Culling my roosters tonight...

[Chickens R Us]

My husband and I have butchered 100's of turkeys and a few chickens, we use a sharp axe and block of wood. First we slip a noose over the head so we can hold the neck still then DH holds the legs and I hold the noose while he chops the head off . Hold on to the bird until it finishes flapping or you could bruise the meat, then we hang it upside down so all the blood drains out. I've thought about using the cone method but chopping the head off seems like a quicker death because I'm worried I wouldn't cut deep enough for a quick death. That's my goal quick and painless.

 

[lauranickerson]

Wow, so finally, after my 2 week vacation, bronchitis, and other things getting in the way, my dad and I processed 2 of our 7 roosters tonight. We hung them by their feet, then cut their head off with a knife. They sure flopped, so we will have to figure something out for the other 5. Blood got everywhere, including us, and I don't want to deal with that again.

Then we turned them over and hung them by their necks and skinned them. We didn't feel like messing around with plucking and whatnot, and the skin has the most cholesterol anyways.

It wasn't SO bad. I was sad, but I didn't cry. I snatched them one at a time from the coop, and on the way to the backyard, I told the bird I was sorry and asked it to forgive me (I know, I know, that's a bit much).

We didn't do so good on the first one. Dad used his fish gutting knife for the skinning/gutting part of it all, and it wasn't sharp enough apparently. He cut the crop almost right away. Thankfully, we didn't let it leak or touch the rest of everything. Then we cut the intestines around the butt. :/ But that didn't get on the meat either, because the bird was hanging butt-down.

The second one was better. Man, Black Sex Links definitely aren't made for meat. Hardly a breast at all on them!

 

[phalenbeck]

I do about 35 a year for 4 years now, and a cone and a sissors works good for me. With a knife I could cut me, or miss the throat, and a strong sissors works best. Cone stops flopping and blood all over. Plucker on a drill is a good tool to for a small scale guy.

 

[aoxa]

Wow, so finally, after my 2 week vacation, bronchitis, and other things getting in the way, my dad and I processed 2 of our 7 roosters tonight. We hung them by their feet, then cut their head off with a knife. They sure flopped, so we will have to figure something out for the other 5. Blood got everywhere, including us, and I don't want to deal with that again.

Then we turned them over and hung them by their necks and skinned them. We didn't feel like messing around with plucking and whatnot, and the skin has the most cholesterol anyways.

It wasn't SO bad. I was sad, but I didn't cry. I snatched them one at a time from the coop, and on the way to the backyard, I told the bird I was sorry and asked it to forgive me (I know, I know, that's a bit much).

We didn't do so good on the first one. Dad used his fish gutting knife for the skinning/gutting part of it all, and it wasn't sharp enough apparently. He cut the crop almost right away. Thankfully, we didn't let it leak or touch the rest of everything. Then we cut the intestines around the butt. :/ But that didn't get on the meat either, because the bird was hanging butt-down.

The second one was better. Man, Black Sex Links definitely aren't made for meat. Hardly a breast at all on them!

It's easier to let them bleed out before cutting their heads off. Blood doesn't get all over like if head is chopped right off.

I do not like the axe and stump.. They know it's coming. Once hung upside down they are in a trance and don't get it.

Congrats on your first time. It is always so much worse thinking about it than doing.

 

[crazypoultrychx]

congrats........and this was an amazing learning experience for you........we made a killing cone out of aluminum flashing we then screwed to a board......but yes the cone works better then the blood flying everywhere....(we learned that the hard way too!!).....we just put a bucket under the cone to catch the blood and then use it to put the intestines and extras in.......also I am shocked that black sex liks are not good meat birds.....we are planning to get some as we are currently raising RIR and I found the meat to be small around the breasts.....I thought Black Sex Likns were duel purpose birds and were designed for meat and eggs.....how old were your birds>???

also we did the plucking thing and the skinning thing.....and although plucking is messy I found it makes a better cooked product then skinning.....something else we learned is that if you have a pot of almost boiling water and dunk the bird in after is has passed then hang it by its feet (make sure you dunk its feet too if your going to use chicken feet in stews or stocks....yum yum) it makes the whole plucking process more like a wiping process.....I literally only wiped my hand across the bird and the feathers fell to the trashcan I had below (with a bag!!...another learning spot)....and since the skin is whiteish and the bird was red it made for easy finding of the feathers.......the wing feathers not so much those you had to pull but once again.....not a major deal.....the other thing that surprised me is that when you pluck a chicken they have....hair>>!???!??!??!........I did not expect that and just simply used a bbq lighter to burn the hair off......

congradulations!!!!!! and good job!

 

[lauranickerson]

congrats........and this was an amazing learning experience for you........we made a killing cone out of aluminum flashing we then screwed to a board......but yes the cone works better then the blood flying everywhere....(we learned that the hard way too!!).....we just put a bucket under the cone to catch the blood and then use it to put the intestines and extras in.......also I am shocked that black sex liks are not good meat birds.....we are planning to get some as we are currently raising RIR and I found the meat to be small around the breasts.....I thought Black Sex Likns were duel purpose birds and were designed for meat and eggs.....how old were your birds>???

also we did the plucking thing and the skinning thing.....and although plucking is messy I found it makes a better cooked product then skinning.....something else we learned is that if you have a pot of almost boiling water and dunk the bird in after is has passed then hang it by its feet (make sure you dunk its feet too if your going to use chicken feet in stews or stocks....yum yum) it makes the whole plucking process more like a wiping process.....I literally only wiped my hand across the bird and the feathers fell to the trashcan I had below (with a bag!!...another learning spot)....and since the skin is whiteish and the bird was red it made for easy finding of the feathers.......the wing feathers not so much those you had to pull but once again.....not a major deal.....the other thing that surprised me is that when you pluck a chicken they have....hair>>!???!??!??!........I did not expect that and just simply used a bbq lighter to burn the hair off......

congradulations!!!!!! and good job!

Oh man, let me do the math here on their age...

They are almost 5 months old. We bought 8 straight run chicks from Tractor Supply and got ALL males. So I'm keeping one rooster and eating the rest. I was shocked at how little meat these birds have. They look big and buff when they are running around, and they look to be close to full size with massive combs and wattles.

The breast isn't even worth trying to cut off. We just kept it on the rib cage and we will pick it off or something when we cook it.

Here's a picture of each part. I think there is literally more meat on one leg than the whole breast area combined. That is almost all bone and I can barely pinch the meat with my fingers.

 

[donrae]

Just to clarify for the rest of your processing, if the intestinal juices or crop contents get on the meat, just rinse it off. Simply having contact with the meat does not in any way taint or spoil the meat. A good rinse with a hose or in a sink and you're good to go.

 

[crazypoultrychx]

that is about the size of my yr old RIR breasts.......wow........hmmmmm...........

 

[aoxa]

Oh man, let me do the math here on their age...

They are almost 5 months old. We bought 8 straight run chicks from Tractor Supply and got ALL males. So I'm keeping one rooster and eating the rest. I was shocked at how little meat these birds have. They look big and buff when they are running around, and they look to be close to full size with massive combs and wattles.

The breast isn't even worth trying to cut off. We just kept it on the rib cage and we will pick it off or something when we cook it.

Here's a picture of each part. I think there is literally more meat on one leg than the whole breast area combined. That is almost all bone and I can barely pinch the meat with my fingers.

That doesn't look TOO bad.

But uh yeah.. no breasts at all on that guy.


Here is a picture someone shared on here with a DP rooster and a cornish cross.

Insane yes?

I butcher both. Most people find the keeping of Cornish X disturbing. They aren't doing it properly if that is what they find. These birds should be free ranged. It's the only way I will ever raise them. If they are allowed to have access to feed at all hours of the day, they are definitely disturbing.. but if left to find their own feed for most of the day, they are active, determined birds. Running EVERYWHERE. I have 40 of them free ranging right now.

I will still butcher out my dual purpose boys that don't make the cut because.. well, what else am I going to do with them? They need to be slow cooked. Otherwise they are not worth the work in processing, or the loss of their life IMO.


Here is one of my DP roosters being processed. My Cochin x Rock cross had breasts. They weren't as tender as the smaller birds with less breasts though.

My up and coming meat birds: Cornish Cross (pictures free ranging)





You may want to consider them if you want white meat and breasts.

There is no better feed to meat ratio.

 

[lauranickerson]

So I'm cooking my two roosters at the moment! A really awesome honey-mustard recipe (and I don't even like mustard...that's how good it is). It's baking in the oven right now with peppers and onions.

Wish the sauce wasn't so thin, but it will be awesome no matter what. With a side of salad I just picked from the garden.