Southern Indiana chicken and duck culling?!?!?

[LittlePriceFarm]

In need of someone who can and is willing to cull a duck and two roosters for meat. can pay or divide meat. my hens are super stressed and loosing feathers! we live in ellettsville, in. we don't have anything to cull them or to do anything really to make the meat. help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Granny Hatchet]

just wonder where you are compared to madison? if you cant cull them how are you gonna bring yourself to eat them?

 

[LittlePriceFarm]

just wonder where you are compared to madison? if you cant cull them how are you gonna bring yourself to eat them?

were about an hour and a half from indy, we just don't have anything other than a wood axe and chainsaw and no large buckets like the video we watched said to have to bathe them. I would love to be able to have my hubby do it but we just don't have anything to do it or know how we don't want to mess it up and have meat we cant eat that's my biggest fear really and we thought our duck was female and while waiting for duck eggs my hubby realized that the duck is mounting ALL the chickens like every 10 seconds i think it's stressing them out

 

[Granny Hatchet]

well, you dont need everything you read. the ax a sharp knife and a bucket of hot water is good. if you hold the roo on its back on a stump or anything just chop and drop. when he gets done twitching dunk him in some almost boiling water for about 20-30 seconds to loose the feathers and git to plucking. if you dont have anything to dunk in pour it over him. back in the day no one had any special tools and they tasted the same. never did duck

 

[LittlePriceFarm]

thanks! what do we do once that's all done i heard of peoples chicken getting tough and unusable, looks like hubby has a new weekend project

 

[Granny Hatchet]

you gut them, dont forget the lungs. you can look for pics. for that. the roos are a little tougher then hens. freeze them. the ice crystals help break down the meat and makes it tender.if theres any little feathers left after you pluck that you cant get you can singe them off. i lost computer earlier, hope i keep it this time

 

[bobbi-j]

Once you get the feathers picked, you need to eviscerate the chicken - pull the insides out (making sure you get all the lung tissue from between the ribs), we then rinse them in very cold water, put in Ziplocks and freeze them. Some people will let them "rest" in the fridge for a day or two, some will brine them in salt water. As far as them being "tough and unusable", I think those statements are made by people who are used to the mushy, flavorless grocery-store chickens that are raised in confinement, then butchered at 6-8 weeks old. The meat is firmer, and has flavor. The secret to cooking them is to cook them low and slow. The crockpot is your friend. These are not young fryers. They make delicious roasted chicken, chicken soup (save the broth!), chicken stew... now I'm getting hungry for chicken! Another thing to remember. If your rooster is not a "meat bird" he will not look like the ones you see in the grocery store.

My husband and I use the hatchet and stump method for our chickens. He had two nails in the stump, puts the chicken's neck between the nails and gently stretches the neck, then lops off the head. When we are doing a few of them, I will hold the chicken to stretch the neck while he does the chopping. I will put the bird in a 5-gal bucket until it's done flopping. (It can get messy, though, so be prepared for that) Then it's a matter of scalding them, picking, gutting... some will freeze them whole (that's what we do) others will quarter the bird before freezing it. When I have enough of them, I also like to bone out the chicken and pressure-can the meat. It doesn't get much better than that! Good luck!

 

[Granny Hatchet]

Once you get the feathers picked, you need to eviscerate the chicken - pull the insides out (making sure you get all the lung tissue from between the ribs), we then rinse them in very cold water, put in Ziplocks and freeze them. Some people will let them "rest" in the fridge for a day or two, some will brine them in salt water. As far as them being "tough and unusable", I think those statements are made by people who are used to the mushy, flavorless grocery-store chickens that are raised in confinement, then butchered at 6-8 weeks old. The meat is firmer, and has flavor. The secret to cooking them is to cook them low and slow. The crockpot is your friend. These are not young fryers. They make delicious roasted chicken, chicken soup (save the broth!), chicken stew... now I'm getting hungry for chicken! Another thing to remember. If your rooster is not a "meat bird" he will not look like the ones you see in the grocery store.

My husband and I use the hatchet and stump method for our chickens. He had two nails in the stump, puts the chicken's neck between the nails and gently stretches the neck, then lops off the head. When we are doing a few of them, I will hold the chicken to stretch the neck while he does the chopping. I will put the bird in a 5-gal bucket until it's done flopping. (It can get messy, though, so be prepared for that) Then it's a matter of scalding them, picking, gutting... some will freeze them whole (that's what we do) others will quarter the bird before freezing it. When I have enough of them, I also like to bone out the chicken and pressure-can the meat. It doesn't get much better than that! Good luck!

never thought of using 2 nails, just figured i would loose a finger someday. lol how do you keep their head down?

 

[bobbi-j]

never thought of using 2 nails, just figured i would loose a finger someday. lol how do you keep their head down?

According to DH, "Put the nails in at a slight "v", close enough together that when you get the neck in, they hold it in place."

 

[LittlePriceFarm]

thank you guys im going to have him read this post. that duck is picking on one of our buffs he has to go!