Emotional support needed to kill mean rooster

[springvalley123]

There was a entrance and exit wound. I honestly don't know why I was so worried! It's absolutely not that bad at all. My husband and I are seriously considering raising meat birds now

Excellent! Meat birds (cornish X) are very easy to catch, and butchering at 7-8 weeks, before they even cluck or crow, much less get mean! Best of luck to you, you've crossed a major milestone, your first processing.

 

[CindyinSD]

I pick up chickens one of two ways... 1. I slip my hand under the breast from the front and secure the legs by threading my fingers through and around them. 2. I grasp their ankles and in a fluid motion, being careful not to allow anything to bend the wrong way, turn the bird upside down and carry him by the ankles.

It sounds and looks mean, but it’s the best way to calm a struggling, panicky bird (besides just letting it go). I guess the blood rushes to their heads

 

[Shezadandy]

I usually have a 5 gal bucket to drop the carcass in so it doesn't run around like a chicken with its head chopped off. Once the head is off, they feel no pain. The head bleeds out in about a second and it's all over so there's no long suffering before loss of consciousness.

Yes! I like the 5 gallon bucket too because I like to control where the blood ends up so I'm not throwing "chum" around the property to attract predators.

 

[Viksceeks]

Yes! I like the 5 gallon bucket too because I like to control where the blood ends up so I'm not throwing "chum" around the property to attract predators.

I get this now. I would bet money I'll have some racoons or skunks about tonight. I left the bucket of feathers with the head outside as i'm too tired to deal with it. And the innards are tied up in a baggie on the back porch. That stuff is smelly. The hardest part about everything was the smell after the boiling wwater and taking the guts out

 

[Shezadandy]

I get this now. I would bet money I'll have some racoons or skunks about tonight. I left the bucket of feathers with the head outside as i'm too tired to deal with it. And the innards are tied up in a baggie on the back porch. That stuff is smelly. The hardest part about everything was the smell after the boiling wwater and taking the guts out

Yep! It is most definitely an experience that triggers the gag reflex (I'm terrible with smells - even processing tomatoes gets me ), but I'm so glad you've got food in exchange for a rotten roo. Maybe the scavengers will dispose of the byproducts for ya, but yes, do be extra aware for the next few days - though I think you found the best solution for that particular rooster - a hands off approach. Then the only bloodshed is his!

 

[aart]

I found a maimed one husband didn't see she was in the bushes when he shot the roo.

<cringes>Good reason not to use a gun.

The hardest part about everything was the smell after the boiling wwater and taking the guts out

Why I like to sequester them over night in wire bottomed cages with no feed, cleans out their guts and their feet up a bit.
You didn't bust the intestine open did you?

Make sure you rest the cleaned carcass for at least 48-72 hours before cooking or freezing.

Kudos on getting the job done!
You'll get better at it with some practice and tuning your process.

 

[Kusanar]

With the good comes bad..... as I was gathering up the hens tonight to put them in the coop, I found a maimed one husband didn't see she was in the bushes when he shot the roo. She's alive, seems ok. It's a clean shot through her leg, cannot put any weight in it and acts like it has no feeling. No pictures yet. I put her in a nesting box for the night
We were going to just cull her but we decided to see if she can ride it out
I plan on packing and wrapping tomorrow if she makes it through the night

And that is why gun safety states that you know everything on the other side of your target.. You're lucky it was just a chicken in those bushes...

You didn't bust the intestine open did you?

Most likely they shot him through the body which probably opened up all of the insides from the shot... Not sure I would eat that meat since it was likely gotten dirty, but to each their own, cooking should kill most things..

 

[aart]

Most likely they shot him through the body which probably opened up all of the insides from the shot... Not sure I would eat that meat since it was likely gotten dirty, but to each their own, cooking should kill most things..

I believe it was a head shot that killed the bird, I may be mistaken tho...
...I was wondering about when she was gutting.

 

[Viksceeks]

I believe it was a head shot that killed the bird, I may be mistaken tho...
...I was wondering about when she was gutting.

It was through a thigh and out a leg, I fully expected it to be a mess when I opened him up but it wasn't too had. The intestines w

I believe it was a head shot that killed the bird, I may be mistaken tho...
...I was wondering about when she was gutting.

It was through the thigh and exit the lower leg. I didnt see the initial shot but about 30seconds after I heard it, I went to see what was going on and he was already dead.
When I gutted him I fully expected a mess inside but everything seemed intact, a few knicks here and there. The intestines were intact, no seepage of contents. I likely would have tossed him if it was contaminated. I had a hard time getting my hand all the way towards the top so I essentially ripped I would assume the gizzards out, they were shredded. I did take the crop out very carefully as it was very full
I plan to take a picture later after I take my son to preschool
Now for the hen, my husband just let them out and said she came out of the coop, hobbling around. I've read hens overcome some crazy things on here so I have high hopes for her

 

[CindyinSD]

I had a friend who ordered straight run layers (long, long ago) and ended up with all Roos but one. (And she ordered quite a few, so you kind of wonder...) Anyway the poor little pullet finally got killed by a cat in thee process of running away from the mongol horde and they decided to harvest the wild roosters. The hubby hunted down and shot every one of them in the head. With a .22 pistol. Some people are just that good—not me.