The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Dizzycow on November 13, 2011, 06:15:18 pm
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I'm a total wimp, thought I could do it but I can't!
Does anyone know of anywhere in Fife where I can take my redundant cockerels alive and kicking and have them returned to me oven-ready?
:(
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you have my greatest sympathy.. I couldn't have done it without my OH standing by with the seymour book (and an airgun, which was used when I didnt think they were gone quick enough). I managed the gutting and dressing, but it took my HOURS!!! I've almost gone off chicken!! And it has certainly put me off raising from day old chicks for a while - 4/4 were cockrels!! I think a course is the way forward or support from someone who has done it before lots - perhaps you will have luck that way? best luck, Fiona
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How many have you got DC?
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Thank you for your kind words, Fiona! I really thought I'd be able to do it, hats off to you that you have.
I've got three big boys who are surplus to requirements, Womble. Christmas is coming......!
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I was looking into this recently, as I decided to hatch some and knew I wouldn't be able to dispatch them myself. As it happens I only got 1 chick in this lot and will be able to keep it whatever the sex. However before they hatched I found a couple of places that do pheasants and was going to call them nearer the time and see if they would sort out a cockeral or two. One place is in Lindores and has a website: http://gamecart.woodmillshootings.com/ (http://gamecart.woodmillshootings.com/)
The other place is called pluckin magic and is in Rathillet. They don't have a website but i'm sure googling it will give you a phone number. I would be interested to hear how you get on.
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Doh! Never thought of the pheasant angle, and I live right in the middle of a shoot! That's excellent, thank you so much. I'll look into it tomorrow and let you know the score!
Cheers.
:wave:
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Hiya, Well three isn't too bad - I was worried it might be 33!!
You have my utmost sympathies here. I had to steel myself with whisky the first few I did, but after that it gets easier. The thing that worried me most to begin with was causing unnecessary suffering, but once I had been through it a few times, and was convinced in myself that I was being as humane as possible, it wasn't so bad. Unfortunately we've had a summer of breeding cockerels (10 boys and two girls hatched this year!!).
The pheasant shoot option is a good one, but how about getting some pheasants to practice with? (i.e. birds you don't know personally!) What we do with pheasants and spare cockerels is to open up the skin at the breast, and take out the breast meat and legs. This yields 90% of the meat, for about 10% of the effort of plucking and drawing. Pheasant recipes are also very good for cockerels, since they are far more 'gamey' than your standard supermarket chicken.
You're not too far away, so give me a shout if it would help for somebody to give you a hand.
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You're really kind, Womble, thank you!
I'm slightly annoyed now that I got a friend to dispatch two young cockerels (they were still inside, too young to go out) and now they'd be nice and big! If I'm going to drive to a slaughterhouse then I may as well make it worth my while by taking a few.
I'm regularly presented with a brace of pheasant during the season, and always take the breasts, but never the legs. I'll certainly bear in mind the gaminess of a cockerel, I've got an astonishingly lovely pheasant recipe which uses dates, wine and loads of cream...... it's delicious!
I'm sure it would get easier if I just plucked up the bloody courage in the first place! Maybe one day.....! If I ever feel that I'm ready I'd really like to have someone on hand who has experience, I'll need to give you back that bottle of (coq au) vin!
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i had the same thing first time how it was explained didn't work out
after a few times it gets easier
also its right easier to skin than to pluck but when you cook rap in foil
to keep moist
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Nice crispy skin.... mmmmm! Worth the effort, surely?!
:yum:
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When I worked for the commercial poultry industry I dispatched quite a few chickens so its old had to me. Now pheasants, dose anyone know how much the game dealer is paying for a brace of pheasants and any estates locally that would be willing to sell a few brace for a little bit more than game dealer prices I'm Dunfermline way.
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Err, me.
I'll find out and get back to you about prices. An average day here, usually a friday, is over 150, all go to the game dealer except a brace per gun and beater.
Would you like to swap a few brace for turning my three blokes into oven-ready chooks? How many brace per week or month or season are you looking for?
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I was looking for maybe five brace just to put in the freezer, could do this twice a year I will do your birds for you if you want cheers.
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Yaaay! I can get you five brace. Will you really do my cockerels? I can maybe even get you your ten pheasants in an oven ready state if that would suit you? Will need to ask the powers that be......! When would suit you to come by, if that's ok with you? I'm home by 3.15 every day.
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Great all I need is a price I don't mind plucking the pheasants and yes I will do your chocks no kidding
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Dizzycow,
Can I have your recipe for phesants with dates, wine, cream
thanks
Sally
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Dizzycow,
Can I have your recipe for phesants with dates, wine, cream
thanks
Sally
Yes, I was going to ask for that too, please.
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Right. Here goes. (I can't remember where I found the recipe, so this is what I do every time from memory of the original!)
Take 1 pheasant for every 2 people. Cut the whole pheasant in half down the backbone, easier than it sounds, I use a breadknife.
Wass the halves carefully, and pick out any splinters of bone which are around. This is a bit painstaking, but essential! Pat dry on kitchen roll.
Using a big pan on a fairly high heat, melt butter and add oil and brown the halved pheasant, two or four at a time, pretty thoroughly on both sides, then lay in a roasting dish, good side up.
Using the buttery oil juice left in the pan, fry up thinly sliced onions and add to the pheasant along with a big handfull of thyme or sage leaves, salt and pepper, and a big handful of dates. (Stone out, cut into 4 or whatever your preference.)
Deglaze the pan with a can of cider, add about a pint of chicken stock and pour over the pheasant. Add more liquid if required to bring it up to just over half way up the meat.
Cover the dish very tightly with tin foil, cook in the oven for about 2 hours on around 150, it should bubble very gently rather than boil furiously. (Check it every 40 minutes or so, to make sure the liquid level doesn't go below about half way up the meat.) By the end of the 2 hours you want the liquid to be about 2cms deep. Add about a pint of cream, shoogle it all about so that it mixes in well with the liquid, best achieved by shoving the pheasant around. Put it back in the oven for about 20 minutes, ideally a wee bit hotter as a nice bubble at this stage is required to reduce the creamy sauce.
Obviously everyone gets a half a pheasant, if you have an aga reducing the creamy sauce a bit while you're dishing up is a good idea. (Thicken it up with cornflour if it's too runny.) Pour a ladle of sauce with lots of onion and dates over the top.
I sprinkle it with freshly chopped thyme and serve it either with warm crusty bread or mashed potatoes.
I produced this one new year for about 16 friends, one of the husbands was completely enamoured of it. He announced that it was the nicest dish he had ever eaten, which went down incredibly badly with his wife!
Like I said, it's from memory of an excellent recipe, but seems to still work, I think it's the best way to eat pheasant! I'm feeling very hungry now!
:yum:
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Mmmm, this sounds delicious. I'm not keen on dates so might try it with prunes instead.
I can't always get hold of pheasants so might go with chicken too. I think this will be on the menu this Sunday.
thanks
Sally
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I made it once with dried apricots, which was lovely. If you like them, that is! Oh, I forgot the bacon! Bacon lardons should be in there too! Fried up before the onions until nice and brown, then added with the cream. Doh!
Hope you like it!
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I can cope with the plucking etc. (although not over keen on it to be honest!) but even after all these years, cannot despatch a bird. I know a kind retired farmer, and get on the phone to him to come and do it ....and even then I cannot watch, but am fine once he hands me the dead bird!!!
Think I will have to take my cockerels to the market - usually quite brisk sales there for cockerels, and they all seem to sell.
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Really? Where do you live? I'd much rather sell them. It's a bit of a hike to Lanark, which I think is our nearest market, not really worth my while and I'd probably come back with loads more.....!
I can deal with pigeons and pheasants and wild duck no problem, but balk at the thought of my dealing with my own.