Search results for query: *

I just rinse under running water while rubbing. If the chicken is going to the dog, I just leave it. If I'm eating it, I go to the trouble of plucking it. The fluff rinses off bare skin more easily for some reason.

They sound gorgeous! I'd be tempted to just keep them anyway regardless of numbers, let them breed and then maybe eat them later :p One thing you can do is what I'm trying right now: preserve the skin with its feathers intact and then make something with it after. At least you'll still get to...

I've had both foxes and raccoons. The foxes take the birds away leaving only feathers behind; raccoons eat them on the spot and leave a carcass behind.

I'm in nova scotia. Yeah, I had a hard time with my first one. Hubby usually does the beheading but I get tired of waiting for him to get around to it so I finally bit the bullet and started doing them myself. First one was a disaster, second one went better, third was a newly-hatched chick...

Can you hang onto them for a while longer until they fill out more? While not true meat birds, they are dual-purpose. My black australorps - same size as marans - were huge at 5 months, with 7" long drumsticks and 4" long wing bones! One thigh was a meal in itself :D

This is awesome - all these people have the same "tunnel vision": check out their response at the end! This is exactly why I got my own chickens :) http://www.thebuddhistvision.com/no-one-applauds-this-woman-because-theyre-too-creeped-out-at-themselves-to-put-their-hands-together/#.U6HUS32VnMI

I think the trick is to hold the bird just higher than where it's head lays. My husband uses an unsplit log section barely big enough to lay the neck across but holds the legs up. To calm the bird he strokes the neck with the blade until it lays still and then swings. When I tried that with my...

One of the threads here suggested putting two nails in a board, far apart enough for the neck but close enough to hold the head, so that you can stretch the chicken's neck out by pulling the feet. Then you give yourself a larger target ergo less chance of a miss. My husband laughed when he saw...

I've considered trying the hatchet but the one I have is far too light and awkwardly short. I'm already accustomed to handling the machete (ours is home-made, about 3' long and very heavy) as i've used it for clearing brush and chopping branches many times. If it weren't for the head-holding...

Thanks ;) My husband grew up farming and hunting so "preparing supper" is no big deal for him, lol! And, though he is stronger than I am, he is at least smart enough to run the blade across the bench grinder to sharpen it first :P

I must say, my first dispatch was a disaster! I did not check to make sure the machete was sharp. The first blow glanced off the head-holding nails but injured the chicken so there was no turning back. I felt so terrible, my stomach was turning, I almost felt like crying - but damage was done...