So Ive been talking myself into getting meat chicks this fall. I really want to try it, but I keep thinking its just not something I can do, even tho I want to.
So today was very hot out, and I had one black rock hen looking pretty rough. When I went in the coop this afternoon, she was looking very bad, panting, eyes rolled back. I picked her up and took her to the barn, filled up a bucket with water, and set her in it so she could cool down. After a minute...she died.
So I was going to throw her in the back for the buzzards, and I thought...maybe, just maybe....I can practice on her. So I went in the house, got a knife, not a very sharp one, but the only one I had. I hung her up over a bucket and tried to cut her throat.
Need sharp knives.
After a few messed up cuts, I just cut the head off. I guess since she was already dead, the blood came out pretty slowly. I have it a few minutes to bleed out (wasnt much there), then took it in the barn.
There was a hay wagon in there, from where my neighbor had bailed some hay and needed to put it under cover. The back was open...perfect for a table.
Well, it was pretty much a mess....black chickens dont clean very easily, I guess. Best I could do was skin the breast and the leg quarters, and cut them off. Didnt get much breast meat, but the knife was pretty dull. Amazingly enough, it looked just like a supermarket chicken. Who knew???? If I would have had gloves, I might have tried gutting. The skinning didnt go that well, so I dont think I could have gutted. I think practise...practise...practise.
I did end up with a few pieces that Ill cook tomorrow for the puppies. Next time Ill be sure I have sharper knives. I dont know whether Ill pluck or skin next time. I need to watch those Youtube videos some more.
Necessity is the Mother of Invention.
If this hen hadnt of died, I dont think I would have gotten the gumption to try this.
So today was very hot out, and I had one black rock hen looking pretty rough. When I went in the coop this afternoon, she was looking very bad, panting, eyes rolled back. I picked her up and took her to the barn, filled up a bucket with water, and set her in it so she could cool down. After a minute...she died.
So I was going to throw her in the back for the buzzards, and I thought...maybe, just maybe....I can practice on her. So I went in the house, got a knife, not a very sharp one, but the only one I had. I hung her up over a bucket and tried to cut her throat.
Need sharp knives.
After a few messed up cuts, I just cut the head off. I guess since she was already dead, the blood came out pretty slowly. I have it a few minutes to bleed out (wasnt much there), then took it in the barn.
There was a hay wagon in there, from where my neighbor had bailed some hay and needed to put it under cover. The back was open...perfect for a table.
Well, it was pretty much a mess....black chickens dont clean very easily, I guess. Best I could do was skin the breast and the leg quarters, and cut them off. Didnt get much breast meat, but the knife was pretty dull. Amazingly enough, it looked just like a supermarket chicken. Who knew???? If I would have had gloves, I might have tried gutting. The skinning didnt go that well, so I dont think I could have gutted. I think practise...practise...practise.
I did end up with a few pieces that Ill cook tomorrow for the puppies. Next time Ill be sure I have sharper knives. I dont know whether Ill pluck or skin next time. I need to watch those Youtube videos some more.
Necessity is the Mother of Invention.
If this hen hadnt of died, I dont think I would have gotten the gumption to try this.
