Processed one of our Roosters for my BD

Seeing as how it is my Birthday today we bought 9 beautiful fruit tree's and then processed one of our roosters for dinner tonight

Nice work Ray
I'm raising some chicks at the moment and hope to do this as well to the roosters when they are big enough, I have never processed a chicken before so it will be interesting, the whole point was to be able to show the kids that food just doesn't come from the supermarket, now I just have to make sure the kids don't get attached to them or give them names lol
Happy Birthday mate, hope you have a good one

AndyH said:

Nice work Ray
I'm raising some chicks at the moment and hope to do this as well to the roosters when they are big enough, I have never processed a chicken before so it will be interesting, the whole point was to be able to show the kids that food just doesn't come from the supermarket, now I just have to make sure the kids don't get attached to them or give them names lol
Happy Birthday mate, hope you have a good one

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Hey mate
its an awesome thing to do and the taste is great, if you need a hand in any way give me a yell I have some friends at work that cant come to the idea of the killing and have said they are going to name them, I save them the hassle and name them stuff like Caeser salad and nuggets and chicken Kiev hahaha

Ray, wondering if you've seen this chook breed.

https://www.selfsufficientculture.com/threads/sommerlad-aussie-bred-heritage-meat-birds.1312/

They might do well free ranging at your place particularly in the summer months.

Read that article
I love the Brahma's and the flock we have is such a bunch of beautiful birds, https://www.backyardchickencoops.com.au/blogs/learning-centre/breed-profile-brahma
they are huge we have about 6 boys and 13 hens thus far breeding age, this will be our constant production line
apart from the roosters we get off a close friend
The brahma is such a beautiful looking chook also

Looks great mate, well done!

Processed 15 Roosters on Saturday been resting in the spare fridge for a couple of days, decided to make a nice Home Made Rooster noodle Soup, magic magic magic, taste was mindblowing, tender meat and tasty as all hell

I know what you mean about taste, Ray.
The taste of the modern commercially farmed chook is certainly nothing like any chook used to be.
I recently bought a tray of turkey legs.
They are a low cost cut because turkeys have those horrible big cartilage tendons in their legs which have to be removed before eating. They're a bit like mini whale baleen!
So the only real way to cook them is slow cooking so the cartilage can be slipped out easily.
I wasn't sure what to expect the taste would be like. I really thought it would be strong being turkey legs.
But it was quite mild, more like the chook of my childhood.
I really do hanker after the old taste of protein.
Far stronger, more substantial, more satisfying particularly when bbq, roasted or grilled.
I think this is why we want to eat so much (too much) protein.

I cooked Sarah a Roasted Rooster tonight, big Brahma boy, and she has never had home grown and processed birds before and she was absolutely blown away with the taste, did it in an Oven bag for just under an hour, stuffed with Lemon and Herbs and rubbed with Garlic oil and Oregano,,,,,,, blew her away, so so so tender, and the taste, she was in love

I have four roosters here that I must introduce to our freezer. I like the idea of producing our own meat but just don't know which one to keep and which to eat. They each have their own personalities. What if I choose the wrong one.
Decisions, decisions.
I did the same with our first lot of quails. Got to know them and now it's too hard to choose which ones to eat.

Owlonthewing said:

I have four roosters here that I must introduce to our freezer. I like the idea of producing our own meat but just don't know which one to keep and which to eat. They each have their own personalities. What if I choose the wrong one.
Decisions, decisions.
I did the same with our first lot of quails. Got to know them and now it's too hard to choose which ones to eat.

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I look for the most aggressive roosters to go first, but obviously the ones we keep we also want to look awesome and do their jobs, \i dont attach so all good, we have 30 young Brahma babies just out of the incubator

What do you guys think is the most humane way of putting them down prior to processing?

Probably a sharp knife across the throat - they wouldn't feel much and pass out quickly.

We do have a neck breaker attached to a post and whilst it is a safe and easy way to kill a bird I'm not too sure they bleed out properly and they can sometimes linger a little longer than the chop or slice.

We a galvanised cone fixed to the same post (as the neck breaker) and it's as easy as popping the bird in pulling the head out and despatching the bird without trying to hold it in place - much safer and cleaner than the chopping block I reckon.

I place them in the cone, let them settle takes a minute and then a Strong fillet knife and head off in a second, they are in custom holders wiggle for a brief second and done

This looks awesome! We arent ready to eat any of our hens yet. Howeer i know my hubby and brother are looking forward to getting some meat chickens. I Do love the eating part but hopefully the daughters and myself are brave enough to learn aswell.

KimmiKuddlefish said:

This looks awesome! We arent ready to eat any of our hens yet. Howeer i know my hubby and brother are looking forward to getting some meat chickens. I Do love the eating part but hopefully the daughters and myself are brave enough to learn aswell.

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its easy and you wont regret it, the taste is awesome and I love the fact that we look after the chooks from whoa to go,
my girlfriend had never done it and was a weapon when she got into it

Ray Speed said:

I place them in the cone, let them settle takes a minute and then a Strong fillet knife and head off in a second, they are in custom holders wiggle for a brief second and done

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Best place to buy a killing cone (if that is the correct title for them, so I heard)? My homemade one did not work well . Or anyone have success making one? Oh hang on... I have leftover galvanised iron from a water tank. Hm.

Guy M. said:

Best place to buy a killing cone (if that is the correct title for them, so I heard)? My homemade one did not work well . Or anyone have success making one? Oh hang on... I have leftover galvanised iron from a water tank. Hm.

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we just used traffic cones from work, the large Brahma's fitted in them perfectly and being tuff they washed off easy

I have one of the "humane chicken dispatchers" the neck breaker that attaches to a post as Mark mentioned. It breaks the neck but not the skin and is adjustable for different sized birds. The theory is that once the neck is broken the bird will bleed into that cavity when you hang it - when done properly, it certainly does that. I have one of these because I have weak hands and find it difficult to hold a bird and use a knife. I didn't go the way of a killing cone because with the dispatcher, there is no mess until you start the eviceration. So, I get to pluck without a heap of blood everywhere! Then take off the feet and cut off the head - that is the start of the messy (and smelly) bit but it is all kept together and over in as short a time as I can manage. I open the body right up (butterfly) because it is easier on my hands.
I also only have chinese silky bantams and so the bodies are much smaller than your average meat birds - it may have something to do with why I have trouble handling them during dispatching?? They also mostly have charcoal or black skin and flesh and I hate to say it but I have not been able to get over that and so do not eat them myself. Since we have dogs, I use them for dog food. Is that a waste? I'd be happy to go vegetarian I think.