Brand New to Killing a Chicken For Meat... What Do I Do?

[Cherlyn]

So, we have several cockerels that we cannot keep. I like the idea of killing them so we can eat them, but I have NO IDEA about this topic. How exactly do we kill them? They need to be completely healthy before we kill them, right? Do we just stick them in the freezer when we have plucked them? Help!

They have to go as soon as I hear a crow.

~Cherlyn

 

[jafo]

If I was you, I'd get this book @ Amazon.com Very informative on all aspects of raising poultry. There are a few different ways of "doing"chickens, none are pretty.
Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens: Care / Feeding / Facilities by Gail Damerow

 

[GBov]

I just put them into a bag I made, shaped like a cone with a hole for the head and a drawstring to snug tight and tie round the legs. Then I hang the bird by the feet from a tree branch and snip the head off with a pair of long handled loppers. You could just tie the feet and hang but they flap so much when the head goes that the bag keeps them contained. Oh, and the head doesnt come all the way off, bits of skin hold it on but the neck bones and arteries are completely cut through.

No fuss, no muss and no chance of hurting myself lol

Then pull off the feather in small finger fulls, carefully cut open the body cavity and pull out the insides.

Put the cleaned chicken in the fridge for a day or two and then either eat or freeze.

Easy peasy

The hardest part is doing the first one, nerving yourself to kill another living thing, one you have cared for and taken care of, is hard. But once done the feeling of satisfaction is unrivaled and the taste of your own chicken, "Priceless!"

 

[maplesky7]

isn't there a gland on the tail end you need to be careful removing?

 

[GBov]

The oil gland, you can cut it off the tail or just cook it and not eat it. Its no bother either way.

 

[jwchicklady]

look in the meat bird thread, there is a sticky of actual step by step pictures of someone doing a chicken.

 

[Cherlyn]

Quote:
I saw this thread, actually, and I will reference it while I am actually doing the killing/processing. My questions are mostly about how to raise and choose my meat birds. Can I just grab a rooster from the coop and do it just like that, or do I need to be more selective, or raise them a certain way, or what?

~Cherlyn

 

[kingmt]

It all depends on what your taste is. I would take all food away from them for at least 12 hours if not 24. I have done them by grabbing them out of the yard to up with no food for 24 hours & it is much easer if they haven't ate. Although it can still be done.