Bruce is Next

WARNING: Not for the timid of heart

Lindsay and I made a visit to our new friend Kevin. Kevin is going to show us how to process a rooster that may or may not be waking people up at 5am. So this is Kevin's rooster. It was actually quite beautiful before we chopped its head off. I guess I should have taken a picture of that. Oops

This is right after the deed was done. He layed the rooster out and kept petting it so it would stretch his neck out. Then chop. It was quick and easy. Then he held the chicken down until it stopped moving.

Next we scalded the rooster to loosen up the feathers. We only had it in the water for about 20 or 30 seconds.

The scalding is actually very affective. The feathers pull right out.

The pin feathers are a bit hard to pull out so it's best to process in the spring.

Here is the clean bird.

The next step is to remove the gizzard. The gizzard is right below the neck.

You can cut it completely loose from the bird and pull it out.

Next you cut out "the other end" just cut a circle around the anus and cut the digestive tract free of the body.

Then pull.

Be careful not to break the appendix. If you do make sure to wash out as quickly as possible.

Once you have all of the guts clear of the carcass then. Take the feet of next.

To take the feet off break the knee joint and cut through the cartilage

The finished product. You just want to make sure you take it inside and wash it out so no blood sits in the carcass. We are going to smoke this one for dinner on Sunday.