It's Done - Roo#2 is in the pot

[PurpleChicken]

We got our chickens for many reasons.
1-We love them
2-Fresh eggs
3-We love them
4-Organic bug control
5-We love them
6-Fresh chicken
7-We love them

This morning it was time for our first culling. The victim was a roo
who had become aggressive towards our silkie. It was always our
intent to thin our flock, eat our roos, and eventually get meat birds
so this was no big surprise. It just came earlier than expected.

I'm writing this for those of you who will go through it and for those
of you who gave me great advice, expecially Silkiechicken.
I think I'm also writing it because I'm a bit numb and feel pretty bad.

My wife, who deals with blood on a daily basis (RN student, works in hospital),
was a basket case, tears and all. My 7 year old was the best. He wasn't
happy about it but knew this was part of life and chicken ownership.
(For those of you who disagree, you should never buy another super market
chicken again. For vegetarians, kudos for practicing your belief).
Many of our family members had told him stories about the old days
when everyone had chickens and your pet birds would mysteriously disappear
before a chicken dinner. He stayed with me the whole time but I did ask him
to go check the water while I performed step 2.

How it went:
1-Didn't put feed in the coop overnight
2-Pulled him out of the coop, positioned him on a stump,
and with a large knife took his head off. He flapped
around a bit and I ended up with chicken blood all over
my legs and shoes.
3-Heated a pot of water to 150 and put him in. I had read 5 seconds
but it took longer to really free up the feathers. The feathers
came off very easy. I was surprised. It took around 5 minutes
to clean them all off.
4-Gutting the bird wasn't bad either. I sliced around the vent and
pulled almost everything out. I did the same for all the stuff around
the neck and crop.
5-Dipped him back into the cooled scalding water and then rinse
it with the hose.
6-Put it in a pot of salt water where it's sitting now.
7-We cleaned up and buried the head, feathers and internals.

Everything went better than expected. Other than that it really SUCKED.
Killing anything is not a pleasant thing. I know everyone says the first
time is the hardest and I really hope they are right.

We now have a 4 pound 15 week old Speckled Sussex Roo to make a meal
out of.

 

[MayberrySaint]

Congrats on your first processing. I know it is a hard thing to do...that's why I gave my 12 warmer roos away. Hope he tastes good!!!

 

[Chelly]

I couldn't do it.

I really really want to raise chickens to eat, but I just can't get past the "processing" part.

 

[eggcetra_farms]

Sounds like that was pretty tough...

My husband and his father slaughtered all our "packing peanuts" one day. I was pretty ticked off because they picked the day of the Daytona 500 to do it, and his step-mom and half sister ended up making me miss the end of the race. They had to keep going on and on about what was going on outside when I didn't even want to think about it. It was pretty strange for about a week going out there and not seeing them anymore. Kuddos to you though for having the guts to do it. I think I could if I got them for meat purposes, but those boys already had names..... I hope the following slaughters are much easier on you.

 

[eggchel]

It sounds like you did a great job. It will get easier.

Ive culled plenty of nasty roosters and, having had hundreds of chickens, Ive dealt with lots of deaths from accidents and predator injuries, etc. After a while, I found that I was no longer heartbroken when a favorite bird died or had to be culled, just sad or disappointed. I dont like culling and prefer not to do it, but sometimes it is necessary. Stuff happens and sometimes we are the ones who have to make the stuff happen.

Thank you for sharing your experience.
Both threads about your rooster are excellent.

Chel

 

[PurpleChicken]

Quote:
Thank you so much for saying that. That really means a lot.

Mayberry, I hope he tastes good too. Still trying to figure out how I wanna cook him.

As a newbie I'll say the tough part isn't the cleaning and stuff. It's not even the
act of cutting off the head. For me it's the act of ending a life that is so darn hard.
I can rationalize it but it's a very bitter pill.

I know all the experienced folks are probably laughing at me but that is OK.
Most have said to never name your birds who may face the axe. This is
SO TRUE.

 

[silkiechicken]

Good work. You did what you intended to do with the bird. Sounds like the processing went smoothly too. Do you plan on eating him tonight? Let us know if he's tough or not. I tried eating a non cornish the same day and it was seriously a rubber band 8 months in the making. You roo was much younger. Hope you enjoy your meal!

It really does get easier too.

 

[AK-Bird-brain]

Treat the birds you prepare with care and respect and its hard not to feel sorry for them durring the process. But be thankfull that you were able to raise such a fine meal for yourself and truly provide for your family. Raising your own animals is the only way to get 100% truly organic humainly raised meat for the table.

 

[PurpleChicken]

UPDATE:

My wife is working tonight so I took the opportunity to bake the processed
bird. I chose baking over a soup pot because I wanted to really get the
flavor. I quartered it and through in some tators, spices, salt, and pepper.
Cooked on 380 for a little under an hour.

It was very good. Tasted like chicken. It was no Cornish X but it has meat
on it and was very tender, not gamey or stringy.

Most importantly, while not as efficiently as some, nothing was wasted.
My chicken picked the bones clean when me and my son were done. Again
I don't like to waste.

The fun is going to be when my wife gets home from work at 11 and has a
roast chicken dinner waiting for her. She said she won't eat one of our babies.

Don

 

[HobbyChickener]

I am in the same position with the "thinning" however I have run into a difficult decision this evening. The whole reason that we got chickens was my son caught one at the local fair and he has been around ever since. We then added more birds this spring, however my son's bird "Road Runner" is getting very aggressive. Out of the last 3 trips to the coop he has pecked at me or tried to flog twice. I won't have a mean bird around with my little oboy and wife going into the coop. So now what?