Excellent. Thanks for informative writeup.

I am not doubting your word one little bit. Just trying to envision a flying chicken...

This thread brings back a lot of memories. Having grown up with parents who were kids in the Depression, I learned the skills in volume. I think I could pluck and draw a chicken in my sleep.

FWIW, hanging a live chicken upside down by its feet will stun it in about 20 seconds. Then a quick, sharp hatchet ... it's probably as humane as any method I can think of.

We always had a huge tub of ice-cold well water to chill the birds quickly after drawing.

Note that you can get egg layers at the end of their productive life for next-to-nothing. They're tougher, but enough time in a pressure canner makes them entirely edible. Potentially a big money-saver if you do the work yourself.

Side note. If you draw a line in the dirt, then place a chicken near the end of the line, and put its beak on the line, it will just sit and stare at the line forever. Makes it easy to whack them...

What did you do for the broth /liquid?

I used some of the liquid left over from boiling the chickens with a little salt added.

-Blast

While this is true, but he is very close and that is worth a little these days. I did go back to the guy and buy 5 black australorps and a dozen farm eggs for $18, which was a much better deal. And a complimentary glass of fresh milk. I mean fresh from the cow. The black australorps will provide 25 eggs a week.

Then a couple weeks later I went and got 4 dozen eggs, but they wanted $3/doz each. They didn't have too many that day, so the price was high.

Definitely supply/demand pricing going on.

These guys are semi-pro, and being in Houston makes it cost a bit more. They had butchered 30 goats the third time I was there, to sell to local restaraunts as organic goat meat. Houston is a city where people eat out A LOT, I believe it holds a record of some sort for eating out. I can tell you that they probably made well over $1000 that day. And in Austin, they sell the eggs for $5/doz and people actually drive to get them for that price.

Anyway, sometimes its worth it to pay a little more, to make good contact and friends with people who are living that sort of lifestyle. Especially in a metropolitan area like Houston.

I was trying to find a place to buy new zealand rabbits and most of them were quite far away. It was disappointing.

"Butchering/canning chickens" ....

Wait a minute ... "butchering" ... Is that required, or is it more like just a suggestion?

I have always just grabbed the live chicken off the yard and pounded them head first down into the jar with a rubber mallet. They always make that odd clucking sound and look at me through the glass with those sad eyes before I get a few solid swings in ...

But after that it has always has gone pretty smoothly. Once well packed into the jar its a quick trip through the water bath and on with the lids.

They look quite decorative on the shelves. With the speckled black, the earthy brown and regal white of the different breeds all arranged neatly in rows. On closer examination the festive yellow of the legs and beaks and the demented and comical look of their faces pressed against the inside of the glass. Each its own small piece of art.

It has gotten to be something of a theme. My canned alligator is famous in these parts. Took a while to get the technique down. A lot of broken jars, and a few trips to the ER to get it down pat, and my hand reattached. Brings a whole new meaning to having an animal 'eat off your hand'. But the surgery took and the therapy went well so it worked out in the end.

First thing I had to learn was that an eight foot alligator is much bigger than a chicken. Something I didn't know. (I have subsequently invested in something they call a ruler. A handy device for making such comparisons.) And alligators put up more of a fight. Who knew? Bigger jars and working on cold mornings, when they are less active, helped a lot. That, and using both a large funnel and a substantially bigger mallet. I can tell you it has been quite the learning experience.

But I diverge. I don't want to distract from this thread with my version of this time honored practice. I shall enjoy reading how you do it.

"...the therapy went well..."

It did? You sure?

I've never heard chicken eyes described as sad. To me, they look like they are always sizing you up, trying to decide if they could take you. There's no doubt that if chickens were larger it would be you in the can.
Chickens remind you just how close to dinosaurs birds really are.