Must I withhold food before culling our rooster?

[Ridgerunner]

I skin because my wife wants them skinless and it's easier for me since I don't have to worry about scalding them. I used to pluck, I still parted them the same way. Skinning or plucking makes no difference to that.

 

[Tre3hugger]

I remove the crop at the neck end of bird.

So do I

^^^ me too.

That is what I have done when I did offer some corn in the morning and the crop was somewhat full. Typically though I like to pull out as much of the innards as possible, crop included, in one "fowl" swoop out the back end. Both ways work. I learned that way from Adam Danforth's butchering book, and after trying both I think I prefer empty crops and one big line of innards out the back. To each their own though! There is certainly no right way to do this as long as some fundamentals are followed and the meat ends up in the freezer.

I have only ever plucked never skine. Mostly by hand but most recently with a plucker (yardbird).

 

[Coops Dad]

Kudos to your husband for converting the life of this rooster to a resource for the table. In taking on the whole responsibility for its death, he honors the bird's life and earns the gift of sustenance that it represents.

Until a person humanely kills an animal and butchers it for their own table- sees the blood, smells the carcass, handles the gut, parts the bones and carves the meat- they'll never know what it took to put a piece of chicken on their plate. And I have deep conviction that, until they do, they cannot fully appreciate what a meal that includes meat represents.

Local living means you get to see the full "circle of life" like most city folk could never conceive. I'm sure my wife thought chicken breasts grew on styrofoam trays in huge fields at chicken farms... until she married me.

 

[Ebony Rose]

Well, that's a totally different way to do it.
Do y'all skin or pluck?

I skin them.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Either, depends on end use. Sausage/stew I skin. Roast/broil I pluck.

 

[Duckiiess]

Older roosters don't make very good roasts or pan frys, their meat is tough.. but they do make for really good soup/ stew! Skin the bird instead of wasting your time plucking him and use the whole carcass in the stock. Cook down the heart/ liver/ gizzard/ neck/ feet separately with some onions and garlic, then add water and simmer for a while. Fish out the bones, blend the rest and add it to the stock for the soup. Good eatin!

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Also good for sausage, chicken burgers, tacos.

 

[Maureen in Chesterton]

Kudos to your husband for converting the life of this rooster to a resource for the table. In taking on the whole responsibility for its death, he honors the bird's life and earns the gift of sustenance that it represents.

Until a person humanely kills an animal and butchers it for their own table- sees the blood, smells the carcass, handles the gut, parts the bones and carves the meat- they'll never know what it took to put a piece of chicken on their plate. And I have deep conviction that, until they do, they cannot fully appreciate what a meal that includes meat represents.

Local living means you get to see the full "circle of life" like most city folk could never conceive. I'm sure my wife thought chicken breasts grew on styrofoam trays in huge fields at chicken farms... until she married me.

Yes, we Did the Deed this past Monday morning...my husband was the one to actually draw the knife. I was figuring initially the rooster would be fed to our dogs - wasn't sure we could deal with eating a named animal. After we plucked, eviscerated, and cut up the body, those legs were pretty big. Even though I know raw bones are safe for dogs, I was still concerned my larger dog would break a tooth. So we made a stew of that part. Yes, it was tasty (as someone said, mean roosters are tastiest). And yes, it does make for a much more meaningful meal, knowing the life of the animal that is now directly supporting my life.