The Deed is Done

[lrach73]

How did you finish processing him once the deed was done? Honestly, I'm more worried about that part (seems like a lot of set up to put down one bird). I am trying to rehome a RIR that is displaying a lot of the behaviors you describe and he's terrorizing my smallest girl (which is probably why she's smallest). I have to do something soon, but if nobody will take him, my choices are limited.

 

[Mimi13]

How did you finish processing him once the deed was done? Honestly, I'm more worried about that part (seems like a lot of set up to put down one bird). I am trying to rehome a RIR that is displaying a lot of the behaviors you describe and he's terrorizing my smallest girl (which is probably why she's smallest). I have to do something soon, but if nobody will take him, my choices are limited.

Yes, I completely understand your apprehension. I had it too, only mine was the actual slicing of the artery that had me unbelievably nervous.

Since it was just one bird and I HAD to do it then, I didn’t have the typical setup, I would guess. All I got from inside was a large beach towel (that I wrapped him in), two SHARP knives (large and small), a large cookie sheet (to lay the carcass on), a large pot (to put the carcass in), a 5 gallon bucket (to drain the blood and place the feathers and offal), garbage bag (to line the bucket), Clorox cleaner, water hose and my glass top outdoor table.

I had watched several videos prior to yesterday, however, before I went out to take care of the situation a watched one of my favorites again. I wrote down the steps in order of process just to reassure myself. Also, I did have to watch a quick video on how to skin a bird. [Years ago, pre-internet, I skinned and cleaned a squirrel one of my sons shot. I know there must have been a better way to do it, but I didn’t know what it was. It was terribly messy. The internet is our best friend for quick tips and tutorials.] I didn’t want to have to skin him, especially since he was so young, but this time I didn’t have a choice. @aart has said so many times how good a young bird’s crispy skin is when grilled and I was so looking forward to that part. However, I had not yet drug out my propane burner I would need in order to scald him for plucking. Oh well, there will be more.

After removing the head, I began skinning starting at the neck. I did wet the feathers hoping that would be beneficial, but I don’t know if it was or not; however, it really wasn’t as bad/feathery as I was expecting. I continued down the body, pulling the skin off and using my little knife to separate the meat from the skin. Once I got to the wings, I pulled the skin off the first two sections and then snipped off the last section. This released the wing feathers. The skin was the hardest to remove on the wings and the back. In those two areas, the feather follicles seem to go further into the carcass than just the skin. Then once I got the big glob of skin and feathers down to the legs I was able to separate it all by cutting at the leg/foot joint. Whew, done! I hosed the carcass off and then began to clean it out (eviscerate), again starting with the neck (you will loosen the wind pipe, esophagus and crop, which will then pull right out through the body cavity with the rest of the innards.) I don’t know if you have ever watched a processing video or not, but I highly recommend doing so. There are all kinds of people putting their videos on YouTube, but beware, they all aren’t the best to watch. I prefer the videos made and articles written by either Joel Salatin or Harvey Ussery.

I guess as with anything else, there are key points that must be adhered to. I am very detailed oriented anyway, but special consideration must be given to a few areas: removal of the oil gland at the base of the bird’s tail, care not to rupture the gall bladder which is right under the liver, and care not to rupture any of the innards/guts. If all goes well, you should be able to pull everything out in one wad, except the lungs. They are tightly nestled in the rib cage, against the back, and will have to be picked out. Everything will be released from the body by cutting down and around the vent. That keeps all the nastiness sealed inside. And YAY you’re done. Rinse the bird and what you now have looks like what you would purchase at the grocery store, only YOU grew it. You fed, watered and took care of what will now feed your family AND taste better. One last thing I want to mention that I’m sure my grandparents didn’t do is to let the bird rest in your refrigerator for 24 to 48 hours. I have read this multiple times. This allows for the completion of rigor mortis making the meat much more tender.

Please just remember, I am not an expert on anything chicken, by any means, and am only relaying my personal experiences with such. I wish you all the best with your processing experience. I know you will be successful.

 

[bobbi-j]

I feel sadness when I read this. Personally I couldn't kill an animal I raise.. I feel like I know them all personally.
I get it that the rooster was acting aggressively. There's no excuse for that..
If I were you, though, I'd have advertised the poor rooster for free, letting them know his bad behavior of course. If you have more than you can handle I'm sure there's someone in your area looking for a rooster. (I know I'm looking for a rooster I wish someone would give me)
Also, I understand that slaughter seems to be the intention for them, though. I'm glad that he fed your family..

It might be best if you don't read these types of threads if they make you sad. Unfortunately, having to cull (which simply means "remove from the flock", not necessarily kill) a bird is part of the reality of chicken keeping. There is no one in my area looking for a rooster. Around here, if I advertised a rooster for free, he'd go to someone else's dinner table instead of mine. Why would I do that? Then I'd have to go buy a chicken from the grocery store to eat instead. Do you have any idea how those birds are treated? They're killed by 8 weeks of age. Also, if I gave my birds away, I don't know how they're being cared for. By killing my own aggressive chicken, I know he's had a good life up until those last seconds and then it's all over. He doesn't know a thing after that.

I know that some will feel sorrow for the bird and in all honesty I have never killed anything in my life before. I have always been the one to help dress a deer when it was shot, but never have I taken one’s life.
I guess when I started the chicken keeping venture I knew that I was going to be faced with the possibility of needing to dispatch birds for any number of reasons: too many cockerels, human aggressive birds, or hens that were past the point of production or were having reproductive issues with no quality of life.
Please don’t get me wrong, I do love my birds, of course some more than others, but I could never let one hang out around here and continue to terrorize my other chickens and more importantly injure one of my family members, particularly one of my grandsons, ages 2 to 8.
My birds live the life of Riley, well now that the monster is gone and I honestly could sense their relief this afternoon.

Yes. You have to do what's best for the whole flock, not just one ornery bird. As I stated above, better for our chickens to have a good life and one bad moment than to move them along somewhere else to who knows what. You did exactly the right thing. You don't want your grandsons - especially the little one - to get attacked by a rooster.

 

[lrach73]

Well.......

I went out this morning and Butthead (his name was slightly less nice than that) had pecked/bitten one of my friendly girls on the face and she was bleeding. That was the final straw for him, between biting us, chasing us, and terrorizing my girls. Plus, we ended up with two roosters in our group of seven chicks, which wasn't going to work.

We ended up putting him in a fenced in portion of our backyard to keep him away from everyone until my husband could get home and we could figure out what to do with him (or until someone agreed to come get him). A fox got to him first (he/she has been around, but we hadn't seen it for about two weeks). So I guess it was the natural order of things.

So now I need to make sure my coop is completely fox proof. As I said, it's been around multiple times (it got two of my neighbor's girls when they were free ranging), at the coop, but I'm afraid it will see my girls (and Stan, my remaining non-jerk rooster) as an easy dinner. The coop is already covered in hardware cloth and has an 18 inch apron around the whole thing, so it's in pretty good shape. But I'd like to add an electric fence or something. When it went running at the coop, it gave my poor girls a real scare.

Lest anyone think I'm cold-hearted, Butthead's demise was not ideal. I certainly would have preferred he be re-homed, but I was absolutely not going to allow him to keep hurting the others in my flock NOR was I going to allow him to keep hurting us. And I had exactly zero interest from anyone in my efforts to re-home him.

 

[Mrs. K]

Really if you are going to have roosters, one needs a sharp knife, they are a crap shoot, and especially in small set ups, or being raised with just flock mates, often become dangerous. A lot of people under estimate how violent a rooster can be.

If you know that you could not cull a rooster, do not get them. Wishing they would be nice will not work.

I remember my first one, the evil eye, the stomping forward, the sneaking around behind, the crowing, and the fluffing up and beating his wings. Occasionally with me, but getting very forward with my then young niece that loves to help me with my chickens. Finally, I thought to myself, what am I waiting for, he is giving me all these warnings.

It is not easy, but my niece still loves chickens today. Roosters have ruined the whole chicken experience for a lot of people. Do not keep an aggressive bird, they are not worth it.

If you can’t cull, don’t get them.

Mrs K

 

[lrach73]

Really if you are going to have roosters, one needs a sharp knife, they are a crap shoot, and especially in small set ups, or being raised with just flock mates, often become dangerous. A lot of people under estimate how violent a rooster can be.

If you know that you could not cull a rooster, do not get them. Wishing they would be nice will not work.

I remember my first one, the evil eye, the stomping forward, the sneaking around behind, the crowing, and the fluffing up and beating his wings. Occasionally with me, but getting very forward with my then young niece that loves to help me with my chickens. Finally, I thought to myself, what am I waiting for, he is giving me all these warnings.

It is not easy, but my niece still loves chickens today. Roosters have ruined the whole chicken experience for a lot of people. Do not keep an aggressive bird, they are not worth it.

If you can’t cull, don’t get them.

Mrs K

Completely agree. Our neighbors had a rooster in their flock that attacked my son when he was about six. He was terrified for a long time. Same situation: the rooster gave them all kinds of warnings, but they ignored it since they could sort of "control" him. Once he attacked my son, and they have grandchildren of their own they worried about, they were able to find him a new place.

The other rooster we have will be watched closely. My girls don't free range (see my other note about the fox), so I don't need a rooster for protection. I LIKE my other rooster, Stan, and he makes me smile when I sit outside and listen to him crow. But if he starts getting too rough with the girls or starts showing aggression towards us, he will be uninvited to the party too.

I think people either underestimate the damage an aggressive rooster can do or think they're like aggressive dogs that can be rehabilitated.

 

[Mrs. K]

As we had an aggressive dog kill a 3 year old child, half a block down years ago, I am not a believer in that either. Granted, she was in his yard, but she was 3 years old.

Most of us have to live with others, and wind up asking them to put up with dangerous situations due to romantic and unrealistic ideas is not responsible.

 

[JedJackson]

Good job. It sounds like he had a pretty good life and a peaceful end, which is much more than most chickens get. I think you acted humanely.

Sometimes with cockerels it is difficult to tell whether it's just clueless teen rooster behavior, where they grab onto pullets and won't let go because they haven't really figured out what to do, and unusually aggressive behavior. But when a rooster attacks a person it makes it easy. You did the right thing by taking care of the situation yourself rather than risking a potential attack on a child at a new home.

 

[Mimi13]

Really if you are going to have roosters, one needs a sharp knife, they are a crap shoot, and especially in small set ups, or being raised with just flock mates, often become dangerous. A lot of people under estimate how violent a rooster can be.

If you know that you could not cull a rooster, do not get them. Wishing they would be nice will not work.

I remember my first one, the evil eye, the stomping forward, the sneaking around behind, the crowing, and the fluffing up and beating his wings. Occasionally with me, but getting very forward with my then young niece that loves to help me with my chickens. Finally, I thought to myself, what am I waiting for, he is giving me all these warnings.

It is not easy, but my niece still loves chickens today. Roosters have ruined the whole chicken experience for a lot of people. Do not keep an aggressive bird, they are not worth it.

If you can’t cull, don’t get them.

Mrs K

Ooh, amen, amen, amen! Preach it sister. All that is so true! The thought of that crazy rooster getting ahold of my 2yo sidekick is completely unsettling, to say the least.

Once they have shown you the signs (their true colors), it’s not IF, but WHEN! Don’t wait for it!

 

[Mimi13]

I think people either underestimate damage an aggressive rooster can do or think they're like aggressive dogs that can be rehabilitated.

Negative! Rehabilitation is not worth the time it takes. And what ensures the results remain? What’s the saying? “Ain’t nobody got time fo dat!”