Ok y'all, I'm about to go butcher my first chicken!

[Robin'sBrood]

Dead serious. We have four 4 month old cockerels that are becoming aggressive -- caught them chasing two younger chicks around the run tonight

-- and LOUD, and my uncle no longer wants them. So I've spent yesterday and today reading about how to do this thing. Wish me luck (and hold my hand!) I can do this, I can do this, I CAN do this!!!!! Can't I?

ETA... forgot to ask for opinions on scalding/plucking vs skinning. Anyone?

 

[slackwater]

Yep, you can do it! I did 12 of my home-growns on Saturday. Not meat birds, just dual-purpose "extra" cockerals. It's not "fun," but it is satisfying. You can do it!

 

[Robin'sBrood]

Thank you, Casey. I think getting mad at them tonight has made the decision easier. But, I'll still be respectful of their sacrifice, kwim? Did you pluck or skin?

 

[patman75]

Good luck! You can do it!

Scald 140-150 degrees for a minute or 2, then dunk in cold water to prevent skin from tearing. I pick them off the roost at night and put them in a dog cage. I take care of them the next morning. I dont feed them that morning .

 

[Robin'sBrood]

Chickened out... at least for tonight. No seriously, it's just too dark out there at night. I can't do it during the day because I have a baby so I guess I'm going to have to wait until Saturday when hubby is here to help (with the baby). He doesn't think it will be worth the effort and I should just give them away. I think it's more that he is weird about eating homegrown stuff and won't eat them. He wouldn't even eat the DELICIOUS tomatoes I grew a few years ago.

 

[Mrs. Feathers]

Good idea to wait until Saturday if it is your first time. Not something you want to feel rushed about doing.
We processed 6 dual purpose roos last weekend and yesterday had the most amazing Sunday dinner with our family... two roast roos on the BBQ...veggies from the garden and blackberry pie from fresh pick blackberries...MMMMMMM nothing better than good home grown food. Now DH has lovely chicken, leek and potatoe soup simmering on the stove.
The effort is worth it...even for the dual purpose birds...and ours were 15 weeks so we thought they would be small and not very meaty. Did them then for the same reason you describe (LOUD).
We scalded and plucked ours following the process patman described. Also same with feeding....we took the feeder out of the coop at night but left the water.

So glad we tried this and will certainly continue....Good luck with yours.

 

[SallyF]

We just did three roosters yesterday, our first time. The scalding and plucking was the easiest part, I thought. Guttin' & Cuttin' took me three hours. Just make sure you've got VERY sharp knives! I ended up cutting off the leg/thigh sections and filleting the breast meat off the carcasses. Everything else got saved for stock. Cutting those necks off was hard if not impossible. I got one of the three off, and just left the other two on the carcasses to go into the stockpot.

 

[cjdmashley]

I found a bunch of GREAT videos on youtube. this one is my favortie and watch it everytime we are getting ready to process. It shows you how to get EVERYTHING from the craw-below right out the bottom.

 

[bigredfeather]

Saturday is a good idea. Even though it's only 4 chickens, it may take a while your first time. I remember our first attempt. It took us over 3 hours to do 6 birds. Now, with the help of our kids, we can do about 75 of them in 3 hours.

Goodluck!

 

[Robin'sBrood]

Completely wussed out on doing this... they're all being re-homed tomorrow.