[Sudanpan]

So, the two chicks hatched out by our copper maran hen in September have matured into cockerels. They are maran/cream crested legbar crosses and have grown into very handsome birds.


Once it was obvious they were males I knew they were destined for 'the pot' but have been waiting until they have shown signs of being a pain. That time has now come and the hens are being jumped on by the youngsters, but then being seen off by Mr Legbar who takes over - but the hens are therefore being harassed quite a bit.


I just have to get my act together now and stop avoiding doing the deed. I've dispatched hens before when they have been ill but this is different.


Once dispatched should we hang the carcase in its entirety for 24 hours before gutting and plucking?


Thanks
Tish

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[Q]

I have a couple to do too that I have been putting off.   I hang mine before gutting because the weather is cool. In high summer I would consider gutting them first if I didnt have a cool place to hang them.

Do you know what your birds weigh?

[Hevxxx99]

Up to you really, but I find dry plucking while they're still warm far easier, so do that asap. If you hang them unplucked, you'll probably need to wet pluck, which is fine, but I find it rather messy and wet feathers smell!

Gutting is better left while they hang really but can be done immediately as well as long as you have somewhere hygenic to hang them.

[Sudanpan]

Do you know what your birds weigh?

I don't really have a clue what they weigh - they are certainly bigger than the copper maran hens. Unfortunately my chickens think I am the devil incarnate so always run away from me so I haven't ever been able to just pick them up. It's going to be quite a challenge actually catching these two!

[bloomer]

catching them is easiest if they go in to a house at night...


wait till they in bed shut the door and quietly lift them off the perches...


well thats how i captured the two I had to do in december...


because i took them somewhere else for the dispatch (I needed a lesson as it was my first time) they were plucked and gutted immediately on dispatch...


still tasted really good as a very posh soup (they were too bony to roast)


still have all the legs and thighs in the freezer to have soon as well yum...

[HesterF]

I'm plucking up courage (no pun intended) to dispatch two or three cockerels and two drakes. I'm struggling with the cockerels because they're all so beautiful and big (pure breed Orps) but they should make a good meal. My 8 year old son is struggling with the drakes - one was the first ever hatching but, sadly, is completely confused, thinks he's a cockerel and is not the best looking drake. In fact, my son has threatened to become vegetarian over the whole issue - even though I don't think he would actually notice any of these birds absence. I think they will just disappear and I'll transfer the names onto other birds and hope he doesn't notice. I've got a friend coming over to help me learn the broomstick method next week. A few days psych myself up for both the deed and the dressing. I was planning to pluck and gut straight away and then just bung them in the fridge or freezer - would that not work?

[Stereo]

Yes Hester! that's what we do. All in one go, it's fine. Some like to leave them hanging for a bit for extra flavour. But we just do it all in one go.

Has anyone done small breeds like cream legbars and exchequers? I've got a good few to go. The main job of processing birds is plucking and gutting so I'm wondering about just killing them and butchering out the breast meat as you would with a pigeon. Is it worth doing the whole carcass of a CLB? Is there anything on the legs and wings? Seems a waste but then most times they would be culled as soon as they were obviously male and we like to honour our birds by at least letting the boys live until they are ready for the pot.

[ScribbleUk]

You could just skin them rather than pluck, then with a good pairing knife and poultry shears carve them up as portions - breast, thigh, leg, wing.  Some view it as wasteful but it saves a lot of time and with a good quality knife most of the meat can be removed.

[Sudanpan]

Well we did it today. OH caught one and I caught the other. We each swiftly did the deed to send them to the great hen house in the sky (!) and, to cut a long story short, we have a chicken curry on the stove!


It was a real education to see how much feathers versus substance the birds were - from the 2 together we got about 1kg of meat in the shape of the breasts and legs. Originally we had thought we would roast them but they were so scrawny once plucked we just took off the breasts and the legs.


I suppose we shouldn't be surprised - although the hens (marans) are relatively big, dad is a legbar so not a contributor of meaty genes. We are now thinking that we should replace our legbar cockerel for a meat breed cockerel so any further offspring might be a big heftier.

[Anke]

We never pluck/gut/roast our surplus cockerels, as even the big Marans are still not very well endowed in the breast department at 6 months, but usually have really good legs. OH just takes skin (feathers and all) off the breast and the leg, then cuts meat off and takes legs out and that gets curried (usually marinated beforehand too) or coq-au-vined. No gutting at all - takes less than 20 mins per bird.

I have got three that have started to crow at all hours of the day and start at 5am...

[Stereo]

Anke, may bit a bit gruesome but can you describe the process? I'm very familiar with plucking, drawing etc. and I can skin a rabbit in 10 seconds but how do you skin a chicken? Where do you start?

[Anke]

Well, some jobs on this smallholding are delegated to the OH... but he says he just makes an  incision under the skin on the loose bit just above the breastbone (at the neck end) and then slots the finger under then just uses a sharp knife to cut any membranes. He doesn't skin the whole chicken, but goes as far as under the legs and breast.

We normally would hang them straight after killing to let the blood draw out.

[Marches Farmer]

I suppose we shouldn't be surprised - although the hens (marans) are relatively big, dad is a legbar so not a contributor of meaty genes. We are now thinking that we should replace our legbar cockerel for a meat breed cockerel so any further offspring might be a big heftier.

I'll probably have a 2013 Speckled Sussex going spare next month.  A good utility breed (good egg-laying caability and a good carcase)  I've kept the best two cockerels of each of my breeds over the WInter so I have a spare in case anything unfortunate occurs over the WInter.  All have survived this year (not much chance of a lie-in on this farm!)

[HesterF]

After days (weeks/months) of psyching myself up, the first batch went today and it was so surprisingly calm. In fact I think my friend (who is a vet but hasn't dispatched poultry for meat for twenty years) had more concerns over the actual dispatching that I did (she said having kids has changed her). She showed me with the first, I sort of helped with the second and then did the third (who was a sick duck who'd got to the point where the end of inevitable) by myself. I was just relieved it went so simply - although not sure I'll ever get completely used to it.

She also helped me with the plucking (drake still not that clean) and dressing. The dressing was actually harder than I'd thought it would be - even with the use of her scalpel from her vet school dissection kit.

In conclusion, I'm relieved it's over but looking forward to coq au vin and roast duck! They're both resting in the fridge - will one be OK to eat tomorrow?

[Sudanpan]

I'll probably have a 2013 Speckled Sussex going spare next month.  A good utility breed (good egg-laying caability and a good carcase)  I've kept the best two cockerels of each of my breeds over the WInter so I have a spare in case anything unfortunate occurs over the WInter.  All have survived this year (not much chance of a lie-in on this farm!)

Whereabouts are you Marches Farmer?