This is a tale of two roosters. They came to the farm about the same time, but on two different paths. One full grown via a friend and one as a wrongly sexed pullet this spring. Both joined us for a while and now have fulfilled a different purpose.

If you’re one of my readers that has issues with the idea that we might eat our birds you should likely skip the rest of this post. If you’re interested in reading more, keep going. For the record I chose not to include any graphic photos that we took.

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Three roosters is too many for one flock. We’ve made it work for the last month or so but since we’ve lost two more hens to coyotes in the last six weeks (that’s another post) the flock is in their yard for the duration. That put the roosters in a pretty close proximity and had led to increasing rooster spats and fighting over hens. Not the best situation for anyone.

So as of this morning there are two fewer rooster in the world. We respectfully dispatched Felix and Steve. Here’s the details…

Last night we caught them after they went in to roost and they bedded down in the barn. Neither was particularly friendly or tame and so catching them when they were quiet was the best option.

This morning we got set up and prepared to do the deed. Mike set up a chopping block and the hot water. I got out a couple of stainless bowls, knives, cutting boards and a table. We utilized a friend’s trailer that’s parked at our house as a base. We used my hot water bath canning pot for dipping.

We discussed the approach and then got going. I didn’t photo document the whole process, but we essentially followed these guidelines with the exception that we used a hatchet and not a cone. It was faster and more conducive to the space we were using. Needless to say we fairly quickly dispatched them, dipped them and de-feathered them.

Then came the challenging part. I may have been part of a lot of chicken butchering growing up, but I was never allowed (or wanted) to gut the birds. So this was my very first experience. Mike did the de-heading so he got to play clean-up crew for this part. After a little hesitation, and a false start with a duller than expected filet knife, it turned out to be both less horrible and easier than I expected.

I wouldn’t want to do it every day, but it wasn’t really that hard or that traumatizing. The whole time I just kept trying to remember how my grandpa and family did it and make adjustments as necessary.

After gutting, foot removal and general clean-up, we had us a pair of birds ready to freeze or cook.

We opted to invite friends for dinner and test out Anita’s coq au vin recipe. I meant to take photos through the whole process, but it was 85+ degrees and humid and I wanted to get done and get the pots in the oven as fast as possible. I ended up using one pot for the sauteing and browning, but cooking in two pots, my dutch oven and a casserole as I had more chicken than either could handle. I also forgot to weigh the birds, but I would guess that Felix was about 4 pounds and Steve closer to 6.

We had friends Ron, Mia and Sierra for dinner. Before we ate we checked out the peepers (so much fun) and enjoyed a cooling breeze on the patio. Then we sat down for a dinner of coq au vin, steamed broccoli and green beans, summer veggie salad and raspberry tart (thanks Mia!).

I think we would all agree that the flavor was excellent, the breast meat was tender and the legs/thighs were a bit chewey. But based on how red that dark meat was prior to cooking that was to be expected. All in all, not a bad way to reduce the rooster population and enjoy the summer bounty.

Ingredients for the meal?

- 2 Roosters (0 miles)
- 1 Sweet Onion (0 miles)
- Parsley, Thyme (0 miles)
- Chicken Stock (freezer, local chicken)
- Tomatoes (home canned, local)
- Garlic (local)
- Celery (local)
- Wine (Yakima Syrah)
- Carrots (0 miles)
- Green beans (0 miles)
- Broccoli (0 miles)
- Cucumber (0 miles)
- Onion (0 miles)
- Peas (0 miles)
- Tomato (local)
- Bell Pepper (Wenatchee)
- Olive oil (Italy)
- Butter (local)