My Mother's Day babies are all grown up now. We have identified 10 of the 24 as cockrels (huge combs, saddle feathers, and they CROW). Tomorrow our friend is coming over to help with processing.
We are thinking of keeping 2 roos, but wonder if that will leave too few hens per roo. We already have 5 older girls that don't seem to be interested in allowing some man to rule them, but including those we will have a total of 15 hens.
Any input on this subject will be welcome and appreciated.
Also, we have identified one roo as a definite keeper (looks like a lemon cuckoo orpington) but can't decide between two others that we like. Should we choose the bigger one who crows alot and seems to be more dominant or the smaller, quieter one. I don't think my neighbors care one way or the other about the 5am wake-up calls.
Will update results of our first freezer camp after we are finished.
--Michelle
Okay, so a hispanic family that we met throught some mutual friends came over this morning to teach us how to do this. (note to self--it helps if the teacher speaks your language) I had watched numerous videos last night and BOY, did they go about some of the steps way differently. I sure wish we had an automatic chicken plucker, because there were pin feathers left. The man held the chickens in the flame of our gas burner and scorched them to get the last of the feathers off and to do something to make the skin on the feet peel off. The man's wife, she seemed to be running the show, took out a sponge with a green scrubby side and added dish soap and gave them a healthy scrubbing before putting them into ice water to await butchering. I know I didn't see either of those steps in the videos.
They also butchered them in a different way. I was expecting whole birds to put in a roaster, but not speaking the language.....
All in all, I'm satisfied with the end results. Especially since I got to keep the livers! I have to work tonight, but Wayne as promised to fry them and make gravy and rice to bring me for dinner!
Oh, DD, Kelsey was quite the brave trooper. She did carry the birds to the man who cut their throats even if she didn't carry them to the dunking pot. We let her decide which other roo to keep and she chose the bigger one. She liked him because he was the only one with a comb that looked like a strawberry. I only got pictures of the beginning of the process, I'll post those later.
We are thinking of keeping 2 roos, but wonder if that will leave too few hens per roo. We already have 5 older girls that don't seem to be interested in allowing some man to rule them, but including those we will have a total of 15 hens.
Any input on this subject will be welcome and appreciated.
Also, we have identified one roo as a definite keeper (looks like a lemon cuckoo orpington) but can't decide between two others that we like. Should we choose the bigger one who crows alot and seems to be more dominant or the smaller, quieter one. I don't think my neighbors care one way or the other about the 5am wake-up calls.
Will update results of our first freezer camp after we are finished.
--Michelle
Okay, so a hispanic family that we met throught some mutual friends came over this morning to teach us how to do this. (note to self--it helps if the teacher speaks your language) I had watched numerous videos last night and BOY, did they go about some of the steps way differently. I sure wish we had an automatic chicken plucker, because there were pin feathers left. The man held the chickens in the flame of our gas burner and scorched them to get the last of the feathers off and to do something to make the skin on the feet peel off. The man's wife, she seemed to be running the show, took out a sponge with a green scrubby side and added dish soap and gave them a healthy scrubbing before putting them into ice water to await butchering. I know I didn't see either of those steps in the videos.
They also butchered them in a different way. I was expecting whole birds to put in a roaster, but not speaking the language.....
All in all, I'm satisfied with the end results. Especially since I got to keep the livers! I have to work tonight, but Wayne as promised to fry them and make gravy and rice to bring me for dinner!
Oh, DD, Kelsey was quite the brave trooper. She did carry the birds to the man who cut their throats even if she didn't carry them to the dunking pot. We let her decide which other roo to keep and she chose the bigger one. She liked him because he was the only one with a comb that looked like a strawberry. I only got pictures of the beginning of the process, I'll post those later.
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