Butchering Cull Cockerels Today

[BarnyardChaos]

It's not readily adjustable.

I tried using my electric canner to boil water more easily and then carried pitchers outside to put into a clean trash can with enough cold water to get the temperature right, but it didn't stay hot well enough.

Perhaps if I use a cooler as a scalding tank?

I use a propane cooker stand and 60-quart stock pot. Takes a bit to heat up, but much easier to keep the temperature perfect while I process several birds one after another.

 

[agarnp]

Maybe learning more about the harvesting process will help. There’s much information here and on YouTube. When you grow and harvest your own chickens, you have much more control over the food you ingest.

I grew up with chickens so have a very matter of fact attitude about culling. My husband didn’t so it’s been harder for him to get comfortable with the idea of harvesting.

Thank you- I will learn more and am sure it will get better as time goes by.

 

[agarnp]

It took me a little mental preparation for it.

For me, the main thing is knowing that they've lived a happy life and have just the one bad moment at the end. It's as swift and easy as I can make it.

The actually gutting isn't a problem for me because I'm neither squeamish nor sentimental.

Once I get them undressed they look like any other chicken from the grocery store.

Some people have tried the trick of putting some grocery store chickens into the freezer at the same time -- packaged alike and all mixed up so they can't tell which are which.

Thanks- I don’t think the actual cooking them (once they have been processed) will be a problem for me- it’s the saying goodbye to hens I have cared for and become familiar with. I hope one day I can be matter of fact about it. The thing is I shouldn’t look at them as pets. I love all animals but am also eat meat so I think it will make me even more thankful to be able to raise and eat these chickens. Thank you for the suggestions .

 

[Becks Chicks]

I use a propane cooker stand and 60-quart stock pot. Takes a bit to heat up, but much easier to keep the temperature perfect while I process several birds one after another.
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That’s what we’re planning to use. It’s our outside propane pot that we’ve always used for cooking crab. It does take awhile to heat up.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

My processing tips:

* The night before slaughter, I gather up the cockerels I want from their roosts and put them in a little brooder coop we have, with water only. They sleep in peace and comfort, and it's easy to catch them up at slaughter time with little fuss. I can take my time feeding the flock and tending other animals, heat up the scalding pot, have breakfast, and start processing when I'm good and ready.

* I talk to my birds and pet them as I carry them to the killing cones. I remind myself they would not exist but for me incubating their eggs and raising them, and that their purpose in life is to nourish my family. I tell them how thankful I am for their lives, and I say a prayer of thanks as well. Then I get it over with as quickly as possible. It's never easy. It gets more familiar each time, but I still dread it.

* I like to use a PVC cutter or a razor-sharp knife, and the killing cone. It's error-free, done in an instant, bird doesn't flop all over the yard, mess is contained, and it's as humane a way as I can find. Everyone has different methods; this is the one that works best for me.

* I keep scalding water 141-143 degrees F, never higher than 145. Takes a few seconds longer to scald, but plucking is smoother and easier, and that yellowish outer layer of skin rubs off so easily without tearing or cooking the skin.

* I use a scrap of cloth or paper towel to grip the crop and pull it out when processing. Makes a slippery job much easier.

* Offal and feathers, etc. gets buried in the garden for fertilizer. No waste.

* This year, I've been putting the cleaned and butchered birds in a tub in the refrigerator for three days, to "rest". By this time, the joints are limber and rigor mortis has passed. Then I put them in a tub with brine (1 cup kosher salt to 1 gallon water) and weigh them down under the water. Overnight or 8-12 hours, no more. Drain, rinse, let them sit in clean cold water for another hour or so, drain and rinse again. Then bag (I use poultry shrink bags - love 'em), weigh, label, and freeze. OMG so TENDER, juicy, and flavorful!!!

 

[MysteryChicken]

It's not readily adjustable.

I tried using my electric canner to boil water more easily and then carried pitchers outside to put into a clean trash can with enough cold water to get the temperature right, but it didn't stay hot well enough.

Perhaps if I use a cooler as a scalding tank?

I just dunk my birds in the scalding water for a few seconds to about a minute until the wing feathers, or tail feathers are easy to pull, then they're good for easy plucking.

We use a Turkey fryer thing.

 

[MysteryChicken]

(I use poultry shrink bags - love 'em)

Same.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Couple of questions. You WANT them to bleed out, don't you? So a bloodless killing is not the best option right? (That was one question, lol.)

Second question: after dunking in boiling water to loosen the feathers, do you then dunk them in cold before pulling the feathers off? Thanks!

 

[3KillerBs]

I use a propane cooker stand and 60-quart stock pot. Takes a bit to heat up, but much easier to keep the temperature perfect while I process several birds one after another.
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I'd like one of those, but don't have one and can't afford one right now.

Couple of questions. You WANT them to bleed out, don't you? So a bloodless killing is not the best option right? (That was one question, lol.)

With the broomstick method the blood is contained within the skin of the neck.

When you kill the bird you create a gap of several inches in the spine and it breaks the blood vessels as well as severing the spine. While the bird flaps (and this violent flapping was the most disturbing part for me until I realized that the cleaner and quicker the kill the stronger the flap), blood drains into that pocket of loose skin.

Then, after the flapping is done, you cut the head off over a trash can and the blood drains away neatly instead of getting all over everything.

Second question: after dunking in boiling water to loosen the feathers, do you then dunk them in cold before pulling the feathers off? Thanks!

No, you don't. I haven't tried it, but I think it would tighten the feathers back up.

The water isn't boiling, it's about 150F. You don't want to cook the skin, just loosen the feathers.

 

[CNJ]

I turn up the house water heater and it comes out 160f . I use a thermometer and goal for 150 to 160. ... I only do a few at a day, so I dump after it gets dirty anyway.

I never tried this, I know my hot water can make my hand hurt, but I never took the temperature. This would be a game changer for me. I always dread carrying out the propane tank and setting up the burner.