So, we're raising 18 chickens for butcher this summer. They are about 10/12 weeks old now. Today when I put them to bed, my 4 year old daughter wanted to help me. She was out in the run herding them in while I opened the door for them when one of the roosters attacked her. This was one that I had noticed was a bit aggressive to the other chickens but this was the first time I've seen him attack a human. I went into Mamma Bear mode and flew at him, chasing him away and cursing him out. He fled into the coop and I took my daughter out of there. When I came in and told the rest of my family what happened, my older daughters told me that they had been attacked as well by this same chicken. My husband and I decided that he had to go early - that night in fact. I didn't feel like keeping him in a small crate (neither did I have any to spare) until butcher time, so we decided to butcher him tonight. I mean, I've watched lots of videos and I used to help my mom butcher chickens all the time. One chicken shouldn't be too bad, right?
Anywho, we put the kids to bed, I got my buckets and knife ready. My husband and I went out and brought him out of the coop. Unfortunately, I couldn't find my brand new filet knife I had bought for this purpose (we were planning on butchering all 18 chickens by ourselves so I had been acquiring the things we'd need), so I told my husband perhaps we could do the broomstick method. At this time, I didn't think I could go through with slicing his throat as my knife was not the sharpest, and I figured we could just pull his neck. So, I told my husband how to do it (he hadn't watched the videos), and he pulled ... halfheartedly. The chicken was not dead. He stared at us, quite calmly, and I'm like, "I don't think he's dead." So ... I decided I would hold the chicken while my husband cut off his head with the axe (which was the tool we were using). My husband wasn't too sure he could get a clean and accurate cut (I mean he's never done this before or used an axe much, and I didn't want him to chop off my hand). So, I decided, I would have to do it myself. I pulled too hard. The body came away from the head and I dropped it. It went all over the place - our kitties were as excited as we were appalled. Anywho, I eventually got it into a bucket, plucked it and gutted it, knowing if I didn't do it, nobody else would.
But having done our first chicken, I don't know if I can do this. If I had someone here with me who knew what they were doing, maybe I could, but I don't know if I can do this 17 more times. We're thinking of sending them to the butcher. This was recommended to us by a local farmer who raises his own meat chickens. I don't know a lot of people who do this themselves anymore - at least near us. Any words of wisdom would help. Thank you.
Anywho, we put the kids to bed, I got my buckets and knife ready. My husband and I went out and brought him out of the coop. Unfortunately, I couldn't find my brand new filet knife I had bought for this purpose (we were planning on butchering all 18 chickens by ourselves so I had been acquiring the things we'd need), so I told my husband perhaps we could do the broomstick method. At this time, I didn't think I could go through with slicing his throat as my knife was not the sharpest, and I figured we could just pull his neck. So, I told my husband how to do it (he hadn't watched the videos), and he pulled ... halfheartedly. The chicken was not dead. He stared at us, quite calmly, and I'm like, "I don't think he's dead." So ... I decided I would hold the chicken while my husband cut off his head with the axe (which was the tool we were using). My husband wasn't too sure he could get a clean and accurate cut (I mean he's never done this before or used an axe much, and I didn't want him to chop off my hand). So, I decided, I would have to do it myself. I pulled too hard. The body came away from the head and I dropped it. It went all over the place - our kitties were as excited as we were appalled. Anywho, I eventually got it into a bucket, plucked it and gutted it, knowing if I didn't do it, nobody else would.
But having done our first chicken, I don't know if I can do this. If I had someone here with me who knew what they were doing, maybe I could, but I don't know if I can do this 17 more times. We're thinking of sending them to the butcher. This was recommended to us by a local farmer who raises his own meat chickens. I don't know a lot of people who do this themselves anymore - at least near us. Any words of wisdom would help. Thank you.