How to professionally harvest an aggressive roo

[DaWookie]

no worries its all good information!

 

[LizStreithorst]

I'm sorry, too. I'm the cause of it all. I didn't intend to be rude.

 

[chickendreams24]

no worries its all good information!

One problem with cerebral dislocation is that you won't get as full of a bleed as with the killing cone method. I understand it can be less intimidating if you're worried. I none of us will blame or judge anyone for that.

When done correctly the killing cone method should render the bird unconscious almost immediately.
The full bleed is accomplished because the heart is still beating when the cuts are made and gravity assists the blood out when in the killing cone.

The blood is what spoils the meat most quickly and the best product is acheived when a full bleed is completed.

This is also a big reason people brine their birds as it removes more blood as well as tenderizing the meat. We have only brined a couple of birds and didn't notice any particular difference. We cook them low and slow and emphasize a moist heat. They are delicious but if you've never had it before it is not like store bought commercially raised chicken.

It has more texture and flavor. It shouldn't be very chewy though.

Different ages of birds require different cooking methods.

A good book to read on ethical meat is The Ethical Meat Handbook by Meredith Leigh. While it not only covers a chapter on chickens and what ethical meat is it also covers other animals.

We got see Meredith Leigh at Mother Earth News Fair a couple years ago and it was great to hear someone who has been a butcher agree with our research on the method of butchering. It gave us the last little push we needed to be able to butcher our own birds for meat.

 

[DaWookie]

@chickendreams24 thats an excellent point i had forgotten. Alright here is the current plan:

From the pet carrier im going to drop him into a large pillow case, this will limit his fighting.
I will then lightly but firmly zip tie his legs together to ensure if he escapes its not a pain to catch him
He will then enter the cone (a milk gallon cut into form, its worked in the past however with more docile chickens)

how long do you usually brine your tougher birds? i see 12-24 hours on the webs

 

[Mrs. K]

I will remember that for next time! I’m not sure how I will work it out, maybe look into getting a second or third pot for the shampoo and rinse, I don’t have running water, or easy access to clean water, I can only bring 24 gallons up at a time here. I also have just a few birds I process at a time personally,

Last year, I used coolers - like you pack for beer or picnic. I put them in the bed of a pick-up, the side away from the drain spigot, elevated slightly and filled with cold water. I too do not have running water where I butcher. But with one hand you can open the spigot, and use that rushing water for a pretty good rinse.

I also butterfly them, when they are open like that - you can SEE that all the entrails are out.

Mrs K

 

[aart]

how long do you usually brine your tougher birds? i see 12-24 hours on the webs

I don't brine, but definitely rest the cleaned carcass.....

I recently did an older rooster - more than a year. You really need to age them in the fridge I think...

Absolutely!!
The older they are, the longer you age/rest the cleaned carcass.
Did an old(3yo) hen last fall, rested her in the fridge for 3-4 days, then pressure cooked...meat was tender enough for sandwiches, I was amazed.

Found the same for fresh turkeys, I buy them freshly slaughtered and butcher into parts before freezing. First ones I did were a bear to butcher after a couple days rest, next year I let them rest for 4-5 days before butchering.....were a breeze to cut up! Not sure (cant' remember) if the meat was much more tender but it probably was.

 

[Kris5902]

OP here

I will take ownership of said trouble maker on Saturday and ill make sure to give a full report. A country friend of mine is coming by to show me a cerebral dislocation method hes experienced in. might end up using that method, will report back.

The cervical dislocation method my Husband used to do involved holding the head in one hand near your hip and the feet in the other at your shoulder and doing a quick jerk. It doesn’t work well with larger birds though. My 24 week old boy was too big for it. I agree with @chickendreams24 about the benefits of a good bleeding from the cone.

Sorry that we've kinda taken over your thread

All unattended threads will be hijacked, digressed from and expounded on until we forget what the post was originally about! It’s what we do here on BYC... but that’s ok, eventually someone remembers to ask the OP back for an update!

 

[Folly's place]

I'll repeat what I mentioned earlier about roosters and cervical dislocation; it's very much more difficult than with hens!!! I think the cone and sharp knife method will be best for him.
Mary

 

[Kris5902]

Last year, I used coolers - like you pack for beer or picnic. I put them in the bed of a pick-up, the side away from the drain spigot, elevated slightly and filled with cold water. I too do not have running water where I butcher. But with one hand you can open the spigot, and use that rushing water for a pretty good rinse.

I also butterfly them, when they are open like that - you can SEE that all the entrails are out.

Mrs K

I fill a cooler with ice and water for the carcasses, and fill all my pots the day before, so I can have all 4 6gallon jerries full of water for washing up, rinsing, and refilling as necessary. I’m thinking as many extra 5 gallon buckets I can find filled the night before could work... one for the wash/shampoo and maybe two to rinse? Or I just stand upwind and try not to smell the scalding aromas.

 

[chickendreams24]

@chickendreams24 thats an excellent point i had forgotten. Alright here is the current plan:

From the pet carrier im going to drop him into a large pillow case, this will limit his fighting.
I will then lightly but firmly zip tie his legs together to ensure if he escapes its not a pain to catch him
He will then enter the cone (a milk gallon cut into form, its worked in the past however with more docile chickens)

how long do you usually brine your tougher birds? i see 12-24 hours on the webs

Thanks just glad I could help. When we have brined the most we've done is 4-6 hours. After that we take them out and shrink bag them. They end up looking great. We actually bought a medium turkey killing cone and small turkey bags and some of our large fowl English Orpingtons and crosses almost don't fit in the bags.

Then we rest them in the fridge for 3-5 days. Again we've done as many as 7 days and had no trouble.

Last year, I used coolers - like you pack for beer or picnic. I put them in the bed of a pick-up, the side away from the drain spigot, elevated slightly and filled with cold water. I too do not have running water where I butcher. But with one hand you can open the spigot, and use that rushing water for a pretty good rinse.

I also butterfly them, when they are open like that - you can SEE that all the entrails are out.

Mrs K

Have you made a thread on how you butterflies them? I would love to see it if you have. Any photos?

The cervical dislocation method my Husband used to do involved holding the head in one hand near your hip and the feet in the other at your shoulder and doing a quick jerk. It doesn’t work well with larger birds though. My 24 week old boy was too big for it. I agree with @chickendreams24 about the benefits of a good bleeding from the cone.



All unattended threads will be hijacked, digressed from and expounded on until we forget what the post was originally about! It’s what we do here on BYC... but that’s ok, eventually someone remembers to ask the OP back for an update!

Thanks.
Also I totally love what you said about unattended threads and if it's okay I may borrow that sometime. LOL

I would only add one thing in that by getting totally side tracked we come up with many other great topics and new thoughts on the original topic, when we finally come back to it.

I fill a cooler with ice and water for the carcasses, and fill all my pots the day before, so I can have all 4 6gallon jerries full of water for washing up, rinsing, and refilling as necessary. I’m thinking as many extra 5 gallon buckets I can find filled the night before could work... one for the wash/shampoo and maybe two to rinse? Or I just stand upwind and try not to smell the scalding aromas.

No one has mentioned it but you can use a little dish soap(I would recommend dawn because we all know it's gentle and not going to hurt the bird) okay okay my bad terrible joke but in all honesty we do all know it's very safe. That and you rinse the carcasses when finished anyways.

It can cut the smell and it also helps clean them a little I've even heard of people putting a couple tablespoons in of bleach in a big stock pot/canner. I think that's a bit much but we have done the dish soap before. We like the apple blossom because we usually have that scent but also it's a nice fresh scent.

Remember just a little soap! Also wet feathers smell no matter if they're washed or not. It's the same as a wet dog.

It's actually recommended adding a little dish soap to scalding water for ducks as it helps the water penetrate their feathers.

Also don't forget heritage birds unlike Cornish cross are harder to eviscerate because they're older(so there's more connective tissue) and they have (I forget) I think they're called filia after plucking. They're covered in little hair like feather things. These generally disappear when cooking but can be burned off if they bother you.

Also don't ever ever ever process a molting bird expecting to pluck it. We did once when a 12-14 month old rooster molted early. We didn't see it until he lost his head- that is to say he had been bled and then the head romoved. It was awful. The first time we ever tried skinning a bird and it was so awful(picture a bird hanging from a clothesline on an extremely windy day as the temperatures plummeted in advance of a cold spell that they didn't predict) DH2B grumbles and scowls if I even mention skinning a chicken lol.