All My Roosters

[catjac1975]

Well Said . I am not opposed to the food aspect - we are avid lovers of venison which my hubby brings home, cleans and processes. But being a "country girl" of only a few months now, and of a soft-hearted nature, I am trying to decide if it's worth it to me to grow my food or just give away what I don't want. I would love to hear what your "process" is, I don't have a clue how to do it - and I would much rather have the advice of a pro than to just read about it.

The first time I bought chicks, 35 years ago or so, it was from Murray macMurray. I love their birds. I orders 25 heavies and somehow sent them too much money. Instead of a refund I got....MORE CHICKS. 37 if i remember correctly. So when the straight run order matured, and 15 or so started crowing in unison, we had no problem sending them to the butcher. It cost $.25 a chicken back them. And yes, it did seem really cheap for all of that work, even then. We were forever hooked on home grown chicken. However, the price for slaughter runs $4.50 a bird to $8.00. We have not done it in a few years. I do not have the stomach for the kill myself. I am surprised at how many young women around here do their own. One women who came in her barn boots and farm gear, handled my big roos like a pro. She told me not so long a go she was a Boston girly girl in high heels. Loves her new life.

 

[Just-Moxie]

I am a city girl learned to do country things. Think "Green Acres"

I grew up with city buses, taxis, Macy's, skyscrapers, and all that fun stuff.
Now, we raise our own chickens for eggs and meat.
We didn't even get chickens till 2011.

 

[Cindy Purvis]

Yes - all but one it seems - but not intentionally. Went to someone that was getting rid of all his chicks - they were in a pen with about 50 more and my friend just chased them down and grabbed them. At 4 weeks old we just couldn't tell.

 

[Ridgerunner]

What if there are pictures. We each have our own ways of doing this, some fairly different than others. The details can be all over the place but the basics are pretty much the same. Since your husband can clean a deer he can handle a chicken. You might look through some of these for some guidance. They have pictures!

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/248648/meat-section-notable-archives

There are many different ways to dispatch the chicken. You are looking for a way that you can manage. I grew up handling axes, mattocks, hoes, and hammers. I can hit what I swing at so I’m very comfortable using a hatchet, a section of tree trunk, and two nails driven in a Vee to hold the head. A killing cone is quite popular, and there are many ways to make the cut or take the head off with these. There are other methods. You do want them to bleed out.

Then you decide if you want to pluck or skin. There are benefits and disadvantages to both of these.

Next you decide how you want to prepare the carcass. Do you want it cleaned and whole or cut into pieces? What pieces? I use drumsticks, thighs, wishbone, and breasts for the table. The wings, neck, back, gizzard, heart, and feet are saved for broth. The dogs get the livers. When cleaning them I have a separate bucket for certain parts that get fed back to the flock. What little is left is usually buried in my orchard or this time of year in my garden to become fertilizer. If I time the butchering to when I’m starting a new compost pile I’ll put that little bit at the bottom instead of digging a hole.

You are still making decisions. At what age do you butcher them? The chicken you buy at the grocery store are babies, 6 to 8 weeks old. They are very tender and pretty bland flavored because they are so young. The older a chicken gets the more texture it has and the more flavor it has, especially cockerels. You have to adjust your cooking methods to the age. The older they are the more you need to cook them slowly and with moisture to keep them from turning to leather.

Each cockerel is different and keeps its own schedule but a general growth pattern is that somewhere about 16 weeks they normally have put on some meat. Up to then they are mostly bone. They grow fairly rapidly until maybe 22 to 24 weeks, then really slow down. If you are buying feed for them, you are not getting your money’s worth after that unless they forage for practically all their food.

Can you keep more than one rooster? With living animals it does not always work out perfectly but people do it all the time. One of the big keys is room, which you have. It’s always possible two roosters will fight to the death to determine which will be boss, but what almost always happens with your breeds is that they decide which one is boss, then they work together to protect the flock. What normally happens is that they split the flock into harems and each establishes his own territory. They may intermingle peacefully at times but generally they stay in their own territories. They can even share a common coop but separate coops is even better. And just because they are always separate and stay in their own territory doesn’t mean you know which rooster fertilized the egg. Both hens and rosters can be pretty sneaky about that.

 

[journey11]

Cindy, if you check around your local buy/sell/trade ads, Craigslist, or some even have local Facebook groups...you might be able to find someone downsizing their flock for winter and get yourself a couple of hens or pullets already in lay. That way you won't miss out on a year of fresh eggs. Might be able to unload your surplus roosters on there too.

 

[Cindy Purvis]

Cindy, if you check around your local buy/sell/trade ads, Craigslist, or some even have local Facebook groups...you might be able to find someone downsizing their flock for winter and get yourself a couple of hens or pullets already in lay. That way you won't miss out on a year of fresh eggs. Might be able to unload your surplus roosters on there too.

Yes - I have been watching these - most of what I've seen lately though are roos. But thanks.

 

[Cindy Purvis]

What if there are pictures. We each have our own ways of doing this, some fairly different than others. The details can be all over the place but the basics are pretty much the same. Since your husband can clean a deer he can handle a chicken. You might look through some of these for some guidance. They have pictures!

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/248648/meat-section-notable-archives

There are many different ways to dispatch the chicken. You are looking for a way that you can manage. I grew up handling axes, mattocks, hoes, and hammers. I can hit what I swing at so I’m very comfortable using a hatchet, a section of tree trunk, and two nails driven in a Vee to hold the head. A killing cone is quite popular, and there are many ways to make the cut or take the head off with these. There are other methods. You do want them to bleed out.

Then you decide if you want to pluck or skin. There are benefits and disadvantages to both of these.

Next you decide how you want to prepare the carcass. Do you want it cleaned and whole or cut into pieces? What pieces? I use drumsticks, thighs, wishbone, and breasts for the table. The wings, neck, back, gizzard, heart, and feet are saved for broth. The dogs get the livers. When cleaning them I have a separate bucket for certain parts that get fed back to the flock. What little is left is usually buried in my orchard or this time of year in my garden to become fertilizer. If I time the butchering to when I’m starting a new compost pile I’ll put that little bit at the bottom instead of digging a hole.

You are still making decisions. At what age do you butcher them? The chicken you buy at the grocery store are babies, 6 to 8 weeks old. They are very tender and pretty bland flavored because they are so young. The older a chicken gets the more texture it has and the more flavor it has, especially cockerels. You have to adjust your cooking methods to the age. The older they are the more you need to cook them slowly and with moisture to keep them from turning to leather.

Each cockerel is different and keeps its own schedule but a general growth pattern is that somewhere about 16 weeks they normally have put on some meat. Up to then they are mostly bone. They grow fairly rapidly until maybe 22 to 24 weeks, then really slow down. If you are buying feed for them, you are not getting your money’s worth after that unless they forage for practically all their food.

Can you keep more than one rooster? With living animals it does not always work out perfectly but people do it all the time. One of the big keys is room, which you have. It’s always possible two roosters will fight to the death to determine which will be boss, but what almost always happens with your breeds is that they decide which one is boss, then they work together to protect the flock. What normally happens is that they split the flock into harems and each establishes his own territory. They may intermingle peacefully at times but generally they stay in their own territories. They can even share a common coop but separate coops is even better. And just because they are always separate and stay in their own territory doesn’t mean you know which rooster fertilized the egg. Both hens and rosters can be pretty sneaky about that.

Thank you for the input - If I'm gonna be a chicken farmer, I gotta learn to do it all .

 

[catjac1975]

Yes - all but one it seems - but not intentionally. Went to someone that was getting rid of all his chicks - they were in a pen with about 50 more and my friend just chased them down and grabbed them. At 4 weeks old we just couldn't tell.

I am glad no one cheated you intensionally. I bought 12 lavender orpingtion chicks from someone on BYC. 11 were roosters. I do not think that was unintentional.

 

[Cindy Purvis]

I am glad no one cheated you intensionally. I bought 12 lavender orpingtion chicks from someone on BYC. 11 were roosters. I do not think that was unintentional.

OH wow! We do live and learn, do we not?

 

[Beekissed]

Well Said . I am not opposed to the food aspect - we are avid lovers of venison which my hubby brings home, cleans and processes. But being a "country girl" of only a few months now, and of a soft-hearted nature, I am trying to decide if it's worth it to me to grow my food or just give away what I don't want. I would love to hear what your "process" is, I don't have a clue how to do it - and I would much rather have the advice of a pro than to just read about it.

I'll have a vid here soon...very amateur, I assure you, with my crude, but effective, methods of processing. Just need to get a minute in time to edit it. It's fast and easy and you'll never want to eat chicken from the store once you've had your own. No comparison in flavor...and it's like having a larder in your back yard. Accessible, clean, pure meats.

I've kept two males with a flock of 28 hens to keep them both in mating opportunities. There should only be one fight between them...one will win and the other will play second fiddle from there on out. After that they live very well together.