At some point at the end of November, we were at 99.9% sure 3 of our 8 chickens were roosters. By December when the crowing started, we were 100% sure. Our roosters grew into strapping young chickens as they grew out their feathers and strutted in the chicken run. The crowing was only mildly disruptive, and besides they all seemed very possessive of the lady chickens which we felt was a good thing.
End of December and into January became a stressful time for our chickens as the days got shorter and the nights got longer. The weather cooled down considerably, and the chickens looked to one another for warmth. It was at this time the roosters showed their true colors.
As first time chicken owners the crude and persistent nature of the roosters wore down on Sean and I's tolerance. It became quite clear three roosters to five hens was a horrific ratio... especially for the hens. The thought of killing the roosters did not really bother Sean much. He was in full on "farmer mode" while I was still trying to put off the inevitable. In my defense, I had raised them from just days old! I turn around to move turtles out of the road, I wasn't ready to kill my roosters!
It was not until an afternoon in February when I came home to find the back of one of our hen's heads (Booty) ripped open (she's fine now) that I was able to face reality and do what needed to be done. I texted a friend for some quick advice, searched the house for the sharpest knife, and of course googled how to kill a rooster.
There were a number of options to available to me for killing the rooster. Hatches, neck wringing, and throat slitting were among the most suggested. I did not have a hatchet, nor do I feel comfortable enough to hold a squirming rooster while not chopping my hand off. Neck wringing seemed doable but I wasn't sure I would get the job done correctly and speedily. As I read up on something called the killing cone, I knew I had discovered my preferred method.
Ideally one would use an actual killing cone, made of metal with bracket to attach to a tree. I did not have one of these handy tools, so I improvised. Taking the plastic cone from a previous vet's visit, I used duct tape and will to get the cone to what I imagined to be the appropriate size needed. Next I needed to find a space to kill the rooster. This space needed to be away from our the young girls who live next door, and apparently, it needs to be out of site from the chicken coop. This made me the most nervous as a few sites made a point of sharing how killing a flock member in front of the other chickens could cause the remaining chickens to become terrified of my presence. My options were limited, so I locked the chickens in the coop just to be on the safe side.
After choosing a spot I attempted to use our staple gun to attach the cone to a tree in the backyard. This failed miserably. So I decided to nail it into the tree. My options were four inch nails or half inch finishing nails. Obviously I went with the four inch nails however it did take me an embarrassing amount of time to puncture through all the layers of wrapped plastic from the cone. When I finally managed to attach it to the tree to my satisfaction I had to find a tool. I knew it was going to be Ms. Given in the yard with a knife, the two questions left were, Which knife? and Which rooster?
It was apparent after this fiasco that I needed to invest in something sharper than the tools I possessed. I ended up choosing a two inch pocket knife because it had the sharpest blade. The rooster I chose was the one who seemed to have the least amount of remorse about latching himself continually onto the backs of our hens. Now that I had the knife and the bird picked out, it was time to set things in motion.
As other sites suggested, and I recommend, carrying the rooster from the coop to the cone should be done by carrying him by his feet upside-down. This does two things: first it begins the process of moving the blood in the body towards the head and second carrying it by the legs meant I didn't have to hold it to my chest or really look it in the eyes. It made me feel more like I was completing a necessary chore rather than a killing.
The rooster should be placed head first through the top (widest) part of the cone. Ideally the head will be reachable from the narrow/ bottom part of the cone. It was just my luck that the rooster did not quite need to poke his head out the bottom if he was in a stressed and clenched state. As I placed him in the cone his head popped out the bottom momentarily and then he tried to bring it back up to his chest. I ended up having to pull his head out of the bottom by the comb. (It is at this time that I should tell you I may have been having second doubts/ I was really thankful I was wearing gloves so I couldn't really "feel" him) There was a bucket placed under the cone where I estimated the blood would flow. I had never seen a rooster be slaughtered, for whatever reason I thought there would be gallons of blood... Obviously this is not the case as the rooster himself weighed in at closer to ten pounds not twenty five.
Once I had his head stretched down towards the ground in front of me I was ready to make the killing cut. A blog had told me to cut under the ear if I wanted to puncture the largest blood vessel in the neck. The blog thought this was something I should be able to feel with my fingers... This was most definitely not the case. Thinking to myself I wondered if the particular vein would be under both ears or just one? I opted to cut from ear to ear in an attempt to hit anything and everything. I slid the blade down through the feathers to ensure the knife was coming into direct (or as direct as possible) contact with the skin. Then I slit the neck. I am unsure how deep or how many times was necessary to kill the rooster but I'm sure I did more than that! Somewhat frantically, I cut across the neck in the same spot numerous times until I was at the bone. I'm sure if I had been using a better knife it would not have taken me very many cuts at all to reach the neck bone. The rooster did not thrash or squawk or struggle. It did not take very long at all for him to die or for his blood to drain. While it was not easy or fun, I have to admit it went more smoothly than I had originally anticipated.
I also sent a small prayer before executing the killing to ask God to bless the meat. This is customary in many religions, it was suggested to me by my Mama.
This is how I killed the first rooster. The following day, Sean went through the same steps to kill the second of the three roosters. It went just as smoothly, more so because everything had already been setup. We have decided to keep the third rooster until further notice. He is a Frizzle Ameracauna rooster and does a good job of watching his hens. However he is pushing his luck by crowing almost consistently every hour on the hour (including through the night!).
Next entry I will share how we decided to clean and cook the roosters.
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