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Pick one rooster. One rooster who puts his hackles up every time you walk past. Or just one you like less than the others. Pick him out. Explain to him what's coming Saturday morning. Verbalize it. Make yourself commit to the action and say the words.
Friday night, sharpen a couple of knives. If you don't know how, you have three days to learn. Youtube will teach. Cut the top and bottom off of a bleach bottle and screw it to a board. That's your kill cone.
Saturday morning, fill your turkey fryer 3/4 full of water and put in a couple of tablespoons of dish soap. When the water gets to 145, go get your rooster. Don't let the water get above 150.
What you're about to do was hard for me the first time. I was shaking as I killed my first superfluous rooster. It is hard. But they're yummy, you have too many and this is part of stewardship. It's part of the barn yard life cycle.
Put him in the cone facing you. Put your left thumb on the bottom of his beak (his bottom) and your pointer finger on his comb. Pull down gently. Cut starting at his left ear and keep cutting to the middle of his neck. Cut deep enough that your hand is immediately covered in blood, not so deep that you cut his windpipe. Now, cut the other ear back to the middle. Wash your hands. He's already dead. Cry a bit. Feel sorry for the loss of life. It is a big deal to take life. Only God can make a chicken. He'll kick for a few seconds but you're done.
Now give him a 150 degree bath, pull some feathers, singe some hair, cut off the feet, pull off the head and eviscerate away.
Finally, make soup. You'll probably be amazed how long and skinny he is without feathers. Soup is the best use for a rooster in my book.
Each time you do it, try to do it better. Make it faster for the bird. Get faster at processing. Soon you'll find this is an appropriate part of stewardship. You haven't betrayed the bird. You helped it fulfill its purpose. It wouldn't live if it wasn't tasty. Time to pay the rent.
This is normal. This is natural. Dogs earn their keep. Extra roosters can't. They're hard on the hens and eat a lot.
Pick one rooster. One rooster who puts his hackles up every time you walk past. Or just one you like less than the others. Pick him out. Explain to him what's coming Saturday morning. Verbalize it. Make yourself commit to the action and say the words.
Friday night, sharpen a couple of knives. If you don't know how, you have three days to learn. Youtube will teach. Cut the top and bottom off of a bleach bottle and screw it to a board. That's your kill cone.
Saturday morning, fill your turkey fryer 3/4 full of water and put in a couple of tablespoons of dish soap. When the water gets to 145, go get your rooster. Don't let the water get above 150.
What you're about to do was hard for me the first time. I was shaking as I killed my first superfluous rooster. It is hard. But they're yummy, you have too many and this is part of stewardship. It's part of the barn yard life cycle.
Put him in the cone facing you. Put your left thumb on the bottom of his beak (his bottom) and your pointer finger on his comb. Pull down gently. Cut starting at his left ear and keep cutting to the middle of his neck. Cut deep enough that your hand is immediately covered in blood, not so deep that you cut his windpipe. Now, cut the other ear back to the middle. Wash your hands. He's already dead. Cry a bit. Feel sorry for the loss of life. It is a big deal to take life. Only God can make a chicken. He'll kick for a few seconds but you're done.
Now give him a 150 degree bath, pull some feathers, singe some hair, cut off the feet, pull off the head and eviscerate away.
Finally, make soup. You'll probably be amazed how long and skinny he is without feathers. Soup is the best use for a rooster in my book.
Each time you do it, try to do it better. Make it faster for the bird. Get faster at processing. Soon you'll find this is an appropriate part of stewardship. You haven't betrayed the bird. You helped it fulfill its purpose. It wouldn't live if it wasn't tasty. Time to pay the rent.
This is normal. This is natural. Dogs earn their keep. Extra roosters can't. They're hard on the hens and eat a lot.
