Black Copper Marans for meat?

[SIMZ]

Hi there and welcome to BYC!

Resting the meat for a bit after processing can help with the toughness. We cool ours in an ice bath after processing and then store in the refrigerator overnight or 2 days. Once the chicken is really flexible again I'll cook it or put it in the freezer. We've butchered roosters at that age and very rarely have tough meat. If you rested the meat then I'm at a loss.

 

[hoofpawclawacre]

Has anyone made capons out of them (castrating)? I am readying myself mentally to teach myself how to caponize. After reading historical information on capons they are wonderfully flavorful and tender.

 

[BCMaraniac]

Has anyone made capons out of them (castrating)? I am readying myself mentally to teach myself how to caponize. After reading historical information on capons they are wonderfully flavorful and tender.

I have caponized my half BCM/half Lavender Orpington cockerels. The one in my avatar is one at 25 weeks, weighing 8#3oz and still growing. The pic is in my photos in my profile. I didn't have a BCM roo of breeding age this year so I caponized the cross

I will be hatching out BCMs next year to caponize.

 

[hoofpawclawacre]

Have you butchered any and how is the meat?

 

[BCMaraniac]

No, I haven't. However, I did butcher my first attempts at caponizing which were slips about 8 months old( which I didn't count in my earlier post because they weren't full capons), cooked them and made chicken noodle soup and chicken salad. They were absolutely delicious. Such a rich flavor, with incredible stock! I can't wait to start caponizing and harvesting the full BCM capons. The crosses I mentioned I will probably not butcher till late winter/early spring(?Easter)

 

[Natalijaasbj]

I butchered couple roos recently - VERY BIG ROOS AND VERY TASTY. They are considered gourmet in france. i LOVED the complex taste. Going to get more chicks closer to spring. Not so much for eggs as for meat, although some people say that even their eggs are tastier than those of other breeds, their eggs also have deep brown color.

 

[flowerchild59]

We are raising out pure blue splash marans and crosses with rhode island red, or buff chantecler and a few other olive egger combos, for meat bird production. We plan to hatch in feb/march and butcher by early this fall when they will be 16 to 24 weeks. We plan to put them into a pvc chicken pen that we will pull around every day or two in the pasture. Will leat you know how they turn out. I have never eaten anything other than a Cornish cross, and found that meat better than store bought. We have a brinsea incubator and we want to be more sustainable on our farm. We have the land, the resources and the drive to raise our own meat (well, my daughter who is 28 is a big driving force in raising meat for her young family and encourages me to do the same).

 

[Natalijaasbj]

In response to Adam !
The method of cooking is everything, as well as the resting meat for some days.
slow cooking worked the best for me at this age. Google newlyweds sticky chicken recepy, I did it with bcm roo, it was amazing

 

[LindaB220]

In response to Adam !
The method of cooking is everything, as well as the resting meat for some days.
slow cooking worked the best for me at this age. Google newlyweds sticky chicken recepy, I did it with bcm roo, it was amazing

Bookmarked this one. Terrific. Thanks

 

[Farmer Viola]

I found this tread extremely useful since I am raising some BCM crosses as meat birds this year, thanks everyone. I see people here process them at anywhere from 16 to 24 weeks. I would like to go for a 4lb dressed bird, so I'm thinking around 18 weeks old. We'll have to see when they grow out.