First time butchering this Friday!

[Bubbles_erin]

First time is always hard. My husband grew up with different animals and is used to slaughtering. I on the other hand, did not and am a huge animal lover. So I thought I would have a hard time of it, but we did 4 roos the first time too and it was surprisingly easier on me than I thought. Not fun or pretty by any means, but the job was done. After this time, one chicken (a young female RIR) was accidentally killed by a piece of wood falling on her, she was promptly slaughtered. Today a turkey got over the fence and the neighbors dogs killed it, and so I had to do it all today. Its good to know how the process works so if you have an accident like either of my two, you can take care of business without relying on anyone else. And like another person said, its actually good for kids to know how/where their food gets to the table. I do not try to "show" the kids yet (they are young, 2 and 5), but I don't try to shield them either. And they understand where the eggs come from and we thank the hens for them. Its my way of teaching them that the birds give us a gift either by their eggs or meat and we have to appreciate it. Let us know how they tasted. My first were ameraucanas and they were about 6 months old. Free ranged all day. The meat was TOUGH. Since then, I learned more about what kind of bird to raise and how to raise them and now we have 26 cornish crosses for meat. This is the first "batch" of them, plan on doing a few 20-30 bird batches for the freezer (and to sell some IF they sell okay-to help pay for my birds ;-)

 

[ChickyLaura]

We just got our first meaties today!!! I got a call from the post office at 6 AM. I got a total of 20 birds today, 10 meaties and 10 assorted pullets. I ordered 5 naked necks, but they weren't in the box. It's OK though, because I called them back and they will be shipping them next week, along with 4 Bronze Breasted Turkeys! I am so happy about getting turkeys, I can't wait! I think we'll be sending the turkeys out to be processed though.

We are going to cook up and eat one of the chickens tonight! Mmmm! Can't wait. I think I may try roasting it slowly, and using one of those cooking bags.

 

[CluckyJay]

What is it like raising turkeys? I wanted to try some out this or next year. I read they were hard to keep alive at a young age.

 

[clairabean]

I really appreciate you sharing your experience!

I am still getting up some nerve to process some in the spring, and this thread made me more confident!

 

[Bubbles_erin]

I had my chickens about 4 months when I went and got 3 turkey poults from a local guy that I found on CL. They were about 5-6 weeks old and I was nervous about keeping them alive too since I had heard the same. It was early fall and still warm, so they were able to go right outside without a heat lamp. I put them in a pen alone for a few days to acclimate to the new home and the chicken flock, they could see each other but not touch. Soon enough, they were with the chickens. So far, they are about 5-6 months now. I had two toms and a hen, but one got to the neighbors yard yesterday and was killed by their dogs. I slaughtered him (ie drained blood, plucked etc) since he was still warm...If that hadnt happend, I could happily say, they were easy enough to raise. Only problem is that mine are way skitish. I like getting my birds day old so that they are more "trained" or handled by the time they are older. I got my first batch of chickens the same way and they too were skitish. My 4 month old pullets from the hatchery are not. So that is my main experience.

 

[CowgirlPenny]

Wow, your finished pictures look amazing. I have suspected for a few weeks that my nearly year old 'hens' were Roos and today the 'Chicken Lady' confirmed it for me!

Very sad. But DH and I agree we don't need or want a Rooster or two, just our hens for eggs. So now we are really talking about processing them soon. This post has really helped!


Can anyone recommend a link where I can read more on the gutting part? Also, what is everyone's preference on skin or no skin?

 

[booker81]

Quote:
Go to the stickied part at the top of this forum and look for a post by "Frugal". It's excellent!

I had a photo thing of cutting the vent area to gut, lemme see if I can find it....


That was easy:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=430962

After making the vent cut around, just reach in and pull. I like to reach in with my fingers and loosen thing around the cavity, and then I use the gizzard as a "handle" - its impossible to miss - a big hard round thing, bigger than an egg. Grab that after loosening the guts, and pull evenly. Everything should come out. Next you'll have to get the lungs and heart out. Frugal's post shows this well I believe.

 

[CluckyJay]

Quote:
That was easy:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=430962

Ohh, thanks for the detailed link! I never thought to use excess skin to truss the bird!!

 

[ChickyLaura]

I am so glad to see that people are getting something out of our experience! We have a little banty roo that we "excused" the day we butchered the others. But he is so loud - I realize he's just doing what he does, but since we have close neighbors... The hens could be out in the run 24/7 if he wasn't in there. So, he is sadly having his days numbered. We were going to do the deed this morning, but my after work "nap" didn't end until this morning, and I didn't withhold his food. Tomorrow is church, so we shall see...

So far, we only ate one roo that we butchered. He was SO good! We have a family of 5, and we got 2 1/2 meals out of him! The first meal we roasted him on a bed of red potatoes, celery, carrots, and onions. I put him in breast side down, and I used one of those cooking bags. I put him in a 300 degree oven for 30 pounds a minute, and wow! He was so good and honestly very moist! And, he was a year old! I did rub him down with olive oil, but I didn't use a lot of olive oil. There was sure a lot of dark meat! Then I removed most of the meat from the bones and my DH made chicken croquettes with that meat. Then I put the bones in the crock pot with celery and carrots, and let that cook overnight. We certainly got everything out of him that we could!

The other roos are in the freezer, but my DH wants to cook them down so he can make croquettes out of them. They truly were good!