Best way to slaughter/butcher?

[LaynaDon95]

We have a rooster that has torn up two other chickens and we have decided it's time for him to go.
We are going to eat him fo' dinnah!!

What is the best way to kill/butcher him?
Thanks for the advice.

 

[mstricer]

Catch him. String him up by legs and than make s cut to the throat right below jaw line. Skin or pluck him. If hes over a year old. Let it rest in refrigerator. I don't like the taste if them, but some do. My dogs sure do.

 

[Ridgerunner]

There area lot of different threads on this and there are a lot of different ways to go about it. If you look in the meat bird section, you can find them. Pay attention to the stickies.

In my opinion, there is not a best way for all of us. There is the way that you can do it and that is best for you. Some people use a killing cone and some don't. Some use a sharp knife, loppers, the broomstick method, or an ax, hatchet or meat cleaver. That's just for the killing part. I drive two nails in a chopping block that the neck can fit in between, put the neck in there and stretch it, and use a hatchet. That's my best way.

As far as the butchering, you can scald and pluck or you can skin. I find with older roosters, they have a lot of membrane holding the skin to the meat which makes them hard to skin, but skinning is my standard method with young roosters and most pullets.

If you scald, you'll even get disagreement between us as to how hot the water needs to be. I heat the water up and don't bother measuring the temperature. Some people will be horrified because the skin might tear if the water is too hot. I know that and I don't care, but it is important to some people. When I consider the water hot enough I dunk the bird and work it in the water, occasionally trying to pull out the wing feathers. When the wing feathers come out easily, I take it out and pluck it.

There are different methods for cleaning it too. Some peole want a whole carcass. Some cut it into pieces. Some people only keep certain pieces. I not only keep the breasts, wishbone, legs and thighs, but also the necks, wings, feet, gizzard, back, and heart to make broth. If you scald the feet, the toenails twist off easily and the skin peels off. That way I get clean feet for the broth.

Instead of me trying to talk you through how to clean one, look in the stickies in the meat bird section. They have pictures.

How you cook it depends on how old it is. The secret is to cook an older bird, especially a rooster, long and slow with plenty of moisture. I know we all have different tastes, but I really like the older birds, including old roosters, but they need to be cooked a long time. I suggest if you process him today, the earliest you want to eat him is tomorrow night, and if you can let him set in your fridge a few days in salty water, so much the better.

I know this is not much specific help, but there are so many different ways for all parts of the process, I think you relly need to look at the stickies and make your decision.

Good luck!!!

 

[LaynaDon95]

Thank you very much.
I posted in the meat bird section after this because I didn't see it until after I had posted in Managing your flock.