Butchering Chickens at the Farm
I felt like a real farm girl Saturday. Let me tell you all about it (well maybe not all, that would be a bit too unpleasant)
About 6 months ago I did something I hope I’m smart enough to never do again. I ordered a straight run of chicks. A straight run simply means I purchased a bunch of chicks and I wouldn’t know tell they got older if they would be hens or roosters.
I was buying these chicks to resell once they became older to people at our church who want meat that’s not soft like what we buy from the store. They’re from the Phillipines and Africa and they want their chicken to be more chewy.
But I didn’t feel good about selling them a rooster when they could just pick some up on Craigslist for free and they were starting to terrorize my poor hens. Can you imagine 12 roosters in a pen with hens? It wasn’t pretty, people.
So I asked my wilderness loving son, Seth if he would do the honors of butchering them. And he said, “Yes.”
Butchering our own chickens was new territory for me. We have never wanted to butcher and eat the meat from animals we’ve raised. Russell wasn’t interested in the butchering process and I didn’t think I could eat the meat. (It goes back to my childhood when mom and dad had “butchering day” for the chickens. I would hide in the bedroom because I didn’t want to see it happening but then my curiosity would get the better of me and I’d do a little peeking though I never could eat the meat.)
But never say never.
Several months ago I watched a video on how to butcher a chicken, so I’ve been psyching myself up to do it sometime. This video is quite humorous in my opinion. If you watch it, you’ll see why.
I could tend to get a little too detailed in my post here, so I think I’ll shorten it up and just show you a few pictures.
Getting ready…
I do have to tell you that just as Seth was going to take care of the first rooster, another one down the line started squawking and flapping its wings. While it was doing that, it went to the bathroom and I’m not kidding it shot out about 4′ through the air and hit Seth. Not a little bit either and not in just one spot. I guess it was getting its final revenge. It was rather bizarre that of all places for it to actually land, it landed on Seth.
I killed the very last rooster, at least I tried, but in the end Seth had to finish it off.
I skinned one chicken before I went inside to clean them as they came in.
I did it all folks and was pretty much okay through the process. I even decided to make it for supper. Two chickens since they were kind of puny looking. I cooked them along with some roasted potatoes and was looking forward to having our own farm-raised meat.
But it was a different ending than I expected. The meat was so tough that it was not very edible. The breast meat was actually okay but not the dark. I even had to wrestle with it just to carve it and after everyone had a piece on their plate I caved and said, “There, everybody can get their own meat, if they want more.”
So my next attempt is to take the second chicken that I cooked but that we didn’t touch and try cooking it in the pressure cooker. Then I’ve read you can soak them in a brine.
And if that doesn’t do the trick….
Anybody want some chicken?
I think I’m just fine for the infrequent times we eat chicken to just get it in the nice little packages they sell at the store.
My husband is sure this is an old cowboy recipe. I couldn’t find it online so I’m giving it to you from him in case you want to try it for yourself.
Cowboy Recipe for a Free Range Chicken
by Chef Russell Wallace
In large pot place:
1 free range chicken
1 old boot
onion
carrots
seasonings: salt, pepper, garlic
Bring to boil. Cover and simmer for 2 hours. Remove from heat. Discard chicken and eat boot.
Bonjour!
Linking up with: The Prairie Homestead Barn Hop
13 Comments
Lily
Lol! This is hilarious! My guess is that your chickens are about the same as the wild turkey my husband faithfully supplies our family with. I keep the dark meat on the bone and use it to make stocks and eventually soups. I use the breasts in casseroles or with gravy-type recipes. I agree with Russell…the boot could very well be more tender than “wild” birds.
Chris W.
Maybe it would get tender in a crock pot? We used to have chickens just for fun and a dog killed one – I gave it to my friend. I wouldn’t have any idea how to even start 🙂
Elisabeth
Chris,
We’ve always given ours away, too, but we were venturing out this time around because we had so many. Tonight I put the chicken in the pressure cooker and it definitely helped.
Thanks for commenting!
Joane
😀 HAHAHAHA!!!!! This is even funnier than when you told me about it!!! Ok, farm girl, where’s your pink scarf? That lady in the video is crazy! How can she be so loving and sweet on the feathered friend literally coaxing it to death!
Elisabeth
I wore the handkerchief in lieu of the scarf. 🙂 It actually worked out pretty good. When the chickens were flying around trying to get away from us, it kept my hair from getting dirty.
Yes, that lady cracks me up because while she’s talking so softly, she breaks the chickens neck and then pops it off. What?! The scarf was just a little over the top, too. But… it was an informative video. haha
Hattie
Darling i love the looks u are officially African!…. like the scarf, and the chickens too i wish i was there, as well. love you & miss you H
Elisabeth
I really wish you were here to help me eat all 10 roosters! 🙂
S. Strite
I recently cooked one of our roosters overnight in the crockpot and it turned out really good – tender, but not mushy. Make sure you put in enough water or the top will be dry. I put in tomato sauce, water, garlic, cumin, chili powder, etc. I couldn’t stay out of it while shredding it, and it made excellent quesadillas!
Elisabeth
Thanks for the tip. I think I went wrong when I tried to roast it. It sounds like it needs moisture and time to get it really tender. I’ll definitely be trying this.
Stephen Kjeldsen
I think the worst part is when you chop their heads of and they keep running around :b But I will on a farm aswell, and we have the same opinion about eating animals we have raised ourselves, especially lambs but when it comes to chickens who have served their time, and have putted new small chicks in our garden, we feel somewhat fine about it.
– Gonna try the Cowboy Recipe by the way 🙂
Elisabeth
Don’t forget the most important ingredient – an old boot. 🙂
Collins
Made me smile — reading about an old boot as an ingredient. A very worthy post. Worthy of good feelings.
BILL
We raised chickens,for food,and I watched my dad chop the heads off,then we put them in boiling hot water for about 10 minutes.This made the feathers easy to pull out.