Culling and prepairing

[Eggtastical]

I know it has probably been said in many other posts and am sorry if that is the case.

Some of my girls are now 5 years old, and at a guess no longer laying or very little, and with the price of feed as it is and the fact we use them for eggs, i cannot see a point in feeding them when i dont see them as a pet and getting no eggs out of it.We have had chickens put down at the vets if they have been egg bound but that isnt cheap. So I am thinking at the end of the year/autumn of culling most of my flock ready for new hens next spring.

I dont like the idea of doing it but I know that it needs to happen, we have a family friend who has said he will help. I know after i have done one i should be ok and more relaxed but its also a thing that will never be ok but hey-ho.

I have a couple of questions which i have seen answered but seeing so many different opinions i thought i would just ask from scratch.

I have seen different methods of culling and found the two methods which would be coning and slitting the throat or head off completely.

I know both is practically the same but would you say one method is better than the other? I am leaning more to head off but dont know for sure.

Also after the chicken is 'gone' and you've prepared the bird do you have to worry about rigourmortis? I saw a couple of youtube videos that said you should let your chicken cool in a fridge or cool box for a 24-48 hours before freezing or using because of rigour. My worry is that after you've done all this and the chicken is wasted when it is as stiff as a board.

What i am for certain is that I know it has to be done and the fact i dont want to waste the bird after it is done.

I just hope it doesnt make me seem like a bad person or uncaring, but i want them to in a way still feel useful even though they arent laying eggs but can still feed us.

Eggtastical

 

[Nupe]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with eating your older hens. Some people treat their chickens more like pets and are unable to eat them when their productivity drops off but chickens are livestock.

As far as which killing method is best, the best is the one you can do and do quickly. Once blood is cut off from the brain, everything the chicken does is simply nerves. For me, that is the hardest part. Scalding and plucking is quick because I have a plucker and once the chicken is "naked" it looks like food so smooth sailing from there.

You may find the older hen's meat is too tough to eat so rather than waste it, do some research on bone broth. In the case of making broth, the older the bird, the more flavor and the more nutritious. Then you can can it for easy storage.

Don't feel bad. We do get attached to our birds, but ultimately their purpose is to provide us sustenance and your hens had a much better life than anything in a grocery store.

 

[AshlyMommaWard]

I just read a great thread on here about cooking method by age, and how no chicken has to be tough, the older the bird the slower and wetter the cooking method.
As for you're actual question, I plan to use a cone, and slit throat, because my grandpa taught me not to let the bird flail around, or ittl bruise the meat. My own birds are 5 months away from freezer camp (all the extra roos) but I intend to eat hens as they age.
I did just read a very good point on aging hens or "battle-ox-hens" as the poster (wish I remembered his name?!) Called them. The experienced and maybe not so productive hen is an important mber of a flock, (attempting to quote poster-) just as you don't want just a bunch of teenageers to be the only humans, they're pretty and fertile, but they lack wisdom. Maybe consider keeping an old girl or Two, to help educate the next generation.

 

[Eggtastical]

Thanks for the advice, i think for me it will most likely be hatchet method but with the aid of a cone.

We was offered a couple of roos late last year because a farm up the road had so many but turned them down as i dont like the idea of having fertilized eggs but am thinking now i may ask if the offer is still available and try my hand at them first before I do mine, just to make sure i dont bodge anything up.

Are there any people in the UK on here that cull their own flock? I ask just wondering if you are local or reasonable distance, can i come and watch how its done?

I think i will do what you say AshlyMommaWard and keep say five of my still laying hens over winter and so when i get new come spring they will help the newbies.

What I will do though is while there is less of them in there I will think about making a better fenced off area for them, because at the moment when not in their run I have some portable fencing that I use for them as the garden has a lot of holes in the hedge, railway line, and full housing estate next door so dont want a hen down the road or on the tracks.

Sorry I can ramble quite a bit and loose focus

 

[Nupe]

I don't live anywhere near you but here is the best thread I've found for learning to process. I still reference it sometimes. Be warned: it has lots of pictures.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-eviscerating-cutting-up-your-chicken-graphic

 

[Eggtastical]

Thanks Nupe, I'll take a look.

Yeah Georgia would be an extravagant trip to see a chicken culled

Mark

 

[brianbeth84]

Following to save for the future...

 

[muddpuppy01]

The way I do it is to use a small rope to hand them upside down and hold the head while slitting the throat missing the spine and keep holding the head until movement has stop.

 

[wvhomesteader]

We do the cone and slit method. We found it took longer to bleed out if we just axed their head. My husband says once the spinal cord has been severed the heart stops and you want it to continue to beat for the extra few seconds to pump out the last of the blood.
I don't know the weight of that argument because it was something passed down to him from who knows where.

I say find a method that you're comfortable with that is also humane to the bird.
Unfortunately, that may take a hen or two.

YouTube has a lot of videos to help you learn the process before actually doing it.

 

[TXchickenchick]

Hi! I just wanted to throw in my story, hoping it might help. I have only butchered one chicken but was absolutely shocked at how easy (physically easy!) it was with the broomstick method.

It took me about two weeks to get up the nerve to try while my 5 cornish X just kept getting bigger. I decided on cone and neck slit. Put the big guy in the cone snd stood there holding my knife shaking for probably 20 minutes. Finally let him out. Next day, same thing. I decided i needed something easier. So I spent the night reading about the broomstick method. Next day I got everything together, grabbed my rooster, carried him around til he was calm, held my breath, gently laid him down and quickly put the broomstick across his neck and (with my breath held and eyes closed) pulled once. He didn't make a sound and when i felt this all over shudder starting I realized I had done it. I put him in the cone and went inside to cry a little and stop shaking.

I have nothing to compare this to, obviously, but there was so little mess. I easily cut off the head over the bucket while still in the cone and he had bled out into the neck skin so very clean compared to my expectations.

Now, if I can just figure out a way to get over the sadness I felt at physically taking a life, I could do this all the time.

Good luck. However you choose to dispatch your birds i hope everything goes smoothly!