The Rooster

    This last spring I got 12 chicks from my local farm store. I wanted to try raising egg laying hens with the kids to have some fresh eggs for us to eat but most importantly to have daily chores for the kids to do. The chicks that we got had been sexed, which I guess is quite difficult to do on chicks, and were all to be hens. Well as the summer turned into fall we noticed that one was different from the rest. We got a rooster. At first we didn't mind him and we let him hang out with the girls but over time we decided that it was his time to go. He stated getting a little aggressive with the kids, we preferred that our eggs didn't have the blood spot that can be seen when they are fertilized by the rooster, although I see not harm in eating fertilized eggs, and we would never hatch any of  our own eggs so there was no purpose for the rooster on our farm. He was just eating feed and potential harm to the kids and hens which we didn't need.

    When I was young we raised chickens and butchered them but I have not butchered a chicken in my adult life so my dad offered to help us. We took the rooster out of the coop and took him into the heated shop with all the kids around to help and watch. Dad cut off the head and then dunked it into a pot of scalding water. He held it in there only a moment and then we could easily remove the feathers.

   The kids were hesitant to help remove the feathers but were interested to see how easily they pulled out of the rooster. We removed as many of the feathers as we could then dad used a lighter to lightly burn off the small pin feathers that we were unable to pull.

     The nest step was to cut off the legs.

 Then dad opened up the rooster along the lower part of the abdomen and pulled out the insides from the rooster. Dad has done this hundreds of times before so he knew what to feel for and how to remove it. The kids were interested to see all the parts and we gave them a short/simple anatomy lesson.

Lastly dad removed the windpipe and gave the rooster a good wash and cooled the meat down. Being that this was not a meat breed bird there is not a lot of meat on it. I currently have him in the freezer and am thinking of using him in some chicken soup.
   I was intimidated  by the thought of butchering the rooster but after watching dad do it I saw that it is not a gruesome or difficult job to do. On the farm animals have a purpose and this rooster was not needed for reproduction so he will help feed us a good wholesome meal. Thank you rooster.