processed my first chicken today

[sonew123]

Ok folks I did it! I have a very hard time culling sickly birds I have nursed and I cry but..I knew these 4 11-12 week old roos were going the minute I figured out they were boys. So I did not get attached on purpose. I decided today was the day, no backing down. My FIL helped. I grabbed a cone, grabbed a chicken-put him upside down and handed it to my FIL. I turned around-he cut the heads off and handed the cone back to me. I cant look my birds in the eye's to butcher:-( So I let them drain upside down for 2o minutes or so and plucked the legs clean-it was easy-no boiling water either. I sharpened my own knife too! I cut the legs and thigh out together-perfect! I then made a slit in the breast skin and pulled upwards- and had skinless breasts visible and cut them out..peice of cake-took me 20 minutes to do both birds-I washed the pieces, brought them into the house and chucked in brine water and they are in the fridge for tomorrow nights homeade chicken noodle stew! Im so proud of myself-have no idea what the roos were as far as breed though? I have 2 more to go which I will do next weekend. Then I have 4 definate 4-5 week old roos from my BO's and RIR crosses I hatched from my chickens-I will process them in a month too! This is alot easier than I ever thought it could be...I owe it all to you guys who have posted about what to do and all your experiences. I never second guessed a thing and went right to it with a very open mind...My DH would NOT even come near me to watch-but he will enjoy the eating Im sure! This si really exciting knowing Im feeding my family meat I raised! Thanks everyone

 

[becky3086]

Great job! My lazy self hasn't gotten my roos done yet.

 

[sonew123]

I did NOT want to do it-I tried to give them away on BYC and I posted on craigslist and told locals but no one wanted them because the few people who has chickens had way too many roos them selves-so I sucked it up and made myself say NOW or Never! It was easy as pie-the feathers were a piece of cake which from what Ive read on here a million times it should have been a pain? Maybe because I only stripped the legs? IDK-but Im actually excited to do the next few next weekend-then After I posted this on here-I read people are doing it at 8 weeks old? That must be just meat birds because my 11-12 weekers had hardle any meat? hmm live and learn

 

[tnlorprazer]

Good job. I'm sure your DH will enjoy the stew as well!

 

[Sillystunt]

gurl...........your so brave! I am such a chicken and i am so scared to do mine!! I want to but i fear the feelings inside.My question is(sorry if gross) did you get alot of flies and did the blood smell. I ask cause i will pass out at the site of blood and the rest would just put me in the grave~

 

[JenEric Farms]

Do you have skin on thighs and legs and then skinless breasts? Sounds perfect. I have not done this myself yet, but what you did sounds not as bad as having to take all the guts out...not quite ready for that yet. What kind of brine solution did you make and how long do you let them soak before rinsing...

 

[sonew123]

Quote:
The only blood I had to deal with was when I was draining the chicken upside down. I should have said this before. I have a huge burn pit-so I set up the chopping block right next to it. Remember my FIL did the actual chop that ended their lives-I couldnt..yet..but I did the rest. I kep a bag next to me for plucked feathers-which went into the fire when done-I never cut into the cavities-which is what really smells and is bloody. I pulled the chickens out of the cone after about 20 minutes of draining-literally no smell that grossed me out at all-I broke the legs joints and cut between the bones and threw into the fire. I carefully cut breasts out-not one drop of blood on me from that either. the carcass quickly went into the fire-the only bloody mess was one the log that the decapition was done on-and still not alot. The drained blood went into the fire pit to burn too. honeslty-not one fly either-it was a good experience-thank goodness-because if my first experience went bad I dont knwo if I would ever try it again-when peeling into the breast-I literally took my time and never cut into anything other than the breast. If you can envision what you need to do and where not to cut -its much smoother. My FIL was impressed and can't wait to help me chop next weekend-he knows he will enjoy the end results!!! You can do it-stay positive-I say a prayer for them and to God for helping me and blessing me for "his" gifts to me and and go to it!

 

[sonew123]

Quote:
The breasts are skinless-they were the easiest part to do. The legs however, had to pluck feathers. There is skin on the thighs and legs-mostly all leg skin and partial thigh skin-the only weird part was how "warm" the meat was--I washed all meat off as soon as I was done-didnt help I dropped it all and it got dirt on it! dummy! got a bowl of ice water with kosher salt and they have been sitting in it since 1 pm today-I will pull it out in the am-rinse- and set up my crock pot for the chicken stew--I will post how it was. I didnt measure salt or anything ( I never measure anything-I learned in cooking school to measure by sight) I cant wait-thanks for all the thumbs up guys!!!

 

[Sillystunt]

Quote:
The only blood I had to deal with was when I was draining the chicken upside down. I should have said this before. I have a huge burn pit-so I set up the chopping block right next to it. Remember my FIL did the actual chop that ended their lives-I couldnt..yet..but I did the rest. I kep a bag next to me for plucked feathers-which went into the fire when done-I never cut into the cavities-which is what really smells and is bloody. I pulled the chickens out of the cone after about 20 minutes of draining-literally no smell that grossed me out at all-I broke the legs joints and cut between the bones and threw into the fire. I carefully cut breasts out-not one drop of blood on me from that either. the carcass quickly went into the fire-the only bloody mess was one the log that the decapition was done on-and still not alot. The drained blood went into the fire pit to burn too. honeslty-not one fly either-it was a good experience-thank goodness-because if my first experience went bad I dont knwo if I would ever try it again-when peeling into the breast-I literally took my time and never cut into anything other than the breast. If you can envision what you need to do and where not to cut -its much smoother. My FIL was impressed and can't wait to help me chop next weekend-he knows he will enjoy the end results!!! You can do it-stay positive-I say a prayer for them and to God for helping me and blessing me for "his" gifts to me and and go to it!

i think i could do it if i did it that way~ i just can't do the inards and such, i am a sissy. i have been reading this meat thread and getting very interested in doing it for my family. We love chicken and eat it 4 times a week. it would work for my family

 

[sonew123]

I love chicken too-my 10 yr old refuses to eat our eggs or meat from our chickens though-thats fine too-I buy chicken from the store all the time and told her that anytime I make dinners from "our" meat I will tell her and make her something else-I made sure she was not around today when processing-she can't handle that end of chickens ownership-I understand-I didnt tell her I did it but she saw the meat in fridge in a bowl and said "Mom-is that meat from our chickens?" I said "yes hunny" she burst out into tears -just like I knew she would and for the 50th time I had to tell her "hunny-I have been warning you it was going to be done and I will have alot more to do before winter" . I told her the silkies will never be killed unless one was ille-the polish all stay-the cochins all stay. But the BO roos and RIR roo's or mixed roos have to go-we'll keep 1 BO roo for fertile eggs for new pullets next year- made me promise not to trick her into eating that meat and she stopped crying-made me feel bad for her-I dont candy coat anything when it comes to my kids and the truth about the realities in life-hopefully in the next year she'll get a little better