So I have decided to do Black Australorps for meat birds I have a quick Question

15 weeks is starting to get on past the age you are shooting for to have a tender chicken for frying. If they got tough on you you should have to adjust your cooking method, a slower roast or crock pot should tenderize them quite well. Supermarket chicken is processed by 8 weeks if not before, that is why it's tender, I would suggest going with a meat bird if you want grilling frying birds, something that will be ready to butcher by 8-12 weeks ideally, the meat birds will have a lot more meat as well

blucoondawg said:

15 weeks is starting to get on past the age you are shooting for to have a tender chicken for frying. If they got tough on you you should have to adjust your cooking method, a slower roast or crock pot should tenderize them quite well. Supermarket chicken is processed by 8 weeks if not before, that is why it's tender, I would suggest going with a meat bird if you want grilling frying birds, something that will be ready to butcher by 8-12 weeks ideally, the meat birds will have a lot more meat as well

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I like slow cooking my meat birds because I raise the black Australorp birds. They are big and take longer to reach good butcher size unless you want small birds.

I'm actually about to process my 10 bigger roosters this week. Going to try to post pictures in the meat bird forum and would gladly take advice to speed up or refine my process. It's time to get new blood for the flock so I'll be buying a rooster chick this year. just have to keep him apart or marked. I've got 30 eggs due to hatch in a few days.

With those dual purpose breeds I've decided to cut my loses and butcher younger when they're still somewhat tender even though they haven't reached full size, after 12 weeks or so they don't put on meat as fast and they still consume a good amount of food. Dp roosters are cheap, I don't mind them being on the small side as long as I can still grill them up. On a side note I gave one to a friend that should have been tough as can be, he smoked it and said it was excellent. I'll have to try that

blucoondawg said:

With those dual purpose breeds I've decided to cut my loses and butcher younger when they're still somewhat tender even though they haven't reached full size, after 12 weeks or so they don't put on meat as fast and they still consume a good amount of food. Do roosters are cheap, I don't mind them being on the small side as long as I can still grill them up. On a side note I have one to a friend that should have been tough as can be, he smoked it and said it was excellent. I'll have to try that

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Oh I love smoking mine!!!! I use an injector and let it sit overnight then smoke on a low temp for 10-13 hours... YUMMY!!!

Hi what the best diet for Australorp meat birds for butching around 16 weeks

Jill ross said:

Hi what the best diet for Australorp meat birds for butching around 16 weeks

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High protein. 20%+ balanced ration.

Protein builds muscle.

Ten weeks is right for butchering meat birds designed for meat only, but a dual purpose bird needs more time to develop a useful carcass for eating.
Why not try raising meat birds for meat - the feed conversion is more efficient, and you need only feed them for half the time. Less work, and at killing time you are not killing a bird that could possibly have a long productive life as an egg producer for you. The meat chicks take the option of raising them longer off the table. Maybe do a 50/50 split between the australops and a true meat chicken and butcher the meats at ten leaving the dual purpose birds to finish at their own rate.
Your processing gets split into two sessions, but you get fresh chicken sooner plus it becomes evident how much longer it takes to raise the dual purpose birds to butchering age.
You can compare taste by serving both birds at the same meal, and see if the expected increase in flavor/quality from the dual purpose birds is worth the extra time and money to raise them. My experience eating both - stick with the meat birds.

Mygirls20 said:

Ya I also wanted chickens that would lay and have chicks I dont want to have to buy chicks all the time. Do you know how the roosters act? Are they really loud that was another one of my concerns I dont want a super noisy roster lol

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I have a black Australorp rooster, he’s actually very good with the people, but he does have his days. Some days he’ll only crow in the morning, but some days (not many tho) he’ll freakin crow all day. He is a used bird as we are his at least 3rd home. I do have blue australorp roosters in the brooder right now and am excitedly awaiting to see how they are if raised by one ‘person’ ‘household’