Time between killing & processing.

[sakabla]

We've got a really nasty rooster that needs to go.

We're going to kill him on the weekend, but because he is so nasty, we can only
catch him when he has gone in to roost at night.

What I'd like to know is, if we kill him at night, can we let him bleed out &
hang over night & pluck & clean in the morning, or does it all need to be done together.

Hope that all makes sense.

Thanks
Sarah.

 

[krcote]

Excellent question. I however, have no idea! We've always done our right away. I can't imagine he would be easy to clean once rigor set in? Could you set up a light or two at your processing station and just get the job done?

 

[ChicKat]

Could you catch him the night before and put in a pet carrier to spend the night? In a small pet carrier, perhaps the next morning he would be easy to catch for processing.

 

[UrbanFarmerGreg]

What I have read about this topic here on BYC is that you should at least gut the chicken once its killed because of the digestive tract... it starts decomposing pretty much as soon as its killed... I think the contents of the bowels can spoil the meat if allowed to decompose enough... I'd say do it altogether or if possible get him at night and keep him in a cage or pet carrier overnight and do everything the next day...

 

[EweSheep]

Quote:
2x

 

[Beekissed]

No reason you can't just keep him fresh by keeping him alive until morning. This is how I process all my birds. I just take them off the roost the night before, tie the feet, put them on the floor in the deep litter and just collect them in the morning. They get to spend the night with the flock, they can't hurt themselves and they are usually lying calmly when I go to collect them in the morning.

 

[sakabla]

Thanks for the quick replies.

The only problem I had with doing it all in the morning is that is his most aggressive time.
He literally flies out of the hen house, legs up & spurs aimed at me. He really is a nasty rooster.

But the idea of binding his feet at night never occurred to me. Sounds like the plan for us!
Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Hennypen]

Taking this a step past the butchering process...

How long do you leave yours in the refrigerator before eating? Or do you immediately put it into the freezer?

What is the best way to cook an older cockeral/cock?

 

[bugkiller]

I would catch it at night and keep it in a smaller cage for the night and kill and process at the same time.

 

[galanie]

If you're up before daybreak that's another option. They're just as calm before the sun comes up as they are after it goes down.