Reducing the Rooster Population

This spring I hatched a small batch of chicks with the intention of using some of them for meat.  Of the four chickens, three of them were roosters.  They were all pretty well behaved and none of them crowed very loud or often.  Some of them were rough with the ladies, but since I had separated the roosters from the hens, most of the hens have recovered from their time spent with the boys.  I could have kept all three roosters to use them in a breeding plan, but the truth is that only one of them really fit what I was looking for in a breeding rooster.  The one I decided to keep was the largest of the three and he crowed less often than the others.  Eventually he will go back in with the girls for the winter just so he won't be too lonely in the rooster pen by himself.

The two roosters that went into the freezer were pretty good sized as they were both nine months old and had definitely reached maturity.  I waited until it was nearly dark outside and the chickens had gone to roost for the evening.  I had no problem catching the roosters and they stayed calm as I prepared them for butchering.  Both deaths were over in minutes and I thanked them both for nourishing me as they passed.  With the most stressful part of the process out of the way I started on the work of cleaning the birds.

The first step in cleaning a chicken is to remove the feathers.  When I set up for butchering, one of the first things I do is set a large pot of water to heat on the stove.  Once it gets to 160 degrees it is hot enough for scalding.  To scald a chicken I simply dunk the freshly killed bird in the hot water and swish it around for a couple of minutes until the feathers start to pull out easily.  Most of the feathers come out by the handful, but the wing and tail feathers can take a little more effort.  Once I got the carcasses as clean as possible I brought them inside and began to part them out.  I usually divide them into leg quarters, breasts, and wings.  I also save the backs and necks for stock.  One of the things that I like best about butchering my own chickens is that I can keep any of the organ meats that I want also.  I usually add the heart, liver and gizzard to my stock and it adds an extra depth to the flavor.

When it was all said and done I ended up with several pounds of fresh home grown meat for my freezer.  These two roosters will provide me many delicious meals and for that I am grateful.  Raising my own meat from chick to freezer is a lot of work, but knowing how my meat was raised is important to me.  I know that these roosters led a good life and the end was quick and as painless as possible.