Our first chicken butchering day!
Warning.. graphic photos may not be for the faint of stomach ..but remember.. the chicken
you buy in the grocery store looked worse at one time .. and these chickens were happy right
up til the end :)
you buy in the grocery store looked worse at one time .. and these chickens were happy right
up til the end :)
And what an adventure it was! Our plan sounded simple and logical. Since the chickens that
we planned to butcher were 6 month old wyandotte roosters who have free ranged since they
came out of the brooder and who don't sleep in the chicken coop at night.. we bought a fish
net to use as a chicken net.
That was our first mistake! This morning i scattered grain on the ground and then Den
swooped in and scooped up rooster #1.. the others scattered in all directions! We tied his
feet (who was it that said that once hung upside down he would just hang there quietly!) and
hung him in the tree and went for the next rooster. By the time we had rooster number 3
caught the other roosters weren't about to eat that grain..they high tailed it for under the
house!
So with 3 roosters hanging in the tree we decided to cull the small rooster from the hen
house and leave the other two..that went pretty smoothly. We then spent an hour and a half
trying to catch more roosters with no success! This could be why *these* roosters are the
ones that have survived the coyotes, neighbors dogs, black snake, and weasel!
we planned to butcher were 6 month old wyandotte roosters who have free ranged since they
came out of the brooder and who don't sleep in the chicken coop at night.. we bought a fish
net to use as a chicken net.
That was our first mistake! This morning i scattered grain on the ground and then Den
swooped in and scooped up rooster #1.. the others scattered in all directions! We tied his
feet (who was it that said that once hung upside down he would just hang there quietly!) and
hung him in the tree and went for the next rooster. By the time we had rooster number 3
caught the other roosters weren't about to eat that grain..they high tailed it for under the
house!
So with 3 roosters hanging in the tree we decided to cull the small rooster from the hen
house and leave the other two..that went pretty smoothly. We then spent an hour and a half
trying to catch more roosters with no success! This could be why *these* roosters are the
ones that have survived the coyotes, neighbors dogs, black snake, and weasel!
At that point we decided to give up and
butcher the 4 we had caught. Thanks to
Rini's wonderful directions that went
very smoothly and we ended up with 5
1/2 pounds of meat. We probably would
have more except that Den lost a lot of
meat learning how to fillet them, they
weren't meat breed chickens, and one of
them was pretty small.
I expected to be grossed out but really
wasnt. The chickens death was very
quick and appeared painless. And
butchering them was for the most part
pretty bloodless. The way we did it was
very similar to filleting fish..just feathers
instead of scales!
Zach had a blast with the whole thing..
bear just laid there and looked at us like
we were idiots.. you could hear him
thinking.. you could just buy those at the
store you know!
butcher the 4 we had caught. Thanks to
Rini's wonderful directions that went
very smoothly and we ended up with 5
1/2 pounds of meat. We probably would
have more except that Den lost a lot of
meat learning how to fillet them, they
weren't meat breed chickens, and one of
them was pretty small.
I expected to be grossed out but really
wasnt. The chickens death was very
quick and appeared painless. And
butchering them was for the most part
pretty bloodless. The way we did it was
very similar to filleting fish..just feathers
instead of scales!
Zach had a blast with the whole thing..
bear just laid there and looked at us like
we were idiots.. you could hear him
thinking.. you could just buy those at the
store you know!
Zach's busy chewing on a chicken
head here. He was soo good while
we were working and was in
heaven when he found out how
tasty chicken heads were!
He also helped by licking the
feathers and gore off the hedge
clippers that we used to decapitate
the chickens..what a good farm dog
lol.
He was so tired after his busy
morning, and the bath that
followed, that hes been sleeping
most of the afternoon! He woke up
long enough play a little but the last
time i went and snuggled him he
opened one eye like..oh please..
dont you have anything better to do
than wake me up! Silly pup :)
head here. He was soo good while
we were working and was in
heaven when he found out how
tasty chicken heads were!
He also helped by licking the
feathers and gore off the hedge
clippers that we used to decapitate
the chickens..what a good farm dog
lol.
He was so tired after his busy
morning, and the bath that
followed, that hes been sleeping
most of the afternoon! He woke up
long enough play a little but the last
time i went and snuggled him he
opened one eye like..oh please..
dont you have anything better to do
than wake me up! Silly pup :)
Zach.. Hey mom.. dad missed some meat in here!
Bear.. How gross!
The cats.. Hey share dude!
Bear.. How gross!
The cats.. Hey share dude!
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