As an added bonus, we really do enjoy our chickens, and especially our chicks!
The last purpose they have is meat.
Even though I don't need more than one rooster, half the chicks that hatch out are usually male, so this gives us a chance to have some great crockpot meals. Feed is expensive and I don't want to feed any chickens that aren't being productive. (Although in the summer I 'free range' them a lot so they have a chance to have lots of greens & bugs.)
It takes me about 4 months to determine if a pullet is male or female. One year, for whatever reason, we kept 3 roosters all year long because they were all kind & got along really well with each other. Typically we keep only one rooster. I really like the one I currently have because it is kind and also because it is white, which makes for some good coloring with my chicks. So I plan to keep him as long as I can.
A word about mean roosters. In my opinion, there is absolutely no need to put up with a mean rooster. I've heard all kinds of ways people have dealt with them. We kill a rooster, as soon as we realize it's mean. Out of all the roosters we have had we have had more nice ones than mean ones. I'm not sure why some are mean. But they can be very aggressive when they are.
The above photo shows 2 of my chickens from the end of June hatch of this year. They were both roosters. I would have gotten rid of them anyway, but they were both mean, so we ate them quite some time ago!
However, we eat all of our roosters & unwanted hens now, and my purpose in this blog post is to share the best way we have found to prepare a non-meat bird for eating.
In case you aren't aware: When buying live poultry you can buy meat birds or egg layers. The purpose for meat birds is to fatten them up in a short period of time & kill them for meat. They are quite different from egg layers. Egg layer chicken is even more different from what you might find at a grocery store. If you were to just try baking it, (I speak from experience!), it will be so tough that it is basically inedible.
Back to the killing! We don't have a lot of chickens, so we simply cut off the head with an axe.
The first time we killed quite a few chickens at once, we plucked them. That's what I grew up doing.
However, since we don't really eat the chicken skin anyway, and because it is much, much faster & easier, we now just skin it and skip the plucking altogether. I had never heard of anyone else doing this, but a couple of months ago when Mom & I were visiting her Amish friend, Laura, that was how she did it as well.
We cut the wings & the feet off short, as that is easier as well.
(just an added bonus: What this chicken was eating!!)
After skinning it and cleaning out the innards, and then rinsing out several time, I am left with a fresh, good bird. Today we killed two because one really isn't enough to feed our growing family!
And here is the recipe which is the whole purpose of the post:
Take your clean bird and brine overnight in:
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 T lime juice
1 t ginger
salt & pepper
1/2 t oregano
1/2 t parsley
In the morning I follow this recipe, taken from Fix It & Forget It:
1 lb. bag baby carrots
1 small onion, diced
14.5 oz. can green beans
(I often add potatoes or whatever veggies I have.)
2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup white wine
1/2-1 t dried basil
Put veggies on the bottom of the slow cooker. Add chicken. Top with salt, pepper, broth & wine. Sprinkle with basil. Cover. Cook on low 8-10 hours or high 3-5 hours.
(This is a bird I did a few weeks ago, using just potatoes & onions for veggies.)
Enjoy!
