I culled my first two roosters today

[crazyhen]

How did we learn, our parents taught us at an early age to do what had to be done. Now I did not teach my children ; there was no need at the time and the only girl would go oh ewh!!!!!! If i even mentioned it. We did not have chickens at the time for them to learn with.
Now I have pet/eating hens. More pet than anything. I often give away the roos because I dislike the process. I have only dressed one in the last 10 yrs. A mean roo. He made me very angry so it was not to hard to dispatch him. If my hb would kill them it would help but he does not like to do it either. We have become to soft hearted. gloria Jean

 

[rungirl]

I learned how to process from reading the following thread out here on BYC a couple years ago.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=109583

We have tried several different kill methods each time. We've settled on using a pair of lopers to cut the heads off. It was easiest for us and quick. We hang them upside down from the kid's trampoline and the lopers make it easy for my husband do the deed without me holding it. He kills them and I clean them. I'd like to get a killling cone next time because those big meat birds will flap so hard that their wings sometimes dislocate and break off. They are already dead at that point, but it damages the wings, and I like a nice whole bird for roasting.

For scalding I use a big canning pot on the side burner of my gas grill, which I set up outside my garage door. I use a thermometer to monitor the water temp so I don't cook the skin. I also keep a sprayer hose laying in the driveway to clean up as I go. The processing takes place in my garage with a cutting board on a makeshift table and a large garbage can for the guts. The processed birds go into a large cooler of ice water for a couple days and then I vaccuum seal them and freeze them.

There is nothing better than eating what you grow and raise. You know exactly what that chicken was feed and how it was treated. It lives a good life on our farm and then eventually feeds our family. My kids know where their food comes from and they have more understanding and repect for animal husbandry and farming in general.

Lisa

 

[sharron]

Quote:
my momma used to use the feathers, when she got enough of them, she did wash and dry on non windy days, she would make feather pillows, she gave me two when i first got married and i used them for over 35 years, best pillows i ever had.

 

[flashover1969]

You could use a turkey fryer for scalding if you have one. The pot is huge and the burner used to heat the pot will get water boiling in no time at all.

 

[SteveBaz]

For plucking purposes does it have to be scolding water.

What is the temperature really need to be to have the feathers release easy?

 

[CALI CHICK]

Our family butchered 2 cornish cross -for the first time- last month. It would have gone OK, except that DH didn't have a knife sharp enough to cut the first chickens neck. He had to go to Wal-Mart while the chicken hung upside down in a slipknot from a tree branch!

After he got it killed and let the blood drain, things went much smoother. We didn't have a pan big enough either, so we actually used a Home Depot Bucket. I poured in the hot water and DH dunked the chicken down into the water using the legs & feet as handles.

Before and during the culling we watched a YouTube video of a man butchering a chicken. He was an excellent teacher and made it look so easy. I know I'm revealing my city-ness. The video was about survival skills...but so many of you are right. Just a few years back, killing your own food was an everyday way of life! I was truly glad for the experience.

 

[KatieBugg]

Quote:
My Grandmother use to wash the feathers and make the old blue striped pillows from them. I wished I would have paid attention to the washing method