How do you choose who stays and who goes?

[3KillerBs]

I'm drinking in the advice here. I've only done this once but I hope to have to do it repeatedly and having a system in mind can only be helpful.

I had no trouble deciding that my packing peanuts, "The Red Boys" had to go. There were, after all, an impossible 5 of them and I had not planned on any roosters at all in a flock that was supposed to be only 4-6.

It was made easier by the fact that while Vinnie was a rather personable fellow, bold and curious, I was completely unable to tell Parm, Fry, Fric, and Stew apart.

And even easier by the fact that, though I love black, white, and black and white chickens, and can appreciate the charms of the buffs, I must admit -- with apologies to those who adore their RIRs, New Hampshires, etc. -- that I loathe red chickens. There is simply something about them that I find utterly unappealing.

Then, a few days after the Red Boys were encamped in the freezer my beautiful Light Brahma, whose appearance had aroused some suspicion but whose behavior had been entirely un-rooster-like under Vinnie's dominance, flared his hackles at something that had startled the flock and had his name changed from Rosemary to Marion.

Before I had time to figure out when my job schedule and the weather would permit another butchering day, Marion started to crow. His voice was beautiful -- deep, resonant, and tuneful -- and I had always had the absurd desire to own the world's most useless creature, a crowing rooster.

With DH and the neighbors agreeable, Marion stayed and lived up to the laid-back reputation of Brahma roosters.

I am under no illusion that I can plan on that kind of serendipity in future choices.

 

[NatJ]

Some people butcher cockerels as young as 12 weeks so they can still fry them.

I have butchered bantam cockerels at 4-5 weeks!
After the bird is dead, I pull the skin off, and discard the wings. Then I cut a chicken nugget off each side of the breast, and each leg/thigh looks like a chicken wing. Then I decide whether I want broth or compost from the rest.

(I usually save the heart, gizzard, and liver too, but I prefer to collect those in bags in the freezer until I have enough to cook the livers in one recipe and the hearts/gizzards in another--those parts have different flavors than the rest of the meat.)

When I was learning, I felt better if I remembered: once it is dead, it cannot feel anything, no matter how much I mess up the processing. So the actual killing was the only part where doing it "right" was important.

 

[Missjlee4377]

@3KillerBs
I really enjoyed this read! And Marion's debut leaves me curious about some of my suspicious ones!
I find myself putting my three white Colombian Rock mixes on the freezer list, and not because they aren't friendly or nice looking birds, just not a fan
My BCM is starting to crow, it reminds me of a puppies first awoo. I absolutely adore it and hoping its something that really grows.. hes kinda top on my list of keepers.

 

[Missjlee4377]

When I was learning, I felt better if I remembered: once it is dead, it cannot feel anything, no matter how much I mess up the processing. So the actual killing was the only part where doing it "right" was important.

Thank you for this!! It's a great thing to keep in mind.

 

[3KillerBs]

I find myself putting my three white Colombian Rock mixes on the freezer list, and not because they aren't friendly or nice looking birds, just not a fan

I understand perfectly.

White Colombian is one of my favorite color varieties for any breed but if you feel about it the same way I feel about red ....

There are enough beautiful chickens in the world that we don't have to keep the ones we don't like the looks of.

 

[Ruthster55]

The first time, just do one or two. I don't use a cone.

You can put the unwanted rooster in a cage for 12 hours with no food so gutting will be less messy. Have a clean table, bucket, and an outdoor type chair ready. Put any dogs or cats you might own in the house, locked into a room, so they cannot observe you butchering the chicken. Dogs do NOT need to have inappropriate lessons!

Set a big pot of water on the stove to just a barely-boil where the bubbles are small. That is your scald pot.

When the time comes, get the bird, give it a bit of a massage under the wing to calm it, sit down in a chair and put the bird (head down) between your legs but over a bucket. Use a sharp knife to make cuts on both sides of the neck. Needs to be a firm knife stroke. You can do it with just one cut, but I prefer two.

Once the bird is bled out, bring the scald pot outside. Once the feathers are easy to pluck, pull them out. Chicken skin is so delicious that I wouldn't want to skin the bird.

Then, cut the feet off. Some remove the proventriculus (crop) at this time, but if you have fasted the bird there won't be much in the proventriculus.

Then make a transversal cut in the tail area from which you will gut the bird. Guts come out first. I prefer to have the hose running at this time so I can rinse out the bird after gutting it making sure you leave no gut material in the bird. Then you will find the gallbladder (it's green - throw that away) right next to the liver. Be sure to remove the gallbladder completely from the liver, because the gallbladder tastes bad.

Then, you will find the heart and gizzard. Then, the testicles and finally the lungs. It's important to remove the lungs which are up against the ribs. You can scrape the lungs off of the concave surfaces of and between the ribs using your fingers.

Then, use poultry shears to cut the bird into pieces. Then, bring it inside and wash in cold water in the sink.

Put in a pot of something like buttermilk or lemon juice diluted in water, or brine in the refrigerator overnight. This relaxes the meat.

You can feed the waste products (feathers, intestines, gallbladder, lungs) back to the flock.

Everything else is usable as giblets or the feet for broth. Some people love pan-fried hearts, livers, and gizzards and you can even pan-fry the testicles, too. In South America, they usually sell hearts and gizzards together. I have seen grilled gizzards for sale as street food in Ecuador!

The next day, either cook the chicken or put in the freezer in a ziplock bag or similar. People usually freeze the giblets and feet separately so they can save them up to have enough giblets for a meal.

 

[Missjlee4377]

@Ruthster55 thanks for the detailed procedure! I really appreciate it. Brining it is an excellent idea!!

 

[Ruthster55]

Lemon juice, milk or buttermilk are even better than brine!!!