Tomorrow we harvest a rooster or three.

[hippywife]

We have just been keeping chickens for eggs the past couple of years. We've always gotten them from a co-worker of my husband's who raised them. He decided he wasn't going to raise them anymore and get rid of his existing flock so we took five of them. Three of them have turned out to be roosters. At first it was only one of them that we found trying to crow. About three weeks ago, two others started crowing. It was kind of funny at first but them got to be really obnoxious and annoying. We knew we needed to get rid of them because we have too few hens, only nine, for that many roosters. The guy doesn't work there anymore and lives to far away to take them back to him and he doesn't have his flock anymore so no way to exchange them out for more hens.

Now, of course, they started mating the hens and they've picked on one so horribly she may not survive, so we separated all the roosters from the hens last night and are keeping them apart.

A guy I work with is supposed to buy two of the roosters but doesn't want the third. We are going to process the one tomorrow, and if he doesn't call me today, we'll process the other two, as well. My husband has field dressed small animals so it won't be as big a deal for him, but this will be my first time ever doing anything like this. It has to be done and I do feel it necessary to help him do it and be involved in the process.

This will be a totally new experience for me.

[lapfog_1]

1. My dad grew up doing that (killing chickens for the family).

I never, and I mean never, ate chicken when I was growing up. I don't believe my dad ever ate chicken in his adult life.

[hippywife]

8. I'm thinking

that I'll be okay with it. We'll see though. They might sit in the freezer for a while, tho. ;)

I do love chicken so I'm thinking it won't be too long.

:hi:

[Lorien]

15. A friend of mine has two pet roosters. One of them is crazy about me

he follows me everywhere when I visit them. If I go in the house he'll beat himself against the windows until they allow him inside. Then he curls up in my lap like a cat and makes happy, soft clucking sounds. I lost my taste for chicken after that.

[Inspired]

2. I remember when this was done on my grandparents farm.

It was so gross! But I still love chicken.

[hippywife]

9. I'm not expecting it

to be pretty, but still feel I need to do it. :hi:

[hippywife]

11. dupe n/t

[mike_c]

3. yum, REAL coc au vin...

...with a long simmered, tough old rooster in the pot!

[hippywife]

12. Gonna definitely

get a long simmer sometime sooner or later. :hi:

[barbtries]

4. i've never offed a chicken

but i do love to eat them. hope yours are tasty as can be.

[hippywife]

13. Thanx!

I've never eaten a rooster but I have one in the freezer from a local farmer friend. He tells me they are pretty tasty.

:hi:

[here_is_to_hope]

5. One of my roo's tore up a hen a few weeks back, bloody

mess...
He was dispatched quickly and made a decent soup.
Roosters are trouble...but tasty.

[hippywife]

14. One of them will be destined

for my Italian Wedding Soup, for sure. :hi:

[femrap]

55. I hope it's

the mean one. Why do they attack the hens? Just male meanness from the testosterone? What if the rooster were deballed? Well, I guess he would be of no use then.

I grew up on a farm. The male cows were deballed so their meat wouldn't be tough. And they were nicer....the one bull we had was just as mean as could be. He had to have a separate stall that was mightily enforced.

I watched a woman tie a chicken to a clothesline and then cut the head off the chicken. She then untied the chicken and it ran around with its head cut off. It was absolutely horrifying to me. I turned white and nearly fainted. She just howled.

I learned about evil people early on in life.

Good luck. I couldn't do it. I'd pay someone else to do it. Or barter something.

[HereSince1628]

6. Watch out for the spurs...and use a killing cone.

It's much easier to get the slaughtering done if the bird's wings aren't flapping.

Cock's comb is actually something good to eat so consider not throwing it out.

[hippywife]

17. I'm used to handling them

while my husband clips their wings, I always hold them upside down by their legs, so no problem getting them to settle down for the process. Had to catch them and hold them that way to get them into separate quarters from the hens last night.

:hi:

[Siwsan]

7. Here's my rooster story

Many years ago, my grandfather raised "fighting" roosters. He had one prize rooster that had, apparently, won him a nice amount of money. (As an aside and disclaimer, I do not, in any sense of the word, condone this sort of activity. This was during the depression and people had a different outlook on such activities.)

Anyway, he had been training the rooster, and had not yet taken off its spurs. The rooster was in the yard, as was my grandmother, who bent over to do something. Apparently, her hind end was too tempting of a target for the rooster, who sprang into action and sank his spurs into her butt.

She grabbed the rooster, wrang its neck and they feasted on roasted rooster, that night. That was the end of grandpa's rooster fighting career.

[hippywife]

19. Oh, your poor grandma!

I bet she did dispatch him pretty quickly! Ouch! :hi:

[Warpy]

33. My grandmother kept a flock of chickens in the back yard

and harvested the roosters for the occasional Sunday dinner, so there were always a few around.

My dad's favorite thing on his way home from school was to stop by the pen and try to pee on the roosters. (yeah, teenager from hell)

One day he got just a little too close to the fence and a rooster grabbed his you know what with a foot.

Needless to say, my dad treated them with just a little more respect after that.

As for dispatching the roosters, my grandmother was a wringer. Once the rooster had ceased moving, she'd hang it up on the clothesline by the feet and clip the head off, allowing the blood to drain into the garden.

Plucking isn't the most pleasant activity in the world, but it's not going to ruin your day. Feathers can be washed inside a stitched pillowcase, spread out to dry, and kept for pillow or quilt stuffing.

[hippywife]

38. Bill is going to keep the feathers.

He ties flies for fishing and there will be some usable feathers for that. They aren't all the best for that, but...

[NYC_SKP]

10. Well, you ring it's neck real good, then quickly dip into boiling water before plucking...

After plucking you can light some newspapers on fire to singe off the pin feathers.

And from that point on it's more and more like a whole chicken from the market.

:P

[hippywife]

20. We're not plucking.

I've read many times how to process them, having read Joel Salatin's book among others. My farmer friend just instructed me on how to clean them quickly and easily but taking the skin off feathers and all after letting them bleed out. I prefer skin on my chicken but this time going to go with the path of least resistance.

:hi:

[NYC_SKP]

27. Well that sounds more effortless.

I was helper to my Nonnie (Italian Grandmother) and witness to probably dozens of chicken dressings, we raised our own, grew our own everything, canned goods, and she even had a dome-shaped outdoor bread oven.

I don't doubt that you know what you're doing.

IIRC, we bled out turkeys, but not chickens, but this was a while ago.

Take care!

:hi:

[hippywife]

28. I had an Italian grandma, too.

Unfortunately, she didn't live on a farm but I learned to love cooking in her kitchen.

As far as knowing what I'm doing, we'll see. Reading is one thing, doing quite another, no? :rofl:


Thanx! :hi:

[The River]

16. I Bought 50 Unsexed Chicks

a few decades back to stock my homestead. You'd expect a 50-50
gender split but I ended up with just 12 hens and 38
young roosters. We set up an assembly line to process them
but after plucking 6 or 7 birds we opted for simply skinning them whole.
Slow cooked in a crock pot (w/wine) is the only way to go.

[hippywife]

21. Yeah, that's the route we're going for this.

Just want to get it done and over with without too much time and hassle.

Someone just recently told me that her mom had been hatching eggs and was getting something like 8 roosters for every 10.

:hi:

[handmade34]

18. I hope it is a low stress experience for you.

I have killed and cleaned more animals than I wish to remember as I used to raise all my own food and I taught homesteading for a bit. (I am vegetarian now). This will be graphic!!!... and I will never kill another animal but this is how I used to:



with chickens and turkeys I found the least stressful for myself and the animal was to gently catch them and then hold them for a few minutes before I slowly turned them upside down and hung them by their feet (this has a calming effect on them). With a sharp knife, I quickly cut their neck artery and they would bleed out... no flapping, no squawking... once dead, scald them, pluck them and then gut them. If you eat meat, I applaud you for killing your own. And if you like meat, you will enjoy this meal best

[hippywife]

22. Since we've been keeping chickens

I'm used to holding them that way for moving them and wing clippings. I haven't ever had a problem handling them. We're gonna use a cone and a sharp knife for severing the artery, then just an incision in the skin enough to get our fingers into to remove everything, skin and all. Really don't have the time and desire to go to all the trouble to pluck them even tho I prefer them skin on. Plenty of ways to cook them without it.

Because I do still enjoy eating meat, I really do feel responsible to do this ourselves. Not taking the easy way out in that respect. They'll go into the freezer for awhile after they're cleaned out, rinsed and soak in cold water for a bit so not sure how soon they'll get eaten. We try not to eat meat terribly often, mostly on the weekends.

Thanx for the support and advice. Appreciate it. I bet, with your background, you have lots of wonderful information to impart for all aspects of rural living. I used to be a city girl before moving down here and living in this rural area. And we try to do as much for ourselves as possible and will be doing more as we can.

:hi:

[panader0]

23. I've kept chickens several different times

I found out that the roosters aren't needed unless you want chicks, but even then, they're hardly worth the hassle. To be tender, they must be butchered young. I had always heard they kept the hens happy, but in my experience, they just made the hens featherless.
And the fertilized egg thing is overrated. When the time came to get rid of the chickens (they were'nt laying well anymore) I called a buddy who owns two large pythons. They love chicken.
On edit, the old chicken coop has proved a great place to grow things.

[hippywife]

25. I've always know that for as long as I can remember,

even being a city girl most of my life. It's amazing the number of people who have asked me how we can have eggs when we usually don't have roosters. I have been totally flabbergasted by it. I thought that was a basic biological fact that everyone knew.

And I definitely don't care about having fertilized eggs. We've had the best eggs ever just keeping hens the past few years.

The hens do seem pretty calm and relaxed today now that they don't have to contend with the roosters.

:hi:

[safeinOhio]

24. Two tips

1, never give them names, numbers work better.

2. just focus on the task and don't think too much.

[hippywife]

26. There's only one hen that's

ever been given a name for the most part. That was because it was hatched by the little boy across the road and he named it Rambo, not knowing what it would turn out to be. They gave her to us when she was pretty young. LOL

The only other one is facetiously called Guard Dog because she chases around after my husband when he's in the garden with them or their pen, yanking on his pants legs. She really would rather hang with the roosters and seems to be the only one not happy about the current separation. :shrug:

Thanx for the tips. :hi:

[notadmblnd]

29. when I was little, we had a neighbor that would chop off their heads with an axe

then let them run around the yard till they dropped. Damnedest site I ever saw. My Aunt Lucy would kill chickens too. But she just wrung their necks. We never saw them running around. I did watch her pluck them though.

[hippywife]

30. I don't know that's something

I want to see. Any time you hold them upside down by the legs, they kinda pass out. In that state, it's much more humane to just carefully cut the artery in their neck. They won't even know what happened.

:hi:

[kestrel91316]

31. My grandparents had an obnoxious rooster on their ranch. They gave him

a name: Stew.

[hippywife]

32. That's similar to what

my farmer friend said. He said, first you put them out of your misery and give them new names like chicken and dunplings, or chicken enchiladas. It's funny because when I go out to feed the chickens, I always call out in a high pitched call, "Chick'n Noodles!" They come running. :rofl:

[LWolf]

34. I have a few to harvest soon.

The 11 chicks that hatched out last summer included some roosters. I only have 2 of them firmly identified as roosters at this point. They are still young, and they don't crow because Daddy doesn't put up with competition from young whippersnappers. ;)

They hatched around the first of August; no spurs yet, tails just beginning to develop. Combs a little bigger and redder, but not much.

Another month and I'll be sure, and they'll be bigger.

[hippywife]

35. I know you've probably done this before

but I found a good site for people who haven't, like me.

Warning: Kinda graphic pictures for any squeamish lurkers:
http://howlingduckranch.wordpress.com/2009/07/15/butchering-chickens/

Hope you don't end up with any more. :hi:

Edited to add: we aren't going to bonk it in the head like she does, we're going to use a cone.

[LWolf]

39. A few times.

Here's a link to my preferred method:

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/grim79.html

I had an article from somewhere about this method saved on my 'puter; it got fried along with the motherboard and hard drive in last August's mega thunderstorm, even though the 'puter was turned off.

This article explains the same thing.

I'm lazy. No gutting, no scalding, no plucking. I pick them off the roost at dawn while they are sleepy, hang them upside down, use a cone, and the rest is fairly easy. ;)

[Howling Duck Ranch]

45. Killing cones

I bonk it on the head to render it unconscious... I then put it in a killing cone to slit the throat. This is a far more humane way of 'dispatching' a chicken as it is not aware when you slit the throat.

Good luck with it!

cheers,

HDR

[hippywife]

48. Before we started get chickens,

I did a lot of reading and research, and was led to believe that they pass out when you hold them upside down by they legs? Am I misremembering something?

[Howling Duck Ranch]

51. Misremembering

Definitely. Chickens and turkeys do not pass out simply because you hang them from their feet. Well, eventually they will just like us humans would, but the time it would take and the suffering I would argue would be inhumane. I know I wouldn't like to be hung upside down till I passed out.

HDR

[IrateCitizen]

52. Two nails on a stump is easier than that

That's how I remember my grandfather and father doing it when I was a kid.

Just take the chicken, put its head between the two nails in the stump, and one blow with the hatchet.

[hippywife]

53. If we ever have to do this again,

which I'm really hoping we don't, that will likely be the way we do it. :hi:

[Big Blue Marble]

36. Isn't strange how sensitivity works?

If you announced on DU that you were killing your dog because
he had behavioral problems, DU'ers would be horrified.
But because he is a rooster, you get tips for efficient killing
and jokes about killing.

Is the rooster less sentient or does he have less of a right to
live than your dog? Not really, we humans just arbitrarily decide.

[hippywife]

37. Well, I'm also an omnivore and eat chicken.

We don't eat a whole lot of meat but we aren't vegetarian, either. So it's not like it's being killed arbitrarily. We were supposed to have all hens so it wouldn't come to this. But for the sake of the hens, it has to be done. And dogs aren't used for food, not around here anyway. We are going to harvest him as humanely as is possible. We don't approach this lightly, either, so we want to make sure it is done properly and responsibly.

:hi:

[hippywife]

40. It's done.

We gave the two red ones away yesterday and just finished butchering the white and black one. It's soaking in ice water.

We did fine, but glad we don't have to do this every day.

[fasttense]

41. I can't eat chicken for 2 months after I butcher them.

It takes me awhile before I can look at chicken meat again. I would pay a slaughter house to do it but around here, they only slaughter larger animals.

But after 2 months, I have no problem eating chicken.

I have 6 rooster, 4 of which I will have to slaughter. We've done 6 already.

A responsible flock manger has to cull out the roosters. (and you usually can't give them away, I know, I've tried.) They can kill, injure and maim the hens and each other if there are too many of them. If you create the flock, you must be responsible for the smooth functioning of that flock, creating a good flock society requires removing too many roosters.

So, I'm glad to hear you are being a responsible flock manager.

Just one tip I learned the hard way. You probably know already, but if you don't read the internet info carefully you may miss it.

Wait at least 24 hours before freezing the whole carcass. You must wait until rigor has passed so the meat isn't stringy. The bigger the chicken, and roosters tend to be bigger, the longer it takes for rigor to pass. The rule of thumb I use is to keep the whole carcass in ice water for about 24 hours. If cutting it into meat, then you can probably reduce that time.

I was in such a hurry to ensure my chickens were fresh and sanitary, I froze them way too early. Now, I have 4 very stringy birds in my freezer. Oh well, live and learn.

[hippywife]

43. I don't think I could have eaten him yesterday.

But I think I could have today. It wasn't an enjoyable task but I wasn't as squeamish about it as I thought I might be.

I soaked the bird in water and ice for one hour after it was completely dressed, as per instructions from the farmer in our coop who I buy my poultry from. I count on a rooster being a little tough so was already making plans for a long and slowly cooked dish.

:hi:

[Howling Duck Ranch]

47. Emotional trajectory

When I first started learning to farm and butcher my own meat I too couldn't eat the animals right away. In fact, the first couple of chickens I did in got fed to my dog because I just couldn't bring myself to eat them. Now, I can butcher a chicken and roast it that evening and enjoy it immensely. There is a major emotional trajectory we have to travel when not raised on a farm and learning to butcher young. See my page about teaching friends to butcher recently (http://howlingduckranch.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/city-mouse-acquires-country-mouse-skills/). My friend's not quite four year old daughter was thrilled to watch and disappointed to have to go to bed before the 'chicken we killed today' was ready to eat!

cheers,

HDR

[hippywife]

49. I'm actually hoping to

one day lose my taste for meat altogether. Currently, we're down to only eating it on the weekends usually, and have been for a while.

[bvar22]

42. Congrats!

I am glad to see it was not very traumatic for you.
We have the same commitment, and when the time comes, we shall do the same.
It was reassuring to read your post.

We were hoping for some chicks this year, but it didn't happen.
Elvis was doing his part unless he's shooting blanks.


Elvis is as pugnacious as ever, and his spurs have grown into pretty awesome weapons.
He got Starkraven above the knee and drew blood last week.
I had always promised that the day he drew blood was the day he "goes in the pot", but Starkraven said it was her fault for not watching him close enough.

Elvis is very protective of the hens. We haven't lost any for over a year, and they Free Range everyday. Elvis stands guard, and places himself between the hens and any perceived threat, even us.
If we directly approach the flock while they are out grazing, Elvis will come between us and the hens in an aggressive posture, flapping his wing and crowing. The neighbor's dogs who killed the hen last year no longer come on our property, and now ignore the birds when they are out in the yard. Elvis has taught our cats not to mess with his hens. On the occasions when we have found large Black Snakes in the roost, Elvis is always between the snake and the hens, even in the dark.

So we figure that Elvis is doing a good job, though we are careful to keep an eye on him when they are out, or we are in the coop.
There is no way we would be able to live with more than one rooster, and when we get chicks, we WILL remove the roosters, and they will go to the best use available.
We will eat them.

[hippywife]

44. Sounds like he's still on the job.

You know this was the first time I've ever been involved in intentionally taking the life of any animal, so I won't say it didn't bother me just a little. They, ours and your Elvis, are such pretty animals, too. Very regal looking. I think if one of the hens hadn't been so utterly brutalized, we might not have done it.

I guess the other reason it was important to do was because, now, we know we can do it if we have absolutely have to. Our hens will live out their lives without meeting the same fate, even after they stop laying.

Good to see you, B. I'll answer your PM from a couple of days ago soon. Give my best to, K. :hug:

[fasttense]

46. Oh, what a beautiful rooster.

I have made a point of making my roosters a little afraid of me. I don't like the idea of having to be afraid of them attacking me. As a kid my Mom had a really mean rooster who would leave scars and draw blood from anyone collecting eggs. I have 2 RIR who were very aggressive very young. So, I would chase them off and keep them off the hens while I was in their vicinity.

I have a huge Orpy who never seemed to bother me. He never even ruffled his feathers at me. He seemed very docile. Yesterday, he attacked, scaring me more then hurting me. I chased him and wouldn't let him back into the flock for a few minutes. I swear he sounded like he was growling.

Anyway today all the Roosters are keeping their distance. You never know when a chicken is going to test the pecking order.

[hippywife]

50. Ain't he gorgeous?

A really beautiful fella.

Our roosters were never aggressive while we had them, or protective of the hens, for that matter. There is one little hen that follows my husband around the garden and yanks on his pants legs and pecks his feet. She has taken to making sure everyone is rounded up and in the coop at bed time. We call her Guard Dog. :rofl:

[bvar22]

54. Kicking to the top.

We are facing the harvesting of 2 young roosters tomorrow.
I remembered this thread, did a search, and am using it for support.
They are beautiful birds, but we can't keep that many roosters.
We will take two tomorrow.
Two very beautiful, young Blue Copper Marans that we hatched from fertile eggs we got on E-Bay.
Out of 12 eggs, only 3 hatched.... 2 roosters and one beautiful Blue Copper Hen.
We also have 2 Wellsummer roosters that we will need to thin in about a month.

Thanks for this thread, hippywife.

[bvar22]

56. OK. That went well.

We waited until after dark, then quietly slipped into the coop, and gently picked up the two young roosters. We were very calm and reassuring as we gently hung them by their feet. The actual killing was very quick and painless. (If anyone wants details PM me).

The plucking was a little messier than I had anticipated, but not difficult.
After they were plucked, they were no longer our birds, but meat being prepared for the table.
In about an hour they were cleaned and on ice.

We love our birds, and interact with them daily.
We will miss their antics and adolescent posturing in the yard and garden tomorrow, but will not have a problem eating them.
Its a part of the deal we have made with our Mother.

[FedUpWithIt All]

57. I hope it goes quickly and easily for you.

:hi:

We've dispatched only one, it was for illness. It was tougher for me than i hoped it would be. We decided that pithing was the most humane sounding as it caused instant brain death. It is supposed to be so quick and the bird is so unaware that it is happening that the feathers, according to some, simply rub off after death. This was not the case in our experience. It was b.a.d. Needless to say, we'll be using a different method if the need ever arises. I was sad that we were unable to eat her because it felt like a waste.

We've since agreed that we will decap followed quickly with a heavy rock for rapid brain death.

Edited because i find it difficult to do things like read the dates and whole thread with a toddler on my head. :crazy: I see that this is a long time ago so...:::sigh:::

[bvar22]

58. Kicking this for relevance to another thread.