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Barnyard Buddies:  making a meal out of my rooster....  |
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prairie_princess
True Blue Farmgirl
613 Posts
Elizabeth
Carpenter
WY
USA
613 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 02 2009 : 10:44:24 AM
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ok gals.... this will be my first account with killing and butchering my own animal. it's something we plan on doing for the rest of our life. but i've never done it before. i don't know how i'll react, but i don't think i'm very squeamish about these kinds of things.
just wondered if any of you had any advice! or stories about your first time killing an animal. i know it's a squeamish subject, but i figure there are some of you farm gals out there that raise and eat your own stock....
"Only two things that money can't buy, that's true love and homegrown tomatoes."
- Guy Clark
"The man who has planted a garden feels he has done something for the good of the world."
- Charles Dudley Warner |
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Marybeth
True Blue Farmgirl
6418 Posts
Mary Beth
Stanwood
Wa 98292
USA
6418 Posts |
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prairie_princess
True Blue Farmgirl
613 Posts
Elizabeth
Carpenter
WY
USA
613 Posts |
Posted - Aug 02 2009 : 12:35:45 PM
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i think we can be both lady-like and genteel and tough and not afraid to do what we need to to live a better life.... best of both worlds!
if that means wearing our pretty aprons and sunhats and enjoying a nice cuppa tea in beautiful china....
AND getting outside getting dirty, cleaning our animals stalls and killing and cleaning our chickens for a wonderful, healthy meal....
farmgirls rule!!!
"Only two things that money can't buy, that's true love and homegrown tomatoes."
- Guy Clark
"The man who has planted a garden feels he has done something for the good of the world."
- Charles Dudley Warner |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Aug 02 2009 : 3:36:37 PM
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Elizabeth, DON'T wear your prettiest best apron!! You will get blood all over it if you chop the head off. I know. Blood goes all over the place. The first time I did it a friend was here to help me. I had about 15 meat birds to do and it was time to do it. She did the first one and it was all me after that. We tied the feet so it could be hung afterwards. It took me forever to do it and finallt she siad just do it! Now! So I did and it was nothing after that. A piece a cake. But my friend had to laeve after a few hours and go get her duaghter from day care. I told her I hoped she didn't get stopped. They would arrest her for murder right away because she was covered from head to toe with blood! She washed off as best she could but still. It was a mess. Me, too. But all they had to do was smell her and know what she'd been doing!
So ever since that I can do my own. I have even done a turkey. Tied her upside down on the phone pole and whacked her head off and let her hang there to bleed out. Best turkey we ever had, too.
There really is no dainty way to talk about butchering animals. Sorry. And it takes alot of soap to get chicken smell off you, too.
Good luck with yours.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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1badmamawolf
True Blue Farmgirl
2199 Posts
Teresa
"Bent Fence Farms"
Ca
USA
2199 Posts |
Posted - Aug 02 2009 : 5:46:32 PM
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Knee high rubber boots, rubber full lenght apron, old t-shirt , and old jeans or shorts. If you reall are butchering a rooster, you may find out you will need to pressure cook him, they can be really tuff, unless its an eight week old jumbo cornish cross, which is a meat bird. If you have never butchered before, make sure you have an experienced person there with you.
"Treat the earth well, it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children" |
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Cabinprincess
True Blue Farmgirl
682 Posts
Melody June
Athens
TX
USA
682 Posts |
Posted - Aug 02 2009 : 6:39:29 PM
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I don't like blood flying all over the place. I use a piece of bailing wire about 12 inches long. Hold the chicken by the legs upside and twist the wire around there legs to hold them together. Then hang on the clothes line by wrapping the wire around the line a couple times. Chickens are very passive when hanging upside down. If I am killing more than one I hang them all first. I have a propane cooktop outside and I put a huge pot of water on to boil, well a pot big enough to dunk a chicken into. I take my husbands fish fillet knife (it is very sharp) and hold the chicken's head in my fist and quick and hard slice down, drop the head and move on to the next one, right down the line. Then back to the first on who should be bled out by now. Remove the wire from the line and dunk the chicken into the boiling water for 3 seconds, no more or you'll cook the meat, no less of the feathers won't come out easy. Hold chicken over a metal trash can by the feet or into a large open trash bag and pull the feathers toward the head. They will come out very easy. I have a ice chest full of cold water to put the chicken into till I'm done plucking all them. I gut them in the kitchen because for me it is just easier to do in the sink with running water but you could do it right into the feather can also, then into the cold water. You will be a pro in no time. Let us know how you did.
Smiles, Melody June
God's gift to you are your talents, your gift to Him is how you use them. |
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Mother Hen
True Blue Farmgirl
604 Posts
Cindy
Peck
ID
USA
604 Posts |
Posted - Aug 02 2009 : 9:43:19 PM
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Elisabeth, First of all good luck to you.
I use an ax and chop the head off on my block of wood where I split wood for the winter. I bring out a big canning pot of boiling water and since I don't have a place to hang them I "farmgirl up" and use a ladder and hang it by the feet with bailing twine from the center brace. It's the perfect height for sitting in a lawn chair while taking the feathers off and gutting it. I have a trash can with a trash bag in it for all the aforementioned.
Now it sounds like you have at least 3 options of how others do it. We'll be waiting to hear how it turned out for you.
Cindy
FARMGIRLS CAN DO ANYTHING!!!
I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. Psalms 34:1 |
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Hosanna
True Blue Farmgirl
466 Posts
Hosanna
Alton
Virginia
466 Posts |
Posted - Aug 03 2009 : 08:32:34 AM
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| My hubby takes care of all the butchering on our farm. He does it with a hatchet,or a great big clever. He used to work at one of those livestock processing plants. Plus, he grew up butchering hogs and chickens as a kid and it is like "just another day on the farm" to him..... he is so great. In fact, last year we traveled from VA up to Michigan to his mom's home on the old farm where he grew up, and she had saved the butchering for him to do when he got there. :)I have a rooster who is scheduled to be dumplings soon. He beats up my hens and beat on one little banty so bad she died.... I hate that rooster........I can taste him right now, stewed up into dumplings, yep............. |
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SheilaC
True Blue Farmgirl
1948 Posts
Sheila
Vermont
USA
1948 Posts |
Posted - Aug 03 2009 : 10:09:22 AM
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| I'm okay with helping as long as I can't smell anything--everyone laughs at me, but I like to wear a dust mask over my nose with peppermint oil on it, so I can't smell the chickens :) |
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farmeratlast
Farmgirl in Training
35 Posts
Jana
OR
USA
35 Posts |
Posted - Aug 03 2009 : 6:33:41 PM
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http://butcherachicken.blogspot.com/
I know there are many sites out there that give direction, pictures, video etc because I used to search for them late at night when I couldn't sleep and was dreaming of my own farm. Now that I have one and I have some chickens (don't know how many roosters in the straight run) I am feeling a little nervous. I would appreciate knowing how you fare with the whole process. Good luck to you. I know it feels scary.
Jana |
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Tammyb
True Blue Farmgirl
511 Posts
Tammy
Bluffton
Ohio
USA
511 Posts |
Posted - Aug 03 2009 : 7:29:16 PM
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You all are great. I raised meat birds this spring and took them 30 minutes away waited 45 minutes and brought them home ready for my freezer:) You go girls !!!!
Tammyb
Live to leave a legacy
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goneriding
True Blue Farmgirl
1599 Posts
Winona
Central Oregon
USA
1599 Posts |
Posted - Aug 03 2009 : 7:46:31 PM
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You guys are so much tuffer than I am!! I watched my mom kill my pet chicken when I was little bitty girl and haven't been able to do anything like that since. I guess if it's survival, I could do it, but to just put it in the freezer??...nope, not happening. :-)
Winona :-)
To read funny stories about my cooking 'skills', please visit http://lostadventuresincooking.blogspot.com/
For uber-opinionated, pleasurable horse related reading, please visit http://horseinfoperson.blogspot.com/
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prairie_princess
True Blue Farmgirl
613 Posts
Elizabeth
Carpenter
WY
USA
613 Posts |
Posted - Aug 06 2009 : 5:55:41 PM
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ok, gals, i did it!!! it wasn't so bad... though it could have gone a bit smoother if DH had actually gotten the correct tools i had told him to instead of using tools he 'thought' would work, namely actual poultry shears (we couldn't find these... where do you buy them?!) and a sharp axe. owell, i guess in the end it doesn't matter anyway... it wasn't even messy or anything. we hung the rooster inside a trash can with a trash bag so no blood flew. and just put all the feathers and extra parts in the trash bag... it made for an ultra easy and convenient clean up!
i'm planning to roast him tomorrow and making homemade stuffing and green beans from the garden! looking forward to tasting the difference between a 'homegrown' rooster and a store bought one....
"Only two things that money can't buy, that's true love and homegrown tomatoes."
- Guy Clark
"The man who has planted a garden feels he has done something for the good of the world."
- Charles Dudley Warner |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Aug 06 2009 : 6:43:45 PM
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Alright! It's not as bad as ya thought, huh? And after this the next ones are a piece of cake. Good for you, country girl!
Just make sure you cook it long and slow on fairly low temp. Homegrown takes longer to get it tender than store bought. Lots of people make that mistake and think they can cook them like a "pumped full of all that bad stuff to make them tender" birds. It ain't gonna happen fast. And cover it really good, too. You might want to start it around noon to get it fall-off-the-bone tender. It will happen but be patient.
Good luck. I can't wait to hear how he turns out! Oh, and lots of onions and garlic, too.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
Edited by - kristin sherrill on Aug 06 2009 6:45:03 PM |
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prairie_princess
True Blue Farmgirl
613 Posts
Elizabeth
Carpenter
WY
USA
613 Posts |
Posted - Aug 06 2009 : 7:20:19 PM
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kristin - thank you so much for the tip... i definately would have made that mistake. i can already tell the difference in texture compared to store bought....
"Only two things that money can't buy, that's true love and homegrown tomatoes."
- Guy Clark
"The man who has planted a garden feels he has done something for the good of the world."
- Charles Dudley Warner |
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1badmamawolf
True Blue Farmgirl
2199 Posts
Teresa
"Bent Fence Farms"
Ca
USA
2199 Posts |
Posted - Aug 06 2009 : 7:36:56 PM
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You really don't want to roast a rooster, your best best is a pressure cooker, or in a pot all day like Kristen said, other wise he will be rubber
"Treat the earth well, it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children" |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2009 : 1:45:12 PM
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How's the ole roo coming along in there? Just wondering. I can almost smell it here! Are ya keeping it basted?
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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prairie_princess
True Blue Farmgirl
613 Posts
Elizabeth
Carpenter
WY
USA
613 Posts |
Posted - Aug 08 2009 : 07:34:10 AM
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actually, he came out pretty good! we did end up roasting him, at 300 degrees for about 3 hours. and he came out tender and juicy! we stuffed the cavity with onion, celery, garlic, and spices. granted, the texture was a little different than a chicken from the store.... more like a game bird or a turkey. the flavor was a bit more gamey, too. and the meat absorbed the flavors from the stuffing in the cavity.... but other than that, he was pretty good! i think i may need to get used to the differences, though. but it will just take a few more times of eating a homegrown chicken...
if anyone has any more tips on cooking them, please post! i'm interested for the next time around!
"Only two things that money can't buy, that's true love and homegrown tomatoes."
- Guy Clark
"The man who has planted a garden feels he has done something for the good of the world."
- Charles Dudley Warner |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Aug 08 2009 : 08:10:48 AM
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That sounds good. It does have a different flavor but it's called chicken! What we get from the store is pumped full of tenderizers and flavorings and it's not really a chicken taste at all. So once you have a few more you'll like it more and more. And the color is different, too. Not anemic white but an actual color.
We might be having a rooster round up here soon. I have 7 too many and a friend called the other day and she has about 5 too many. She said one of them attacked het 2 year old. Had her on the ground on top of her. Then another attacked her 7 year old son. So we may be hosting a rooster killing day here soon. I took her my double cage yesterday for her to fatten them up some.
You can pressure cook them, too. And they make good chicken and dumplings. Also good chicken soup. And the broth is amazingly good and rich. I boil chicken and put the broth in the freezer.
I'm glad your dinner was a success.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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Barnyard Buddies: making a meal out of my rooster.... |
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making a meal out of my rooster....
