Today is the day ....

[CoffeeCow]

Well, I have a 7 month old cockerel, I have tried to work with him. I gave him every chance in the world, I tried to break him using every technique that I could find on these forums to no avail.

He is rough on the girls ( I have 1 to 8 ratio so he shouldn't be that rough) all of the girls have pretty bad looking backs, but 1 is down to the skin =/
I have tried to find him a home for about 3 weeks, but last night was the last straw.

The wife took my son out to play in the yard, he went to the run and the cockerel attacked him through the fence.. he was going for the face. I was not out there or he would have not made it through the night...

I am not fond of killing things, and this is stressing me out big time, but when a cockerel tries to attack people, its time to go. I have watched a few videos, and read quite a few threads on here as to how to do the deed, I think I have a good plan in place. I don't have a cone, but I have a nice place to hang him by his feet, and a really sharp chef knife. I am not going to bother trying to cut the arteries on either side of the neck, I am going to hold the head and take my large knife and try my damnedest to cut through the neck bones... I have a tub of water (almost ) ready, it will be about 160 degrees to dip him in to loosen the feathers.

I am going to be doing the "deed" and pluck him, The wife is going to clean him. I don't know how the eating will be... I raised this little guy from a day old, he was my buddy for a long time...
I am really dreading this, but I knew that when I started raising chickens this day would come eventually. I just didn't know that It would be so hard to do.

I will post again after its done to let you know how it went. Hopefully all will go well, and I will help someone else who needs to do this for the first time, or if it doesn't go well, perhaps they can learn from my mistakes.

 

[booker81]

Good luck!!!

Just take your time each step, there is no rush to do it all as fast as possible. If you get stumped, wash your hands and hop on here to ask. Once he's dead, he's not going anywhere.

 

[CoffeeCow]

Well, that went a lot better than I expected.

From reading all the horror stories on here, I was really psyched out... But my 12 inch chef knife went straight through, it was over in 1/2 a second. I had a garbage can ready for the plucking, so I tossed the head in it and turned away to go to the house to get the hot water. he thrashed a little but not much. I got the water off the stove and went out and added it to the bucket.
I had filled a tub with hot tap water (140 degrees) and then added the (almost) boiling water to it. I dunked him 5 or 6 times and swished him around. The feathers came off fairly easy, with the exception of at the legs near the feet... I don't guess I dunked him quite deep enough. I cut off the wings and feet, and gave him to the wife who is gutting him as I type this.

All in all, it is NOT as hard as everyone makes it out to be. The hardest part is actually doing the deed, but I just got the knife in position took a calming breath, looked away a little and went for it.
Gotta go help the wife now, I will post in a bit to let you know how the cleaning went.

 

[CoffeeCow]

Gonna try to go into detail about it to help other first timers, as this went so well.

I took a small length of rope, made a slip knot in one end, I left it long enough to reach the ground after 2 wraps around the bar I was hanging him from. I put the ladies in the coop, and got him alone in the run, caught him and slipped the slip knot around his feet and tightened it up. Took him to the rack ...
lemme explain the rack ...
Not sure what It was used for, it came with our house, but it is about 6' tall and 8' wide made with 4" angle iron . it has some sturdy feet on it, and was perfect for this.
I wrapped the rope around the iron 2 times, It was a little hard to get him at the hight I wanted, but not too bad. I stepped on the other end of the rope to make sure it wouldn't loosen up.
Grabbed the knife (12" chef knife, Very sharp)Took a hold of his head, pulled down a little, placed the knife in position, and with a strong (adrenaline filled I'm sure) swift motion, sliced cleanly through the neck. It went really smooth, there felt like there was almost no resistance.

I won't go into the plucking here, it went okay, but next time I think I will skin it instead.

I hope that this helps take some of the fear away for other first timers. It helped to just do it in one swift motion rather than trying to cut the veins on both sides of the neck. it was over a lot faster for him too I think.

 

[The Chicken People]

My husband uses hot water then cold... then hot then cold... works great for the plucking! However your little guy was younger than ours were when plucked! Hope he tasted good!

 

[CoffeeCow]

Won't know about the taste for a while. just got done cleaning.

 

[booker81]

Make sure to let him "rest" in the fridge for a few days. I don't do anything special other than bag them up, either with the Foodsaver if I have enough of the big roll, or in a gallon baggie, or if I'm out of both, well wrapped in saran wrap. Just wash him off well, inside and out, pat dry, and bag. Three to four days is usually best. After that, you can cook him or freeze him

 

[CoffeeCow]

he is resting in the fridge now.

Any tips on cooking him?
I was thinking about roasting it. Its about 4.5 or 5 lbs, so 375 for 30 minutes per pound... any other suggestions?

 

[Miss Lydia]

I make chicken and dumpling with mine boy is it good.

 

[booker81]

Knock the temp down to about 300

The lower the heat, the better the muscle breaks down. Cook him like a pot roast!