Culling mean rooster

[bobbi-j]

Nice was the wrong choice of words I meant easy

It would not be easy for me to do it. I'm just not that coordinated. My husband, however, does it by himself. When we have several to butcher, we work together. The neck goes between the nails, I hold the bird and gently stretch the neck and he lops the head off. I then put the chicken in a 5-gal bucket to keep from having to retrieve it from across the yard when it's done flopping.

 

[DuckingLost]

I had a rooster that was constantly attacking my 2 yr old. But we couldn't catch him to put him out of our misery. My husband went to retrieve the eggs the next day and as soon as he entered the coop that rooster ran to my son who was standing on the outside of the coop. My husband had never seen it happen just my recount. He grabbed the egg basket out of the coop grabbed our boy who was covered in welts and went inside. I came home and see my son asleep on the couch covered in thin scratches. Then gunshots...my husband laid in wait shot him and then took a machete to remove his head. It was so hard to see at first!! LOTS of flapping and feathers. A mean rooster only gets meaner in my experience!!

 

[trudyg]

Do you have a tree or post of some sort? I put a nail into a tree, about 4' off the ground. Get the bird (snag him off the roost at night, put him under a milk crate or similar if you cant do it right away--I wait until morning), use string or a nylon zip tie to tie his legs together, tight enough they cant wiggle out. Hang him from the nail in the tree. He should pass out after a short time (sometimes a bit longer, so just wait). Then you can get a utility knife (use a new blade) and slice the neck arteries. He'll bleed out, twitch a bit, but then be dead and ready to dress out.

The thing is, you need to do this. He's a menace and dangerous. There are many ways, mine tends to use what you have on hand and doesn't need a lot of strength.

When you snag him off the roost, use both hands. I use one for at least 1 leg and the other to grab a wing. He can't flap at you if you have a wing (up near the body). You aren't lifting him by this wing, just controlling him. I have milk crates and those filing plastic crates, put the bird under it and let it calm down. You may want to put a brick on top, but mine just settle down. I pull them off at night after dark, then leave them under the crate until I'm ready the next day. That lets you get past the capture point and then prepare mentally for the kill. Also, if you don't think you'd be able to eat him, then I suggest waiting until the day before trash pickup so you can wrap in a garbage bag and away he goes.

 

[bobbi-j]

Do you have a tree or post of some sort? I put a nail into a tree, about 4' off the ground. Get the bird (snag him off the roost at night, put him under a milk crate or similar if you cant do it right away--I wait until morning), use string or a nylon zip tie to tie his legs together, tight enough they cant wiggle out. Hang him from the nail in the tree. He should pass out after a short time (sometimes a bit longer, so just wait). Then you can get a utility knife (use a new blade) and slice the neck arteries. He'll bleed out, twitch a bit, but then be dead and ready to dress out.

The thing is, you need to do this. He's a menace and dangerous. There are many ways, mine tends to use what you have on hand and doesn't need a lot of strength.

When you snag him off the roost, use both hands. I use one for at least 1 leg and the other to grab a wing. He can't flap at you if you have a wing (up near the body). You aren't lifting him by this wing, just controlling him. I have milk crates and those filing plastic crates, put the bird under it and let it calm down. You may want to put a brick on top, but mine just settle down. I pull them off at night after dark, then leave them under the crate until I'm ready the next day. That lets you get past the capture point and then prepare mentally for the kill. Also, if you don't think you'd be able to eat him, then I suggest waiting until the day before trash pickup so you can wrap in a garbage bag and away he goes.

Why not just slice his neck right away instead of waiting for him to pass out? I guess I prefer a quick, instant kill. If DH wasn't around to lop the head off, I'd use the cone method with the sharpest instrument I could find and still decapitate if possible. It's over in seconds. I would then pick or skin him, gut him and put him in the freezer. I love home grown chicken!

 

[trudyg]

I do usually slice his neck right away. I just thought the OP would have an issue with it, so suggested waiting until he's not looking right at her. It's disconcerting to go in for the kill and have watching you. I had one once that squawked at me, I usually just hold the head with one hand, spreading the neck feathers so my knife is right at the skin, then a quick swipe and step away. By the time I've cleaned and dried my blade it's ready to be rinsed and dressed. I use loppers to cut off the head and garden shears to cut bones.

 

[Birdinhand]

well, here I am at 4AM not sleeping so, sure, I'll give you my 2 cents. what you are looking for is a way to off your beloved rooster who has gone bonkers without it being traumatic to you. I have had to put down several roosters over the years simply because we can't keep them due to ordinance here in the burbs. it's always rough on the kids especially to have to say goodbye to one of their birds that they hand raised and no one wants because there are so many. so in such a case my preferred method is relatively gentle and bloodless, which is the key I believe, to not leaving you with a traumatic memory.

I hold the bird, calm them down, turn them upside down and clamp the neck with my thumb and index finger, shutting off the blood to the head and they instantly "fall asleep". within 3 minutes of clamping, they are dead. you will get some jerking as nervous system shuts down. you have to be ready for a projectile poop that can come out with a lot of force, so aim appropriately so as not to get it in the face. Have hubby do it, everyone who is super attached to the rooster should be somewhere else. have a hole dug somewhere special where you can visit, if you wish. we have a pet graveyard for our beloveds for those who have crossed "the rainbow bridge". have him dumped in the hold and buried a good 2 feet under to reduce the chance of him getting dug back up by predators and paraded around the yard. theres no bloody mess, no chicken with it's head cut off running around. I have a horrible memory of the axe method as a child and I decided I never wanted my kids to have that stuck in their heads. we do also have meat birds and use the cone method but these are purpose raised and the kids know not to get attached to them, so that's a whole different matter. don't worry about the wasted meat, rooster meat is really not easy to cook in a manner that makes it worthwhile unless they are meat birds and young, not sexually mature. once sexually mature they become like rubber bands to eat.

that's my 2 cents, hope it helps.

 

[trudyg]

I like old roosters for my bone broth. Put it in on a low simmer overnight, toss in any aromatics (onion, garlic, rosemary) that you want for flavor. Can't beat the flavor!

 

[bobbi-j]

well, here I am at 4AM not sleeping so, sure, I'll give you my 2 cents. what you are looking for is a way to off your beloved rooster who has gone bonkers without it being traumatic to you. I have had to put down several roosters over the years simply because we can't keep them due to ordinance here in the burbs. it's always rough on the kids especially to have to say goodbye to one of their birds that they hand raised and no one wants because there are so many. so in such a case my preferred method is relatively gentle and bloodless, which is the key I believe, to not leaving you with a traumatic memory.

I hold the bird, calm them down, turn them upside down and clamp the neck with my thumb and index finger, shutting off the blood to the head and they instantly "fall asleep". within 3 minutes of clamping, they are dead. you will get some jerking as nervous system shuts down. you have to be ready for a projectile poop that can come out with a lot of force, so aim appropriately so as not to get it in the face. Have hubby do it, everyone who is super attached to the rooster should be somewhere else. have a hole dug somewhere special where you can visit, if you wish. we have a pet graveyard for our beloveds for those who have crossed "the rainbow bridge". have him dumped in the hold and buried a good 2 feet under to reduce the chance of him getting dug back up by predators and paraded around the yard. theres no bloody mess, no chicken with it's head cut off running around. I have a horrible memory of the axe method as a child and I decided I never wanted my kids to have that stuck in their heads. we do also have meat birds and use the cone method but these are purpose raised and the kids know not to get attached to them, so that's a whole different matter. don't worry about the wasted meat, rooster meat is really not easy to cook in a manner that makes it worthwhile unless they are meat birds and young, not sexually mature. once sexually mature they become like rubber bands to eat.

that's my 2 cents, hope it helps.

We don’t make pets of our roosters, even though we live in the country and can have as many as we want. As soon as I recognize a cockerel, I distance myself because it’s not practical for us to keep them all. They are, in my mind, meat birds. They are edible, and quite tasty in my opinion. You just have to rethink how you cook them. My kids grew up knowing that some become food. They even named the little bottle calf we got from a friend “Butch”. When asked why, they said, “We’re gonna butcher him anyway, Mom.” They were 10, 8 and 6 at the time. As I’m thinking of it, we don’t make pets of anything other than dogs and cats, as everything eventually ends up on the table. (Except the horses. We won’t eat them.)

 

[Maeschak]

I like old roosters for my bone broth. Put it in on a low simmer overnight, toss in any aromatics (onion, garlic, rosemary) that you want for flavor. Can't beat the flavor!

X2.
If you can stand eating your beloved rooster, try making stock. Old rooster makes the absolute best stock. 1 rooster has the flavor power of a couple of old hens.

 

[Mosey2003]

well, here I am at 4AM not sleeping so, sure, I'll give you my 2 cents. what you are looking for is a way to off your beloved rooster who has gone bonkers without it being traumatic to you. I have had to put down several roosters over the years simply because we can't keep them due to ordinance here in the burbs. it's always rough on the kids especially to have to say goodbye to one of their birds that they hand raised and no one wants because there are so many. so in such a case my preferred method is relatively gentle and bloodless, which is the key I believe, to not leaving you with a traumatic memory.

I hold the bird, calm them down, turn them upside down and clamp the neck with my thumb and index finger, shutting off the blood to the head and they instantly "fall asleep". within 3 minutes of clamping, they are dead. you will get some jerking as nervous system shuts down. you have to be ready for a projectile poop that can come out with a lot of force, so aim appropriately so as not to get it in the face. Have hubby do it, everyone who is super attached to the rooster should be somewhere else. have a hole dug somewhere special where you can visit, if you wish. we have a pet graveyard for our beloveds for those who have crossed "the rainbow bridge". have him dumped in the hold and buried a good 2 feet under to reduce the chance of him getting dug back up by predators and paraded around the yard. theres no bloody mess, no chicken with it's head cut off running around. I have a horrible memory of the axe method as a child and I decided I never wanted my kids to have that stuck in their heads. we do also have meat birds and use the cone method but these are purpose raised and the kids know not to get attached to them, so that's a whole different matter. don't worry about the wasted meat, rooster meat is really not easy to cook in a manner that makes it worthwhile unless they are meat birds and young, not sexually mature. once sexually mature they become like rubber bands to eat.

that's my 2 cents, hope it helps.

You....strangle them to death?