Today is the day ....

[Sunny Side Up]

Yay for you! I'm glad things went so well for you this first time! You both have accomplished a lot of "firsts" and have a lot to be proud of. I'm sorry that this had to happen to your "buddy" but you made the right decision at the right time. There are far worse things that can happen to a chicken than to provide nourishment for their human family.

I store my freshly-processed chickens in plastic grocery sacks, stick it in head(less) first in a bottom corner and twist it tight over the ends of the drumsticks. Then I twist the handles into cords and wrap them around those bones to tie. And I agree, let him rest for a few days, then roast him slowly with low heat. You can put some veggies in the pan with him, some potatoes, onions, carrots, celery, etc. You can use a covered pan or a roasting bag. He should be fine like that.

You did good with the dispatching, and no, you don't "need" a cone, it's really just to keep the bird from flapping & thrashing. You can hang him by the feet & let him flap, or you can wrap duct tape around him a few times. The plucking sounded like it went well, it's the easiest part for me. I always leave those lil' feathers around the hocks to pluck when I have him on the cleaning table, or when I'm giving him a final rinse before bagging.

Be sure to tell the Missus that we're all proud of her too, for getting that icky job done by herself. Enjoy your tasty meal, let us know how he finishes!

 

[the_great_snag]

Good Job!

There really is no other remedy for a mean rooster, especially if he attacks children. My dad kept his old shotgun pretty busy culling the meanies when we were kids.

The first one you kill is always the hardest. After the first couple you won't hardly even think about it. It's a natural thing.

 

[CDennis]

Congrats on the accomplishment. I have a mean banty roo who's days are numbered, but I bet he will taste wonderful!

 

[triplepurpose]

Congratulations!

The way you did the deed is basically the same as the way I've been doing it for the last few years. I agree, none of it is as hard as it's often made out to be.

Just wanted to share, for the record, I'm not "fond of killing" either, BTW.

But hey, that's not really what it's about, is it? No sane person who cares about their animals really LIKES killing, or they'd be sociopathic. But I don't like cleaning toilets either. It's about the big picture--You do a noble thing, caring for your chickens and providing food for your family, and you have a right to be proud of that!

I agree too, for a seven month old cockerel, SLOW roasting on low heat is the way to go for sure...

FWI, while I've done your way for a while now, I recently learned a new way of killing: dislocating the neck, which is now my standard technique--less bloody and every bit as effective. The carcass still bleeds out, but it collects inside the skin of the neck near the head, and comes out in a contained, gel-like mass that easily washes away when you cut the carcass apart later. (Sorry for the gruesome visuals

) You might like to look into that...

BTW, for what it's worth I'm NOT a big fan of the whole skinning thing. I don't find it that much faster, and then you find that you've wasted a lot of little bits like the skin and the wing tips etc. There's a lot of nutritional value and flavor in the skin and the bones and so on, and beside you can't really roast a skinned chicken either. Even if you don't actually want to EAT all those parts they are still excellent for making stock, etc. (same goes for the neck and the feet and the head and the gizzard too, for that matter).

After doing it both ways a few times, I've come to feel that plucking gives a whole lot more food value, for very little (if any) extra effort... Also, to me it's really important to honor a slaughtered animal by making the best use possible of all it's gifts.

Just my ten cents worth.

Bon appetit!

 

[CoffeeCow]

Good points there..
the reason I plucked as opposed to skinning is because I figured I would have to roast it similar to the way you do a turkey. and when you baste the skin with some olive oil or butter it is quite good.

It wasn't too hard to pluck, a bit messy with all the feathers, but not bad. It took a little while after we cleaned it to get all the little feathers that I missed. they are tough little buggers to get out.

 

[triplepurpose]

Quote:
Yes, if the chicken happens to have lots of the little pin feathers, it can be a pain. You can take a dull knife or the back of a knife and pinch them between your thumb and the blade to pluck them. I've gotten to where I don't always bother getting all the tiny ones--it's just too time consuming, and while dark pinfeathers in the skin might look a little funny, they aren't gonna hurt you anyway. Now I just get what I can, without making myself crazy about it. Our family has smoothly gotten accustomed to the occasional speckling of tiny pin feathers in our chicken skin, and is none the worse for it.