[compostqueen]

I got my bird today, a chicken, got no room in the fridge so I've put it outside in an outbuilding. It's 8 degrees in there at the moment (4.10 pm). Will it be ok there til I need to cook it on Christmas day.  I know they say to put them in the fridge but I'd have to empty everything else out  :roll:

[unaspenser]

Thanks for that, Bodger.  Hope to have a few of my own next year this time.  Let us know how it tastes, eh?

[agapanthus]

I got my bird today, a chicken, got no room in the fridge so I've put it outside in an outbuilding. It's 8 degrees in there at the moment (4.10 pm). Will it be ok there til I need to cook it on Christmas day.  I know they say to put them in the fridge but I'd have to empty everything else out  :roll:

It'll be fine compost....we've still go our turkey hanging in the shed and lots of other goodies too.....have to do the same every year, never enough room in the house

[compostqueen]

I thought as much but I did worry so I bunged it in a cool box with some ice blocks

Ta for the reply. I can stop worrying about it now  

[Fifitrix]

Hallo everyone - I've posted a post like this elsewhere on the forum but thought at least this way it would get your attention!  

One of my chicks is now a very large handsome boy and has started crowing.  We would like to eat him  :shock: , er I think  :? .  So am going to do the darstadly dead tomorrow.

Have you all had a go at dispatching now?  What was it like?  Are there any ladies that did it?  My hubby's refusing to get involved and I'm worried I'm not strong enough (not because I'm a weakling    but because he's so big.

Also how did you get on with all the plucking etc.  Any more tips?  I don't have a barn to hang it from.  Anything else I could use (er garage is full but I do have a conservatory - how messy is it? :roll: )

All top tips gratefully received.  

[SnooziSuzi]

Well famously I got it wrong and took a lot of (justified) stick for it...

http://www.chat.allotment-garden.org/viewtopic.php?t=28156&highlight

it's not as easy as it may look - you need more stregnth than you think to start with and don't think of him as anything other than a dinner; if you attach human emotions to a chicken you'll never be able to do it  :?

[unaspenser]

My husband did a real mess of a job on our first rooster not too long ago... he didn't wrench the neck nearly hard enough and it really upset us both to see him suffering.  Hubby eventually gave him a good knock on the head so he didn't struggle before giving the neck that really solid pull it needs.  Also check out the poultry pages for info on how to butcher properly.  No offense to the creator, but the instructive photos in that other sticky thread don't give nearly enough detail for a first-timer (or so I found out).

[Bodger]

Hi
Boise lives in Idaho ( I do pub quizzes :oops: )

When killing a chicken, the word wrench doesn't really portray the manouvre required. To dislocate the neck or break it, call it what you will, what is required is for the vertebrae to go in an unatural direction. A straight direct wrench is not what's required. Its difficult to explain even in the best of articles how to really do it. Its hands on experience thats needed.
In reality, its so easy to do, is very humane, doesn't require super strength and should not end up as  a tug of war competition between you and the chicken. Your first experience of killing a chicken should be a ' happy' one It shouldn't leave you or the chicken in a traumatised condition. Its a knack thats quite easily picked up. Its just difficult especially in an urban environment, getting that initial experience.

[pushrod]

Good photos bodger - one thing you didn't mention (but it looks like you did) which might help the inexperienced is -

when starting on the rear/ vent end after putting the first cut in - carefully cut around the vent (sharp scissors are good for this). The idea being so that you never have to cut through the intestine, but can pull it away from the carcass with the small patch of skin from around the vent still attached to the rest of the gut. You will eventually snap a bit of the intestine but that will be high up in the body cavity nearer the head end.

One other point is that a bird is easier to clean and less messy (if it goes slightly wrong) is to starve the bird for 12 to 18 hours before hand. Giving it a few grains of corn just before you do the deed can often reassure the bird.

Not meaning to detract at all in any way from the brill original post  

[matron]

We have been given some pheasants so I am going to show OH this thread for him to have a go at preparing them.
Thank you Bodger.