Butchering- Prep and how to?

[Welshies]

Hey all.
I have a rooster I'll be replacing. What are the best feeds I can feed for a while (say a week) to create a flavourful bird? What do you do before butchering a bird? He will be served fresh, or kept in the fridge for a couple of days. What is the best way to butcher? I am a hunter- can I butcher him like grouse (step on the wings pull on the legs etc)?

 

[BantyChooks]

I have never seen any mention of a feed that can make a difference that quickly. Home raised chicken is quite flavourful without anything other than regular feed & free range.

I have butchered exactly one bird so take my advice with a grain of salt, but I pull the bird off food 24 hours before & keep it confined. Unless, of course, you like random bowel movements at time of death and a full crop to work around! I don't recommend serving fresh unless you are wicked fast at evisceration.

That method 'might' work, with a small bird. I cannot imagine it working on anything the size worth eating.

I dry pluck then eviscerate by cutting into the body cavity. Well, more accurately, I dry pluck then screw up the skin while eviscerating then end up skinning too and wasting a lot of time. .

How are you planning on killing the bird? And where are you going to do it? Guessing indoors due to the current weather. Be warned, they don't smell too nice in an enclosed space. I suggest a bandanna over the nose with some mint essential oil.

 

[Welshies]

I have never seen any mention of a feed that can make a difference that quickly. Home raised chicken is quite flavourful without anything other than regular feed & free range.

I have butchered exactly one bird so take my advice with a grain of salt, but I pull the bird off food 24 hours before & keep it confined. Unless, of course, you like random bowel movements at time of death and a full crop to work around! I don't recommend serving fresh unless you are wicked fast at evisceration.

That method 'might' work, with a small bird. I cannot imagine it working on anything the size worth eating.

I dry pluck then eviscerate by cutting into the body cavity. Well, more accurately, I dry pluck then screw up the skin while eviscerating then end up skinning too and wasting a lot of time. .

How are you planning on killing the bird? And where are you going to do it? Guessing indoors due to the current weather. Be warned, they don't smell too nice in an enclosed space. I suggest a bandanna over the nose with some mint essential oil.

The pull the legs stand on the wings works with 5 pound grouse...
Not sure where yet... probably use the offal as bait for our unknown predator issue... I have butchered lots, still not used to the smell LOL

 

[BantyChooks]

The pull the legs stand on the wings works with 5 pound grouse...
Not sure where yet... probably use the offal as bait for our unknown predator issue... I have butchered lots, still not used to the smell LOL

No harm in trying. I'd rather not waste that much meat, though---the backs make fantastic stock.

 

[Welshies]

No harm in trying. I'd rather not waste that much meat, though---the backs make fantastic stock.

True. We eat almost everything we can use. We only use intestines, the crop, the stomach, feet, the head, and the feathers as bait- or we plan to.

 

[Mylied]

I take them off food for a day. (I don't feed anything special before, but now I'm curious). I do give them some water, but not a lot or they'll drool out the water. Hang them up by the feet or put them in a killing cone. I find the vein and cut it. Breaking the neck first just traumatized me and the chicken more. They flop around a bit at the end. I cut off the head and the legs at the knee just below the feathers. You can scald and pluck, but I usually skin them. I leave the skin down by the vent, then cut into the belly area where there's no meat to get at the guts. Reach in and loosen everything up. Go in the neck and loosen the crop and trachea up. Pull it all out the bottom opening. Cut the oil gland and tailbone off which will take the vent, guts, and skin in one big clump. I give all that and the necks to my pigs. Then reach in for the lungs. They are stuck in the ribs so you got to get a finger under it to get it out. I've never successfully gotten out the kidneys so I don't worry about it. I rinse it all out good and put it in the fridge for a couple days, then freeze. It's pretty tough if you don't let it sit. Depending on the age of the rooster, the guts can be attached pretty darn well. The younger, the easier. And don't try to make grilled chicken. Lol. Comes out tough. Low and slow for the roos is best. It's hard to describe, but I hope that helped. Just did two a couple days ago.

 

[Maeschak]

Hey all.
I have a rooster I'll be replacing. What are the best feeds I can feed for a while (say a week) to create a flavourful bird? What do you do before butchering a bird? He will be served fresh, or kept in the fridge for a couple of days. What is the best way to butcher? I am a hunter- can I butcher him like grouse (step on the wings pull on the legs etc)?

I like to confine my cockerels/roosters for a week or two before butchering so their muscles get a bit more tender and I up the grains in their diet so they get a bit more fatty tissue. With a bird over 20 some weeks it won't suddenly make them tender for fried chicken but the slightly softer leg meat and extra bit of fat from the high grain diet (which seems to accumulate only around the gizzard) does help with flavor/jucieness. Just don't forget to get the fat from the gizzard and use it when you cook the bird. With older birds I either immediately pressure can them (raw pack directly after butcher) or pressure cook them and freeze the meat. Both ways make a meat perfect for soups, stews, pot pies, enchiladas, etc. then of course I make stock from the carcass.

I butcher in the mornings so I simply do not let them eat in the morning before butchering instead of separating them and starving for 24 hours. There is a bit left in the intestines but not enough to dissuade me from my process.
I also slit the jugular when butchering- but keep some pruning shears handy in case I mess something up - that way I can quickly lop the head off in an emergency where the bird might be suffering.
Then scald, pluck, eviscerate!
If you will be pressure canning the meat you can immediately do so- no waiting required. But if not pressure canning make sure to let it sit in the fridge for several days.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

Following I hope to raise some cockerels for meat next summer, so I want to learn all I can about the process of butchering and cleaning the cockerels. Will a 12-16 week old cockerel’s meat turn rough if I fried it? I love breaded chicken but haven’t had any since my Cornish cross pullet passed away last May and I swore off eating chicken unless I raise it myself.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

You can fry a chicken up to 18 weeks of age. Well, that's what is said and your mileage may vary. 16 weeks and under would be more tender. Like they say you can broil/grill up to 15 or 16 weeks of age but my preference is as close to 12 weeks as you can and up to 14 weeks, by age 15 and 16 it's too tough to grill in my opinion.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

Ok. So for more tender meat butcher them at 12 weeks of age. Would the meat be tough if I cooked a 12 week old cockerel in an oven? I just might have to find out from trial and error.