This is my first visit to this forum, usually I'm over in the vegetable and fruit forums. But I have had backyard chickens for years, so I loved this rooster tail. ;-) My first 2 backyard chickens were hens purchased from the "free-range" egg farm a couple of towns away. They had been laying for a year and were "worn out" for commercial purposes, but once they molted and settled in, they provided more than enough eggs for me. We had white leghorns on the farm when I was growing up, so I got one production white leghorn (x-large white eggs) and one red something (jumbo brown eggs). Then I started reading up about chickens, and discovered there was a whole world of different birds. When Red keeled over dead the next spring and a lonely Henny Penny started following my 2 cats everywhere, terrorizing them, I went down to the feed store and picked up 2 Easter Egger pullets and, on my vet's advice, 2 bantams (one cochine and one Polish). Both bantams grew up to be roosters! I kept them for a while without any complaints from the neighbors, but I was working nights then, and the constant crowing when I was trying to sleep in the day finally convinced me to give them away. (I thought I had a dozen roosters at one point, but it turned out my neighbor's grandchildren were standing on the other side of the fence, crowing away for HOURS, just for fun. AAAK!) A couple of years later I decided I needed a brown-egger, so I picked up a couple of Black Stars (sex-links). However, I didn't watch the clerk pick out the chicks, and when I got home darned if he hadn't put a barred chick (male) in with a black chick (female). This time a neighbor DID complain--pounding on my door and screaming at me at 4:30 in the morning. Dinner was then and remains the only chicken I have butchered (even growing up my dad did the butchering, although us kids did pluck). This spring my flock was all killed when the meter-reader left my back gate open and 2 vicious dogs got in. My children (then 3 1/2) told me they were very sad that our chickens were gone, then in the next breath told me we needed to get some new chicks. This time I was VERY careful to only get pullets. We started out with 1 americanua, 1 buff Orpington, 1 barred rock, and 1 black star. Unfortunately a racoon got one, and a domesticated cat (not one of mine) got another, so we have "Blacky" and "Buffy" in the back yard, carefully confined to their dog/chicken run. I know there is a rooster in the neighborhood again now, but his owners must keep him in the house until about 6:30 in the morning, because I don't hear him earlier than that. Glad you found homes for all of your spares. I'd still like to try some bantams, but I don't want to deal with roosters again! Catherine

There are some excellent extension publications and sites online dealing with processing home meat chickens. Seriously think about NOT biting off more than you can chew at any session and particularly at your first session. I have never done more than five at once even with help. I prefer plucking to skinning as well, but the kill/scald/gut/pluck/pinfeather process is time consuming. If you kill out more than four or five, you may end up slaughtering animals and wasting them. Learning to gut them out the very first time is tedious and you need to be careful so as not to contaminate your food with their fecal contents. You certainly don't want to kill more than you have freezer space for. It's NOT a fun process in any sense of the word. It isn't enjoyable watching them in their death throes. Humanely slaughtering involves a technique I can't do well, and I have my son do it. You would be surprized how an axe can bounce off feathers. I had to have my husband finish off a kill once, and for pity's sake he is a butcher and he grew up in the family slaughterhouse and I caught him apologising to the poor rooster for our clumsiness. I incubate my own chicks, so get a 50 percent male outcome. ONe has to make a committment to how they'll handle the rooster situations. No, don't process the bantams. Many people love them for pets. Just find them a good home. I don't slaughter much anymore, but sell the full sized roosters as well. I like to know I have meat chickens up there, but it really is a major committment to take it seriously.

Velvet, Thanks...the most confusing thing about it is that I opened the coop and let them out when I first noticed the bloody head.....yet...the injured chick DOES NOT RUN AWAY....not only that but it seems to seek out the 2 black showgirls and invite more fights. What gives? The chickens are not crowded...and they often free range during the day....however the chicks don't seem to stray far at all from the coop..and the injured one DOES NOT take advantage of the opportunity to ESCAPE. Instead, it holds its ground and fights back. The problem is that is it outnumbered....two to one. One of the other chicks does not fight and simply watches. We have a rooster in the coop as well....I thought roosters were supposed to break up hen fights? Of course, these chicks are not necessarily hens (we don't know yet). I called our local feed store and they don't have anything. However, Stromberg's chickens and McMurray Hatchery sell a spray called "Hot Pick" to stop pecking on an injury. They also sell some kind of blinders so the chicks can't see each other (they call these peepers or something like this). They also sell beak "clip" thingies that stop the birds from fully closing their mouth. Also, I've been told I can clip the beaks with dog clippers (shudder!) but I am scared of experimenting with this last option. Should I be? ARGH! What to do!

Use the word "free", it is the most powerful in the English language."Free Chickens and rooster you pick up" (ad) or you can call "animal control" ( they used to be called the dog pound). They are professionals at catching and removing unwanted animals .