Comments on Cultivating Home: How to Butcher a chicken ( the easy way)

Thank you for the great step by step directions! I...

2011-10-01T19:25:29.230-04:00

Thank you for the great step by step directions! I have butchered chickens before but it has been about 20 years. This was a great refresher for me, and great info for my wife and 9 year old daughter whom have never done it before. My 15 year old Culinary studying son grossed out LOL! Thank you again!

NICE!!! I am going to need a great dane and a...

2011-09-27T11:16:13.790-04:00

NICE!!!

I am going to need a great dane and a chicken Now.

ARRRG.

Seriously though, Thanks for this. I love Chicken, i am not sure i wanna go this far though. LOL. i bet this smels pretty Gnarly when it's all going on , i can handle all kinds of sights but smells really get to me. I am thinking i'd need an additional bucket for the operation.

Absolutely amazing. Not only did I learn how to bu...

2011-09-15T21:45:27.641-04:00

Absolutely amazing. Not only did I learn how to butcher our chickens, I read a beautiful story. It leaves me feeling as though I came to your home and visited. The music was a joy and set the tone. Made the process feel less barbaric I think. Really cool. Thanks.

I was so happy to find your site. This year my hu...

2011-09-03T06:54:37.131-04:00

I was so happy to find your site. This year my husband and I decided we needed to raise our own chickens for meat and eggs. We used to do this years ago when our children were small but then quit as the children grew up and moved out. I needed a refresher course on butchering and was so happy to find your site while searching the net for info. Our youngest son and oldest grandson will be helping me today.
It was also so refreshing to read about you and your family and that you are raising up a Godly family. May God Bless you in everything you do.
Thanks for the wonderful site.
Liz B.

Some of my kids love butchering chickens. I only ...

2011-08-04T17:58:40.852-04:00

Some of my kids love butchering chickens. I only like the wrapping for freezer part. We skin ours.

Thanks for the blog with pictures on How To Butche...

2011-06-30T18:16:08.309-04:00

Thanks for the blog with pictures on How To Butcher a Chicken. While my husband and I have both helped pluck feathers we hadn't a clue about the rest. Now we do. Next Friday, guess what we will be doing? Yep, Gonna put some chickens in the freezer.

I know that this post is a toddlers age of years l...

2011-06-23T09:47:55.034-04:00

I know that this post is a toddlers age of years long, however I have to comment.

First of all, while I've longed for acreage to raise our own chickens- what chickens don't need acreage? I'm sure they need more than the postage stamp size yard we currently have. Anyway. Thanks to your post, I'm rather thankful for Sarah, the lovely Amish woman that butchers our chickens every month for us. Yes, I think I must take Sarah some cinnamon rolls. Although, I have to say, they way you wrote about it really did make it seem like that big of a deal. Then my brain starts working and the thought of the sticking of hands, and swooshing of chickens kind of becomes a little too real for me.

Secondly, my sweet seven year old boy was intently reading along with me. Do you want to know what his comment was? He said nothing until the end and he said, "Those poor eggs."

The eggs? Seriously? Well, it is time for me to get my chicken- that Sarah so graciously defeathered and butchered for me- in the oven.

great article. I bought a plucker that will pluck...

2011-05-13T22:55:45.683-04:00

great article. I bought a plucker that will pluck 2 birds in 12 seconds. the problem I'm running is the scalding water gets pretty nasty. It takes a long time to re-heat, so can't figure out solution. help?

just an update!!! we butchered 17 hens and pressu...

2011-02-28T08:52:50.358-05:00

just an update!!! we butchered 17 hens and pressure cooked it down (45 min-4 times) and then canned 17qts of chicken and 16 pints of amazing broth(75 min-5 times). couple hens had a few small yolks inside. (two actually had eggs! -but they were egg-breakers so their time had come)
it was a long day, but even un-salted, the meat is amazingly delicious!!!

books n such say that there are a million ways to ...

2011-02-25T13:37:57.635-05:00

books n such say that there are a million ways to tell if a chicken is still laying like her skin color and eyes n all this randomness. but when u have a flock of 50 r so, this wud b impossible. i believe in the old fashioned "feel her up" method. there are a set of bones on her "backside" just underneath her vent. when they stop laying regularly these bones jus close up. hold the chicken in one arm and reach carefully with the other (dont wanna get too invasive-ick). i go by if the gap btwn the bones is not over two fingers width, or suuuper flexible, they r no longer laying. -if the space is smaller than an egg, well, the egg aint gettin thru. logical rite?

i have also heard that if regularly laying they get a "river" down the fluff on the backside. not too sure about this one tho...

so, go feel up ur girls! lol.

How do you 'feel up' a girl to see if she&...

2011-02-23T16:32:37.719-05:00

How do you 'feel up' a girl to see if she's still laying?

hi, jus happened across ur blog and found ur humor...

2011-02-23T14:45:42.916-05:00

hi, jus happened across ur blog and found ur humor in a kinda gross situation wonderful! i will partake in my first butcher in only a few days and wanted to b sure i knew what was going on. and now i will! luckily i am only supposed to have to b in charge of the hot water/cold water situation, and the canning. o- and i had to feel up my girls to figure out who was no longer laying eggs. ha. do u kno much about canning the meat? my girls r a couple years old and this will b the first time i pressure cook. let alone pressure cook chicken. any hints??
thanks!!!

Thanks for this - I am making chicken noodle soup ...

2011-01-09T18:17:50.609-05:00

Thanks for this - I am making chicken noodle soup and don't have to worry about that stupid rooster spurring me when I go in the coop. Your blog made processing a chicken idiot proof! Thanks!

Your blog shows up near the top of the results whe...

2010-09-25T20:52:07.924-04:00

Your blog shows up near the top of the results when you Google "How to butcher a chicken." I'm glad it does, this is excellent info written with such good humor. I love how your whole family works together throughout the process.

I have always wanted to raise chickens for eggs (not allowed in my city), and I'm adding chickens for meat to the wish list. My husband is gifted at cutting up whole fryers and has no fear of guts, I figure this if just a few more (gross) steps.

I loved your website! We butchered our first chick...

2010-09-20T01:14:43.247-04:00

I loved your website! We butchered our first chickens yesterday. I prefered the baseball bat, my husband preferred the hatchet/noose method. I have a couple questions. Do chickens always have eggs forming inside them, even when they are done laying? I thought some of my hens were done but they still had eggs in them. Also, do you know why the liver would be yellow? I didn't make broth out of that hen just in case. Thanks again for your fabulous website!
Melanie

Love this blog! I butchered my first rooster tonig...

2010-08-29T00:21:46.051-04:00

Love this blog! I butchered my first rooster tonight. nicked the intestines! :/

When we butcher hens, my wife and her folks save a...

2010-05-16T23:06:54.697-04:00

When we butcher hens, my wife and her folks save all of the unlaid eggs. They have done that for ages. The yolks are salvaged and mixed with flour (and whatever) and rolled out like a pie crust. The "pie crusts" are laid out to dry. When sufficiently dry, they are rolled up individually and then sliced into noodles of whatever width one chooses. Excellent eating wherever noodles are used.

I just butchered two of the "spare" roos...

2009-09-29T15:30:39.058-04:00

I just butchered two of the "spare" roosters today. The hens are much happier now! Thanks for your comments - sorry to not have read your post before I butchered. I didn't do the "hot water" method, so my plucking was a bit slow and I didn't hit the 20-min mark on the first, however was much faster on the second one.

My kids enjoy the fun of having the chickens as pets, so it was a bit hard on them, however my daughter dutifully brought me both roosters with tears in her eyes. By the end of the second bird, she was asking about the complete anatomy of the bird and actually seemed much better with things, having participated with me.

Thanks for doing this!!! I have butchered a few ti...

2009-08-22T21:15:21.283-04:00

Thanks for doing this!!! I have butchered a few times with my inlaws. I was pregnant every time and could barely keep from throwing up. BUT my father in law sort of did it some odd way and I never really knew what we were doing. also, I like the baseball bat idea, if I have to do it myself, I'm not comfortable with a hachet. I love the photos! these really helped me!

I wanted to say THANK YOU for posting this! We ju...

2009-07-30T14:01:48.498-04:00

I wanted to say THANK YOU for posting this! We just butchered a dozen of our chickens this morning, using your instructions as our guide. I'm glad to say that everything went well and we are very pleased with how easy it was. Thank you again for sharing!!

Hi, thanks for your tutorial; it's excellent. ...

2009-07-18T01:34:42.059-04:00

Hi, thanks for your tutorial; it's excellent. The photos are so helpful.

We are butchering 75 chickens tomorrow afternoon, and I can't remember when I should feed them last; should I cut them off, or just feed them tomorrow like usual?

We hired a contractor for the butchering: $4.00/bird which seems pretty reasonable to me, and they come to my place and do the whole process from start to finish; I end up with bagged chickens.

Thanks again for a really useful tutorial. I'm going to check out your renovation next. (And I loved your sarcasm!)

I love your sense of humor. Im the same way. This ...

2009-07-11T17:29:33.384-04:00

I love your sense of humor. Im the same way. This is my first time since I was a small child killing chickens ugh. My daughter is six and husband is well always at work so Im left to things on my own. Your page helped me remember how it needed to be done thank you tons. -Amy

We decided to do away with the rooster that was a ...

2009-06-28T18:53:59.024-04:00

We decided to do away with the rooster that was a pest today and found your posting on how to take care of him. It was great and exactly what I was looking for. I love the sarcasm, it helps with the whole situation. Not big on killing animals unless it is necessary.

Mind you, this was our FIRST time butchering a chicken but have had the thought in our minds for 8 years since we first started raising them. Of course the eggs from our chickens are the BEST ever. I can't eat eggs at a restaurant when we go out for breakfast anymore.

We are going to try out the ATK recipe - yummmmm! I love those people and their techniques and recipes.

I'll post again later after we have dinner :) From my husband and I ... thank you! Leah in Washington

Just a note about the crop... in your post, you sa...

2009-04-16T09:48:00.000-04:00

Just a note about the crop... in your post, you said is store rocks, etc and grinds up food. That is what the gizzard does. The crop is just a temporary storage pouch. Food, is metered out from there down to the other digestive organs.

Thank you for your very instructive site. Yesterd...

2009-02-25T08:24:00.000-05:00

Thank you for your very instructive site. Yesterday I butchered one of my two roosters and it did not go very well. He is in the fridge but there is still one more to go. I am sure, after reading this it will be MUCH easier! Since I don't have kids with a net, I go out to the chicken house at night and grab the chicken and put him in a cage ready for the next day. I am really looking forward to chicken soup! This one is so stiff, I think I will use a pressure cooker.