We finally got around to butchering the "Death Row" roosters today. Most were 5-7 months old, but I had 2 dark Cornish roos, who were about 1 1/2 years old, maybe a bit more. I kept a third DC roo as a breeder, but the other two were really way below him as far as quality goes, and he's not the greatest, just "ok for now, until I can find a better one".
Anyway, as any of you who've processed any older birds will know, they are a lot harder to clean than the young ones. The internal organs are much better anchored, so they don't pull out as easily, the pelvic bones are developed, the xiphoid process (that's the cartilage at the tip of the sternum) has completely calcified, so it's not flexible cartilage anymore, and the 2 things block the opening of the body cavity, making it a lot harder to get your hand in, and the skin is tougher, and doesn't tear open easily where you want it to.
So I expected this to be work. But good grief, these Cornish roos were the hardest to clean birds I have ever dealt with. The crops were a real struggle to get loose, so was absolutely everything else. Even the lungs didn't want to come out, I normally just scrape-scrape with my fingertips, and flip those right out. Trying to cut the neck loose was so hard on the first one, I just left it on the second. I'll just cook the bird with the neck attached!
They did dress out nicely, though, the breasts are full, and the legs are big and meaty. They'll be very tasty, I'm sure! I'll cook them long and slow, until the meat's fall-off-the-bone-tender. My scale only goes to 5 lbs., they're bigger than that, I'm guessing about 6.5 lbs. after cleaning.
Anyway, as any of you who've processed any older birds will know, they are a lot harder to clean than the young ones. The internal organs are much better anchored, so they don't pull out as easily, the pelvic bones are developed, the xiphoid process (that's the cartilage at the tip of the sternum) has completely calcified, so it's not flexible cartilage anymore, and the 2 things block the opening of the body cavity, making it a lot harder to get your hand in, and the skin is tougher, and doesn't tear open easily where you want it to.
So I expected this to be work. But good grief, these Cornish roos were the hardest to clean birds I have ever dealt with. The crops were a real struggle to get loose, so was absolutely everything else. Even the lungs didn't want to come out, I normally just scrape-scrape with my fingertips, and flip those right out. Trying to cut the neck loose was so hard on the first one, I just left it on the second. I'll just cook the bird with the neck attached!
They did dress out nicely, though, the breasts are full, and the legs are big and meaty. They'll be very tasty, I'm sure! I'll cook them long and slow, until the meat's fall-off-the-bone-tender. My scale only goes to 5 lbs., they're bigger than that, I'm guessing about 6.5 lbs. after cleaning.
Last edited:
