Butchering normal fed chickens

ccarver80

Chirping
5 Years
Jul 28, 2014
154
10
86
Squaw gap ND
I know they say 8 weeks to butcher but I'm guessing that if you're feeding a high protein content.
I've had my 27 chickens on just normal 18 to 20% protein chick starter feed. well I have 2 roosters in the bunch that I would like to see go but even at 16 weeks old they're still pretty small I have a barred rock rooster black Australorp rooster which both breeds are supposed to be excellent meat birds
Whats the average time span if you're just feeding them normal feed till you can butcher?
 
I would go till they look like fully grown chickens or just a little smaller ideal eating and selling size is 4 to 5 pounds also they take longer than 8 weeks even on the food if they are not cornish crosses.
 
Ok cool and I was looking in my book here it says you can tell by feeling their breast bone and mine are still pretty sharp so I'll have to wait a couple more weeks to get some more meat on them lol
 
The Cornish Cross are going to be butcher size somewhere around 6 to 8 weeks of age, depending a lot on how you feed them. Some other broilers like Freedom Rangers are going to be a little slower to put on weight but will still butcher fairly young. These are specialist birds bred to convert feed to meat extremely efficiently.

Barred Rock and Black Australorp are not broilers, they are dual purpose breeds. They are not bred to pack on a tremendous amount of weight in a very short time. They are bred for hens to lay a fair amount of eggs and roosters to make a decent meal, but you will have to wait a long time and feed them a lot for them to eventually get the size of a broiler chicken if they ever do. Dual purpose breeds are not specialists but more all-around breeds, much like a small farmer would keep to keep his family in eggs and when he wanted a chicken for the table he could butcher one.

Some people butcher dual purpose breeds as young as 12 weeks but there is practically no meat on them. But if you are not allowed roosters you can get a bit of meat, plus they are still young enough to be reasonably tender. I keep mine to at least 18 weeks and usually older. They cannot be fried or grilled because they will be too tough for me to enjoy but if you cook them slowly and with moisture they can be delicious.

If you are looking for a Cornish Cross type carcass from a dual purpose breed you are going to be disappointed. But if you can wait until they are 18 to 22 weeks (or maybe longer) and cook them with an age appropriate recipe you will get a meal that many of us really enjoy.
 
Basically...what Ridgerunner said.

8 weeks is for Cornish Cross. Your birds are going to be best around 18-22 weeks. They're still going to have sharp-ish keel bones, they won't be rounded and have all the breast meat of a Cornish cross. Here's some pics of my dual purpose cockerels' carcass. Granted, these were mixed birds and had some hatchery EE and Leghorn blood, so they're a touch smaller than your birds will be, but it gives you an overall idea of what you're going to get...







Not tons of breast meat, nice meaty legs and thighs.
 
Wow... those look nothing like the chickens you get from the grocery store no offense haha.. Yours look like jerky meat like that is pure muscle the breasts look normal looking sorry I guess I just have only seen chicken carcasses that have that white fleshy color and not the dark red muscle tone I wonder if you could make chicken jerky out of it lol
 
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^that's what I'm use to seeing lol
 
our chickens are between 12 - 15 lbs. they look like turkeys. they were 16 weeks old. people love them. they feed a small dinner party. 9 to 10 guests.
 
They're skinned, that does make some difference, but you're right on the muscle color. It's basically the difference between steak and veal. Store bought chickens are like veal. They're butchered quite young, they have limited mobility through their lives and don't really use their muscles. My birds were a bit older than desired--I think around 7 months. I can't free range, but they were in a large grow out pen where they spent their days running from the head rooster and forming little cockerel gangs. They definitely used their muscles! Lots of wing flapping and tons of scratching in the dirt. Good thing we like dark meat!
 

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