D Day!

[Crazy Chickie]

Well ,looks like the boys are going to get a few more days. OH is going to be late back from work this xmas (he works away) and so we'll be having xmas dinner at new year. Either that or he'll be chopping chickens the moment he's off the plane.
We decided to go with chopping off the heads as mum (whos done this kind of thing before) advised it was the quickest and easiest. She had a terrible experience with wringing ducks necks and stuck to the axe from that day on. Its over nice and quick. Thanks for the tip on using hoods YB, did you do the chop aswell? How long did you let the meat rest? Any extra advise would be welcome as this is my first time with this sort of thing

[yoanbob]

yes we chopped. there wasnt as much blood as expected but the twitching thing was pretty grusome and went on for 5 mins, he held it over the bucket to catch the blood, (i had dissapeared by this point) for about 15 mins then got on with plucking.
he thinks chooks will be easier to pluck, so good luck.
advice? go out for the day!

[CountryFayre]

to stop the flapping, use an old road cone upside down and drop the bird neck first into it and leave until the flapping stops.

[Mrs Dobby]

So, know where to find all the missing cones now do we?? They're all in the hands of those who have poultry!

[yoanbob]

they sell things like that at on line chook shops that will do the road cone thing without stealing. trouble is were poor. also, if we had experience with the bleed thing that is proberbly the way we would go.
my dad used to put a turkey in an old pair or trousers and when it came out the other side chop its head off.
but i didnt want them to be stressed before hand, so we went for the hood and chop thing.
at least i know it was quick and they wer'nt aware.
the longer they are in the freezer the better i feel and the more i'm looking forward to the meat, so great tip CF. thanks.

[CountryFayre]

...they sell things like that at on line chook shops ...

yes they do. You can get stainless steel killing cones that bolt on to the wall but prices start at about £40. You can legitametly buy road cones from various places like viking, not that they are cheap either! Or you can do your bit for the environment and drag the one out the hedge that has been there 3 years and recycle it!!

[Crazy Chickie]

One of the boys is off to solitary confinement tomorrow. Wish me luck for saturday. Any last minute words of advise? CC

[Crazy Chickie]

Didn't chop the chook. Weather was terrible here, howling gales and pouring rain. We having to be doing the deed outside due to lack of byre space (we just have a tiny shed) so it wouldn't have been very wise to try and go ahead with the slaughter. So looks like the boys will have a wee while longer to fatten up.

[yoanbob]

bless CC.
good luck and let us know how it goes.

[Crazy Chickie]

I'm not being a big wimp, honest

[CountryFayre]

I quite agree CC. No point doing it in the cold and wet as you can't pluck properly with stiff numb fingers, the bird cools down faster too. And to be honest the sooner you can pluck it, the easier the feathers come out. Do the wing feathers first as they are the hardest to pull out.