overrun with roosters!!

[Farmgal101]

My very first egg ended up in egg wash for pork cutlets, so while it got used, we couldn't actually TASTE it. Had to wait until we got multiple eggs before I could consider something like deviled eggs or egg salad.

My usual egg preparation is 1 egg soft poached in a bowl of soup noodles. No better way to enjoy a yolk!

Thx,for the suggestion...My mom added it to meatloaf,but you cant really taste the egg in there this was my first time trying there eggs alone besides last year...and it was not bad

 

[chickendreams24]

You all are killing me! LoL

When i went to someones farm thats how we did it.it is quite a disturbing process,they knew what they were doing and grew up on a farm.the only thing we did diffrent ws dipped them in boiling water to get the feathers off.If i do ever decide to do it i would probably do the upside down cone method...unless there is a more humane way..i would want the best for the chicken.

Okay I just want to say my Mom grew up and was forced to help butcher chickens when she was a kid with the hatchet method. Being very sensitive it traumatized her.

In my opinion, the hatchet is the most humane because it's the quickest death for the chicken. That being said, if I were doing it on my own, I'd probably use the cone, but still decapitate. I just don't think I'm coordinated enough to try the hatchet and stump.
Depending on the chickens, we'll either scald (dip into the hot water) and pick them, or skin them. I gut them all. The old hens get skun out, kept whole, and either frozen or refrigerated to be canned. (I have an electric pressure cooker now, so I am probably more likely to just freeze them and cook them one at a time. Once I have used most of the meat - legs, breast, wings - I put the carcass back in my pressure cooker, add veggies and spices, and cook for another 1 1/2 hours to make bone broth. Once you've tried that, you'll never want to buy broth again. If you don't have a pressure cooker, you can cook them and make the broth in a crock pot. It just takes longer.

We scald and pluck the ones we plan to use for roasting or grilling.

We use the cone after talking to a person that was formerly a butcher in a shop about the kindest way. She said that is the kindest way she knows. It also makes for the best meat. When you slit their throats in the cone they are calm and restrained from being upside down. The blood doesn't flow to their brain basically so they're unconsious almost instantly. Because their hearts still beat they bleed much better(blood makes the meat spoil more quickly and be tougher) so the result is a more tender bird that is wonderful! Also because we take the time to walk around with and calm each bird before placing in the cone they are calm and not fearful. A fearful animal leads to tough meat.

We have left processed birds in the fridge up to 8 days before freezing or using. However after 3-4 days resting generally we would freeze or use them. We had gotten busy that time. Note: we did not get sick and have never gotten sick from our words or their eggs.

The speaker and butcher who talked to is about bird processing is also a published author. Meredith Leigh Ethical Meat. It's a good read. We saw her speak at a Mother Earth News Fair and she was wonderful.

Any age bird can be eaten it's all in how you cook them. We processed 4 birds last weekend. A rooster(almost 2 years) and three cockerals (1 10-11 months, and two from last fall). We cooked the rooster a couple days ago. Made homemade chicken and dumplings. Yum! We also roast and bake them. Younger birds can be fried or grilled. @Faraday40 (how old of birds do you guys grill?)

Heritage birds are different to cook than commercial broilers.

I dont eat any eggs but i would like to...I notice that the store bought eggs do taste different as i have tried a egg a while ago that they laid..but now knowing that ill probably eat them more often./Oh...i was scrabbling and feeding the eggs back to them

Oh goodness I'm so glad you're going to start eating your eggs!

I don't have chickens (I'm here because I live my fantasy through everyone else's chickens!), but I can sure help with cooking! And it's great to start learning how to cook at your age so you don't eat like crud when you go off to college...speaking from experience...

Scramble it! Scramble it plain or with other stuff. I like to scramble in cottage cheese halfway through cooking. If any of you are suspiciously squinting at me right now, don't knock it until you try it!

Fry them up, especially "egg hole" fried eggs, and would work well with a single egg.

Learn how to hard boil eggs if you haven't done it before since you can make many things with them from there. From deviled eggs, to egg salad for sandwiches, perhaps a Cobb pasta salad or just a regular Cobb salad, slice them up and layer in a sandwich, or just sprinkle them with a little salt (and/or pepper, paprika, etc) and eat them straight.

Frittatas! Oh, man. Nothing beats a great frittata, except maybe a souffle. I like mushroom and asparagus frittatas, but you can pretty much throw anything in there and it'll likely taste amazing.

Souffle... Some recipes are easier while other recipes needs puff pastry or a tube of crescent roll dough on hand, so this is probably something to think about for next time.

And this next one is more complicated and requires some specialty ingredients a lot of folks don't have access to, but the premise is easily adaptable. Oyakodon, a delicious Japanese tradition, basically sees onions cooked in a broth seasoned with soy sauce, then thinly sliced chicken is added in and cooked as well. After the chicken is cooked, beaten eggs are added in and cooked just a smidge. The whole thing is then poured over rice. It's amazing. I eat it at least once a week

That sounds yummy! The last one sounds very interesting.

For anyone who east only the breasts and legs I urge you to use the rest of the carcass. On the back by the hip area slightly above it are two small chunks of meat on either side of the body. I forget but I believe these were compared to a beef tenderloin, but don't quote me on that. I'd have to check my notes.

Anyhow they're smallish depending on the bird and they are kind of oval shaped. Like an oyster. And they are called oysters (idk if that's just the colloquial term or not) anyway they're one of the most flavorful and tender pieces on the chicken and I find tend towards an almost steak flavor sometimes. They're delicious.

Especially for a heritage breed bird if you just eat the breast and legs you miss a lot of the other meat. The body has a lot of meat on it too.

 

[bobbi-j]

I will agree that the cone method is a... calmer method. (Searching for the right words here, and not at all trying to be argumentative.) But the hatchet method is a quicker death for the chicken. It bleeds out that way, too. As I stated before, if I had to do it myself, I'd probably use the cone. I have never tried the broomstick - I don't feel confident enough for that.

 

[Hyroler]

That's alot of roosters to get rid of even if you are giving them away.I suggest inviting bunch of people over for fried chicken dinner.

 

[Hyroler]

My Dad was expert at wringing there necks.He would just grab chicken by it's neck give a quick twirl and it was over.I myself don't have it in me to kill a chicken but I'm first in line for a chicken dinner.

 

[N Sully]

The video I watched clearly showed how to do the broomstick. Does not take a lot of strength, but you do need a slight depression in the ground where the chickens neck lays.
On roosters for me, it seems tough trying to get through all the feathers and poke/cut the blood vessel accurately. Maybe if someone showed me how to do it I would feel more confident trying that.