Killed it, cleaned it.... Now what?

[remuda1]

Hi all. I culled and cleaned a 23 or 24 week old Cuckoo Marans rooster this morning. I know that I've seen on here to let them "rest" in the fridge? Can you tell me how long he stays in there and also for this age rooster, should I expect the meat to be tough/tender/or what? Thanks in advance for any input. Ya'll have a great day!

 

[MSDeb]

Don't know about how long to keep it in the fridge or the quality of the meat. We are smoking one of ours we processed a while back so will have more input later. We had to freeze ours before we cooked it as neither dh nor myself has ever processed our own meat before and we needed to separate ourselves from the live animal to food thing if that makes sense. It's a darn shame we have become so removed from our food sources that we can't kill and eat a chicken. Good luck to you.

 

[peepblessed]

We always soak our in salt water in the frig, over-night, then cooked or froze. Might still be tender but I wouldn't count on it.

 

[KenK]

I let mine rest in the refrigerator about 30 hours, kill early Saturday morning and cook for supper Sunday night. I think it will still be tender enough to bake or fry but certainly wouldn't bet the farm on it.

 

[RWD]

Let it rest 30-48 hrs. in the fridge, then cook or freeze. Even at 24 weeks it will still taste better than grocery store chicken. Just remember it will not have a ton of breast meat, but that is just the breed. It will be slightly firmer meat because your not injecting it like the grocery store meat.

 

[EMAW]

Let it rest a minimum of 48 hours, 72 hours would be better. The longer you can let meat rest/age the more tender it becomes.

 

[remuda1]

Okay, thanks for all of the responses. When y'all let them rest, do you always do it soaking in saltwater or some other kind of solution or just wrap them up and put them in the fridge? This was my first time culling and cleaning one and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I had him listed on CraigsList and the one response I got ended up purchasing elsewhere. He was too rough on my hens and I couldn't go through one more day of listening to those sqwaks of pain so while my husband ran an errand (he might have talked me out of it) I gathered up all of my supplies and got busy

.

I've got my fridge set on 36 degrees but am a little leary of waiting 72 hours. If you're sure it'll be all right, I'll leave it that long because I'd take a little pleasure from eating this guy! But if it's tough, no big deal. I'll just feed it to my two pyrenees. They won't mind it being tough

. Thanks again for the responses. I don't think I could have ever done it if not for this web site and the great support y'all provide.

MsDeb, I don't think I could cull any of the other birds unless they were in great pain or already on death's bed. I guess it helps if you start out with one that is really nasty and mean to the hens. I even entertained the thought of just culling him and throwing him out. But somehow that just didn't feel like the right thing to do. It felt wasteful and disrespectful. If he was going to lose his life, then something good should come of it. He will end up either putting food on our table or he'll put food in my working livestock guardians. That feels right to me. Good luck with yours and thanks again for your post.

 

[krcote]

I do not soak mine in water. We rested our 50 birds for 5 days in the fridge at 32 degrees in Food Saver bags, then froze them.

 

[Two Creeks Farm]

72 hours at 36 degrees is fine. I usually place them in an open ended bag if i'm doing just one or two birds. The salt water or brine isnt a bad recommendation, but I wouldnt do it for the entire time, maybe the last 24 hours depending on your brine.

If a bird doesnt have alot of meat and was just a cull, you cant beat stewing them in a croc pot, then use the carcass for chicken soup etc. I processed a bird the other day and we had him for supper yesterday, wasnt any left so i'd say it hit the spot.

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
X2.. i check the leg joint and don't remove mine until I know the rigor is gone