baymule
Sustainability Master
This is a long post, it covers 2 different days of processing 3 month old roosters. I have not processed chickens in 30 years, so I have had to "learn" all over again. Ya'll enjoy my journey! haha
My 5 year old grand daughter and I bought 20 mixed breed layer chicks a few days after Christmas 2012. As time passed, it was obvious about half were roosters. We live in the middle of our small town and while I have had hens for 4 years, I am mindful of my neighbors and don't keep a rooster. I told our grand daughter that we wouldn't keep roosters and in no time had her saying, "crow and off with your head." They are 3 months old now and the time to crow is close.
Last Tuesday she asked me "Mamaw, can we cut open a rooster's head today?" I hurriedly concocted a rolled cardboard killing cone held together with that redneck standby, duct tape. I nailed it to a stack of wood and we went to the run and caught the first rooster that walked by. I put him in the cone and looked at her and said, "Are you sure? You know I am going to kill him and he is going to bleed." She assured me that she wanted to help with the rooster, so I cut his throat. As he bled out, I explained that this was a more humane way to kill him than chopping his head off and letting him flop all over the place. I told her as he closed his eyes that he was unconsious and feeling no pain. We held hands and said a prayer thanking God for the meat the rooster would provide and thanking the rooster for giving up his life that we might eat.
I took him to a table and skinned him. She wanted the tail feathers so I cut his butt off and handed it to her. She happily plucked off the tail feathers and put them in a plastic bag. I cut off the last wing joint and spread out the feathers and fanned myself with them. She cracked up laughing and wanted to play with the rooster fan. I cut the rooster up and showed her the lungs, heart, crop (full-oops) and how the food goes through the gizzard to get ground up. "What's all those worms in there?" she asked. "Intestines, and that's where he poops." I took out the liver and cut off the green bile. I stuffed the skin and feathers into a plastic bag (which got double bagged and put into the freezer to wait on trash day). We took the guts to the coop and tossed them in. The piranha pack dove in and the winner took off with the prize. We laughed at the feeding frenzy and I told her they don't care that a few moments ago, that was their neighbor, the hens only see the intestines as food.
We cleaned up our mess and took the meat in the house. I washed and cut it up. She wanted "rooster nuggets" so I cut up the breast into small pieces. We soaked the meat in buttermilk while I cleaned the gizzard, then we rolled the meat in flour and I fried it.
The meat was a little chewy, but very good. My husband didn't like the chewy, but agreed that in soup or dumplings it would be delicious. Our grand daughter ate her rooster nuggets and told me they were better than store bought.
It was a very good afternoon and time well spent with out grand daughter. Her parents were impressed that she wanted to butcher the rooster and that she was involved with the whole process. I am sure they were impressed with the bag of feathers too! haha
Yesterday, (Friday) I caught all 8 of the roosters and put them in a holding cage. I took them off food, but gave them water. I called it death row. This morning, (Saturday) I got started. I processed one at a time because I didn't want to be interupted and have a bunch of dead birds to deal with. I caught a rooster and put him in the redneck cardboard cone. I cut his throat to bleed him out. Then I took him to the table. Now remember, these are not a meat breed. Their daddy was a RIR and momma was a red sex link. Running my hand down their breast was like rubbing a dull hatchet with feathers.
I had 3 very sharp knives. 1 paring knife, 1 Old Hickory butcher knife and 1 Old Hickory smaller knife. I used 1 washpan to put the chicken pieces in. I had 1 bowl of water to wash my hands off and to clean the gizzard.
I put a piece of plywood over the picnic table, then covered that with wax paper to have a clean surface to cut up the rooster. I cut the head off and tossed in a trash bag. Scrawny bony wings? Nah, not enough meat to mess with-I cut them off and in the trash they went. Then I cut off the feet and set them aside in the washpan. Proud tail feathers? Nope, I cut the butt off and tossed in the bag. Starting at the neck, I cut a slit in the skin and pulled and lightly cut the skin and feathers off. I now had a naked, streamlined rooster. On the neck was an empty crop bag and windpipe. I cut these loose and tossed them. On each side of the breast, starting at the bottom of the ribs, I cut toward the anus. I then cut around the anus, reached in the body cavity and dragged out the guts. I cut the green bile duct off the liver, being carefull not to nick it. I cut the gizzard loose and cut along the edge of it to expose the gook inside. I dumped the wad of gravel and assorted unidentifiable stuff. I sloshed the gizzard in a bowl of water I had for that purpose and added the gizzard in the washpan. I cut the artery off the heart and put it in the washpan. I dug out the lungs and flipped them to the dog. I cut off the neck and put it and the chicken carcass in the washpan. I wadded up the wax paper and put it in the trash bag, dumped the water out of the bowl and put the knives and bowl in the washpan. I took it in the house.
I washed the liver, gizzard and heart and put them in a zip lock bag in the freezer. (as I did other roosters, I put all the gizzards, livers and hearts in this bag) DH and I both love these fried and I will make a future supper of these. I washed the chicken carcass and neck and put them in a bag and then in the freezer. I put the feet in another bag and put it in the freezer. I put all the feet in this bag, later I will cut the toenails off, scald them, peel the scales off and boil for broth to can. Then I washed the washpan, bowl and knives.
From holding cage to freezer, the first one took me 25 minutes, I got it down to 20 minutes. I processed them so quickly that rigor mortis didn't have time to stiffen up the meat. Each time I processed a rooster, I started with clean utensils and new wax paper on the plywood for a clean surface.
We had chicken and dumplings for supper tonight. The chicken was still a little chewy, even after being simmered all after noon. But the taste was all there. The broth was delicious. It was a very satisfying meal and knowing where it came from and what it ate.
My 5 year old grand daughter and I bought 20 mixed breed layer chicks a few days after Christmas 2012. As time passed, it was obvious about half were roosters. We live in the middle of our small town and while I have had hens for 4 years, I am mindful of my neighbors and don't keep a rooster. I told our grand daughter that we wouldn't keep roosters and in no time had her saying, "crow and off with your head." They are 3 months old now and the time to crow is close.
Last Tuesday she asked me "Mamaw, can we cut open a rooster's head today?" I hurriedly concocted a rolled cardboard killing cone held together with that redneck standby, duct tape. I nailed it to a stack of wood and we went to the run and caught the first rooster that walked by. I put him in the cone and looked at her and said, "Are you sure? You know I am going to kill him and he is going to bleed." She assured me that she wanted to help with the rooster, so I cut his throat. As he bled out, I explained that this was a more humane way to kill him than chopping his head off and letting him flop all over the place. I told her as he closed his eyes that he was unconsious and feeling no pain. We held hands and said a prayer thanking God for the meat the rooster would provide and thanking the rooster for giving up his life that we might eat.
I took him to a table and skinned him. She wanted the tail feathers so I cut his butt off and handed it to her. She happily plucked off the tail feathers and put them in a plastic bag. I cut off the last wing joint and spread out the feathers and fanned myself with them. She cracked up laughing and wanted to play with the rooster fan. I cut the rooster up and showed her the lungs, heart, crop (full-oops) and how the food goes through the gizzard to get ground up. "What's all those worms in there?" she asked. "Intestines, and that's where he poops." I took out the liver and cut off the green bile. I stuffed the skin and feathers into a plastic bag (which got double bagged and put into the freezer to wait on trash day). We took the guts to the coop and tossed them in. The piranha pack dove in and the winner took off with the prize. We laughed at the feeding frenzy and I told her they don't care that a few moments ago, that was their neighbor, the hens only see the intestines as food.
We cleaned up our mess and took the meat in the house. I washed and cut it up. She wanted "rooster nuggets" so I cut up the breast into small pieces. We soaked the meat in buttermilk while I cleaned the gizzard, then we rolled the meat in flour and I fried it.
The meat was a little chewy, but very good. My husband didn't like the chewy, but agreed that in soup or dumplings it would be delicious. Our grand daughter ate her rooster nuggets and told me they were better than store bought.
It was a very good afternoon and time well spent with out grand daughter. Her parents were impressed that she wanted to butcher the rooster and that she was involved with the whole process. I am sure they were impressed with the bag of feathers too! haha
Yesterday, (Friday) I caught all 8 of the roosters and put them in a holding cage. I took them off food, but gave them water. I called it death row. This morning, (Saturday) I got started. I processed one at a time because I didn't want to be interupted and have a bunch of dead birds to deal with. I caught a rooster and put him in the redneck cardboard cone. I cut his throat to bleed him out. Then I took him to the table. Now remember, these are not a meat breed. Their daddy was a RIR and momma was a red sex link. Running my hand down their breast was like rubbing a dull hatchet with feathers.
I had 3 very sharp knives. 1 paring knife, 1 Old Hickory butcher knife and 1 Old Hickory smaller knife. I used 1 washpan to put the chicken pieces in. I had 1 bowl of water to wash my hands off and to clean the gizzard.
I put a piece of plywood over the picnic table, then covered that with wax paper to have a clean surface to cut up the rooster. I cut the head off and tossed in a trash bag. Scrawny bony wings? Nah, not enough meat to mess with-I cut them off and in the trash they went. Then I cut off the feet and set them aside in the washpan. Proud tail feathers? Nope, I cut the butt off and tossed in the bag. Starting at the neck, I cut a slit in the skin and pulled and lightly cut the skin and feathers off. I now had a naked, streamlined rooster. On the neck was an empty crop bag and windpipe. I cut these loose and tossed them. On each side of the breast, starting at the bottom of the ribs, I cut toward the anus. I then cut around the anus, reached in the body cavity and dragged out the guts. I cut the green bile duct off the liver, being carefull not to nick it. I cut the gizzard loose and cut along the edge of it to expose the gook inside. I dumped the wad of gravel and assorted unidentifiable stuff. I sloshed the gizzard in a bowl of water I had for that purpose and added the gizzard in the washpan. I cut the artery off the heart and put it in the washpan. I dug out the lungs and flipped them to the dog. I cut off the neck and put it and the chicken carcass in the washpan. I wadded up the wax paper and put it in the trash bag, dumped the water out of the bowl and put the knives and bowl in the washpan. I took it in the house.
I washed the liver, gizzard and heart and put them in a zip lock bag in the freezer. (as I did other roosters, I put all the gizzards, livers and hearts in this bag) DH and I both love these fried and I will make a future supper of these. I washed the chicken carcass and neck and put them in a bag and then in the freezer. I put the feet in another bag and put it in the freezer. I put all the feet in this bag, later I will cut the toenails off, scald them, peel the scales off and boil for broth to can. Then I washed the washpan, bowl and knives.
From holding cage to freezer, the first one took me 25 minutes, I got it down to 20 minutes. I processed them so quickly that rigor mortis didn't have time to stiffen up the meat. Each time I processed a rooster, I started with clean utensils and new wax paper on the plywood for a clean surface.
We had chicken and dumplings for supper tonight. The chicken was still a little chewy, even after being simmered all after noon. But the taste was all there. The broth was delicious. It was a very satisfying meal and knowing where it came from and what it ate.
