VERY ODD butchering question

[Newbie_mom]

My sister decided to dispatch a rooster. She said when they went to skin him, she said that the FAT smelled rancid. Any ideas on what could be going on? Should she be worried about her ladies? Last but not least…..Should she still eat the meat?

 

[DemeterAD9]

A fresh, healthy bird should not have a rancid smell to the carcass. Was it her first time processing? Did she perhaps cut into the guts and get some goo on the flesh? If she only smelled the stank when skinning but not after all was said and done then maybe it wasn’t the fat that was smelly but rather just poo or gasses being squeezed out during the skinning process?

 

[kattabelly]

Has she processed roosters before?

I find they have a very specific smell once you start opening them up. Not bad, just... roostery.

 

[WingItRanch]

My guess is it wasn't fat she was smelling but maybe nicked the crop or intestines.

 

[NotabitaiI]

If she's never butchered before then perhaps his overall smell was very off-putting, I know my first time I was super grossed out by the hot humid meat sweat smells since it's a little different than cold cuts in the store. If she's familiar with that smell and she hasn't nicked any organs or opened the body cavity yet then I'd want to know what his diet is.

 

[gimmie birdies]

I have a small hatchet, and a knife on hand, and 2 small boxes, one for meat the other for skin, with feathers attached, and left overs. When I butcher the roosters are about 12 weeks old. It seems easier to skin when younger. I drape the body over one side of a stump. Neck on top. They will struggle then go limp. When limp I chop neck, put head in box. I let the rooster jump about 5 min.till still. Then chop legs and wings off. I poke my knife into skin, then I rip the skin off, it comes off easy when fresh. Comes off like a coat. Feather skin goes in toss box. I bend hips way from body, cut off legs. Then I cut the shoulder blades from the back, then cut the breast from rib cage. Being careful not to cut into guts. It takes practice. I peal breast bone from back bone lifting up. I remove heart, and liver for my dog.Then in the end, the guts and backbone still connected goes in the toss box.
It takes a while to get it right. I cut my finger really bad and had to get stitches my first try.

 

[FunClucks]

There is a distinct smell that comes with butchering. That is normal. However, like others have said, without further info, we can't tell if what she experienced was likely normal or not.

I skin my birds all the time. You have to be really careful not to nick anything when taking the guts out and clearing out abdominal cavity and dealing with neck, crop, etc. Rinse, rinse, rinse with water at all stages of the process. Also, you can get "chain mail" gloves like food service folks who slice meat use - this will prevent you from cutting yourself when you wear them when butchering, at least on your non-knife hand.

If your sister has pictures of the process, of what things looked like inside as she was doing the processing, and you post them, we can help tell her if everything looked normal.

Next time you have a question about butchering, you might try posting on the Meat Bird Forum. Your title warns folks about what they might see, so it's good for now, IMO. But if you need to post pictures of bird innards or discuss the process in detail, folks on the Meat Bird Forum are expecting that, and not surprised or upset by these things. Folks keep chickens for many different reasons, and we welcome all types of chicken keepers on here. For those whose chickens are solely pets, it can be upsetting to read about others processing and eating them. Having a dedicated Forum for Meat Bird issues helps everyone get what they need out of this site without accidental trauma/drama.