What is the best age to butcher non-meatie roosters?

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Out of ten chicks that hatched from my bator....nine are cockerels. Bummer!! So I have black copper and cuckoo marans. Beautiful birds....but can't keep them all. This feed helped me decide when to butcher. Thx!!!
 
Ringbauer Roost said:
Out of ten chicks that hatched from my bator....nine are cockerels. Bummer!! So I have black copper and cuckoo marans. Beautiful birds....but can't keep them all. This feed helped me decide when to butcher. Thx!!!
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Glad to have you. At least you have good eating birds. Marans are very tasty I've heard. Maybe 14-16 weeks. Others may have a different guestimate
 
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Out of 6 Wyandottes hatched on March 24th I have two roosters and one had started crowing and so I processed him today. It was my first time to do this and it took around an hour and I ended up with 3.9 lb finished. I had been feeding fermented crumble, with dry always available and they had some free range time too and treats and kitchen scraps. When I picked him up I thought he was going to be a big bunch of feathers and not much thereafter as he was a tall rangy thing but he did have a little fat on him after all. Really opened my eyes to how the CX pack on weight.
 
topdycke said:
Out of 6 Wyandottes hatched on March 24th I have two roosters and one had started crowing and so I processed him today. It was my first time to do this and it took around an hour and I ended up with 3.9 lb finished. I had been feeding fermented crumble, with dry always available and they had some free range time too and treats and kitchen scraps. When I picked him up I thought he was going to be a big bunch of feathers and not much thereafter as he was a tall rangy thing but he did have a little fat on him after all. Really opened my eyes to how the CX pack on weight.
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Cockrel no 2 was processed today at 3 lb finished. My husband hunted birds in his youth and can dispatch and once done I do the rest of the process. Have to say though that meat isn't my goal for having chickens and although I like having birds or eggs from breeders I wish that there was a way that sexing day old chicks could be available from more than just the hatcheries. As someone interested in eggs I have brought the birds along for several months and now have fewer for eggs than I would have liked. Yes some satisfaction in the freezer but it is still time I have spent.
 
Buck Creek Chickens said:
I can't give you a time frame,but if you grab the roo and feel the drumstick is it meaty, then spread the feathers on the breast, if the skin is a rose pink or yellow there ready, if the skin is red or purplish the means there's no fat yet and there not ready. time frame really depends on how there fed and what breed. this is how I tell

also pinch the shin on the breast if its thin not ready, thicker ready what your looking for is a thin layer of fat.

I feed grower and free range, I separate the butcher birds from the keepers
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This is super helpful! Im going to write this one down :)
 
I think I have about 8 roosters I'll be butchering for meat. They are 5 weeks old now. I want them to free range to fatten up, but I was not planning to integrate them with my normal flock. Any suggestions on how to free range two separate flocks? My hens don't free range til noon-so maybe let my roosters out in the early morning? I'm just not certain I could get them back to their coop!
 
I would move them and feed them a diet to fatten them up,and I would butcher them no later then 4 months. Small size,but good tasty meat for what u get.
 
Bantam,
Any good suggestions on a "fatten them up" diet? Looking for something to put weight on, and make the meat tasty. I have some 10-week old cockerels that will be ready for freezer camp in about 5 weeks.
 
HorseFeatherz NV said:
I butcher my cockerels/roos they are a mix of Orpington over Orpington, Delaware, EE, BR and Cochin; I even process my bantam cockerels/roos. I let them stay with the main flock until they start showing interest in the hens, then move them to a run/pen by themselves. I feed all my flock Flock Raiser and that is what the guys get. I usually process when they are 5 to 6 months (20 to 24 weeks) or when they become a pain in my backside for whatever reason. The last two processed, after cleaning their weight was 3 pounds 15.8 ounces for one and 4 pounds 10.8 ounces on the second.




This is a fantastic article for the homegrown bird age for processing and cooking: www.albc-usa.org/documents/cookingwheritagechicken.pdf
Ooops just saw the age of this thread
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It was helpful to me even all these years later
 

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