Killing, Plucking, Eviscerating, & Cutting Up Your Chicken - Graphic!

[LindaB220]

I just joined here to tell ya thanks. Jus finished up with my first rooster, and it went well thanks to the detail you put into this thread...thanks.

Great to have you. It just takes practice. Which I still need.

Got some roosters coming along and will process then.

 

[n3kms]

Plan to process some roosters tomorrow, weather permitting, for the first time. I have three that I need to get rid of. They are just short of 25 weeks. Got my cone set up. I don't have great knives and I know you need a really sharp one to kill them. Any suggestions before I go shopping? Also I usually put out fermented food for the chickens mid afternoon. Since it has turned cool they tend to have it all eaten by around 5.00-6:00. If I pull them off the roost the next morning before I let the others out to eat and put them in a dog crate, how long should I wait to do the deed? I've read that 12 hours without food. Wasn't sure if overnight was good enough.

 

[katbriar]

Overnight should be fine.

I'd recommend buying a knife sharpener and using a knife you already have and are used to. I prefer a short knife with a narrow tip. I seem to be able to control one like that better, get in smaller spaces easier, and use less pressure to do what I need to do.

I don't have a fancy sharpening steel like you see professional cooks using. I have a little thing I bought in the camping section that is a plastic piece that has two metal "V"s in it. You set the blade in the V and draw it through. They are set at the right angle, so it's very easy to get the knife sharp enough. I test on a piece of paper to see if it's sharp enough.

Eta- and good luck tomorrow. Let us know how it goes!

 

[n3kms]

Thanks for the help. I have this electric knife sharpener that I hadn't seen for a while but my husband dug it out. I had bought two knives at a discount store a little while ago. Took them both out of the package. One was really cheap and not very sharp, so we tried the sharpener on it and I don't think it got any sharper. The other, cost more but not really expensive, was sharper. Got out my old paring knife that I have used for years and sharpened it with the sharpener. Used all three to peel an apple and you are right, I like my old knife the best. The weather may not cooperate tomorrow, we had hail just a little while ago. If not tomorrow I may have to wait till Friday. Never done this before so I'm a bit anxious. I'm an RN so blood and buts doesn't really bother me but killing something won't be easy. I think I can manage though. I know my roos have had a short but good life. I don't think the pullets will miss the extras any. I will let you know how it goes.

 

[LindaB220]

Thanks for the help. I have this electric knife sharpener that I hadn't seen for a while but my husband dug it out. I had bought two knives at a discount store a little while ago. Took them both out of the package. One was really cheap and not very sharp, so we tried the sharpener on it and I don't think it got any sharper. The other, cost more but not really expensive, was sharper. Got out my old paring knife that I have used for years and sharpened it with the sharpener. Used all three to peel an apple and you are right, I like my old knife the best. The weather may not cooperate tomorrow, we had hail just a little while ago. If not tomorrow I may have to wait till Friday. Never done this before so I'm a bit anxious. I'm an RN so blood and buts doesn't really bother me but killing something won't be easy. I think I can manage though. I know my roos have had a short but good life. I don't think the pullets will miss the extras any. I will let you know how it goes.

Good luck!!!!!

 

[n3kms]

Well that was somewhat traumatic and more difficult than I hoped. I had wanted to do 3 cockerels but with my husband's help. Weather did not permit for the day I planned and I did not want to wait till Friday or Saturday when he would be home. I think I should have waited. Thought my son would have helped me but he burned 3 of his fingers last night and so was little help. So I just ended up doing one chicken and he is now dead and plucked and cleaned and in ;the fridge. He only weight 2lbs and 13 oz. cleaned. He was not a meat type bird and he was just 20 weeks old so I wasn't expecting him to be too big anyway. I did learn a lot and I will, with some help, take care of the other two on Friday or Saturday. Unfortunately it is supposed to rain then too.

 

[pdirt]

Well that was somewhat traumatic and more difficult than I hoped. I had wanted to do 3 cockerels but with my husband's help. Weather did not permit for the day I planned and I did not want to wait till Friday or Saturday when he would be home. I think I should have waited. Thought my son would have helped me but he burned 3 of his fingers last night and so was little help. So I just ended up doing one chicken and he is now dead and plucked and cleaned and in ;the fridge. He only weight 2lbs and 13 oz. cleaned. He was not a meat type bird and he was just 20 weeks old so I wasn't expecting him to be too big anyway. I did learn a lot and I will, with some help, take care of the other two on Friday or Saturday. Unfortunately it is supposed to rain then too.

I can understand. We just started our first-ever butchering as well and it wasn't as smooth at first. I found with the roosters, I was having a hit/miss approach being able to cut the neck quickly, even with a REALLY REALLY sharp knife. I think there were so many pin-feathers on these 23-week old roosters and my technique probably wasn't perfect, that it resulted in more trauma for the birds than I would have liked.

Our favorite solution now is a .22 airgun pellet to the back of the head, aimed at eye-level. It was instant "lights out" and then I used a hatchet to chop off the head to bleed out. I say a blessing and give thanks before doing this and this helps me calm down.

In any case, I hope it goes smoother for you next time.

 

[n3kms]

You hit the nail on the head. I was way too hesitant and I didnt like that he was suffering the consequences of that. I guess I wasn't going deep enough as well to hit the artery. They make it look so easy on You Tube. If I doesn't go better next time I will have to try another method. Son has an air soft gun. Not sure if it will do the job but he may know. Thanks for the support.

 

[pdirt]

You hit the nail on the head. I was way too hesitant and I didnt like that he was suffering the consequences of that. I guess I wasn't going deep enough as well to hit the artery. They make it look so easy on You Tube. If I doesn't go better next time I will have to try another method. Son has an air soft gun. Not sure if it will do the job but he may know. Thanks for the support.

Not sure if an air soft gun is the same as an airgun aka pellet gun, perhaps your son knows. The pellets come in different shapes. The flat nosed ones I think are better at stunning, not sure if they are meant to penetrate. I used pellets that had a conical point and they definitely worked. Be sure to get the right caliber (size) for your gun.

I figure, with enough practice, I could probably master the neck cut. But I hate practicing on a living creature like that. Some cuts went well and others not so much. There's no practice with a .22 at point blank.

A friend of mind recently butchered a couple sheep. I asked him, how did you kill them and he said, with a .22 to the back of the head. Mind you, he was using a real .22 gun, with gunpowder bullets, which is much more powerful than an airgun. But the airgun was powerful enough to go through a tuna can and that gave me confidence to use it on the chickens.

Edit: Just looked up "airsoft gun" and it doesn't look like it will work. They're replicas of real guns that fire non-lethal pellets. But a real airgun aren't that much more expensive and can kill small animals.

 

[Blooie]

Not sure if an air soft gun is the same as an airgun aka pellet gun, perhaps your son knows. The pellets come in different shapes. The flat nosed ones I think are better at stunning, not sure if they are meant to penetrate. I used pellets that had a conical point and they definitely worked. Be sure to get the right caliber (size) for your gun.

I figure, with enough practice, I could probably master the neck cut. But I hate practicing on a living creature like that. Some cuts went well and others not so much. There's no practice with a .22 at point blank.

A friend of mind recently butchered a couple sheep. I asked him, how did you kill them and he said, with a .22 to the back of the head. Mind you, he was using a real .22 gun, with gunpowder bullets, which is much more powerful than an airgun. But the airgun was powerful enough to go through a tuna can and that gave me confidence to use it on the chickens.

Edit: Just looked up "airsoft gun" and it doesn't look like it will work. They're replicas of real guns that fire non-lethal pellets. But a real airgun aren't that much more expensive and can kill small animals.

We used a pellet gun when we processed our 3 roosters, and I'm glad we did it that way.