Decision to butcher rooster?

[cassie]

Coq au vin is traditionally made with mature chickens. I have never made it, though. I just put old chickens in the crockpot with garlic, onions, and assorted vegetables. Works for me.

 

[Appalachickens]

Coq au vin is traditionally made with mature chickens. I have never made it, though. I just put old chickens in the crockpot with garlic, onions, and assorted vegetables. Works for me.

I’ve only ever used regular chickens from the store to make coq au vin, but do plan to use the recipe with my own since I really like it. The recipe often uses not just mature birds but roosters (coqs).

 

[Appalachickens]

Watch some YouTube video on how to do it. Dispatching is the hardest part but once that is over everything else is not so bad IMO. I use a pellet gun, one holding their feet as they lay on the ground the other holding the gun to shoot them in the back of the head. It’s over in an instant.

I don’t yet have any cockerels or hens that are matured beyond laying age, but looking ahead I bought a .22 for just this purpose. I’m planning to take a class in the spring about processing chickens so I’ll be ready when the time comes.

 

[Livvydays]

I think I will pressure cook to help with the toughness but always great to hear other ideas! Thanks so much!

 

[Hartwood Hollow Farm]

A few years ago, my wife was attacked and spurred in the foot by our favorite rooster(she was wearing sneakers that day). Completely unprovoked. He crossed a 50 ft chicken yard to have a go at her. He hit her as she turned to close the gate. It took several months for the 1/2 inch deep wound to heal as the spur gave her a direct injection of everything in the pen.

Roosters become very defensive of THEIR flock..no longer YOUR flock…so the choice is a) separate the rooster from the flock and hopefully it will calm down (if not you can let it put on weight and cull) or b) cull the bird now.

As a side note. Before we culled said rooster, we witnessed him beat the crap out of a red tailed hawk that attacked a hen (hen was fine)….he had that hawk on the ground for almost two minutes before it escaped…that hawk has lost its taste for chicken. He was a protective rooster, but dangerous.

 

[Hartwood Hollow Farm]

Process then rest the carcass 24 hours refrigerated to allow the lactic acid to dissipate from the muscle tissue…thats what causes most of the toughness. Then cook or freeze. I prefer a slow roast in the oven. Just some salt and a few italian herbs….yummy