Best way to clean a chicken

[dreams_in_color]

Many years ago I tried to clean a duck and it was one of the worst experiances of my life. I recently bought 4 chicks from Tractor Supply and I am afraid they are all males. If so we are not going to keep them. I have 24 pullets coming from Cackle. I am not sure we want any roosters. So here are my questions:

A guide to raising chickens says to cull out the roosters around 3-8 weeks as that is when you can tell the pullets from the cockerels and save the best for breeding and cull or butcher the rest. Are they saying just butcher?? Or that they are big enough to eat then?

Since I bought the 4 from tractor supply what do I do with those once I get the other 24 from Cackle?? I know now I should not have jumped the gun.

I am sure *I will have additional questions soon.

SUsan

[Deberosa]

Cruise on down through the livestock posts and you will see a couple of threads on butchering chickens.

As far as culling at 6-8 weeks, I let mine go farther than that but they have lots of space. At some point if confined they will start fighting. I still have more than enough dark cornish roosters still but they seem to get along just fine in the area I have for them. As far as butchering that young - if they are cornish cross they probably will be big enough but otherwise you need to let them grow a few weeks longer.

As for what to do for the 4 chicks you have now - well either more pens or sell them...

[flatwater]

The best way I have found to clean a chicken is soap and water. They make little chicken beak brushes so they don't get cavities , the hard part is combing their feathers out. You could take it in the shower with you but I don't recommend it. :o :o :o :o ;D.
Flatwater

sorry I couldn't resist it.

[sbemt456]

Flatwater havent you ever heard of " cockscomb". sorry I couldnt resist either.

[annabella1]

Just a little encouragement chickens are a lot easier to eviscerate than ducks. The natural oil in the feathers of ducks make them harder to pluck and the longer thinner bodies of ducks are harder to get everything out of. That said it still isn't the easiest thing to do and it would be good to have all your equipment ready before you begin.

[MadTripper]

No worries. Chickens are pretty easy to take care of and butcher. There is a ton of info available on specifics. Depending on size, you may want to separate the roos from the pulls. If you think they are big enough, try butchering one and see if you like the size. If they still need some fattening, feed them for another month or so and try again. Worse case you'll end up with some tender roasting birds.

Here is a decent site with good detail on butchering:

http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Butchering-Ready.html

Tripper