Oh, and if you are going to roast or cook the meat for anything other than soup - clean the carcass, bag it up and it sit in the refridgerator for a few days before using or freezing it. This lets the meat "age" a bit and relax. I find them less firm then.
I have butchered meat birds for the last two years and had to do away with five cockerals last year that I do not need/could not sell. The youtube video is good demonstration -
1. Make sure that your knife is very sharp. It helps to make a clean kill - you will feel less miserable about the...