Warning: Graphic Pics
I want to thank you all that gave me advice a few weeks ago on slaughtering our Blue Andalusian roo "Sir Annoys Alot". He got a few weeks reprieve because we all got really sick with cold/flu and pneumonia.
He has been living in rooster heaven as the only roo with about 14 mature hens and he's been staying busy and happy.
But, today was THE day!
We went out this morning, caught him, tied his legs together and then broke his neck using the "broom method" [putting him on the ground with a broom over his neck, stepping on the broom and pulling up to snap his neck].
It was quick and easy and appeared painless to him, MUCH better than I thought it would be.
Then we hung him by his feet from a tree and cut his head off so he could bleed out [we hung a big black garbage bag under him to reduce the mess].
We brought him into the house and I skinned him and took the breasts and his thighs/legs. We did not remove all his innards or pluck him. I tried to get his wings but I had a lot of trouble trying to cut through the tough wing skin so I finally gave up.
He didn't have a whole lot of meat on him, being a lighter breed roo, but we got two very nice thighs and legs from him and a decent amount of breast meat.
It took us about 45 minutes from start to finish, including catching him. I thought that was OK for our first butchering, since neither of us really had any clue what we were doing. Next time we want to try gutting the chicken and everything from start to finish so we can learn to do it that way, but this seemed less intimidating to us for our first try [not gutting].
My kids have requested chicken noodle soup, so he is in my fridge to brine right now and I am making crock pot chicken noodle soup on Monday.
We were worried about our kids' reactions, especially our 5yo who is our animal fanatic, but Sir Annoys Alot was being so mean to their pet hens [he was more of a rapist than a Cassanova] that the kids were ALL ready for him to die - and asking me how soon we'd be butchering him.
We'll see how they do with the chicken noodle soup, but I think it will probably go over well - they are all ready to eat the mean rooster.
This probably sounds SO strange, but my husband and I both feel really good about this. It was MUCH better and easier than I expected it to be, Sir Annoys Alot had a good life [and a long one for a roo], and it has brought us finally to our Goal - producing our own meat for our family, knowing that our meat was raised kindly and treated well, fed healthy, and we can now avoid factory farms.
I raised Sir Annoys Alot from an egg off of eBay to a chicken in my fridge - I am really proud of myself!
Kelly
I want to thank you all that gave me advice a few weeks ago on slaughtering our Blue Andalusian roo "Sir Annoys Alot". He got a few weeks reprieve because we all got really sick with cold/flu and pneumonia.
He has been living in rooster heaven as the only roo with about 14 mature hens and he's been staying busy and happy.
But, today was THE day!
We went out this morning, caught him, tied his legs together and then broke his neck using the "broom method" [putting him on the ground with a broom over his neck, stepping on the broom and pulling up to snap his neck].
It was quick and easy and appeared painless to him, MUCH better than I thought it would be.
Then we hung him by his feet from a tree and cut his head off so he could bleed out [we hung a big black garbage bag under him to reduce the mess].
We brought him into the house and I skinned him and took the breasts and his thighs/legs. We did not remove all his innards or pluck him. I tried to get his wings but I had a lot of trouble trying to cut through the tough wing skin so I finally gave up.
He didn't have a whole lot of meat on him, being a lighter breed roo, but we got two very nice thighs and legs from him and a decent amount of breast meat.
It took us about 45 minutes from start to finish, including catching him. I thought that was OK for our first butchering, since neither of us really had any clue what we were doing. Next time we want to try gutting the chicken and everything from start to finish so we can learn to do it that way, but this seemed less intimidating to us for our first try [not gutting].
My kids have requested chicken noodle soup, so he is in my fridge to brine right now and I am making crock pot chicken noodle soup on Monday.
We were worried about our kids' reactions, especially our 5yo who is our animal fanatic, but Sir Annoys Alot was being so mean to their pet hens [he was more of a rapist than a Cassanova] that the kids were ALL ready for him to die - and asking me how soon we'd be butchering him.
We'll see how they do with the chicken noodle soup, but I think it will probably go over well - they are all ready to eat the mean rooster.
This probably sounds SO strange, but my husband and I both feel really good about this. It was MUCH better and easier than I expected it to be, Sir Annoys Alot had a good life [and a long one for a roo], and it has brought us finally to our Goal - producing our own meat for our family, knowing that our meat was raised kindly and treated well, fed healthy, and we can now avoid factory farms.
I raised Sir Annoys Alot from an egg off of eBay to a chicken in my fridge - I am really proud of myself!
Kelly
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