I am going to kill Al Runion-- need advice

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ILoveJoe

ILoveJoe

Songster
11 Years
Jun 28, 2008
457
8
131
Northern Kentucky
I didn't think any of my chickens would be anything other than pets. Until the raging hormone disease hit and one of the young roosters started attacking me.

I have tried the rooster-red technique and it would work sometimes, not always and then the last time I tried to pick him up to walk him around he turned and took a hunk out of my face. That day (my birthday
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)sealed his fate, I am going to kill my first chicken ever.

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He is an EE and will be 26 weeks old this week.

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I have been studying the stickies about butchering and reading my Storeys Guide and I am 100% sure I can do this all on my own.

How long should I expect this to take?

My plan is to hang him and cut his throat and bleed him out into a bucket or something.

I don't have all the tools like a cavity scraper etc, so on a budget. what do I need beside a sharp knife and a big pot to boil water to dunk him in?

Does plucking feathers off require gloves?

I don't have a cone but a co-worker suggest I could assemble one from left over scrap of chicken wire. Does that sound plausible?

DO I have to take food away from him for 24 hours?

You all are experts at this, what can I expect for my first time?

What kind of tips can you offer me?

I want to roast him for Christmas dinner is he too old already?
 
I just took one of my hens yesterday.

Keeping in mind I haven't done many, it took 15 minutes from hanging to chilling in water.

1. Get rooster
2. Hang upside down by feet
3. Open throat with a sharp knife.
4. Wait for 5 mins
5. Cut off head
6. Remove from rope
7. Dunk the body in 160F water and stir around to get the hot water under the feathers
8. Pluck (pull hard on big feather, grab whole bunches at a time)
9. Torch remaining pin feathers.
10. Cut open back of neck, remove windpipe and crop
11. V-cut the cavity from the vent
12. Stick hand in, pull, discard (unless you want liver, gizzard & heart)
13. Put hand back in, use fingers to scrape the top (back of bird) and remove remainder of lungs and kidneys
14. Cut off hocks
15. Throw in cold water, enjoy job well done.

Tools used:
Sharp knife
Length of rope
Pot of hot water


Good luck.

Tom
 
Sorry he's being a butthead, such a pretty boy !

My vast butchering experience now totals in the ones (ok, just one) so with it being fresh on my mind and new to the experience, I can give you my take.

1. You can do it. The sticky guides are great, bring a laptop into the kitchen if you can.

2. I'd plan an hour for it from pot on the stove to bird in the fridge.

3. A knife and a pot of water is all you'll need.

4. Plucking doesn't require gloves, but I'd recommend them. A pair of dish gloves, or disposable rubber/plastic ones will suffice. Wet feathers stick like the dickens and smell distinctly unlike a bouquet of roses.

5. Did I mention wet chickens stink ?

6. A wire cone could work well enough - you are really just restraining him so he can't flop around. Be sure to tie his feet or have someone hold them or else he may try to pull himself out of the cone.

7. You don't have to put him on forced fast - as a matter of fact, having some food in the crop will help you locate it.

8. Take your time around the vent until you open the body cavity up enough to see the intestines. You shouldn't have to deal with poop if you take your time.

We culled our EE roo @ about 20-21 weeks, brined him overnight then oven roasted him (he cooked quicker than I expected). He was wonderful, but I did find a piece of meat between thigh and leg that was like chewing on a tire retread. You may want to consider a slower cooking method.
 
Go for it. You have all the tools you need. A cone is nice, but not required. I haven't gotten around to making any, but I butcher chickens fairly often. I don't even restrain the wings, they're hanging upside down where they can't hit anything with the wings. The flapping probably helps pump out what's lef of the blood, at that point.

It is very messy, though, so stand back, unless you have your Dexter Morgan outfit on. I ONCE made the mistake of killing one in the house, in cold weather. I thought I'd found a way to prevent the flapping, and the kitchen looked like a CSI crime scene by the time I was done.

I just use my fingers to scrape out the lungs, most people don't bother with the kidneys at all, they're still there in store bought birds. I do scrape them out when I cut up a chicken to fry, though. I cook up the kidney tissue in a little glob and give it to one of the dogs, along with the liver.
 
I thought I'd found a way to prevent the flapping, and the kitchen looked like a CSI crime scene by the time I was done.

This is why I read posts like this. This little snippet of information is priceless and has probably saved me from having a CSI crime scene on my hands some day.​
 
He got you good in the face. I agree, time for the pot. I don't ever keep a mean rooster. They can do some serious damage. The first one you do is the hardest. Good luck. Let's face it, while that rooster is pretty--he is not plastic surgery pretty!
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We killed our first ever bird a few days ago for that exact reason. Bad boys dont get to stay and I didn't want him to be someone else's problem, so we had Chicken Stew a la Jake. We hung him up on a tree limb by twine looped around his legs. DH was very exact with his exacto knife, got the jugular perfectly and he bled out with little flapping. You can do it!
I'm so glad he didn't get you in the eye! BTW, we didn't pluck him, we skinned him. Buster has a good thread on doing it that way somewhere here.
 
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Someone has a signature line that reads the meanest rooster always tastes the best...is that mikarod?? I would say he is DEAD right!!

ENJOY!!!
Christina
<<who is making chicken noodle soup as this is typed...>>
 

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