My take on it is that they had a really good life until they had one bad moment. I raise them for the meat so mine would not have been alive to start with if they were not going to be eaten. I try to use as much of the carcass as I can, don't waste much. I never feel good about killing one but accept it as the circle of life.


You need to age them until rigor mortis has passed. I don't go by a set time, though two days is usually enough. When the joints move freely or the meat is really flexible instead of stiff they are ready.

To age them some people keep them on ice or in ice water in something like an ice chest with no wrapping. Sometimes they make a brine to age them in by adding salt to the water. Some keep them in the refrigerator. Some might keep them in a zip loc type bag while aging them. Some use a heat shrink bag or vacuum bag, either before or after aging. There are no rules as to whether you age them before or after wrapping or if you age them wet or dry. They just need to stay cold so bacteria can't grow while you age them. If you use a zip loc bag I would not keep the meat for longer than a month after freezing as the meat can get freezer burn.

Oh thanks that’s all super helpful information! I’m curious about trying a brine, I’ve read that it also makes the meat a bit juicier and more tasty so that will be on my list of things to try.

Also yeah, I agree with you about the one bad day and an otherwise great life. When I look at my chickens out exploring and enjoying the world, it definitely feels to me as though they would rather have existed than not at all

 

[Tori1133]

Congratulations and condolences on your meat harvest. I always have mixed emotions too.

I was vegetarian for years before I started raising my own meat so I know how you feel. I think it’s good to have feelings about taking a life. I’ve killed a lot of chickens and the sadness is always there for me. It drives me to make sure that I do everything I can to make their life great and give them as calm and pain free end as I can. Unfortunately chickens don’t mate 1-1 like geese so there will always be extra males, even if they lived like jungle fowl the boys would probably be driven off and eaten by predators. And a predator wouldn’t care if the chicken’s death was easy. I’m sure you did right by your roosters.

I put my chicken carcasses in a big ziplock bag, then into a small tub to catch any leaks, then into the fridge. If you can find Jumbo or 2-Gallon ziplocks, those hold a lot. You can also dry age them, keep them in the fridge without covering, but I’ve found it leads to drier meat and I didn’t like it.

I usually use my Food Saver to store them in the freezer but a ziplock freezer bag works too, but be aware the meat might get freezer burned if you don’t use it quickly. If it gets freezer burned you can still use it in a soup or stew.

Also, I don’t really know how to properly use the quote feature on this forum lol. But I really relate to what you said there about it really driving you to make sure they have a great life. I felt quite an obligation to make sure I was being the best chicken keeper I could be and that I honoured the meat I ate from those chickens by using the energy to do good things for the rest of the flock and the whole homestead I’m trying to build. It just is quite a cool feeling to be so consciously connected to your food and really understand the consequences of eating. I feel a lot more grateful for all of my meals now. It is also kind of nice to me to hear that the sadness hasn’t gone away for you. Even though it is hard, I was kind of worried about becoming emotionally shut off to the event, and I don’t think I really want that either.

Thanks for the helpful words

 

[LhickenChicken]

I vacuum seal them then freeze