Mental Preparation For Processing

[PurpleChicken]

Quote:
Froze 6 last night. Gonna throw a few in the fryer tonight and use what's
left over for the soup. Plus the feet are going in the soup too.

 

[Buster]

Well PurpleChicken, the deed is done and it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. Once I had him caught, it was more like I just had a job to do. My wife held him and stretched his neck and it was over with one fell swoop of the hatchet. The cleaning part doesn't bother me because I have cleaned a lot of game birds. So it was successful and he is now boiling in a pot of water for soup. My three year old is morbidly excited about this, so he's taken this a lot better than I thought he would. I am glad this went so well. From now on it shouldn't be so difficult as this rooster was here and considered a pet months before we got any other chickens. If I can process him, no chicken out there is safe.

 

[PurpleChicken]

Quote:
Glad to hear it. It's not as hard as most people think. The hardest part is prepping for
it. You had the right attitude. It is just a job. I'm impressed your wife was so "hands on"
with this. Mine will help clean and pluck but can't handle the head chopping part.

Morbidly excited is a good way to put your 3 year old's reaction. The kids are amazing
and I'm so convinced your chicld will be a better person in the long run for it.

Hey, if no chickens are now safe now please stay away from mine. If you were
closer we'd have a processing picnic.

Slow cook the roo, don't boil him. The best soup results I have had so far is to
slow cook 2 2.5lb roosters for 18 hours in a crock pot (6 qt size). However, while
I fancy myself a good cook, soups were never my specialty, at least until now.

Good Job Bro!!!

 

[Buster]

This rooster was at least 8 months old and he was a bantam (the reason he is now in the pot). My wife wants to know if she messed up on cooking him because the meat is so stringy. We are guessing that this is because of his age but can you confirm this? She did end up boiling him because we didn't know any better but thanks for the tip. We'll know better for next time. We have some straight run birds coming in the spring so there will be a need to cull some more roosters.

 

[PurpleChicken]

Oh ya, an 8 month old roo is gonna be stringy. I haven't processed one that
old but Silkiechicken, Missprissy and others have talked about that.

I let my birds soak in salt water for 24 hours after processing, again something
I learned here. We then usually cook them and pick at them a little. Then they go
in the soup pot and slow cook.

I'm guessing the roo was no more than 3 pounds so he should be in no more than 4
coups of water. Add garlic, onions, carrots, celery, and whatever spices you like.
Once the slow cooking is done the meat will fall off the bone. Even the bones are
soft after 18 ours. I usually chew on them while I pick through the meat and throw
all the good stuff back in the soup. Every pot gets better so I'm still learning.

You'll have fun with that straight run. We hatch a LOT. I try to sex eggs but it never
seems to work.

 

[Buster]

Thanks for all that info. This was a good learning experience and we'll know a lot better what to do next time. The roosters for the next go-round will be ameraucanas and gold laced wyandottes so they will be much larger. I hope to put them in the freezer if I can. I know that they will not be as ideal as cornish crosses to eat, but meat is meat. I'll post a thread when we get closer to processing them later this year.

Good luck with the sexing the eggs project! Let me know when you have a break through with it!

 

[ksacres]

People eat bantams? Wow! I never thought of that...

 

[silkiechicken]

Yep, the most popular bantam to eat is the black silkie. It's an asian delicacy and cost more than your cornish x in the market.. and they are often under 1 lb.

For an 8 month roo, I'd let him rest two days in the fridge, and make a good hearty soup.

 

[ksacres]

Quote:
Is that even worth the effort?? That's one tiny bird

I don't know if I could ever whack any of my bantams, they are so small and cute.

 

[PurpleChicken]

Cornish game hens are a popular delicacy and aren't much heavier.

I've said this before but once you try a silkie you will like it.

Not kidding