Monday 19 August 2013

Butchering Roosters - Any Tips?

Over the weekend we butchered 3 of the 8 roosters we have been rearing for meat.

 
I have to say that it was not as smooth sailing as it has been in the past and I am glad there were only 3 to do.  I am not sure why I felt weird about it but I did, my chicken butchering mojo was off.
The last lot of chickens we butchered were a specific meat breed and had been sexed so they were all females.  As I discovered today female chickens are much easier to deal with when it comes to plucking and gutting.
The large tail feathers and well developed wing feathers were a bugger to deal with and additional dunking in the hot water did not seem to help at all.
Then when it came to gutting them I discovered that their body shape, with a much smaller opening between the end of their breast bone and tail, made it a lot trickier.  It was really tricky trying to get the insides out easily.
In the end these 3 ended up skinned and split into portions as it was easier but I would love to know if anyone has any tips or tricks for butchering roosters.  Or have you encountered the same isues?




3 comments:

  1. Hi Fiona, I've only ever butchered roosters, so I can't compare, but I remove the little tip section of the wing that is un plucked because of the feather removal Issue and I pluck the tail as much as I can and if its too hard I cut it off... I have medium sized hands and I have to force it into the cavity. It's a bit tricky but it helps to open the sides as much as possible and ease gently. They don't end up like perfect shop chickens but they work for me.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Phoebe. I think cutting the tail and wing feathers off is the plan. There is not much meat there anyway.

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  2. No tips sorry - but I'm interested to know there is a difference in ease between roosters and young meat birds. Thank you. I'm yet to kill my first chook - but have offered to help a friend next time they process some. I'm keen to watch a few others before I tackle it myself.

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