Are chickens easy to butcher yourself?

[Roob]

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I'll buy a decent knife before trying again.

 

[Cochaura]

I found some really good threads on this site and online with detailed, step-by-step instructions for butchering a chicken. Unfortunately, I got too attached to the bunch we have now not knowing which were hens and which were roos when they were born and we can't keep all the roos. I found a place 1.5 hours away that does poultry processing and I took a few of them there today I did that in hopes that next time, I'll prefer to skip the drive and we will do it ourselves.
I know one thing we will do when the time comes is use the cone where you put the chicken in upside down. I've seen a few ways in my searches and this seems to be the 'easiest' to me.

 

[jjparke]

Very easy to do. In fact I "take care of" a lot of old hens and roosters around here that owners dont want to deal with. Pressure cooker all the way with the older birds though. Just dive into it its not that hard.

 

[JerseyHen]

I just did 6 this morning. First time. It was easy (and I don't hunt). I hung them upside down using what my DD now affectionately calls "chicken cuffs": nylon rope with two loops for the feet tied with a slipknot. I hung a garbage bag before I put them up and cut under the ear. The bag kept things very neat. Cones would keep them from flapping though. Then we had a station for scalding (propane burner and water pot), plucking, eviscerating, rinsing, chilling. I looked at a lot of Joe Salatin processing videos on utube. He makes it look sooooo easy. I found the crop removal to be the trickiest part. By the 6th one we felt like experts though. Good luck to you!