Processing Today...DONE!

I was going to do my extra roos today but now I'm not sure I can because I forgot to take away their feed last night. Gah! I ran out to the coop first thing this morning (coffee hadn't even perked yet and that's saying alot, lol) but of course there were a few roos already off the roost and eating. Does it make a big difference or should I wait another day?

We have butchered Roosters that have eaten before. You have to be very careful when cleaning them that you don't nick the innards with your knife. Make sure when to be very careful when cutting around the vent. Once you cut around the vent, I pull it out a little from the body so if anything comes out, it doesn't contaminate the meat. Go slowly, but it can be done.

Ok, great! I'm already going to be slow going anyway so should work out good then. I really don't want to wait any longer as the nights are starting to get quite cool and I need my garden hose to be in working order. I've read time and time again running water is a must! Plus the sun is supposed to come out this afternoon, so the weather should be a go as well. Thanks silkie!

I think if you even have them off feed for 5 or so hours that is enough..it is just pleasanter if you don't have stuff coming out the back end as you clean but certainly it is possible to do them with full crops..it actually makes it easier to find the crops and seperate them...
We like to take the feed away in the morning if we are doing them in the late afternoon, often I leave them with water though.

Just make sure you have a couple sharp knives, or a way to sharpen them as you need to, a good sturdy cone for putting them in for killing and a bucket of cold water ready to plunge the cleaned chickens into...

Ever thought of skinning the roos? That is what we do and once we got the hang of cutting through the wing joint close to the body it is very quick to pull off their skin while they are nice and warm.

Im sure you will do a good job of it..and you WILL get faster!
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Good for you! You will have to let us know how butcher day went! It isn't the most pleasant way to spend a day, but you'll have a great feeling of accomplishment when the work is done.
Right from the time I was a young kid I always helped my parents when we butchered chickens. Now they have no chickens, but they come to help me.
It is sure nice to learn from someone who has done it before.
Hope it went well for you, Flicker!

Well I’m happy to report everything went well and the deed is done!

I processed 13 birds in total yesterday (had to cancel Friday due to the weather) and it took me from 11am until 5pm, including cleanup and wrapping the meat to chill. Not too shabby for a novice if I don’t say so myself.

I tried plucking the first three, but decided to skin the rest because of the numerous pin feathers still coming in. I don’t think these boys were really ‘ready’ for processing, but I sure was, and the sun was shining so it was enough of a sign for me. I used the ‘broomstick’ beheading method, which was quite messy and not something I’d do again unless in a pinch. I think I’ll be investing in a killing cone and a plucker thingy for next year.

Miry, I did get a lot faster! By the end I had skinning and evisceration down. Though I don’t think I’ll be changing careers anytime soon, haha…

Thanks Kathy. I know exactly what you mean. I’m feeling very accomplished, especially now that it’s over.

And here’s a picture of the days spoils; they’re not exactly meaty (I can fit 4 in a single cake pan, lol) but I’m happy with how they turned out. Now I can’t wait to cook up our own home grown chicken. Yum!

Looks great! I like the idea of skinning them. What breeds did you do and how old were they? I am doing my roosters on Wed, they will be just over 19 weeks. There are EE, brahmas and Orpingtons. This is my first year processing chickens so I am curious how they will turn out.

Good on you Flicker Chick. Sounds like you did these all by yourself? Hats off to you if you did. My husband lops off the head and I do the rest but I had been thinking that if I needed to do the deed start to finish on my own I'd try the broomstick method. Now I'm not so sure... What do you mean by it being messy? Did you pull the heads right off or???

They look really good flickerchick! We like the skinning too but then we only do a handful at a time and eat them pretty fast...I think you ought to double wrap them to prevent freezer burn if you are keeping them long and then cook then with some foil covering to compensate for not having any skin....

Thanks everyone. These were my extra Ameraucana/EE boys. They were only 16 weeks. For some reason I had thought they were older than that, but nope, end of June hatch.

Yep, I did these all by myself. Hubby (who was supposed be my moral support as well as bring hot drinks) and teenager (who said he wanted to learn the ropes) both disappeared at the first sight of blood and weren’t seen again until supper time.
Lilfarm, by messy I meant bloody. After the broomstick beheading I’d hold our future supper over a 5 gal pail to catch the blood but flapping wings sent a lot of blood flying – and of course a lot of it ended up on me.

Miry, thank you for the tips on packaging and cooking skinned birds. I was wondering how to keep them from drying out too much. A foil covering sounds like a good plan. Might have to test that out tonight!


Hope things went well for you Michelle!

Good job! You are a brave soul! They look quite neat and tidy skinned like that. It will be ineteresting to hear how you cook them and how they turn out.

I have never killed with the broomstick method, but always thought it was just to break the neck, not pull the head right off. BUt don't take my word for it, we do it the axe in a killing cone method. We. Who am I kidding? HUbby.

Hubby also says a crop with a little food is easier to find and get a hold of. It is possible to not feed them the day before butcher (always give water) then throw them a little food the morning you butcher. This puts a little food in the crop, but hopefully the intestines will be mostly empty, and it keeps them busy eating and not milling around, worrying what that boiling water is for.

Not brave so much as resigned to the deed. But thank you.

And yes uno, you are correct. The broomstick method usually just snaps the neck. I guess I was using a modified version. My reasoning was three-fold; to make the procedure as quick and painless as possible for the birds, aka not flub it up! (I had a real bad experience culling a sick bird last winter I never want to repeat); to get the blood out of the body as quick as possible. (I read blood not properly drained can change the flavor/appearance of the meat?); and last of all, so I didn’t have to look into their little faces any longer than necessary. Sigh. Plus, once the head is gone it feels ‘final' for lack of a better word. There is no going back. Well, usually. My avatar suddenly comes to mind as a good but bad example, haha.