Butchering Age: Red Rangers

[rowechicks]

I have 6 red rangers that I believe are all roosters. They are currently 8 weeks old and based on the two I weighed, weigh between 4.5 and 5 pounds each. I'm trying to decide when to butcher so I can coordinate with a grandparent sleepover for my fiver year old boys. Is 8 weeks too early? How much bigger might they get if I wait for the 12 weeks? They are currently eating a mix of 20% chick and 16% layer since I don't have a way to separate them from my layer hens. If the difference in the flavor of the meat is good enough, I'm planning on building a tractor for the meat birds next year.

 

[rjohns39]

Multiply their live weight by 0.6 and that will get you close to their carcass weight. Most folks I know raising them shoot for a target carcass weight of 4.5-5 pounds, that would be 6-6.5 pounds live weight. You can harvest them at any time. The younger they are the more tender. Also rest them in the fridge for 24-48 hours after processing and before freezing or cooking.

 

[rowechicks]

What does the resting do?

 

[rjohns39]

What does the resting do?

Allows the riggor to pass and muscles to relax, if frozen or cooked too soon after the meat can be really tough. For chickens, I let them rest for 24-36 generally, when I do my next batch of turkeys I'll rest them for 3-5 days.

 

[rowechicks]

Ok. Thank you. I hadn't thought of that.

 

[rjohns39]

Unfortunately, I learned the lesson the hard way. I have a couple turkeys in the freezer that I'm going to break down and try to braise the leg quarters and slow roast the breast.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

The red broiler are suggested to harvest at 12 weeks. That's plenty young enough to be boiler age and should yield 4-5 lbs carcass.