I just killed my first chicken to eat

[Cindiloohoo]

Put him in cold water and go I suppose.

 

[kryptoniteqhs]

you know what! this isnt fair, my birds scronny so its making everything harder.....the guy in the picture has a big fat one....also, im getting ready to open er up and i noticed that the butt bones are real close together....now what?

 

[Cindiloohoo]

I dunno?! Sorry you are having such a rough first time with him!! Maybe cut it in half?

 

[kryptoniteqhs]

hey this is actually important.....i never saw the gallbladder that i know of.....i was flushing out the bird as i went.......and i did notice a long string of black come out??? what should i do?

 

[silkiechicken]

Just work around them. I've butchered and prepared 1lb roosters, just stick a few fingers in to pull things out or try a spoon.

 

[kryptoniteqhs]

i have no desire to do that EVER again!

 

[Cindiloohoo]

Quote:
Well..at least now you know??

 

[mamawolf544]

Bless your heart. I am lucky enough to have a processor close by that will do the deed, clean, cut-up if I choose for $1.50 a bird. Last year was the first year, I couldn't eat the first one I cooked, I know it is all in my head

But I sure did eat the rest of them and they are yummy. I am growing meat ducks right now and my GD says I cant wait for them to get big so I can play with them, I said you better play now, they will be in the freezer in 7 weeks.

 

[kryptoniteqhs]

lol....i literally can walk about 50 feet from my front door and there is a butcher shop haha but i dont like them at all for way too many reasons and id like to know that i can do it myself

o n just to let everyone know, i soaked him for an hour or two in salt and sugar (brine) and I just seasoned him and put him in the fridge for tomorrows dinner.....is that long enough? lol....hes not stiff at all or anything, very flimsy actually.

 

[dancingbear]

It sounds like maybe the water was too hot, and that's why the skin kept tearing, and sound like the little bits you were seeing were the cuticle, the thin outer layer on top of the skin.

The tail doesn't need to be removed at all. The oil gland is on the top side of the tail, it's that little bump on top. Slice that part off, and if there's two little pockets of deep yellow under it, scrape those out. That's the oil glands. People say it will taint the meat, but it really doesn't. I've forgotten to remove it many times, and didn't notice until after I cooked it. When cooked, they become two little waxy oval pellets, easily removed. The taste of the rest of the bird isn't affected at all, not even the tail itself. I know a lot of people say it is, (even Joel Salatin, a person I greatly respect) but it's a myth.

If you said how old the bird was, I missed it. If it's over 16 weeks old, you might want to put him in the crock pot. Let him cook most of the day, until the meat starts coming off the bones. It'll be nice and tender.

I processed 6 roos over the last week, mixed breed mutts, all over 5 months old, some about 7 months or so, and I have 9 more to do during the next week. These 2 videos helped me more than anything else.

polyface poultry kill cones w/ grady

polyface poultry evisceration w/ joel salatin

There's nothing like seeing it done, for me that makes it much clearer than reading about it. Frugal posted a thread about scalding that is VERY clear, I think between the videos, and Frugal's scalding thread, (his threads on slaughtering and cleaning are great, too) you will have a much better idea how to go about it, if you want to try again sometime. And if you keep raising birds, there will most likely be another time.

With a bird older than 16 weeks or so, it won't be as fast or easy as a 6-8 week old broiler. Here's why:

1) The skin is tougher, and doesn't tear open easily like those young birds. You'll probably have to cut it.

2) The pelvic bones have finished developing and solidified, and it'll be hard to get your hand inside. Sometimes I have to settle for 2 or 3 fingers, pull out what I can reach, to make room to reach further in, and repeat until I get all the innards out.

3)The connective tissue is more developed, and there's a lot more of it, so those innards are a lot harder to pull out. They're anchored a lot better than in those young birds.

4)The older the bird, the more all of that applies.

I'm sorry you had such a rough time with this one, but now you know to find out about all this, before you kill the bird. Of course, on the first time, there's bound to be something you didn't know to ask about or look up.

The first time I butchered a bird by myself, the kitchen looked like a CSI crime scene, and I looked like Dexter Morgan. (google the TV series "Dexter", if you're unfamiliar) That's with dong my homework first, and participating in processing many times before. Fortunately, I had a Bluetooth headset, and a friend with a good sense of humor giving me emotional support over the phone.

You're through the very worst now, survived it, and learned some things. Future slaughter events will most likely never be this bad again. So don't let it get you down, it gets easier, from this point forward.

BTW, a quick note on removing the feet: With the bird on it's back, bend the leg at the joint, like the bird would flex it to roost. The toes will curl. Look at the joint, and look for the indentation, just past the joint, toward the foot. Right in the dip in that indentation, is where you want to cut. The toes will uncurl, and you can press the knife into the joint, and if you have any trouble, twist and bend the joint a little so you can see where the connective tissue is, to cut. I know figuring out how to easily remove the feet was hard for me, I didn't have anybody to help me with that.

Good luck with cooking your bird, and congrats on getting through the worst part.