Delayed Processing

[LauretteF]

I plan on using my pellet gun to kill a bunch of my roosters but I am not confident that I will be able to accomplish that quickly (I’m not competent with a gun)
Can I set the carcasses aside for a day as I slowly kill each rooster and then process them at the same time?

 

[Molpet]

I have had to dispatch when I couldn't process right away. I put her in the refrigerator until rigor mortis has passed and then threw her in the plucker. Came out fine. When they are in rigor the stiffness is an issue with processing.
Most people have problems with the ick factor of not processing immediately.

Used to be common to age older birds.
https://honest-food.net/on-hanging-pheasants-2/

 

[Ridgerunner]

I put her in the refrigerator until rigor mortis has passed and then threw her in the plucker.

I think rigor mortis is an important point.

Used to be common to age older birds.
https://honest-food.net/on-hanging-pheasants-2/

To me, I think this quote from that link is very important. Temperature and how quickly you can cool the carcass are vital.

Furthermore, an English study from 1973 found that clostridia and e. coli bacteria form very rapidly once you get to about 60°F, but very slowly — and not at all in the case of clostridia — at 50°F.

I plan on using my pellet gun to kill a bunch of my roosters but I am not confident that I will be able to accomplish that quickly (I’m not competent with a gun)

I understand playing with a gun is a lot of fun but I'd look for a more efficient way to accomplish this. As you are not competent with a gun this could be quite dangerous.

 

[FunClucks]

Until you are confident in your butchering skills, I'd only dispatch and process them one at a time (if you're doing them by hand) or two at a time if they're going in a plucker. Otherwise you risk not being able to cool them quickly enough and the meat spoiling before you can process. Also, please use a kill cone, broomstick method, and/or sharp knife if you're not super confident with a gun already. The chaos of roosters running about is not the time to learn how to dispatch a chicken with a gun if you don't already have mad gun skills (my opinion).

 

[HollowOfWisps]

I was taught how to shoot at young age shooting regularly from 8 years old until now. I am also both military and civilian trained and qualified with rifles, pistols along with other weaponry. You absolutely never shoot at any living thing unless you are 100% confident that you have a kill shot and you never use a gun that’s too small for the job. I would never recommend a pellet gun to kill a chicken. A small rifle like a 22. but not a pellet gun. A pellet gun in the hands of a novice at the very least will only lead to extra suffering for those chickens.

 

[FunClucks]

I missed the pellet gun part. Yeah, no, I wouldn't use one of them for anything I plan to actually kill. I thought @LauretteF was talking about at least a 22 caliber rifle or pistol. I keep mine confined, it's so much easier to just go catch the chicken and use a knife. Otherwise I worry what else I might hit when I miss. Also don't want the chickens to eat the casings if they get mislaid. I might not be able to find it in the grass, but some chicken surely will.

 

[Sally PB]

If you are set on using a gun:

(I’m not competent with a gun)

1. Use something bigger than a pellet gun.
2. Catch the bird with a fishing net, one with large holes.
3. Take the bird somewhere where the ground is sandy, or at least NOT rocky.
4. Contact shot at the back of the head will kill the bird. Be prepared for the thrashing; it's the brain/nerves firing randomly as the nervous shuts down.

 

[Molpet]

@Florida Bullfrog uses a high power air rifle