Culling my first birds and a strange question...

[Myhouseisazoo2]

I don't know if this helps or not, just thought I'd share......

Thank you! This does help, I think she's started to notice how high the roo to hen ratio is. She has a bird in my flock that is now a "retired show girl" a beautiful (blue?) Americana Wheaten, a gorgeous girl who's almost gained all her feathers back except for the "straddle" area by her tail and her lovely fluffy beard (we had tried breeding but the Americana male we had was too rough with her so we seperated them) we know at least one of the males in the pen is attempting to breed her since the feathers in that space aren't growing back. I let her know that until some of these males go they probably wouldn't grow back and that she won't lay (she loves getting eggs from her bird)

I know what you mean about us being so far away from our food, a lot of people are freaked out when I tell them that I plan on raising and culling for meat but a few have taken a suprising interest (one even wants to watch and in the future maybe participate) what's funnier is their reaction when I inform them that I want to turn my entire front yard into garden beds <3

 

[Myhouseisazoo2]

Well, I certainly didn't do it myself because none of that was my idea. My son and his friend wanted to raise chickens for eggs. My son's friends grandpa got involved and wanted the boilers. I followed his lead. Meanwhile I read a lot to try to learn fast. The grandpa did the first two in a manner that I now consider just.... All wrong (the killing part) he calmed the bird then held its head and swung. It was quick (but.. Really?) OK so then I dipped it in hot water and plucked feathers by hand. The grandpa then cut and prepped the bird. We had trial and error on those 4 (mainly error). After the 1st one, the boys did the hot water and feathers and eventually did it all themselves by the 4th one. It took a while but we were kind of figuring it out for ourselves. Once you get it down it goes fast. We had our table, bags, water hose, very sharp knife, pan of boiling water, and gloves all ready. I didn't time anything but maybe an hour for the first one and twenty minutes on the others... It was slow at first. I had dog control going on too. I think I'll use a cone next time. If I can find one of those machines to take feathers off I'm buying one. I also need to learn about preparing the meat because we were bad at that I think.

This sounds a bit like the method I'd be usSwing Its s tutorial someone made from their culling experiences; You hold them upside down by the feet so that the blood Rush's to their head calming(/dizzying?) them. Then place them in an old feed bag with a corner nicked out so their head fits through and you can stretch the neck, Swing your sharp ax fast (head come off) the body will "shudder" in the bag while the nerves die down and it helps keep blood spill at a minimum. From there you can hang to bleed for a short while or you can dunk in your hot (not boiling!) Water, pluch feathers and clean out the insides. Rinse once done and your bird ready for freezer camp.


This brings me to a question, do the feathers dry out nice looking or would they be too damages from plucking/heat?

 

[Melinda66]

   Hey, Melinda,  we've all been there.  MOST important thing to remember is to let it rest in the fridge for up to 3 days.  Once the rigor is out then cook it like you want.  Older birds 5 mo need to be roasted in 250 degree oven covered for 2 1/2 hrs.  Older birds over a year need 225 degrees for up to 3 1/2 hrs.    Or crockpot for 12 to 14 hrs.  Good luck.  I'm learning too and read this the other day.   

I heard let it soak in Salt water over night. I did that and cooked next day. It was OK but eh. Now hearing let sit 3 days.... Let's sit in fridge just sitting or in Salt water? And thanks for answering, feel stupid asking how to cook my chicken lol

 

[aoxa]

This^^^

A rational explanation is not going to convince her to drop an irrational, emotional belief.

Exactly. It is incredibly hard to convince someone who believes killing is torture that it is not.

I would just agree to disagree. It would have been much easier to teach a 6 year old that it is an essential part of the food chain, but much more difficult to teach a teenager who is in a very disagreeable age.. Parents are never right when you are a teenager. No matter how much proof you show them.

 

[LindaB220]

I heard let it soak in Salt water over night. I did that and cooked next day. It was OK but eh. Now hearing let sit 3 days.... Let's sit in fridge just sitting or in Salt water? And thanks for answering, feel stupid asking how to cook my chicken lol

Just wiggle the leg back and forth and see if it is easy and pliable. If not let it soak another day or two. Can't hurt. I cooked mine after a couple of days and it was more chewy than I expected. But then I never had anything but grocery store. It could be that you may want to get used to it and enjoy it. Or if not buy CX's all the time and process at 8 weeks. (I forgot what kind you had)

 

[Myhouseisazoo2]

Well I've got some surprising news, my youngest sisters class had the video of how mass produced chicken is made/cared for sometime this week or last week... She is now okay with me culling and no longer thinks of my method as torture.

 

[LindaB220]

Well I've got some surprising news, my youngest sisters class had the video of how mass produced chicken is made/cared for sometime this week or last week... She is now okay with me culling and no longer thinks of my method as torture.

Love it, love it, love it. Let her help with some of it. Maybe just gathering them up the night before and putting in cages. If that is all she can handle. If she can help on the day, maybe getting out of the cage to hand to you. Baby steps. Proud of her. And you. You've been very patient with her .

 

[otterway]

That's fantastic. My 12 year old daughter was horrified when she found out we would be processing chickens. I pointed out that the meat chickens are kept in the same good conditions, given a nice house, and fed treats just like our laying flock. We make their lives as comfortable as possible before processing day. Took some time but she finally came around, especially after she saw how some of the other meat birds are kept through pictures online. My sister and I process together too. It makes it much nicer to have someone there working along side you. Best of luck

 

[Myhouseisazoo2]

Me and twin are hoping to do our culling this week or next week.
@ otterway
I think the best thing I've been able to explain to people who are horrified of this kind of thing is "they'll only ever have one bad day."

 

[Myhouseisazoo2]

Well we did it. Me and Twinnie culled our first bird. It was both horrible and facinating at once.
Horrible as it stunk horribly and was an terribly long process to clean him out (we have never gutted an animal before) and wonderful because we discovered the meaning of claufing (crying and laughing at the same time half out of terror half out of relief), facinating because we now know we can do it if it came to it and discovered that the Black copper Moran roosters we have are not worth the effort it takes to process. They are not very meaty birds at the moment. So we are now trying to sell them as we're certain. Their crowing is driving the neighbors nuts. Got a nibbler hopefully they'll buy em up tonight