[Small Plot Big Ideas]

The free ranging chickens we inherited with our place (White Plymouth Rock I think) have been leading us a merry dance for some time now. They're not fenced at all (no foxes here I'm told) so we're not completely sure on the total numbers - maybe 7 or 8 hens with 1 cockerel - but on two occasions now a hen has obviously decided to sneak off only to return much later with a clutch of 7 or 8 chicks

Needless to say, with around 14/15 unexpected additions we are now seriously considering the idea of fencing them in and only letting them out on our own terms! 

However we have to face reality and I know that the laws of probability mean at least 50% of them will be males so I'm trying to get ahead of the game now by planning for despatching the unwanted ones for Sunday dinner or the freezer

We're complete beginners at this so we've never done any of the kill, pluck, gut, dress process but I think it's only right that we should face up to it at some point.

Is there anywhere in the Northumberland / North Pennines area that runs courses on this sort of thing?

If not then what are our other alternatives to get this done properly other than asking the ever-popular (and over-worked) "friendly local farmer" of course....

[bloomer]

its a bit of a trek but there's a course at Dan and Rosemary's place just north of Dundee in October I believe...

[doganjo]

Is there anywhere in the Northumberland / North Pennines area that runs courses on this sort of thing?

If not then what are our other alternatives to get this done properly other than asking the ever-popular (and over-worked) "friendly local farmer" of course....

There must be a local smallholders association down your way, try googling, or your local library.  I'm sure they'd help and advise.  Rosemary's course (£90???) plus travel makes it very expensive Sunday Dinner!

[Rosemary]

I'm sure they'd help and advise.  Rosemary's course (£90???) plus travel makes it very expensive Sunday Dinner!

Thanks, Annie

[suziequeue]

Yes - I thought that a course might be suitable as you are on such a steep learning curve.


Have you managed to make contact with any chicken people near you who might be able to help out in the short term whilst younger al you ducks in a row? There are usually a few people around wherever you are.


Try Googling chicken courses. There are plenty about. There was one in Derbyshire or thereabouts that I was looking at recently.


And yes - don't expect to come out of the whole chicken enterprise any the richer!!!! The joy of knowing the provenance of your food and eating those lovely fresh free range eggs far outweighs any financial concerns in my book.


Whatever you do - don't post on this forum for the best method of dispatching chickens. You're unlikely to become any the wiser and there are already plenty of threads with extensive discussion of this matter!!!!

[doganjo]

I'm sure they'd help and advise.  Rosemary's course (£90???) plus travel makes it very expensive Sunday Dinner!

Thanks, Annie

No offence - just being my usual calculating self    Be honest - it would be costly! But maybe I got your price wrong 

[Rosemary]

But maybe I got your price wrong 

It's not our price - we're merely hosting it and providing light refreshments.

[gerpsych]

Hi, it is not as difficult as you might imagine. A search will quickly show some video tutorials on dispatching them. I found the The Girls' Guide to Guns and Butter an excellent site with lots of very good tutorials such as this one ..  http://girlsguidetobutter.com/2010/08/chicken-butchering-101/

[chrismahon]

That is an excellent presentation, setting aside the religious angle. We never remove the oil gland as it has never been a taste problem -perhaps we will in future. Under 20 weeks and a shot in the head, just behind the eyes with a full limit air pistol will do the job. As they get older the skull thickens and you are less likely to get a kill in one shot.


One thing in the presentation I disagree with strongly. I never get used to killing. If anything it gets worse.


One thing in the presentation I agree with strongly. If you eat meat you should kill it yourself. If you can't do that you should be a veggie.

[SallyintNorth]

There must be a local smallholders association down your way

If only!  That's one reason there are so many of us on here!

I think most friendly farmers would show you how to do it so that you can take it on yourself.  Most would not be keen to dispatch all your cockerels for you.

You should also be aware that there are a number of techniques in use for doing this job, each has its fans and its detractors. 

There are a number of threads already on here which you can search and read - look for 'slaughter' in the 'Poultry and Waterfowl' board.  You will see that discussion can sometimes get a little heated 

Well done for planning ahead on this and not burying your heads in the sand, hoping the problem will go away 

[Victorian Farmer]

well i Carnot do it ether so  haw i get round it is i get 25 to 30 cock birds  and phone one of my Christmas pluckers up .They take half and i get the rest free so 30 went out . i got back 12 .I Carnot be live that folk dint take this up .At Christmas there was only 25 cock birds at the sale  and they fetced top WAC .So if you Pict up 50 cock birds free and kept feeding a good hit at Christmas .

[Small Plot Big Ideas]

Thanks for all the replies.

I've searched fairly extensively both here and elsewhere online so I've already seen the wide variety of suggestions for different methods which only confuses things even more. My mistake is obviously thinking that one way is better than all the others!

I'll definitely give the Northumberland smallholder group another try though but they are heavily biased around the north of the county so not that close to me. Also, my first impressions from their website was that they are more interested in crafting activities lately because their events page mentions things like "corn dollies" and "birch weaving". There are no in depth courses for livestock or poultry mentioned for example but maybe that is just a failing on the website content rather than the group themselves.

In the end I suspect that  I'll just have to pull myself together and get on with it the best I can!

[SallyintNorth]

Most of the dates on write-ups are 2005 thru 2009!  There are one or two mentions of members achieving things this year, and the association seems to have had stands at a couple of shows in June, so there must be some activity going on - but it doesn't sound much, from the website.   Maybe they'll have a presence at the Bellingham Show?

[Small Plot Big Ideas]

Perhaps they are not very tech savvy? If I decide to join then that would be something I can help with...


Even though it's more than an hours drive from us, I was considering a trip to the Glendale Show again this year because we enjoyed it so much last year so I'll have a chat with them if I find them.


Alternatively perhaps it's time to start a "North Pennines Smallholders" group? 

[SallyintNorth]

Alternatively perhaps it's time to start a "North Pennines Smallholders" group? 

I'm game!